Reaction Has Been Mixed to Madden NFL 16 Connected Franchise News

EA Sports recently revealed a wide range of improvements and additions on the way for Connected Franchise mode in Madden NFL 16. Initial response to the news seemed to be decidedly mixed within the community, with some looking forward to consumer-requests being met, while others find themselves lamenting features still absent or questionable ones that EA seems to have doubled-down on. 

The results of the poll posted early in the week which collected over 2600 votes confirmed those suspicions. Respondents were practically split down the middle.

17% felt that the news was great and had increased their anticipation of the game, yet 26% classified the news as disappointing and their anticipation now having been dampened.

More people though fell in between those two extremes. 34% chose to call it “decent news” while another group that classified themselves as “disappointed” came in at 19%. For them though the information hasn’t changed the way they’re looking forward to, or away from, the product.

The disappointment, or concern, seems to stem primarily from the “goals” system used for progression. It’s being emphasized more this year – going as far as to display goal progress on an in-game ticker. Not only is that likely to influence the way people play and shift even more of the focus to padding stats, but any grumblings about a ticker being utilized in this manner rather than authentically with scores and stats from around the league is legitimate.

EA seemed to target both the hardcore franchise players and a more casual crowd with the work they did on Connected Franchise. The problem is the changes made to appease the latter could end up harming the experience of the former.