EA Sports FC. (Formerly FIFA).

[JoshBRFC+]

Ended up with a Serie A team. Still struggling to play anywhere near all the games in the Weekend League.

[Bluebird Hewitt]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-06-ea-bans-top-fifa-19-pro-from-competing-after-he-called-a-virtual-card-a-homophobic-slur

Is this really what some of the FIFA community are like?

[RandoEFC+]

This game is close to being really good but there are a few huge flaws with the gameplay.

I played my first weekend league ever this last weekend. Won 12 out of my first 22 games, needed 2 wins in my last 8 to get Gold 3, so obviously I only won one of my last eight and missed out.

One of my issues I now realise was that when you are taking penalties on this game, your player actually looks where you're aiming so the other guy can see where you're going to hit the penalty, I mean seriously? Obviously you can change direction during the run up and try and trick the other guy but I was trying to get the hang of this as I went causing me to lose all four penalty shootouts I ended up in this weekend league.

Another major issue is the AI defending. It's literally amazing how many times you can put in a perfectly timed tackle with a highly rated defender only for the ball to break straight into the path of the attacker whose balance is somehow less affected than your defender despite being the one who was clobbered by an Alderweireld or a Kompany. This means that most people sweaty enough to enter weekend league use the AI defending option, or the secondary press button as I think it's called, because for some reason when your AI controlled defenders win the ball it hardly ever takes a bullshit deflection into the path of the attacker anyway. So basically you get rewarded for not learning how to defend and tackle manually. It's a bit like playing in a competitive racing league on Gran Turismo and players who have all the braking and gearbox assists turned on being rewarded over players who learn to improve their laptime by getting good at doing it manually.

There are other small issues such as the overpowered finesse shots from outside the box and some trick I've read about where you can move your goalkeeper when the other person shoots, I don't know how to do that one, but it all leads to my final conclusion about FIFA, or at least Ultimate Team.

I play FIFA because I enjoy football and I enjoy Ultimate Team for the collecting of cards, opening packs, trying to play the market, completing the puzzles of squad building challenges all alongside the actual playing a football game. I'm also fairly competitive so when I play online I usually get pretty stuck into it, but over the last week or so I've come up against more and more players who can beat me because they can exploit the AI defending, keeper moving, finesse shooting, penalty predicting bullshit better than I can. I've reached a point here where my being bothered about winning or losing pales in comparison to the fact that I simply refuse to stop trying to play something vaguely resembling actual football in order to exploit the game engine and win at all costs, it's just boring and stressful to play that way.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty average player anyway, but the gameplay issues here have killed my enjoyment of the game in the short term. Really wish there was a viable alternative to FIFA to force EA to sort their game out a bit. However, even if they tried you're always going to have meta strategies in the game engine like those I've mentioned that the sweaty, try hard, win at all costs, Ultimate Team community will find and exploit. Just a shame there isn't a greater majority of people who just want to have fun and play it like a relatively normal football game but hey ho.

[JoshBRFC+]

@RandoEFC Have you done the SBC's that require players with loyalty? I think it's a couple of the league and nation one's. Frustrating as there's some decent rewards there.

[RandoEFC+]

28 minutes ago, JOSHBRFC said:

@RandoEFC Have you done the SBC's that require players with loyalty? I think it's a couple of the league and nation one's. Frustrating as there's some decent rewards there.

The hybrid leagues and nations? Yeah the last couple in particular are an absolute nightmare to get done. Took a few weeks of packs from squad battle rewards and stuff to get those completed for me.

[Cicero]

Spurs just bought Aguero. Wtf? And i know this transfer has happened to others in career mode. Shit like this bothers me. 

Still, not as bad as FIFA 17 when United had Lukaku, Dybala, Ibrahimovic, Aubameyang, Lacazette, and Rashford in their squad. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by Cicero

[JoshBRFC+]

9 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

The hybrid leagues and nations? Yeah the last couple in particular are an absolute nightmare to get done. Took a few weeks of packs from squad battle rewards and stuff to get those completed for me.

Yeah. You can quite easily go on something like futbin and look how it’s done and buy the players but then it would mean having to play with them for 10 games. I am building my untradables up I keep taking those rewards through rivals. I want to get them done though. 

[Toinho]

I am angry. Did pre season with Glory. Won the comp. played first game of the season won convincingly - next day sacked. What the fucking shit EA 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Toinho

[Cicero]

9 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Just signed for them on mine, annoys me how many transfers there are in January too. Aguero, Bale and Pique have all moved (that I can remember) which is just insane. 

Annoys me how players that would never really leave do so in FIFA too, as if Pique is going to leave Barcelona for anyone.

Pisses me off how City can batter me yet do so shitty against everyone else. They did the double over me and knocked me out of the FA Cup my first season, yet they finished bloody 3rd 8 points behind Everton 

[JoshBRFC+]

16 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Anyone else bored of Ultimate Team already? Shite servers, obvious match fixing in the weekend league, various game breaking exploits such as the KO glitch and penalties being saved at will. I've gone back to Career Mode and don't intend on coming back, have 11,000 coins but Lionel Messi in my team so can easily build a decent side if ever I want to. 

Nah, enjoying it. I still haven't got anywhere near doing all 30 games. I keep getting 6 wins from about 10 games. The game annoys me at times but not really bored of it.

I'd sell Messi now then if i was you so he doesn't decrease in value like every player gradually will. 

[Cicero]

5 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

Has anyone been getting a glitch where players move positions in game on career mode? 

Put Walcott on the right wing and Gueye in the middle, 30 minutes in and I pause only to find that Gueye is out wide with Walcott in the middle. Not the first time it's happened either... 

@Cicero

Have you changed tactics during the game?? You know, from balanced to attacking or from balanced to defending? Each tactic has its own formation and instructions you can configure in the team management screen. 

For example, in my balance tactic I play a 433 with Hazard on the left and Dybala up top. When I switch to attacking, My team changes to a 4-1-3-2 with Hazard and Dybala up top. 

[Cicero]

5 minutes ago, Cannabis said:

No, it happened twice in the game just now. Came out after half time and James McCarthy had gone to left wing - so weird. 

And now its changed from the menu to KO, Coleman up front, Richarlison left back. A total mess and so weird! 

You sure you are not changing anything during the game? The controls have changed and each tactic comes with changes to the lineup. 

First noticed something was dodgy when I switched to attacking, and Fekir was all of a sudden playing in midfield instead of RW. 

[Toinho]

I’m still doing ultimate team but mostly offline because  I’m building my side as I’ve just created it. Haven’t had great luck out of packs and have picked up Mariano and Gnabry for cheap as fuck on the transfers. I’ve played a few online games and drew my last two against squads far superior to mine. 

Went 3-0 down at half time(wtf) versus some shite in that season challenge thing on world class and won 4-3. Had a whiskey after. 

[RandoEFC+]

I'm still playing Ultimate Team and still have more fun collecting players for the league SBCs and saving coins to get the special cards when they come out than I actually have playing the matches. Still keeps me occupied though.

[Cicero]

Just lost to newly promoted Swansea and Ultimate difficulty made them look like peak Barca for fucks sake. 

Those new to career mode, in ultimate difficulty, if even Accrington Stanley has a clear open attempt, it will 99% be a goal. No matter what keeper you have. If its a volley, you best believe its %100 a goal 

[RandoEFC+]

Ultimate difficulty on fifa is horrible. I know it's probably well beyond what technology can reliably deliver but it would be nice if the top difficulties could be harder because the AI was more intelligent with the ball and decision making rather than just enabling them to do ridiculously unrealistic no look tika taka passes from one end of the pitch to the other while your players suddenly lunge over the ball or miscontrol interceptions so they bounce straight back to the opposition.

[JoshBRFC+]

On 25/11/2018 at 21:21, Cannabis said:

Even offline this game is gash, not kept a clean sheet all season in career mode and I'm in November. Can totally nullify a team then they to all out attack, string about 17 tiki-taka passes from their own goal and bang, 25 yard screamer and it's a goal. 

Such absolute AIDS. Why does PES have to be so shit to not compete with this?!

How can you continue to play a game you get so much dissatisfaction from? 

[Dave]

Been playing this version a lot more than previous versions.

If I'm a top five I seem to be able to beat anybody, even if it's Man United against Man City. Arsenal I struggle with because other than Auba and Lacazette they're slow af. Everybody else I'm having a difficult time of getting to grips with and I think that's partly down to the new shooting system. I played as Brighton against Everton with 28 shots and still lost 1-0.

One team that I think you can beat others with is Bournemouth. They're quick, tenacious and have about 5 or 6 players that are capable of finishing from inside and outside the area.

[Cicero]

Hardest opposition for me are Wolves, Everton, and City. 

Agreed that keeping a clean sheet in Ultimate difficulty is a task. The amount of times I've been beaten near post from a volley is just broken. 

[JoshBRFC+]

Finally got an Icon. The SBC Sol Campbell. 

[Cicero]

Would love to build something like this. 

[Cicero]

No. Took a break from FUT this year for my own health. 

 However, they add Terry to the legends mix, won't be able to control myself to play it and try and recreate a Chelsea legends team. 

[Bluebird Hewitt]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-01-08-fifa-19-youtubers-buying-thousands-of-pounds-worth-of-fut-team-of-the-year-packs-reminds-us-the-odds-are-very-much-against-us

Who's going to wank EA off by buying a shit ton of these?

[RandoEFC+]

9 minutes ago, Bluebird Hewitt said:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-01-08-fifa-19-youtubers-buying-thousands-of-pounds-worth-of-fut-team-of-the-year-packs-reminds-us-the-odds-are-very-much-against-us

Who's going to wank EA off by buying a shit ton of these?

I've just sacked Ultimate Team off, never spent money on it but now that they've been forced to publish the odds for getting special cards in packs, people can calculate how much you have to spend to have a certain chance of getting special cards. During the Champions League team of the group stage promo someone worked out you had to buy about £800 worth of packs to have a FIFTY PERCENT chance of getting one of the team of the group stage cards.

Also saw someone tweet today that they'd spent £3000 on packs in the last two years trying to get a Team of the Year card in January, and never got a single one.

People are literal fucking idiots. It's a marginally better player on a game that's got a different colour card, and it becomes useless as soon as they release the new game in September. Beyond belief the amount of money people spend just for the adrenaline hit of seeing the blue boards pop up that means they've got a special card. Frightening really. Glad I've never spent money on FIFA points.

[Bluebird Hewitt]

42 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I've just sacked Ultimate Team off, never spent money on it but now that they've been forced to publish the odds for getting special cards in packs, people can calculate how much you have to spend to have a certain chance of getting special cards. During the Champions League team of the group stage promo someone worked out you had to buy about £800 worth of packs to have a FIFTY PERCENT chance of getting one of the team of the group stage cards.

Also saw someone tweet today that they'd spent £3000 on packs in the last two years trying to get a Team of the Year card in January, and never got a single one.

People are literal fucking idiots. It's a marginally better player on a game that's got a different colour card, and it becomes useless as soon as they release the new game in September. Beyond belief the amount of money people spend just for the adrenaline hit of seeing the blue boards pop up that means they've got a special card. Frightening really. Glad I've never spent money on FIFA points.

Then people wonder why EA are constantly finding ways to rinse there sheep more.