Looking Forward to FIFA 2011: a Bifurcated World that Needs to be Joined! - southernbelle's Blog

southernbelle's Blog

Looking Forward to FIFA 2011: a Bifurcated World that Needs to be Joined!

Posted on November 25, 2009 at 08:29 AM.

So, we footballers have had a good amount of time with this year�s annual version of FIFA 2010. The game has received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. And the game continues to be one of the top sellers: after 7 weeks in the market, it has maintained the number 3 ranking for sales. This very forum gave the game 9 out of 10. So, things couldn't be better with the State of EA FIFA, right?

Not so fast...

While online players rave and play... Offline players have had an extremely frustrating experience with FIFA 2010. When I say "offline" I mean particularly Manager Mode, which is FIFA's version of Dynasty/Franchise. Since EA FIFA has created a next-gen product, offline players have had to suffer through quite a bit. 2007-2008 offline modes were clear ports of the current gen version with much left out as the current gen actually developed. The 2009 version was virtually unplayable with issues ranging from freezing, scheduling conflicts (double headers in football??), and ridiculous CPU team management AI (signing of star players only to have them ride the pine).

So, what did offline supporters do - they went to the Blogs! And EA listened... or so we thought. After months of community interaction, EA touted a new FIFA manager mode that claimed to have 50 improvements (it's on the box!). Marcel Kuhn, the manager mode lead developer, went on the offensive, talking to the community, writing blogs, and answering questions. Marcel painted the picture of a new, robust manager mode that seemed to answer all the critics. Injuries were fixed! Transfers were more realistic! Team budgets would be more dynamic! Player progression would be nuanced and more realistic! "Total immersion" was thrown around. Needless to say, the community was ecstatic!

Then, the game hit the shelves. And players started to notice bugs. One particular blogger created a list of 63 bugs in Manager Mode! And EA went silent. Most of the things touted were not fixed, and the new concepts did not work. Many people complained the mode to be "broke" again. I do not see it this way - I believe Manager Mode has huge issues, but it is much more playable, mainly because of scheduling and the ability to edit CPU team tactics/line-ups every game.

But, the point of this is to think about the two critical points I have highlighted: huge sales for FIFA 2010 and a deeply disappointed manager mode community. The conclusion must be that game play (which is amazing) and online modes drive current sales. I believe that Manager Mode will only get the attention it deserves once EA decides to join the bifurcated world and create an online manager mode (like NCAA and Madden). And why should they spend tons of money on a mode (offline manager mode) that does not appear to drive sales?

Thoughts?