FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

[mdbussen]

Anybody else played it yet? I downloaded and played it some this morning before the EA servers crashed... Here are my cursory thoughts so far:

+ Great depth of gameplay and customizability - so many players that I have bought 3 bronze packs so far and don't think I recognize any of my players at all! This is the way it should be - it will take a significant investment of time/points before you can acquire any superstars.

+ Lots of trophies and titles to be won - I haven't been able to enter any tournaments yet because you need to build up a certain number of "skill points" - basically your level of experience with the game mode - before you can enter any tournies.

- Some dumb cards - particularly there are special "cheat" type cards that you can get which give your players more speed or strength for 30 min in a match or something like that. I've also heard that there are cards that can give players yellow or red cards too. Seems kind of unnecessary to me so I wish there was a way to turn it off.

- EA servers have to be available for you to even enter the game mode - seems like really poor planning on EAs part. You can't even play offline games or look at your cards if you can't connect to the EA server! Hopefully this will be patched in a later release because right now it is terribly annoying as EA servers are crashing every hour

[greenhorn]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Can’t wait to try this out!

Has anyone else heard that the patch for this mode also brings trophy support for the PS3? I saw this in passing on another site before the mode was released.

Edit: Just had a chance to download the update and it does indeed bring trophy support. Nice!

[FORMULA316]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Downloaded the add-on, downloaded a patch, now what?

I have entered the mode and nothing is happening. I imagine
the EA Servers are at capacity. I have already had to quit to
the dashboard once, trying again to see if I can get this going.

[mdbussen]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Yeah unfortunately there is a problem with the servers at the moment: Link

[stagnant]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Yeah, I tried to get on and play some this morning after the download and could only get as far as naming my team.

I loved this mode in the Champions League game but it had the same issue with having to be connected to the servers. So if you made any changes and you dropped off the server and tried to play the next day you would lose your progress to the last point that you were on the servers. On multiple occasions I lost some major players and it eventually caused me to quit playing.

I personally don't get why you have to be connected to the server. I could care less if it allows people to cheat, I'd rather allow people cheat their way to awesome teams than me losing the progress I've made because their server messed up or my internet connection dropped. Anyone know why you have to be connected to the servers for this mode?

[lnin0]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

You probably have to be connected to the servers so EA can turn it off when they release FIFA10 and make you buy it all over again.

[ak1knight]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

You probably have to be connected to the servers so EA can turn it off when they release FIFA10 and make you buy it all over again.

Didn't you hear? It's not cool to dis EA anymore.

[stagnant]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Just got my first game in after a few unsuccessful attempts to connect with the servers when I got home. I drew 1-1, and I've never heard of any of my players... thats not a problem but the fact that I haev a ton of backs but no subs for my strikers or midfielders sucks.

From what I can tell you don't manually save your progress after each game, it's automatically saved. So unless I can't find the save screen, I guess that means that you have to be connected to the server to save your progress, I just falt out don't understand this... it means that if your internet goes down what ever you do, no matter if it's an online match or against the CPU, it won't get saved. F-ing stupid.

[Lubey]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Got it last night. Glad I got it. Had some server problems today, which is ok cause it let me watch basketball.

I got up to 2 1/2 stars, then in the process of server crashes forgot to extend some of my guys' contracts, but now I'm about back where I was. I'm in the second round of the first online tourney.

Really deep. Lots of players, but also lots of cards I probably won't use (like the in game boosts). I'll probably just use them to get rid of them.

[southernbelle]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

can an OSer please lay out what this is and how this game mode is different.

my undersrtanding is you have to pay to play, collect cards, build you ultiamte squad... is it online/offline? compare it to other modes (manager mode)? sounds mildly interesting.

the main game is just so good!

[FORMULA316]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

can an OSer please lay out what this is and how this game mode is different.

my undersrtanding is you have to pay to play, collect cards, build you ultiamte squad... is it online/offline? compare it to other modes (manager mode)? sounds mildly interesting.

the main game is just so good!

Think of it as an offline & online version of Manager Mode. You
can choose between offline and online games, however you will
eventually have to do both, to accomplish certain offline & online
task, such as winning tournaments.

You start off by choosing your team name, followed by creating
a player. You're given a mixed bag of players, whom you will want
to upgrade very soon. On the field performance gives you credit
to upgrade however I only played a couple of games so I don't
have any player or team cards yet to do anything.

One thing I did not like, and maybe that was interntional by the
developers, I cannot import my custom formations & tactics. So
you are truly building a team from the ground up. Even the type
of formation you choose effects the team's chemistry, so my
favourite 5 - 3 - 2 formation had to be dumped in favour of the
4 - 4 - 2. So far, so good. I recommend downloading the 5-game
trial, and see what you think. Personally, it has added a breath
of fresh air into the mix. Madden would be wise add this as well.

[VitaminKG21]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Think of it as an offline & online version of Manager Mode. You
can choose between offline and online games, however you will
eventually have to do both, to accomplish certain offline & online
task, such as winning tournaments.

You start off by choosing your team name, followed by creating
a player. You're given a mixed bag of players, whom you will want
to upgrade very soon. On the field performance gives you credit
to upgrade however I only played a couple of games so I don't
have any player or team cards yet to do anything.

One thing I did not like, and maybe that was interntional by the
developers, I cannot import my custom formations & tactics. So
you are truly building a team from the ground up. Even the type
of formation you choose effects the team's chemistry, so my
favourite 5 - 3 - 2 formation had to be dumped in favour of the
4 - 4 - 2. So far, so good. I recommend downloading the 5-game
trial, and see what you think. Personally, it has added a breath
of fresh air into the mix. Madden would be wise add this as well.

Too bad it sounds like the whole thin is crumbling around itself with server problems, DL problems and bugs and glitches galore. Not to mention the fact that since people can buy up great teams, playing online is crap because you'll run into guys with 5* teams that they did nothing but shell out cash to get.

How is the offline portion of this mode? I ask because if it's good, that's what I'll play mostly, if not I porbably won't bother even getting it.

[ZenBaller]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Does this new mode support Co-Op ?

[Lubey]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

Man server problems are kicking EA's ***. I understood for the first 24 hours, but we're approaching 2 days of being able to play about 40% of the time.

Last night they changed servers, which was supposed to fix the problem, and it worked for a couple hours and now it's down again.

Great mode. I haven't run into many teams that people just paid cash for. For the few I have I've just backed out and searched for a new opponent.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: FIFA 09 Ultimate Team Release Thread

I loved this mode in UEFA Champions League a few years back, and when I heard this was coming out for FIFA 09 I went out and bought it today just so I could build my Ultimate Team. I am a PES guy, but this mode is so much fun. There is nothing like the rush you get right before you see who is in your pack of cards.