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International football organisation, FIFA, is a global phenomenon known worldwide and has bred icons that are idolised across diverse age and cultural groups. If you are a follower of the EA Sports brand you will know these games and what specific rules and guidelines are enforced to ensure the matches run smoothly and are enjoyable for all.
A typical FIFA tournament will involve the best-of-the-best players from the ‘FIFA Ultimate Team’ mode. This is where all the star players (FUT players) are found, ones that have unbeatable stats in line with those on their base cards and remarkable reputations overall.
Participants of the game ultimately purchase FIFA cards for real money which allows them to obtain a random selection of which players in a pack, that can subsequently be in their virtual teams and in online tournaments. Big name players such as Ronaldo, Messi and Gullit are often top choices in the games due to their strong ranking status in real lift. The catch is that the better the player, the lower the percentage change of obtaining these rare players with match-winning stats. This can lead to players spending a lot of money to obtain key players.
However, bagging the best players and filling your team with the strongest contestants may be slightly more difficult from now on.
A change in the way that FIFA players can choose their teams has begun, with restrictions now coming into play to disallow more than two iconic players with card ratings of over 95. This essentially means that playing teams will have to be made up of a range of icon and non-iconic players, including those carrying weaker statistics, in order to level out the playing field and allow for a fairer and more realistic package.
EA Sports have introduced this limitation for the last two qualifiers of the season, the FIFA 19 Global Series Playoffs and the FIFA eWorld Cup. EA explained that as well as only choosing two iconic players with a rating of 95+, game players also can only chose a maximum of two that have a rating between 90-94 and all other players must have a rating below 89 on their base cards.
This new restriction has mixed reviews from current FIFA players and professionals, but with the majority being in favour and supporting the change. The general consensus overall was that the alteration will help make each individual game less predictable and therefore more exciting to watch, rather than the initial worry that all games will lack quality and appeal. It also levels the playing fields in terms of gamer investment which is a massive plus.
Although, as with every change, not everybody is on board with some professional players expressing their doubt and worries about the timing of this new decision, however still claiming that it is a good call overall.
One player in particular, London FIFA Pro, Ryan Pessoa, was a little less than enthusiastic when he took to Twitter and called the move ‘backwards’ and did not approve of how this change will affect players who have heavily invested in the game.
In a tweet Mr Pessoa said: “So let me get this straight. We start the year complaining that P2W players get an advantage in qualifiers, which was very evident @ the START of the year. Players who didn’t heavily invest, spent a lot of time grinding to earn many coins to get a team good enough to compete.” He tried to validate his point calmly but also saying: “We’ve had a long gap between qualifiers so players may have now decided to invest some money to bolster their squad,”.
A valid point perhaps, yet the change is apparently still to go ahead despite these concerns.
As for the future FIFA tournaments and the notorious Weekend League, it could throw a curveball into the mix. Followers, players and pro’s of the game may have to readjust their up and coming teams, rethink and restart their strategies in order to allow the new guidelines to work to their best advantage.