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Re: FIFA 09: 10 v 10 Online Team Play Details (IGN)
FIFA 09: 10 v 10 Online Team Play Details
The way online sports games were meant to be played.
by Nate Ahearn
September 8, 2008 - With NHL 09 finally making the jump to true online sports competition with multiple players playing the roles of every athlete on the court, pitch or field, don't be surprised if every sports game on the planet follows suit. The latest EA Sports branded franchise to make the jump is FIFA 09 with its 10 v 10 Online Team Play. We recently sat down with David Rutter, Producer on FIFA 09 to find out just how this mode will separate itself from what everyone else bringing to the table.
IGN: NHL 09 was the first game to utilize the individuality of having every player on the rink (pitch in this case) controlled by a human. How does FIFA 09 provide the same experience while providing its own flair for the mode?
David Rutter, Producer: For FIFA 09 there are significantly more human controlled players on the pitch with up to 10 human controlled players on each team. Football is similar in some respects to hockey in that you try to progress up the pitch or ice to score a goal but because of the size of the pitch and the number of players there is a different dynamic at play. In football, the backline is very defense oriented, midfield is about building up the play and creativity and attacking is all about finishing. In hockey players have more divergent roles. You can play that way in Be A Pro: 10 v 10 but your position on the pitch is going to potentially be exploited by a player on the pitch who knows the game. If you want a good buzz in a 10 vs. 10 match you might not necessarily be involved in the action all of the time but for the shorter moments that a real footballer would be in a football match it takes on a whole different level of stress and excitement. When you get your touches at left back, for example, you know you can't fail because you will be letting down nine human players on your team if you make a mistake. Every interaction takes on an exponentially greater significance. If you are in defense and worried about not having much to do, making sure you are marking your man and not drifting away from your position to leave your side vulnerable becomes extremely important. Instead of thinking as an individual you have to play and react as a team.
IGN: Why has it taken FIFA (and every other sports franchise) so long to implement this mode when it seems so logical?
Rutter: Many different reasons but the biggest one is that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have network architecture that is sufficiently mature to allow 20 individuals to play a single game of FIFA 09 at the same time. PlayStation 2 and Xbox weren't powerful enough and the internet didn't have sufficient bandwidth to enable this. And we have had to do a number of technological things like re-broadcasters to enable the level of service in our mode to allow this to be a compelling experience.
IGN: I understand there's some kind of divisional promotions that clubs can earn. It sounds a bit complicated. Can you explain how it will work a bit?
Rutter: We expect a lot of people will want to participate in FIFA 09 Clubs so we have set up 15 divisions each comprised of 100 Clubs. When you begin you are unranked in any of the 15 divisions. The more wins you get, the better your team plays and the more games you play the faster you will climb up the ranks progressing from Division 15 to ultimately the highest Division 1. However, it is not based solely on winning games to accumulate points. We have a complex formula that calculates points based on each individual player's performance on the pitch. So when you have 10 players on the pitch representing your Club each individual performance contributes to the team's point total. Winning teams accumulate points and losing teams have points deducted also based on how their individual players performed.
IGN: I saw that there can be up to 50 players on each club and that the manager can change the team's lineup at any time. Does that mean that if someone isn't performing well on the pitch that the manager can then call in a sub mid-game?
Rutter: The manager can change the make up of his 50 players at any time. So if you don't think a player is any good you can kick him out of you club and invite a player to join your club. So if I don't think you are performing well I can thank you for your contributions to the club, dismiss you and invite another player to join. When it comes to a fixture, the first 10 people to log into our lobby play. As the manager of the club I can suggest positions to my players but I can't force them to play a position. I can only recommend it. So while there is a certain level of control the manager has it will come down to his relationship with the real humans who are playing on his team to get them to behave in the way he wants them to behave. So if you have a club comprised of dedicated and committed gamers in your club who are prepared to take direction then you are going to be more disciplined on and off the pitch and have better success. So as time goes by we expect those teams to rise to the top. The 10 players who begin a game are locked into that game session. So the Manager can make substitutes as would be done in a normal match, but only the club members that started the match can play. So if the captain does a sub, the real world player will switch to that in-coming virtual player. In essence you can make a virtual substitution. Unless of course your player gets a red card and then they will exit the game and have to sit and watch.
IGN: What's the minimum amount of human players required for a game in this new mode?
Rutter: Instead of limiting matches based on the availability of a few club members, a club can play a match as long as 3 members are present on each team. A club can be playing several matches at once based on how many members are available. For players not participating in FIFA 09 Clubs you can play 1 versus 10 but because FIFA 09 Clubs is a club based mode you will need at minimum three human players contributing.
The CPU will control players if you have less than 10 players. If you have less than 10 players, say 7, than each user can choose the option of being fixed to a position or being able to switch between their position and the 3 CPU controlled positions. The key is you have to make this decision before the game and choose to be able to swap between your player and CPU controlled players when you are setting up the game. So some users may choose to remain fixed to their player the entire game while others may choose to be able to swap between their player and the CPU controlled players.
IGN: Can players save replays of themselves and show them to other managers as a type of highlight reel?
Rutter: No at this point but that level of interaction between managers and players is what we aspire to get to in future versions of the game but at this point it is not possible.
IGN: I know that you can bring players from other teams onto your own, but is there anyway to lure them in other than the usual "you'll be the star of our team"?
Rutter: We have a scouting board that all managers can look at rank the top 100 forwards, midfielders, defenders. The manager can see how a player performed in their own club and opposing clubs in a variety of different categories. Managers can scout players based on position, rating, wins, losses and games played. Other detailed information can be reviewed such as shots on goal, passing, tackles, cards, fouls and off sides. When a manager sees a player that fits his or her requirements, they can invite them to join their club.
IGN: I hear that every player on the pitch in this mode is set to the same attribute level. Why do this? Shouldn't I be rewarded for building up my character in the offline Be A Pro mode?
Rutter: Linking your offline character in Be A Pro is a great idea and is something we are certainly looking at doing. But for this year, because it's a new concept and game mode, we didn't want to penalize people who supported lower tier clubs. We don't always want people to play as Barcelona or Real Madrid; sometimes we want them to play as Toronto FC. If Toronto FC had the same level of player attributes they I would be judged on my controller skills rather than the attributes of my virtual player on the pitch. So it is all about being a better player of the game then a better player in the game.
IGN: The guys behind NHL 09 were talking about some pretty grandiose ideas for their mode moving forward. Things like SportsCenter-like shows being uploaded online and players getting a rundown of the top plays from a given week. Any ideas of that nature? Or maybe something that expands on that idea?
Rutter: Our vision for FIFA 09 Clubs was to create a structured, organized system to support user run clubs within FIFA this year where you have the ability to create a club in your own name, recruit friends or players who you have played online and know are good players, into that club to represent you like a kind of Clan. Longer term I see the time when you have managers, an economy system whereby you might be able to buy or sell real human players online and have contracts with clubs, where playing FIFA becomes an alternate reality to the real world of football. The day will come where there are virtual equivalents of David Beckham or Ronaldinho, from different parts of the world, who are expert FIFA gamers and clubs are clamoring to recruit them to represent their side, just like the real world. Ultimately the ambition for studio is to have the best 11 English FIFA football players at each position playing against the best 11 American, German, and Italian FIFA football players at each position to actually stage a virtual world cup where you have the very best strikers, midfielders and defenders from around the world playing FIFA against each other to earn the right to be the world's best FIFA football team. We also see a future where we can use EAsportsfootballworld.com to be able to push not just videos of the best goals but a reel of the match of the day highlights from people playing your division or across all divisions.
IGN: There's a locker room area in NHL 09, anything like this for FIFA 09?
Rutter: Yes we have EA Locker you can store and exchange Custom Team Tactics, Custom Formations, and adidas Live Season.
IGN: Will there be any achievements or trophies tied specifically to this mode?
Rutter: There are nine different trophies that can be collected by each club. Club members can view these trophies and opposing teams can view your trophies. There are also achievements, including one where players have to play a 10 v 10 game with all 20 players to encourage everyone to experience this new feature.
We'll have more on FIFA 09 and the game's 10 vs 10 online mode as the October 14 release date draws closer.
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Operation Sports
09-08-2008, 09:37 PM
Re: FIFA 09: 10 v 10 Online Team Play Details (IGN)
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