Big changes coming to Madden NFL 16’s Connected Franchise Mode

Continue to slowly tease us with drips of information regarding Madden NFL 16, EA Sports today lifted the curtain on the new and improved Connected Franchise Mode (CFM). Citing community feedback as the motivating factor behind the changes, EA calls this year's CFM "deeper than ever," with an emphasis on making the mode easier to use.

Looking to get you into the game faster, EA has streamlined the entire process of starting CFM into three easy steps:

1.    Choose between Cloud and Offline. Cloud has faster week advances and gives players the ability to access their league online and invite friends. Offline still has the ability to create multiple offline characters, and saves the league locally.

2.    Select your team

3.    Customize your experience further or start playing immediately. Players will begin in the regular season by default, you can also begin with a Fantasy Draft, or in the preseason

One new feature added to the game this year is Dynamic Drive Goals that can be completed for bonus XP and/or Confidence. Throughout the game, you'll be given specific goals that are tailored based on events in the current game. The more goals you complete, the faster your player improves. The only question I have is how it will determine what goals you will be offered. If you're more of a running team, will you be offered a heavier dose of running goals?

EA has also improved how to track your goals, making it easier to see which goals have been completed in-game. In Madden NFL 16, you will now see goal feedback throughout the mode, with XP and Confidence updates appearing next to your player at the end of each play. There will also be a new ticker at the bottom of the screen that tracks goal progress and shows updates to all the goals influenced that play. To add a more realistic feel to how these goals are presented, EA has also created new broadcast interface elements that celebrate completing goals. To help display this information, EA has added goal loading screens.

Weekly goals have also been "refactored from the ground up" by implementing a new "quest-like system" that will chain goals together on a week-to-week basis. These goals will be assigned based on performance, position, and career status and are both team-based and individual. An example EA gave was a "Breakout Running Back" goal may be triggered for rookie running backs that are having a great season. As usual, your player confidence will fluctuate based on completed or missed goals, and certain stats such as fumbles and interceptions are tied to regression.

The entire CFM interface has also been revamped for a more streamlined look. Now when you log on you'll see a Things to Do screen which presents all the information from last year's Actions and Home to one location. The depth chart has also received a major overhaul and there's now a new Visual Team Depth Chart. You'll also no longer have to scroll left or right through the Player Card, as the screen now shows the key position attributes for the player and which ones are being affected by Confidence. You'll also be able to perform key actions like spending XP, viewing goals, and adding to the trade block from the Player Card.

Scouting, and really the entire draft process, has been reworked. Now you'll see a "Things to Do" item in Week 3 that instructs you how to scout.

"The basic concept is that you’ll spend Scouting Points on a player, learn more about their abilities, and decide whether you want to select them in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Scouting Points unlock a player’s top three attributes, with the third unlock providing their true draft value. This true draft value will help teams find “Diamonds” and “Overvalued” players in the draft class."

For a more authentic experience, potential draft picks will now have Combine stats from six events: 40-yard Dash, Vertical Jump, Broad Jump, 3 Cone, 20-yard Shuttle, and Bench Press. These results can be seen without spending any Scouting Points. In the actual draft, you'll get immediate feedback on the player you drafted, including a look at the player's attributes and where he was ranked.

Perhaps the biggest addition to the mode is "Sim-a-Win," which allows you to set the winning team for any game that has not been played. While this is created for the larger multiplayer leagues, I appreciate it for when the game freezes and I don't want to have to replay the entire thing.

Other more subtle changes include Confidence and Owner Mode Finance tuning. EA has adjusted the ratings per position that can go up or down, and how confidence impacts them. A new Game Prep activity has been added to preseason which will also allow you to improve low confidence before the season begins. And lastly, the amount of time each team has in Game Prep every week has been increased. For the financial side of things, small-market teams in older stadiums will have more money to spend in the offseason every year.

Take a minute to let all this soak in for a bit, as this is a ton of changes. But ya know what? It's all welcomed! I can't wait to see what else EA has done with Madden NFL 16. We should find out more in the weeks leading up to E3.