A second post-release patch for Madden NFL 13 is set to arrive on October 16 and it is a truly significant one. The first patch for the game delivered a few improvements while another server-side update added Fantasy Drafts.

This upcoming patch is bringing with it some tremendous improvements and additions. Along with lacking Fantasy Drafts the initial backlash towards Connected Careers mode had primarily to do with the inability to edit players and that functionality is being added in the patch. Also included are custom rosters for use at the start of a Connected Career, Coach Mode, and offline Connected Career co-op. EA Sports has pretty much now nailed returning everything that vocal detractors were upset over previously.

In addition adjustments to areas such as practice XP and frequency of dropped passes on All-Madden difficulty have been made. Individual player celebrations should begin triggering, Accelerated Clock will work in online Connected Career head-to-head games, and there is even much more to look forward to.

Continue on for the extensive list of new features, improvements, and fixes coming to Madden NFL 13 in the next patch and leave your thoughts in the comments!

Feature Additions

•Custom Rosters Offline: Added the ability to start an offline career with a custom roster.

•Connected Careers Edit Player: Added the ability to edit gear and information for players in a league.

•Coach Mode in Connected Careers: Added the ability to use coach mode in Connected Careers.

•Changing Schemes in Connected Careers: Added the ability to change offensive and defensive schemes as a coach.

•Offline Play Along in Connected Careers: Added the ability for multiple people to join a CCM game. This applies to coaches only.

•Draft Clock: Added a draft clock during the draft that is displayed on screen if you leave the draft interface to view rosters, depth charts, etc.

•Draft Filter: Added a filter to the draft screen to display players that have been drafted.

•Connected Careers Practice XP: Added the ability for user controlled players to earn extra XP in practice mode through the stats they accumulate.

Gameplay Tuning

•Fixed an issue where WRs were dropping too many passes when playing on All Madden difficulty setting.

•Fixed an issue where it was too easy to time the kick meter on FGs and PATs in user vs. user games.

•Fixed an issue where punt returners were moving away from the landing spot if you called a fair catch while letting the CPU control the player.

•Fixed an issue where someone who attempted to bull rush with the R stick once the ball was snapped activated run commit.

Commentary

•Added over a dozen logic fixes to make our commentary more intelligent.

Presentation

•Fixed an issue where specific offensive player celebrations were not triggering.

•Fixed an issue where the referee was backwards when calling a penalty.

•Fixed an issue with the Giants away uniforms (missing a sleeve stripe).

Connected Careers

•Fixed an issue where Offline Gameplay AI/Logic did not match the logic in Play Now.

•Fixed an issue where playing the game on All-Madden is too easy.

•Fixed an issue where changing the camera setting in CCM game works for single player.

•Fixed an issue where League Sliders had limited impact on difficulty.

•Fixed an issue where the Accelerated Clock did not function in an online CCM game when the option was set to On.

•Fixed an issue where you could not turn on/off GameFlow in CCM.

•Fixed an issue where you were unable to sign Free Agents during the season.

•Fixed an issue where ‘Starting a League’ would reset Player Schemes.

•Fixed an issue where after declining a trade offer, you are no longer able to accept or decline another offer.

•Fixed an issue where you could exploit supersim to run the game clock indefinitely.

•Fixed some spelling and polish issues in the News and Twitter.

•Fixed an issue where a coach could make a contract offer to a user controlled player.

•Fixed an issue where you are forced to select a throwing style for a created player that is not a QB.

•Fixed an issue where turning Auto-Start to off does not save week to week.

•Fixed an issue where you can see rookie overall ratings by accessing the player card of the prospect through Team Needs.

•Fixed an issue where changing Auto-Sub Frequency does not change the correct data.

•Fixed an issue where the profanity filter was preventing offline players from typing in their names.

•Fixed an issue where you can draft a player and then trade down while the draft is paused. The issue resulted in the user keeping both the traded picks and drafted player.

Stability

•Fixed numerous crashes.

•Fixed an issue with the in-game pause menu disappearing.

Madden Ultimate Team

•Changed the Packs button to Store Button.

•Condensed Leaderboards and Help menus.

•Implemented the ability to view videos from the hub.

•Implemented Store Panel Changes.

•Moved Auctions/Trades to a separate menu option.

•Fixed several Solo Challenge exploits

Playbooks

•Fixed an issue where the Hail Mary formation in a custom playbook had a blank play that resulted in a broken formation and invisible players if selected.