Madden NFL 17: The Five Biggest Changes Needed for CFM

Feature Article

Submitted on: 09/20/2016 by Mike Lowe

For more information about this topic, check out Mike Lowe's accompanying YouTube stream.

Madden 17 is easily the best Madden ever made, and the numerous threads and stories already floating around Operation Sports -- mine included -- have been praising the game even before its official release. So how can Madden 18 be an even better experience next year? First and foremost, I think it starts with Connected Franchise mode.

So here's my top five things I'd like to see in Madden 18's Connected Franchise mode.

1. Injury Model Overhaul

This topic could be its own story in and of itself. The injury system in Madden has been the one true arcade element in a game that has -- luckily for us -- really focused hard on being more of a simulation football experience. What Madden 18 needs is an injury system not 100 percent dependent on the collision system as it is now. You'll never see an offensive line injury in a fully played game, unless that lineman recovers a fumble, gets tackled and then gets hurt. It's not the most realistic experience, and it does have an impact on CFM because there's no real reason to worry about depth on your offensive line.

Aside from the system overhaul, Madden 18 should include a weekly designation system where players are listed as either out, doubtful, questionable, probable or healthy. Throughout the week -- perhaps in a mode where we sim not on a weekly basis but day-by-day throughout the week -- an injury status can be updated, and could even improve or regress as you creep closer to kickoff.

2. Expand Game Planning, Coordinators And Coaching Staff

I actually really like the new game planning features in Madden 17 as they are a nice blend of "important but not overwhelming." Where I could see Madden 18 expanding on this would be in the depth of information being delivered, and by whom that information is delivered.

As I mentioned above, having a day-to-day sim instead of a weekly sim would not only allow for some streaming of information about injuries, but also in regards to game planning.

Let's say that on Monday, a day when NFL teams typically meet to review film on the previous week's game, your quarterback's coach may come into your office (think NBA 2K) and say, "I noticed on the game tape that Romo was favoring his ankle towards the end of the game, coach. I think he might be hiding an injury."

This would then prompt you with a decision to either confront Tony Romo, risking upsetting him (personality traits, please!), or you could take your chances with what may or may not be an increased injury risk, but leaving Romo's respect for you intact.

However, the real focus on expanding game planning would come later in the week when you receive a game planning report from both your offensive and defensive coordinator -- people who should be actual characters in CFM.

These reports would deliver information such as your opponent starting a rookie backup at right tackle and how that can be exploited in your defensive game plan.

Your offensive coordinator might then tell you that your opponent's top two cornerbacks are out this week, and that you should focus on exposing their depth in the defensive backfield by running multiple receiver sets.

There are many options that can be worked in, especially if we see a reincarnation of EA's Head Coach daily sim schedule that even had travel days schedule for Fridays. Do you give your team free time on the flight, or are you having another film session mid-flight?

3. Worthy News Coverage

The news section is probably the biggest eye sore in the entire Madden 18 CFM experience. The news screen is something I don't even click on anymore because all it looks like to me is a bad dating site with a bunch of profile pictures and one-liners.

Instead, let's see a weekly highlight show showing us actual game action from all 16 games around the league. Show me top plays, top performers, box scores for every game, playoff pictures, previews of the upcoming draft and drama around the league (another perk that could work well in using a daily sim schedule and player personalities).

During the week, let's hear the radio show that Madden used to have, and could update even on a daily basis as new stories are being developed through the week.

For a league with 32 humans, allow for members of the league to make their own shows streamed straight from YouTube.

4. More Substitution Options

Madden 17 patched in formation subs this year, an answer to one of the community's biggest wishes. Now, let's take it a step further by allowing for more options such as:

Play percentages (instead of formation subs)
Positional matchup locks such as locking your CB1 on their WR1 no matter where he lines up.
Make the system smart too -- it should know the difference between a preseason game and a playoff game where you or the AI are more likely to start that injured superstar.

5. Expanded Stats -- That Aren't Broken

While I'm one of the first to stand up and say Madden 17 is a great game this year, I'm disappointed to see so many errors still existing in the way their stats are being calculated. Some of these include:

Fumble recoveries being counted as doubled in simulated games (accurate on the player screen, doubled in the team stats screen).
Kicker (and punter?) stats not showing up from played games.
Kickoff stats not being recorded if you use your punter on kickoffs.
Simulated games still thinking the kickoff line is the 30-yard line (only about 25 percent of simulated kickoffs are touchbacks).
"Thrown At" and a handful of deeper statistics simply not being tracked in played games.

So after the stat tracking gets cleaned up, Madden 18 should focus on adding to their statistical analysis. Here are some examples that could all be tied into ratings, even awareness for user-controlled players:

-Quarterbacks: Great/bad throws,stats broken down by a throw's distance, red zone stats, comebacks/two-minute offense stats, QBR stats

-Running Backs: Created runs and missed holes by running backs

-Receivers: Catch percentage (catches divided by targets), bad routes, great catches

-Offensive Linemen: Sack percentage (sacks divided by pass play participation), run blocking success percentage (successful blocks divided by opportunities)

-Defensive Linemen: Pass rush percentage including knockdowns, hurried throws, blocked passes, sacks (Number of pass rushing stats generated divided by pass play participation), rushing yards against runs to their gap

-Linebackers: Tackle percentages (number of tackles divided by participated plays), pass rush percentage (see: defensive linemen), pass defense percentage (see: defensive backs), out of position, missed tackles

-Defensive Backs: Passes defensed percentage (catches allowed divided by participated pass plays), big plays allowed, out of position

So what do you think of these potential additions to Madden 18's Connected Franchise mode? What else would you like to see the Madden team work on for next year to enhance Connected Franchise mode?

You can follow Mike Lowe on Twitter @mikelowe_OS and on YouTube.

Member Comments

# 21 goillini03 @ 09/20/16 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsfan1993


	Historical Context I have no idea who won the Super Bowl in 2018. No idea who was ROY in 2020. No clue what player stats were in previous years.

Thank you. This is sorely lacking in Madden. True stories are needed to get me to play multiple seasons.

# 22 fballturkey @ 09/20/16 03:44 PM

The list is fine but I would put a scouting overhaul above all of it. The current system is neither realistic nor fun.

# 23 jbrock11 @ 09/20/16 04:07 PM

This is the first Madden I actually bought since 2012 and it must have been really terrible these past couple of years for people to say this is the "best Madden ever" to me it was one of the worst as far as the franchise mode is concerned. The menu is just completely useless. Can't even see your teams record on the main page. Have to go searching through miles of menus just to find some content that wasn't even worth the time looking for it in the first place. I literally spent maybe 3-4 hours playing this and had to quit.

# 24 Swauny Jones @ 09/20/16 04:25 PM

Despite all of that can we just get the dang Companion App already for our online franchises?

# 25 T4VERTS @ 09/20/16 05:39 PM

The first two I think are already in the pipeline and it's more of a when than if.

The injury thing is something I have spoke to multiple developers about and it's much more complex than you'd think. It will be a substantial investment and it tends to be a tough sell when allocating development time (which is a finite resource). I think we will get it, but not sure when and how exactly it would work.

When I spoke with Jon he mentioned wanting to expand the roles of coordinators and such, but didn't want to half bake. I think when we see this added it will be an in depth experience, so expect this one to be a back of the box feature in the next Madden or two.

# 26 edgevoice @ 09/20/16 05:46 PM

Thanks for your article Mike. Good ideas. In my humble opinion, the Play Call Screen needs a complete overhaul. Imagine my disappointment when I actually took the time to implement a game plan with my custom playbook, only to see I was allowed a mere 6 Strategy Picks. Madden 12 had it right regarding this feature. So much emphasis was placed on gameplan this year. However, it was very poorly implemented, which is disappointing since they got so much else right.

# 27 BleedGreen710 @ 09/20/16 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsfan1993


	No clue what player stats were in previous years.

if you go to a players card you can select to view previous years stats

# 28 patsfan1993 @ 09/20/16 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BleedGreen710


	if you go to a players card you can select to view previous years stats

Thanks. No clue how I forgot about that

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

# 29 BigOrangeVol4Life @ 09/20/16 08:54 PM

I would like to see offensive and defensive coordinators in the game as well as QB, RB, WR, D-line, LB, secondary, and special teams coaches in the game. It would be cool to have their ratings fluctuate from their performance and see promotions and firings over a course of multiple CFM seasons. For example, New England's offensive coordinator leads a top 5 offense for 3 seasons in a row. The Titans fire their head coach and hire New England's offensive coordinator to replace him and he brings a lot of concepts on offense that he used with the Patriots. You would then see maybe the Patriots promote their WR coach to take over their offensive coordinator duties. You would see a lot of shuffling with new coaches hiring former assistants they worked alongside at their previous stops, etc.

Also, I think all head coaches, coordinators, and assistant coaches should be able to be edited. A perfect example is New England's generic head coach in Madden 17. You should be able to edit his name and appearance to match real-life coach Bill Belichick.

# 30 The Senator @ 09/20/16 10:06 PM

I love all five of those in the topic. I'd add these:

1) Allow us to turn off salary cap in roster edit
2) Fully editable and movable coaches and coordinators: let me edit them, and switch coaches from team to team.
3) NO MORE XP: I want a better, more realistic progression/regression system

# 31 jfsolo @ 09/21/16 01:27 AM

I would replace expanded stats with better commentary for CFM.

The names of new players who come into the league need to be pronounced.

Don't talk about things that happen years ago as if it is happening in the present.

Stop using in game commentary as a teaching tool for new players. Leave that stuff for practice and training modes.

The analysis of the previous drives and the overlays comparing the earlier passing and running stats with the most recent ones are often wildly off base.

Get rid of the personal anecdotes and replace them with comments about the game. Hearing comments about how good the pass protection has been this game or how a team has blitzed on a third of the snaps is better than hearing the same stories literally every game.

# 32 msdm27 @ 09/21/16 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T4VERTS


	The first two I think are already in the pipeline and it's more of a when than if. The injury thing is something I have spoke to multiple developers about and it's much more complex than you'd think. It will be a substantial investment and it tends to be a tough sell when allocating development time (which is a finite resource). I think we will get it, but not sure when and how exactly it would work. When I spoke with Jon he mentioned wanting to expand the roles of coordinators and such, but didn't want to half bake. I think when we see this added it will be an in depth experience, so expect this one to be a back of the box feature in the next Madden or two.

The bold bothers me to no end!

It's like Madden gets to have it both ways:

This year:
Why is feature X not in the game? - We don't want to half bake it

Next year:
Why is feature X just recently put in the game not working as the real nfl or why is it so bugged? - Hey, we just installed that feature, so we're building a foundation for it, we can expand upon it.

Rinse, wash, repeat!

People can say what they want about finite resources but the real problem is those resources that are allocated are not used properly. Take practice squad for example, so many years saying if it made it in, it would be fully fleshed; then we finally get it in and.....

For starters one cannot recreate a real-life practice squad, and the AI logic for it beyond flawwwwwwwed.

And if we wanna talk about selling things to EA's biggest scapegoat (marketing), wouldn't "Big decisions" (LOLOLOL) be the perfect timing to approach marketing about overhauling the injury system? Nah, let's just create a new UI for it and call it day.

"But hey, players can come back early from injury!" - Yeah, at the cost of a ridiculous amount of attributes that makes ZERO sense. Player A is 1 week away from returning, do you want to play him? if you do, he will have -15 SPD, -10 THP and -10THA whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... How is dat dude just one week away from returning?

To get back to the article and not rant too much, I believe the biggest change needed for CFM in M18 is..... TESTING!
Just test the mode, just one time, before releasing it. Please!

It is really frustrating to get a mode that is filled with bugs (IR-bug anyone?) and poor AI logic EVERY SINGLE YEAR!

# 33 Kentaurus @ 09/21/16 03:51 AM

Love the list, there are some things missing, some things I'd like perhaps tweaked from your options, and one thing that should blend several of the things mentioned both by the post and comments together.

1: When showing the personnel of the opposing offense, put the player numbers on the screen. The NCAA franchise did this for years. Picking your defense against the Patriots with Blount on the field or Lewis makes a difference. (Okay this goes far wider than CFM).

2: Coordinators/Staff - Head Coaches virtually always have control of their coordinators and staff, expanding the game to include this would be greatly beneficial. These new staff positions could give boosts similar to the gameplan boosts, but over a larger array of plays.

3: Progression - Progression is still a problem, it is getting better, but still bad. First off, I hate this RPG style player building, would much rather see a structured style where players improve naturally. This should even tie into the previously mentioned coordinators where they should skew improvement towards the style of their respective coach. You can mix in some RPG style system as well with dedicated training of players and XP from goals.
If you are not going to switch away from the XP based system, the first change is all players should get XP from practice, then perhaps a position group gets bonus XP because you gave them some specific attention, and lastly a few young players like now get 1 on 1 time.

4: Regression - As others have said this also needs adjusted, it needs to feel more random not just arbitrary everyone loses at 29. And regressions shouldn't be on a linear scale, for example speed is the biggest issue, while players certainly lose speed it isn't something that just continues to rapidly decline, it again plateaus. Other attributes like strength should start falling off until later into careers.

5: Retirement - Following a part on regressions, retirement makes sense. This should be something where the game looks at how many downs a player played during that season, especially for older players. If they were playing a significant portion of a teams downs, they should be far less likely to retire, regardless of age (not saying there shouldn't be some random elements, but not significant). Likewise if they are a free agent or not really getting snaps at an older age (either due to lack of ability or injury) they should be more likely to retire.

6: Goals - Quite simply this whole system needs to change. First it cannot be arbitrary amounts that don't take account for quarter length, accelerated clock, and game speed. Again this goes back towards not liking the XP system very much as well.

7: Scouting - This three attribute scouting is garbage. Often you get back information you may not care about, while never getting an idea of a specific attribute you might value (other than it is worse than the three scouted attributes). For example if I run a Tampa 2 defense, and want to find a good linebacker, getting back that a guy is B+ Tackle, B Pursuit, B Hit Power, doesn't help me any, I want to know if he can cover zone. I should be able to specifically find that information out. I'd love to go back to the old system (though keep the scouting combine and remove the spending of points for combine based attributes).
Additionally, at the start of the season, we should be able to see base grades for physical attributes. Even if you don't know specifics you can still see if a guy is fast or slow, strong or weak. (Give us like the A-, B+, C grades for spd, str, agi, acc, jmp ... or even just A,B,C) some concept of their physical ability should be known before you get too deep into scouting.

Injuries: This year was a nice step in the right direction now take the system you have in place, add a significant amount of "lingering" type injuries where players may play with -1 or -2 to a few attributes based on the injury, and are not at risk for further injury, but still may take several weeks to heal fully, especially if they play through the injury rather than rest.

Reiteration:
Like Sir Psycho mentioned, you should not see full player ratings until after the draft is over. Ideally even they should only start unlocking as you progress through the preseason.

# 34 tyler28 @ 09/21/16 09:23 AM

i know its a small thing but it bugs me , please put in what teams players play for each year under their stat card. I hate how it just says the year and no team!

Also get auto subs to work , my game freezes everytime i go into that option therefore i cant use it.

# 35 thudias @ 09/21/16 12:09 PM

How about something as simple as setting the gameday active roster?

# 36 thudias @ 09/21/16 12:11 PM

Oh i almost forgot... A real draft board where i can stack my incoming rookies for the upcoming draft.. Make it easier to trade when the CPU is on the clock during the draft.

# 37 charter04 @ 09/21/16 12:14 PM

Good list. So much can and should be added to make Franchise mode great. I hope Mr. John White can make it happen

# 38 raindle23 @ 09/21/16 12:23 PM

Really them just looking back on NFL head coach 09 and taking those concepts and putting them into madden. Which I belite should've been how CFM should've always been.

# 39 redsox4evur @ 09/21/16 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maafla1


	I would like to see players who start the year on the suspended list NOT be available until the suspension is over. Or, in the alternative, the ability to designate players to the suspended list so when you play Franchise mode you can't use Tom Brady or Josh Gordon, for example, until the suspension is over.

Yea the NFLPA will NEVER allow that.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 40 DeuceDouglas @ 09/21/16 01:46 PM

The biggest needs IMO are life/immersion and just opening up the mode itself to be less restrictive.

Everything about CFM feels so contrived and lifeless which results in it still feeling more like a bundle of 16 play now games instead of a true franchise mode. I'm not a fan of the color-by-numbers approach they're taking and I think it really detracts from the experience as well. IMO they should focus on adding realistic aspects of team management above all else before they even start trying to create more of their own ideas. There's enough things that an NFL team goes through during a given week that there really shouldn't be a need for something like "Big Decisions."

And to add to that, I feel like the mode is unnecessarily restrictive in a lot of areas like the practice squad, re-signing players, signing free agents, and like it's been mentioned here, scouting. Take the handcuffs off and try to let the mode blossom. The restrictive nature at virtually every turn is something that is always going to hold the mode back from what it could and should be.

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