Madden NFL 15 News Post

Madden NFL 15 Connected Franchise Details, Trailer and Screenshots

11:49 AM - August 6, 2014 by CM Hooe

EA Sports released a plethora fresh new details of connected franchise today, with big changes coming to the mode and how it will work this year. You can check out the full details here.

Here are some highlights:

Confidence is new this year, and replaces hot and cold streaks. Really high or really low confidence is going to affect player ratings, all players start at a neutral 50 confidence level.
Game prep will allow you to earn XP or increase player confidence from week to week, allowing you to practically choose whether you are a rah-rah coach or a down to business type of coach.
CPU teams have extensive logic that determines what they work on every week. Bad teams will focus mostly on developing their players, while contenders will focus on confidence first and then earn XP if confidence isn�t an issue.
Free agents now take much more than money into account when deciding to sign with you or not. Playing time, scheme, your coaching prestige and more will be factors.
Draft classes are now random.
Owner Mode is now much more challenging when it comes to making a profit, and teams with older stadiums in smaller markets may be better off building new stadiums or relocating altogether.
You can now sim to points in the season, with an option to actually sim 10 years into the future.
New screen to see how players progress/regress.
Relocations are tuned way down and can be turned off.
You can now fire your head coach during the season.
The simulation engine now includes things like consistency, confidence and development. In Madden 15, young players with great development traits will have slightly better �simmed� stats than normal. This allows great young players to progress quickly and become stars in the league.

What do you think of the additions to the mode this year?

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Member Comments

# 181 TDKing @ 08/06/14 05:09 PM

How about a true coach mode in CFM?

# 182 TurboTitan @ 08/06/14 05:09 PM

Maybe I just missed it, but there doesn't seem to be any mention about the ability to customize/edit anything INSIDE of the franchise, specifically can we edit players or attributes at all? The draft classes are now random......great. Can we edit them?? This is what, I believe, most of the hardcore franchise players were concerned about. Most everything in this "announcement" seems to be inconsequential bits or just adding back what we could do already during the original xbox days. I hope there is more info around the corner!

# 183 StefJoeHalt @ 08/06/14 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba2011


	This isn't my opinion/belief its the judges in the lawsuit. That quote is directly from their ruling. The basis of the lawsuit was that EA used the player likeness and allowed users to edit names, hometowns, appearance etc. The Judges agreed with Sam Kellers claims. The problem EA ran into was not that you did it in the privacy of your home, but that they allowed and enabled you to upload it to the internet for anyone to use and see.

But again EA used player likeness out of box..the opinion of the court was that EA did everything possible to make players as close to real as possible without "naming" the player..the issue isn't that "we" the customer would create this it's that EA did so without compensation..not sure how this would effect custom draft classes..if anything at the MOST they would not allow u to share on EA servers (but again that would have to then stop any file sharing of rosters because if I create a roster Sept 1 with college players etc)..but again this would have no effect on custom draft classes or edits for that matter..

# 184 jeremym480 @ 08/06/14 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fancyclaps


	Huh? For Online Leagues* They took about a million steps forward with draft classes.*

Fixed your post.

The people who want real draft classes or at least the ability to edit draft picks got nadda, zilch, zero, nothing (from the draft classes) - which by my estimation, equals a million steps backwards.

# 185 TheBleedingRed21 @ 08/06/14 05:15 PM

That's not taking step backwards. That's staying still.. Lol

The random draft class is a huge welcome for online leagues, I do agree about sucking for offline but it's sure not going backwards because it wasn't touched.

# 186 fancyclaps @ 08/06/14 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeremym480


	Fixed your post. The people who want real draft classes or at least the ability to edit draft picks got nadda, zilch, zero, nothing (from the draft classes) - which by my estimation, equals a million steps backwards.

I guess so. But Looman said they spent 8 months making sure that realistic attributes/ratings are given to the draft classes based on position and round.

# 187 jeremym480 @ 08/06/14 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBleedingRed21


	That's not taking step backwards. That's staying still.. Lol The random draft class is a huge welcome for online leagues, I do agree about sucking for offline but it's sure not going backwards because it wasn't touched.

Except we lost NCAA, so we lost draft classes which was the last avenue we had to draft real college players. They should have added the option to edit drafted players if we want. Instead they did like Sony did EA Access program and made the decision for us. Sad.

# 188 RocketTMac1 @ 08/06/14 05:21 PM

I may be stupid for asking this question but you can control all teams like last year right as the owner?

Also does confidence go down when you sub out guys during the preseason? I don't want Romo playing more than two series the first couple of games. But if he loses massive confidence because I "pulled" him from a preseason game things will get very tricky

# 189 TurboTitan @ 08/06/14 05:32 PM

Not being able to fully edit players and their attributes in an OFFLINE franchise will be a deal breaker to me. It's been proven over and over that the only way to get even close to realistic ratings out of these madden generated draft classes is if we can EDIT the ratings. I just can't think of one good reason for EA to NOT allow us to do this. Just a few years ago one of the trumpeted "additions" to the game was FINALLY being able to adjust any rating, inside of an offline franchise,for any player. This was great. Until it was gone the very next year with no explanation.

This is definitely right up there with there being no formation substitutions made outside of a game that are SAVED from game to game. There cannot be a single valid reason for EA to NOT offer this (it was in NCAA for 10+ years) other than they just do not care, or it causes some game killing glitch.

Lack of FULL player customization in this game is inexcusable. It is seriously the only way to get the game playing realistically, IMO. If RB prospects continue to have,say, a 96 accel rating coupled with a 81 speed rating, there is just no slider setting to make that realistic .

# 190 CT Pitbull @ 08/06/14 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therealsmallville


	Being old, or claiming to be old, doesn't automatically make your post good (nor does it automatically make you a hardcore gamer. My Dad just turned 51, played Pong back when it came out, and still occassionally picks up a game here or there. Just because he's been "gaming" since Pong came out, doesn't mean he's hardcore. Not saying you are one or the other, but dismissing anyone who may agree with you off the bat like that is a terrible way to interact. Having said that, "Season" mode has been gone since at least Madden 06 on the 360 (I can't remember if 05 on Xbox/PS2 had it). This is nothing new. I'm not sure what to tell you...you want the game to mirror the real life NFL season, which I'm assuming means you don't want a team in the game to start a nobody over their long-time incumbent starter because you don't see that in real life. Oh, except when San Francisco gave the job to Kaepernick over Smith based on 2 good games. Or Foles over Vick. Young over Montana? I get not wanting the game to do strange things, but it's amazing how strange things happen in the real NFL every year. Manning putting up only 8 points in Madden is unrealistic! Except when he does it in real life. Turn injuries / trades / etc off, play one season, sell the game I guess. To be on-topic, these changes to CFM sound pretty great. I hope this means we can hire better positional coaches & I hope it also means that we'll see some alternate away uniforms as well. I'd love to play a throwback season with the 49ers' 94 throwbacks, but only the home jersey's are available in M25.

I think your missing my point about "mirroring" the real NFL. Kaepernick starts over Smith fine that's great. that would be a switch I would make in game myself. That's the point. I can still do this in CFM but going from team to team to cut players for 32 teams or make roster moves so the rosters resemble real life is a CHORE.

The only reason why I said that about how long ive been playing madden is because in another thread some one was saying because a bunch of us wanted a barebones season/franchise option that we were ****** gamers which made/makes NO sense. I understand there are older "******" gamers. wanting an easy mode to be able to reflect the real NFL absolutely doesn't make anyone a ****** gamer.

lol..play one season sell the game...you just don't get it so im gonna stop

On the CFM changes I just don't understand why we still cant edit ratings in season. Online ok, I understand, but offline CFM's lack of the ability to edit ratings is ridiculous. They also have to make it easier to control all 32 teams offline. How hard can it be to give the offline guys some options.

# 191 OhMrHanky @ 08/06/14 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CT Pittbull


	I really wish we could just turn off player development, XP/confidence, player cuts, cpu trades, cpu fa signings and play a bare bones franchise if we wanted. Good for everyone who likes relocating to a fictitious stadium and building fictitious players up but im just not one of them. The days of re-creating the REAL NFL season as it goes through the year are over with CFM. Until EA either gives us a season/old school franchise mode back or gives the user the chance to toggle every single one of the off field options off I will be stuck in "play now" land. all this convoluted off-the-field menu porn pushes me further and further away from playing through an NFL year. This CFM really makes it impossible to mirror the real NFL with player movements and depth charts for all 32 teams. I don't know if they changed how easy it is to control all 32 teams this year, but if its anything like it has been im out. I don't have the time to basically create 32 different profiles for every team in the NFL. I just don't have the interest or the time to mess with anything other than playing the game on the field. And for those who may think im a "******" gamer because I cant stand CFM just remember this. I was playing madden before many of you were born. I am happy for those who are happy though.

lol, i don't know, man. I'm not sure what your major gripe is. You can basically ignore most of the stuff and just play games/seasons in CFM as an owner. you don't have to use xp ever if u don't want to, or u can let the cpu fool with it. As to the cpu handling fa correctly, I guess it doesn't, but u still see interesting player movement, and I don't think there's an absolute need to control all 32 teams just to get players on the right teams?
I'm not saying CFM is fantastic, but honestly, I just play the seasons, xp my players once a year, make a few trades, pick up a few fa's along the way and let the cpu do what it do. I did build a new futuristic outdoor stadium for the Dirty Birds as I've hated the Georgia Dome for years, but outside of that, relocation is a part of football, so it needs to be there. Once again, you don't have to use it. So, idk, i think u should be ok with CFM if u let the cpu do anything/everything it can do, and just play the seasons.

# 192 CT Pitbull @ 08/06/14 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OhMrHanky


	lol, i don't know, man. I'm not sure what your major gripe is. You can basically ignore most of the stuff and just play games/seasons in CFM as an owner. you don't have to use xp ever if u don't want to, or u can let the cpu fool with it. As to the cpu handling fa correctly, I guess it doesn't, but u still see interesting player movement, and I don't think there's an absolute need to control all 32 teams just to get players on the right teams? I'm not saying CFM is fantastic, but honestly, I just play the seasons, xp my players once a year, make a few trades, pick up a few fa's along the way and let the cpu do what it do. I did build a new futuristic outdoor stadium for the Dirty Birds as I've hated the Georgia Dome for years, but outside of that, relocation is a part of football, so it needs to be there. Once again, you don't have to use it. So, idk, i think u should be ok with CFM if u let the cpu do anything/everything it can do, and just play the seasons.

My problem is if I let the CPU have any control what so ever the Broncos release Wes Welker after training camp. I just want to play the real games from the real season with the real rosters. NO bs CPU moves/cuts/trades. I don't want to babysit the CPU's braindead football management skills. Maybe this year will be different but I doubt it

# 193 charter04 @ 08/06/14 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboTitan


	Not being able to fully edit players and their attributes in an OFFLINE franchise will be a deal breaker to me. It's been proven over and over that the only way to get even close to realistic ratings out of these madden generated draft classes is if we can EDIT the ratings. I just can't think of one good reason for EA to NOT allow us to do this. Just a few years ago one of the trumpeted "additions" to the game was FINALLY being able to adjust any rating, inside of an offline franchise,for any player. This was great. Until it was gone the very next year with no explanation. This is definitely right up there with there being no formation substitutions made outside of a game that are SAVED from game to game. There cannot be a single valid reason for EA to NOT offer this (it was in NCAA for 10+ years) other than they just do not care, or it causes some game killing glitch. Lack of FULL player customization in this game is inexcusable. It is seriously the only way to get the game playing realistically, IMO. If RB prospects continue to have,say, a 96 accel rating coupled with a 81 speed rating, there is just no slider setting to make that realistic .

I want editable classes and the ability to edit players in CCM/CFM to but, they didn't take that out in Madden 13 with "no explanation". It was because of CFM. Because it was all one mode and built to work the same online and offline. I'm not saying it's a legit reason but, there was a reason.

# 194 BobbyColtrane @ 08/06/14 06:17 PM

I just can't stand the direction this game has gone in. Really wanted custom draft classes.

I want to play with real rookies. And I really hate the XP stuff, this is not a role playing game.

# 195 charter04 @ 08/06/14 06:20 PM

A lot us want more ability to edit CFM. I don't think Madden will ever make another fully customizable game. There are two reasons for this. IMO

1. Modding makes them look bad. Mods have made Madden 08 for PC a better game than EA actually released. Even in NCAA modding makes gameplay better through rating edits and even changing under the hood stuff. If we could really make accurate rosters that made gameplay better that could be used in CFM with editable draft classes it might take attention away from the roster guys at EA.

2. They want us to buy the next game. If we could fix stuff on our own we wouldn't need them to fix it for us.

These are just my opinion. I'm going to go ahead and just enjoy the game and accept that Madden won't ever be a customizable game like it used to be.

# 196 Indyboy180 @ 08/06/14 06:21 PM

As others have asked, I'm wondering if we can play the Pro Bowl or if its just a visual treat. Because the game between Team Marshall and Team Rod (Ram Rod) looks great.

I kinda miss the Pro Bowl in Madden...

# 197 Cavicchi @ 08/06/14 06:35 PM

Can we choose our own team captains?

# 198 DeuceDouglas @ 08/06/14 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indyboy180


	As others have asked, I'm wondering if we can play the Pro Bowl or if its just a visual treat. Because the game between Team Marshall and Team Rod (Ram Rod) looks great. I kinda miss the Pro Bowl in Madden...

The way he talked about it in the video made it seem like it definitely wasn't playable. Which kind of defeats the entire purpose of changing the structure of it.

# 199 Indyboy180 @ 08/06/14 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas


	The way he talked about it in the video made it seem like it definitely wasn't playable. Which kind of defeats the entire purpose of changing the structure of it.

Guess I was right. Visual treat.

*sigh*

# 200 Grey_Osprey @ 08/06/14 06:40 PM

Don't get me wrong, it all sounds great, and I hope it works properly, but when the very first thing they tout is Game Prep and Confidence and it is followed by the statement "...The biggest change to Madden NFL 15�s Connected Franchise are the additions of Game Prep and Confidence...", then I can't help but worry that a lot of other things went untouched.

Things, such as, improved CPU AI - roster management/drafting, auto-subs, formation subs, schemes working properly, improved/revamped scouting, explanation of sliders, less cumbersome 32 team control, etc. If none of these things were touched, especially CPU AI, then these new improvements become nothing but eye candy when the same 'ol poor logic hapens.

And if "I" (whoever that is) had 8 months to spend learning/redesigning relocation uniforms, then they should have had time to address these other issues.

Rex had me sold; Looman, not so much. I'll be wait for OS reviews.

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