One of the most popular modes in Madden NFL is Ultimate Team. While the mode was slow to get a dedicated audience, it now ranks as one of the fastest growing and most played modes within Madden. We recently got a chance to ask a few questions to Joe Alread, the executive producer of Madden NFL 15 who is in charge of all things Ultimate Team, about this year's mode.

Operation Sports (OS): For experienced players what is the core difference between this year’s MUT and last year’s mode?

Joe Alread (JA): The core difference this year is all about convenience. Just about everything is easier to do in Madden Ultimate Team this year. From changing your lineup to collecting an item, all the things in the past that would take players lots of time to do will only take seconds this year.

OS: Now let’s flip it to guys who have never played MUT. What is the one thing they should be so excited about trying out in MUT that they give the mode a shot for the first time?

JA: The answer here (again!) is convenience. New players in the past often have gotten frustrated by the user interface of Madden Ultimate Team and don’t want to take the time to understand the ins and outs of it all. Starting this year, that is all a thing of the past. We hear tales about people who don’t play Ultimate Team because they hear it’s complicated. I think this year that argument becomes moot.

OS: Could you explain the objectives and what they entail?

JA: Objectives are all about introducing players to the different areas of Ultimate Team. We want to take players, one step at a time, through all the things they can do in the mode. Auctions, trades, lineups, sets, solo challenges, etc. And the things I just rambled off are only half the areas we want you to explore! The nice thing about it is that players can explore each area one step at a time and will also get rewarded for their participation as well.

OS :How does the new item binder work?

JA: The item binder is another aspect of what makes Ultimate Team so much easier to play this year. In the past, your items were placed in virtual “areas”. You then had to move items back and forth between areas in order to do things with them. That could get frustrating, but now everything is stored in one place: the item binder. From here you can do everything and anything you might want to do with your items.

OS: You changed the name from collections to sets. Other than the name change, what can gamers expect from sets that is different from the old collections?

JA: The coolest change to sets this year is that a number of them are repeatable. On the surface this may seem a bit dull, but players will soon realize how cool this really is. For example, in the past we’ve given players a collection where they would collect all 32 NFL stadiums for a reward. This is neat, but after you complete it the first time, what are you supposed to do with all the extra stadiums you get in the packs you open? The answer was nothing. This year though, once you complete that stadium collection you’ll be able to turn around and complete it again (and again, and again). The rewards for these types of sets are a new type of collectible this year that we’re calling badges, which can in turn be used in all sorts of other sets for awesome rewards. The result is fewer times when you feel frustrated because you got a “worthless” item.

OS: Speaking of name changes, chemistry is now style. Personally, this sounds like a good name change to me as it fits what the term means better. So with that said, what are the styles players can choose from and maybe give some examples of players you’d look for in each?

JA: The 8 styles are Speed Run, Ground and Pound, Short Pass, Long Pass, Pass Rush, Run Stuff, Zone Defense and Man Defense. Each one provides boosts to certain attributes related to that type of football style.

OS: Still on styles here, how flexible are they? Can you change your style from game to game or is it a pretty set thing? Do players fit in multiple styles?

JA: A cool new thing players can do this year is create a best lineup with style in mind. I can say, “Create my best Pass Rush lineup” and the game will do exactly that. At the start of the year, players only have one style each but as they improve throughout the year and find their grooves, their performance improves and new players we create have the potential to become multi-style.

OS: One of the items that will certainly cause some debate within the community is the new take on injuries. What was the reasoning behind eliminating multi-game injuries from the mode?

JA: Injuries are never a fun thing to deal with. You’re never excited to see them happen, and on top of that, injury items was just another thing you can to manage as something you owned. In order to create fewer things players had to manage in their binders (not to mention things that aren’t even fun) they were eliminated.

OS: You mention in the fact sheet that contract extension items are now gone, replaced by a secondary contract currency. How will this work and how is this method better for MUT players?

JA: Similar to my response above, contract items were just another thing to manage, which is now gone. While contracts still exist, it’s now all in the form of a currency that the game handles for you. Definitely better for the player in the fact that this is once again one less thing they have to manage in their collections.

OS: How will the new marketplace work?

JA: Perhaps the coolest thing is that it’s easier to get access to new packs. In years past it was a bit of a pain to drill down into the store and navigate to the pack you wanted. This year, players will be able to obtain popular packs right from the Marketplace hub, making everything a whole lot more convenient.

OS: What other changes should gamers most look forward to in MUT?

JA: If I had to pick one other new cool thing, it would be the pack opening experience. Items now reveal themselves in a much more flashy way which is somewhat hard to describe, but needless to say its way cooler compared to previous years where you selected a card and it just immediately appeared. Players get to open a pack pretty quickly after entering the mode, so be on the lookout for this!

OS: Lastly, what is the one thing you want all Madden gamers to know about MUT this season?

JA: That we will once again be making Ultimate Team an area in Madden that is always alive and changing alongside the NFL. Whenever something happens in the league, ask yourself, “What will happen in Ultimate Team because of this?” because chances are, something will!