One of the biggest letdowns in Madden 13, outside of the non-existent import NCAA Football draft class feature, was the inability to use custom playbooks in connected careers mode. It seems the only reason it was left out was simply a lack of time. There is no such excuse with Madden 25 given that they have had an additional year now to develop it.
If EA Sports had to choose only one game mode to allow custom playbooks in, logically it would make the most sense to have custom playbooks in connected careers while leaving the feature out of regular ranked games. In regular ranked games, you have to play with a team that has a playbook built specifically for them. For example, the New England Patriots playbook takes advantage of the Patriots personnel while the formations and plays are, for the most part, realistic to what you’d see the Patriots run on any given Sunday.
That is not the case in connected careers mode. For example, that same Patriots team in a connected careers setting could be completely different 5 years in. Tom Brady and his wide receivers will have retired, you may have drafted a stud running back and have a terrible passing game. All of the sudden, you have an offense that is nothing like the Patriots playbook and doesn’t take advantage of their personnel at all. You may not be able to identify your offense with any specific team’s playbook at this point. This is where a custom playbook in Madden 25 connected careers would come in handy.
To be clear, we are not advocating getting rid of custom playbooks in regular ranked games. Instead we are arguing that it must be included in all games modes that Madden 25 has to offer. Most importantly, though, is connected careers.
The other 2 features that are essential to connected careers, are the ability to change playbooks without retiring your coach and the addition of a practice mode that will allow you to practice with your team more than 1 time per week.
If you agree with these ideas, hit the like, tweet, or +1 button below to show your support!
Completely agree. I didn’t realize that custom playbooks could not be used in CCM.
I was looking for a “project team” to rebuild. I created a Game Face using a picture of Doug Marrone & was going to start a career, sim the first season, retire Chan Gailey & take over with Marrone.
I am a stickler for as much realism as possible. So, I checked my NCAA Football 12 game & the Syracuse offensive sliders & the types of formations in their playbook.
I tried to find a playbook that was would match the Syracuse playbook, but wasn’t satisfied. So, I went back, took note of every formation & play name, then went into “create a playbook” & created the playbook almost exactly as it was in NCAA 12.
However, when I went to start the career, I found I could not import my playbook. I realized I had just wasted my time.
I had to back out & start over after searching for a playbook that would match the Syracuse playbook (as close as possible).
The only one I could find is the Bears playbook. However, it is associated with a power run scheme & Marrone runs a west coast/zone run scheme. So, it doesn’t line up with the offensive “sliders.”
Ugh! This is something that needs to be address in the new release. Also, the scheme thing needs to be tweaked. I like the idea, but if you pick up a player who is not a perfect fit for your scheme, there should be a way for the player to adapt & learn the scheme, based on players awareness attribute.
Man that had to have been so frustrating to put all that time in and then realize that something that you assume would obviously be in the game is not.
This is already in madden 13. Stop getting the fans hyped for something thats been there the whole time. We want CUSTOM PLAYS. We already can put a playbook together with our choice of plays in CCM. Yes creating plays n creating playbooks, two different things.
I’m not sure where you are getting your information but custom playbooks cannot be used in Madden 13 connected careers. They can only be used in ranked games.
I agree with you however that custom plays would also be a welcome addition.