Suggestion to Restrict Duplicate Player Purchases in Ultimate Team

Technical Requirement: Restrict Duplicate Player Purchases in Ultimate Team

Objective:
To prevent players from purchasing the same player with the same rating more than once on their account in the Ultimate Team mode to combat market manipulation by traders using bots.

Scope:

• Implement a check to verify if a player being bid on or purchased already exists on the user's account.
• Display an error message if the player already exists on the account: "This player already exists on this account."
• Differentiate between different versions of the same player card (promo version, gold version, evo version, TOTW, TOTS) using unique IDs.
• Prevent users from purchasing or bidding on a player if they already own the same player and it is listed for sale on the market.
• Ensure the system distinguishes between loaned players and permanent players.
• Restriction applies only to market purchases.
• Existing rules for player distribution from packs remain unchanged.

Requirements:

1. User Interface:

   • Modify the bidding and purchasing interface to include the ownership check.
   • Display a clear and user-friendly error message: "This player already exists on this account" when a duplicate purchase attempt is made.
   • Display an error message: "This player is currently listed for sale on your account" if a purchase or bid attempt is made for a player already listed for sale.

2. Backend:

   • Implement a server-side check to verify if the player is already owned by the account before completing the purchase or bid.
   • Prevent purchases or bids if the same player is currently listed for sale on the user's account.
   • The check should be triggered every time a user attempts to place a bid or purchase a player.

3. Database:

   • Track and update the status of players listed for sale on the market.
   • Ensure that the player ownership data is up-to-date and accurately reflects the players currently owned by the account.
   • Optimize the database queries to handle the additional load from the ownership checks efficiently.

4. Performance:

   • Assess and mitigate potential server load increases due to the additional ownership checks.
   • Optimize the code to ensure minimal impact on server performance and user experience.

5. Testing:

   • Conduct thorough testing to ensure the new feature works as intended.
   • Test cases should include scenarios where:
     • A user tries to purchase a player they already own.
     • A user tries to purchase or bid on a player they own and have listed for sale.
     • A user successfully purchases a player they do not own.
     • The error message is displayed correctly.
     • The system handles high volumes of purchase attempts without significant performance degradation.

6. Deployment:

   • Roll out the feature in a phased manner to monitor and address any issues that arise.
   • Provide support and documentation for users to understand the new restriction.

Expected Outcome:

• Reduced market manipulation by traders using bots.
• Improved fairness in the Ultimate Team market.

Risks:

• Increased server load could impact performance.
• Potential user dissatisfaction due to the restriction.

Review and Approval:

• This technical requirement document should be reviewed and approved by the Project Manager, Development Team Lead, and QA Lead before proceeding to the development phase.

This is a great idea IMO. Traders have killed the market. I guess the only problem that might occur is if you have a promo version, gold version, evo version and a TOTW version of the same player for example but it shoudn't be too difficult to give each card a unique code

Actually, different versions of the same player card, such as promo version, gold version, evo version, TOTW, and TOTS, have unique IDs. It’s a different story when you have a loan player with a limited number of contracts and you try to purchase their permanent version. In such cases, the EA algorithm really needs to distinguish between loaned and permanent player statuses. I've adjusted the technical requirement accordingly and added this discussed nuance.

By the way, to simplify the algorithm, EA can check only football players that are listed for sale or not yet allocated. The existing mechanism, which currently prevents having two identical versions of a player on an account, will continue to prevent duplicates.

Rather just see them bring back bid tokens. 

Returning a token is a contentious issue that requires support. This is a consequence of a poorly designed system. In contrast, I propose a solution. I've provided only a surface-level description, and an EA analyst can improve and detail it further. Implementing this task is complicated. It involves both server-side (backend) and interface (frontend) components, making it more of a consideration for the next version of the game. However, it would be excellent if EA responded appropriately to this case.