Issue 02

THE VFL
year as for a strategic plan due to the lack of communication EA has
with the FIFA community.
Ideally, 11v11 is still the game mode of Pro Clubs in FIFA 19 and
beyond and we can continue to build on what we have now, but
honestly, it really does depend on what they do.
Do the leagues have sponsors?
The VFL overall is sponsored by CardsPlug which is a fantastic
custom FUT card delivery service. Other than that, my guys over at
VFLC (most notable Dave Skinner) have some great ties to Gfinity
and has some exciting stuff in the pipeline which we can’t speak
about at this moment in time.
The most important thing to us about ‘sponsors’ is just making sure
the fit is right and that it puts enough shine on the game mode.
There have been opportunities in the past where I could have
slapped something on VFL and made a really nice return financially,
but I never did it because it just wouldn’t give enough shine to Pro
Clubs in general. That’s the aim for me, pushing to make this game
mode known, and with that, every decision has to be viewed in that
strategic direction.
How do you compare 11v11 to 1v1 gaming?
I think both are fantastic in my honest opinion. You’ll have the elitist
that will bash one and praise the other, but both are their own separate
crafts. You have fantastic and talented guys like Shellz who are absolute
monsters at both, but in all honesty, you can’t compare the two.
For both, you need determination, willpower, and intelligence to
play and get through the grind. But for me personally, I love team
sports, I grew up playing team sports, and I love that whole element
of 11v11 where you learn your teammates, you gain a chemistry
and you see continuous strides in improvement month on month (if
you’re doing it properly).
Regardless though, both great, and both have their individual pros
and cons for sure.
Some gamers have been rather outspoken about the
skill gap comparing Pro Club to Solo— what is your
view on this?
I think regarding this, it’s mostly ignorance from the solo community,
because you’ll never see anybody from the world of Pro Clubs speak
badly about the guys playing FUT. For the most part, the guys on
Clubs respect the hustle and the fact those guys are playing a game
and can forge a career out of an EA supported mode. Why? Because
it’s something that we as an 11v11 community crave.
back in the old days of FIFA. That’s just part and parcel in modern day
gaming because companies want their game to be able to be picked
up and played by anyone. To say that it takes skill to play one game
mode over the other is preposterous.
The only thing for my personal opinion that I see is the artificial
intelligence assistance on FUT. You have the ability to sit off and
let the computer defend for you at times, whereas on Clubs, playing
11v11 there is nowhere to hide, if you have a weak link at RB you’re
going to know at some point in the game that the weak link exists,
does that make sense?
Regardless, I respect both game modes, and I do very much think
that regardless of logistics and regardless of expenses for the
company, 11v11 gaming will be an esport soon. All it needs is that
one push from EA and it will explode.
What would you like FIFA to do to improve?
Where do I begin? There is so much!
I think what everyone will say in general is to start with is the
gameplay. For me, FIFA 18 strikes me as a game that tried too hard
to be the entertaining eSport game. Attacking became extremely
easy, and that (in my opinion) was to try and make FUT tournaments
more exciting, but in reality, all we got was a bunch of 6-4 games,
5-3 games, etc etc. We want the focus and tactics of football back
where you grind and work for a result, rather than seeing 200 goals
per game.
Beyond that, you look at the silly stuff that still exists today. Referees
having multi-coloured arms and no face. The issue of goal posts just
being randomly pushed 10 yards back, or just not being on the pitch
at all. The issue of stuff like the Pro Clubs skill progression just being
broke for seven months. So so much man, honestly.
The important thing though for the Clubs community is common
sense fixes. By that, I mean that issues that were present at the start
of FIFA 18 for Clubs needs to be patched, issues like the friendly
glitch that halted leagues all over the globe for several months.
I honestly believe that 90 percent of the Pro Clubs community would
be happy if FIFA 19 was a gameplay tweak, with friendlies working
off the bat, a bit more detailed kit customisation and a bit of a
revamp on the Pro Clubs skill tree again.
Will we see micro-transactions in Pro Clubs?
I think it would be big to get the game mode more exposure, but for
now I honestly can’t see it being a big necessity that EA do. However
I think it does need to happen eventually.
I can see both points of view for this ‘skill gap’, but in honest reality,
there hasn’t been a real skill gap in FIFA for years, I’m probably talking
But yeah, for me, gameplay fixes, friendly fixes, tweaks to the skill
tree, and kit customisation and I’ll be a happy man until FIFA 20. EWF
18 Esports World Football