Question for the FIFA Men

[Mez]

Every year, a new Fifa comes out, and honestly, ah feel like ah taking firetrucking crazy pills.
It is immeasurably different. I feel EA have a lawsuit for Apple for infringing on the right to change one thing and call it an entirely new product.

For all intents and purposes the graphics on a console cannot get any better than it already is.
I say console because fifa is  (AFAIK) played mostly via console online.

It occurs to me that they could just as easily release DLC when new information comes out
e.g. if FIFA was a yearly subscription service... how awesome would it be to have a ladder where real world events impacted the game. i.e. Bayern Munchen wins the CL, so therefore their stats are adjusted (however the hell FIFA works it out)

It seems to me, that this system needs a Revamp.
TBH I Don't even actually play fifa, so Someone may need to point out where i'm wrong but juh man, u cud put fifa 12 and fifa 13 next to each other and i dare you to tell me any major differences.

IMO FIFA + Subscription/DLC is the truth.
Either paid DLC or a subscription basis.


Thoughts? Ideas? Dissents? Riots?

[TriniXaeno]

As a non fifa player I also agree.

I'm sure the same can be said of Call of Duty on the FPS PC side of the fence.

The last few games were very similar.

Street Fighter got lix for doing it as well.

I think they are in luck because a new generation is upon us, which means the next Fifa could have a massive upgrade in terms of fidelity.

[Arcmanov]

I stop buying FIFA a console generation ago, because of this.  Granted, the infrastructure to update games via 'DLC' didn't exist then,
but I got hip to EA's game (pun intended) loooong time now.  Is only so much times I could pay them for essentially the same thing.

My views on Street Fighter and Capcom are well documented on this site.    Another glaring example of a franchise that
keeps putting out 'new' iterations of essentially the same game with a few new characters and costumes thrown in.  They get THREE
set a money from me for Street Fighter 4 alone.

I won't even start on Activision and Call Of Duty.  That horse has been beaten to death, chopped up, barbecued and eaten. 


The crux (problem?) of it all is that almighty dollar.  There's also that clever appeal to our innate excitement to see or have that next new, shiny thing.
I scoff at the screen every time I see a new FIFA advertising 'revolutionary new features'.   They should ban EA from using the word 'revolutionary'
from the same paragraph as 'FIFA'.  All them new 'features' can be very easily included in last years game as DLC.  For a long time I have wondered aloud to
every FIFA gamer that would listen: ''Why doesn't EA release the 'new content' as DLC for the previous year's game, while still providing this year's game for those who
didn't buy last year's game?''
They could even, say, support a title for two years' worth of DLC, and provide some sort of incentive for gamers to get the newest title when that two years is up.

For example:
I bought FIFA 2011.  When FIFA 12 drops I can either A ) buy FIFA 12, or B ) buy the 'FIFA 12 DLC update' for a reduced cost.

When FIFA 13 drops I can either C ) buy FIFA 13, or D ) buy the 'FIFA 13 DLC update for a reduced cost. 

Then issue some sort of redeemable token that can be used to get FIFA 14 for a reduced cost...if you were a FIFA 11 buyer and purchased the '12 and '13 DLC.

Now I realize that model may not be so easy to implement, but think about the benefits to the end users/buyers...the gamers.
That sort of model I wouldn't have an issue with.  In effect it becomes a sort of 'opt-in/opt-out' year-to-year subscription,
where you the consumer decide if you want the update (and you have the HDD space for it) or decide that the features are 'new'
enough to warrant purchasing the newer full game outright.

Capcom 'kinda' did this with Super Street Fighter 4.  The 'newer' Arcade Edition was offered at a lower price point as an incentive for
gamers tired of past Street Fighter shenanigans.  What I'm not sure of is if the AE upgrade was mandatory or not.



tl;dr: EA milking gamers for YEARS with FIFA (and Madden), and they can implement a model that's 'potentially' cheaper for gamers,
but choose not to because they have shareholders to please, and FIFA still selling like hotcakes, because gamers have come to expect 'well...another year, another FIFA'.


Did that qualify as a 'rant'?

[Berzerk]

one thing about some of these titles though, these guys ONLY play FIFA. I remember asking a co worker who bought a new FIFA ever year, he told me thats all he plays, when new players, teams and slightly new gameplay modes are added he all in that, cause its the only game he plays. that was his justification.

 the same view was expressed with other titles, with other people, some only play street fighter, Madden etc.

 So incremental updates warrant the purchase of an entirely new game in their view.

[Mez]

I dont necessarily think the DLC needs to be cheaper than the new game.
but god man it has to be cheaper for the company to host a server to download from than to design print and ship a million copies no?

[Berzerk]

lots of these games sell on hype, the hype generated on a DLC not the same as a new title. A new title comes with promises of a new engine, new gameplay, new everything, (while what it actually delivers is something else entirely)

Its the hook that keeps people buying and keeping the wheel churning, people wont always buy into dlc cause its just an addon in their eye, a whole new game tho...has more appeal.

[Arcmanov]

Yep...hence my 'new, shiny thing' comment above. There's a lot of psychology that goes into selling the idea that you're getting so much new stuff, that yet another purchase is warranted.

@ Mez...  Of course it's cheaper.
Not everyone has stellar internet though.  Actual hard copies have greater global reach.




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[LQDSNK]

As an avid FIFA player i will have to agree and disagree with this.

I say player cos i don't always buy them for the same reasons mentioned above. I bought 1998(still the best ever), 2005/2006 and 2010. There were a number of visual and gameplay changes in those editions.

What i don't understand really is why the rtelease every year when i know pretty much 11-13 have been the same (always crap on PC for some reason). They release February updates for the January transfer window which means they should be able to do it for the next transfer window instead of a new game. As discussed though, they love to milk a cow and FIFA games are just that.

[Spazosaurus]

Regardless of the game, I wish they would do this, ESPECIALLY those that like to milk people with the every year "refreshes":

Do it like OS upgrades. Upgrade version and full version.

Release your rushed to market game as normal as a full game. (Box, cd etc etc)

ANDDD

Make a DLC package available for those who bought the previous version at a very reduced price.

[Arcmanov]

Didn't I basically say that in my 'rant' Cap? 




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[TriniXaeno]

That is exactly what Arc said...and what Mez is suggesting and it seems that everyone is in agreement (a rare thing on the forums nowadays, lol)

Capcom did change their model with Street Fighter to something very similar. It was brilliant.

Hopefully more companies will take that route.

Providing the extended content as a DLC.

The rub with that approach is gamers without the DLC find themselves quickly left out of the multiplayer action. That phenomenon gives impetus for them to upgrade (which is good for the company). It is way better than forcing a FIFA 15 down their throat. The players are coerced into buying the DLC from peer pressure and not insane (see "revolutionary" note by arc above) marketing ploys.

Win Win