Well written, Larry. Let’s see what EA actually does with it. Keep in mind that I have seen a lot of similar posts/chats about the current FCM state, and here is my devil’s advocate take.
I would argue that whether it is shards, drafts, or whatever new system is used to convert basic resources into RNG-controlled resources and then into desired cards is not the core problem. The real issue is the parameters around it, combined with the recent removal of almost everything that used to supplement that formula. We had shards from dailies and the event itself, so by the same logic, we should now be seeing Phase 2 tokens given out, but that has not happened. As you said, the effort, whether grind or money, needs to match the rewards fairly, and that's regardless of the system/formula used.
Drafts get far too much hate in my opinion. The concept itself is fine. The parameters around it are mediocre at best, which is what makes it fail quite badly. The biggest problem is the heavy upfront cost with nothing meaningful to supplement vouchers or Phase 2 tokens.
If you look purely at the numbers, one voucher costs 3k gems. To guarantee a 116 or 117, you need 100 drafts, which is 300k gems. In the older shard system, if you were chasing a desirable 114 or 115 purely through the 3k packs and had the worst possible luck, pulling the lowest card worth 10 shards every time, you would still need 100 packs to reach 1000 shards (if you wanted R9 in Glorious Era, you'd need 200 packs). Anyway, that was enough for cheaper 115s or some 114s like Van de Ven or Gyökeres. Drafts do give you an extra 113 to 115 cards along the way, which does add value on paper, but not in the reality of the game.
So, the draft has potential. But not in its current state, the randomness around 116 and 117, the massive upfront cost, and the removal of all supplementary sources make it extremely poor value. This is made even worse by the laughable conversion rate of 113 to 115 cards into just 5 Phase 2 tokens. Even after 100 drafts, you are only guaranteed 100 Phase 2 tokens total, and realistically, no one is exchanging a 116, let alone a 117, so that's halved to 50 (10 cards), which guarantees you a 6th of a 116 selectable card (or a total of 1.8m gems). If you want the 117 card thats 180, of the 113-115 cards for a small amount of 5.4m gems if you have pure worst luck with the draft slot sim.
Changing the costs/parameters to match the former shards, looking at the overall global game, would fix a lot of the problems. The current guaranteed card path maths just simply makes no sense, and the player base just want certaintity of what they can get instead of maybees (most are not asking for a full squad of 117 card either).
There are a few things I would add to or change in your list.
- Star Pass is overpriced compared to earlier FIFA Mobile days, largely disconnected from the event, and the top reward you pay for ends up untradeable.
- The same applies to the LVL path. Once you hit level 50, rewards fall off a cliff, and the time investment to reach level 100 is simply not worth it.
- Both points above mirror the wider issue you mentioned with exchanges, event tokens, and the store, where TOTY stripped almost everything in favour of vouchers.
- Kick-Off tasks have always been aimed at newer players, which is fine, but it would be good to see a refresh for long-term players when a new season starts, for example, after TOTS.
- re-addition of DR rewards, but with less training fodder and more actual event currency/cards.
- Portuguese Nation Stories gives out a max of 116, while the past Japanese or Dutch players had 115, so the max OVR at the time, 117 cards, should be given for top Portuguese players.
- The levelling up rewards of 200 gems when the levels are nearing level 200, just heh.
- Places like Dice or other rewards where you get likes of 2k coins are also, hmm
- The market 10% tax, it should be halved, and the number of transactions should be doubled to at least 50.
- Rank transfers require implementation, the costs are fairly similar after URP removal. We have training transfers, so yeah.
- Removal of MM or a major overhaul to it so that it actually responds to the tactical change.
- Addition of 5 subs and the ability to use them during goal replay.
- less back to back Icon/Hero cards.
The point raised by 1440666fd7e443ec about a yearly subscription is also worth repeating. If the rewards were actually worth it, and the game was playable for most of it, and it did not have a myriad of bugs and inconsistencies reported here and on Discord, plenty of players would sign up. I suggested this years ago, and here we still are looking at untradeables behind a hefty paywall. Personally i stopped buying stuff a long time ago, as like many, I do not subscribe to paid for pack luck and won't spend a cent until there is a fair value and the game is playable as it used to be back in the day.
Gameplay and matchmaking probably deserved more detail here, or at least a link to your other thread covering it. The current extremely rare gameplay updates are simply not enough. The cycle takes far too long (last beta hasn't really been implemented either).
2c from the devil's advocate :P
👍👍 to dzrtr‘s suggestions. Would really welcome some indication from EA as to which of these ideas might be entertained, but bottomline is same — something has to be done. Current trends simply aren’t tenable. If the draft system is to stay then value and certainty have to improve substantially. Talk of quitting is gaining steam in my league and we all know how these things can become viral. Even if substantive action on some of these issues might take weeks it would be unwise for EA to remain silent if it’s paying any heed to this feedback and plans to take action. I can’t emphasize this enough: Communicate early and often with the community if you want to avert a mass exodus.
