[TMJOHNS18]

CFM has a long ways to go to compete with other sports franchise modes. I feel if it remains CFM (connected) it may never reach that point. The idea of combining player, coach, and gm/owner into a singular mode wasn't a bad idea, but perhaps it lowered the amount of resources available to put into franchise mode, since single changes now effect three modes instead of one.

With the modes being combined it may also limit what changes can be made. We want realistic contracts, better offseason experiences, more complexity overall. But more complexity means much more balancing between the modes, if adding depth to GM/Owner modes causes issues with the player experience, perhaps the changes are delayed or dropped?

I like the small changes made this year to CFM; preseason changes (varied starter play time and only one cut day), better trade balancing (difficult to perfect for any sports game), more automation choices (don't know how auto trades work but 32-team control may become easier this year). Draft board isn't a big change (slightly altered watch list) but being able to rank is a good first step.

I, like others, wish for sweeping changes. Something that makes us go 'WOW', but I don't think it's a realistic approach with the current system of combined modes. Everything has to move in the same direction, so as long as they continue to add and tweak, we are at least moving in the right direction, if only very slowly.

PS - I hate the UI of CFM, but I will gladly suffer through it if that means more time on tweaks. Changing the UI for the sake of changing, and not including features/additional information (expanded stats, historical stats, updated news feed, etc.) is not high on my list.