Roller Derby. It’s “the
sport that is sweeping the nation” (according to a roller-derby website I
clicked on as I desperately searched for some kind of information whilst
researching the sport for this article). In reality it’s a niche sport, with a
relatively small, if dedicated fan-base in the UK.
On paper, it sounds great.
Teams of five race against each other in a circuit, with one
from each (the ‘jammers’) attempting to lap the other team to gain points. The
other four (blockers) have to stop the opposition’s jammer with a mixture of
tactical skating and body contact.
An all-female contact sport played on skates, with an
emphasis on action – what’s not to like? But is it really “sweeping the
nation”?
Since its modern revival in the early 2000’s in Texas, it
has gained some ground. In 2013, the BBC reported that it was “the fastest
growing women’s sport in Wales”, which sounds impressive, but actually means
they went from just four teams in 2010 to twelve teams three years later.
Not exactly giant strides, but it’s definitely progress.
It’s also reflected in changing attitudes to the competition itself, as it was
officially recognised as a ‘roller discipline’ by The British Roller Sports
Federation (BSRF) in 2011.
The sport has suffered from issues with funding, as well as
the logistical problems of finding somewhere large enough to host games, given
the large size of the racing area and the wear and tear that skates can do to
the flooring, often leaving venues wary of hosting games or training.
A bid to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games was also
made, and whilst it was declined, it does show the progress the sport is making
globally, despite a lack of media attention and funding in the UK.
If it continues to grow in popularity, they can’t keep it
off the agenda forever.
First off, I want to say that
FIFA is fundamentally a fun game.
It’s great to have a session with friends, or even online,
when the EA servers are working, and I still play it nearly every day.
The problem is, EA keep aiming for the bare minimum when
they release the yearly update, and it seems to be because of the massive
amounts of money they can milk from the Ultimate Team mode, and it’s killing
the franchise slowly.
In theory, Ultimate Team is a great idea. Pick a squad of 11
from any (current) players in the world, and play against other teams, either
online or offline. When you add in the chemistry links, which give players
boosts based on nationality and their current club, it gives a tactical edge,
and it should help to balance the game out.
But the way in which you obtain
players is incredibly unfair. You can either buy packs with coins earned from
games, which randomly generate players and items for your club, or you can buy
or sell direct from the in-game transfer market. On its own it seems fair
enough.
Alternatively, you can pay real-money for ‘FIFA Points’ to
fund your search for players. I’ve opened so many packs over the years, and
you’re probably best off using the transfer market directly. Despite what some
videos might tell you, it’s really unlikely you’ll pack somebody like Ibra or
Messi. The best I’ve had over the years is Yaya Toure, and I actually spent
FIFA points to get him.
My point is, people are willing to spend money to fast-track
their team’s progress, but it’ll probably take an obscene amount of money/time
to do so.
In the past, some people would
turn to coin-sellers, as it always worked out much cheaper when compared to the
traditional gold pack, which costs either 5000 or 7500 coins for a slightly
better variation.
EA have since been cracking down on the illegal coin
selling. FUT producer Marcel Kuhn had this to say:
FHN: What
would you say to someone who buys coins because they think it offers better
value for money compared to buying packs?
MK:What would I say? That it's not
legal, that it's against the terms of service and that if we catch you doing
that we'll ban you, so consider if it's worth losing out on the fun of playing
FUT just to fast track a little bit.
Note how he completely disregarded the issue. It’s not about
fast-tracking. It’s the fact that it works out so much cheaper to buy coins
from anyone other than EA. EA love the Ultimate team revenue stream, and not
just because it rhymes. They want their money, and they’ll actively ban you if
you refuse to pay.
Another interesting issue is the
contract situation. You have to buy contracts for your team and with the
cheapest gold usually going for 200-300 coins, it can cost more than your
entire match bonus.
It could be considered as another aspect to juggle, but it’s really
more useful as a tool to keep players investing real money into the app, or
wasting valuable coins on contracts.
But when you only earn 500 (more often less) coins per
match, it’s a tough slog, which could take 10 matches to achieve. The game is
also plagued with connection issues, which lower the coin numbers from matches
even further depending on your Did Not Finish (DNF) rate, which is often out of
your control.
But what about the actual
gameplay? Goalkeepers veer from erratic to superhuman, and the refereeing is
for the most part a joke. Penalties are given way too often for the slightest
of touches, and the advantage system doesn’t even work properly most of the
time.
Every match tends to start with a glitchy attempt to run
through my team as my defence mills around, both static and stupid. Pace is
stupidly overpowered, and headers have been nerfed. (Unfortunately for Andy
Carroll.)
With 1000’s of players to choose
from, most gamers probably use less than 100 in their lifetime. You end up
playing back-to-back games against the same old XI’s with the same old players.
Aguero up front again? Or if they’re poor and sweaty make that Ibarbo.
Who would honestly have Ibarbo in their real-life ‘Ultimate Team’? Of all the players in
all the world, Ibarbo comes up time and again. (Obviously his relative
cheapness, four star skills and 91 pace make his virtual counterpart pretty OP.)
Most of the time team selection isn’t through choice. People
have to fight fire with fire. In FIFA 15 that usually translates to pacey
skillers, scoring from that tight angle close to goal that the keeper would
most probably have covered in real life. Nobody wants to be on the receiving end
of an ‘I can’t hear you celebration’ + watching the goal replay three times like
many griefer’s seem to love, especially with the crazy amount of last minute
goals that always seem to be conceded.
Strangely, I also regularly score in the 69th minute
specifically. (No, not with John Terry.) It’s possible I only remember because
of the connotations of the number, but it often happens twice in a row in
hard-fought 2-1/1-0 wins.
When FUT does work it can be close to perfection, which is
why most people play, despite the many issues and cash-grabby nature.
FUT may have been mediocre when
it first released last year, but the recent introduction of price ranges in an
update has further spoiled the game for many players. The price ranges mean
that all players now have a min/max price at auction. I used to buy loads of
gold players for 400 and insta-sell them for 650, but obviously that’s now
impossible.
It means there are some bargains
on the market for the average player, but the best players are still
incredibly overpriced. While the likes of Rooney and Costa can now be bought
for roughly 9k and 17k respectively on PS4, Messi still has a minimum price of
4m coins – so most FUT players will never get to use ‘the best players’.
(Having played against a few 98 rated TOTY Messi’s, maybe that isn’t such a bad
thing.)
Instead, Ibarbo gets yet another run out, and most players
languish in the transfer lists at their minimum price.
It was another hypocritical move
introduced to stop coin sellers, but they still offer their services across the
web, at a fraction of the price of EA’s ridiculous FIFA point system.
Nobody is forcing anybody to buy FIFA points, and they can
help people with less spare time upgrade their team. I see how they can be
useful in moderation, but the game shouldn’t be so grindy for people unlucky
with packs.
A couple of weeks ago I came up against a guy playing with
Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand and Terry as the spine of his team. I turned on my
mic and asked him why. I mean, it’s not 2006. He responded;
‘Oh. You know, contacts… And I have no coins.’
I do know.
So, now that EA have introduced price
ranges, what could they do to make the game a little fairer for those unwilling
to part with real money? It’s simple really. Give players more coins for winning
games, or lower the ridiculous prices gold packs. Most people already spent
£40+ at launch, it’s not a free-to-play mobile POS.
Obviously they won’t, because hey, who wants to kill the
golden money-shitting goose? Not EA.
Is buying coins from sites worth the possible insta-ban?
Probably not. But buying FIFA points is definitely never worth the money. If you liked this why not check out my book; Video Games: the Modern A-Z.
