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[Draugoth]

While FIFA players are well used to EA Sports adding expensive and powerful card packs later in the year-long life of the annualised football game, with the launch of FC 24, the community has reacted in shock to a $30 pack available to buy before the game even properly launched.

The Elite Season Opener Pack, currently available in the store, cost 285,000 Ultimate Team coins (the in-game currency), or 3,000 FC Points (the premium currency). 3,000 FC Points costs around $30. In true video game monetisation fashion, FC 24 does not let you buy 3,000 FC Points exactly in one bundle.

his Elite Season Opener Pack is so powerful it's causing some players to call FC 24 pay-to-win right out of the gate. It contains:

• 45 Rare Gold players rated 80 or higher
• 1 of 2 Player Pick Loan Base Hero rated 87 or higher
• 1 of 2 Player Pick Loan Base Hero rated 88 or higher

It’s worth pointing out the cards included in this pack are untradeable, which means owners can’t sell them on the FC 24 transfer market.

And even though this pack offers buyers a better chance of getting one of the best cards currently in Ultimate Team, the odds are that you will not. It may well be the case that you get 45 players rated in the low 80s, or plenty of duplicates depending on how many cards you already have in your club.

“Knew it was bad value but figured I'd get something,” redditor Appearance_Deficit said. “One 85 fodder and 26 [duplicates] all below 83 rated. Put [duplicates] into gold upgrades and got nothing. Essentially got a poor 100,000 pack for three times the price.”

It’s £30, there is absolutely no way it should be normalised for people to spend that amount of money on a game which is already overpriced,

redditor towfoon said.

In two weeks’ time you won’t have any interest in any of those players you pulled unless it is an absolutely insane pull. Not to mention this game has a life cycle of less than a year. Realistically, spending anything over $30 to $40 should net you some of the best players for the rest of the game.

Obviously it's a good pack but please seek therapy if you're buying this. First week of FIFA and you're dropping £30 on an untradeable pack.

Some FIFA players think this pack this early in the life of FC 24 marks the continuation of EA Sports’ strategy of gearing content towards store packs, rather than objectives such as Squad Building Challenges. "LOL literally just getting pack content," Business_Ad561 said. "Where are the objectives? SBCs? Dead game man."

 

[acm2000]

beautiful pay to win gambling

 

[GreatnessRD]

People still gonna buy and support the garbage, so the fake outrage needs to stop.

 

[gaming_again]

Yet they will still buy it and the next one and the next one…

 

[keraj37]

 

[HTK]

Good. If the sheep keep paying they should keep extracting more money out of them.

 

[MiguelItUp]

It's unfortunate, but the cycle will just continue to repeat because people continue to buy them and give them money. We're never gonna NOT see this happen because of them.

 

[Spukc]

Good luck!

*starfox voice*

 

[nowhat]

Yeah, like hell is the community imploding. Sports game fanatics will buy the game regardless, this is just online noise. I wish that wasn't the case, but they don't learn.

 

[SirKicksalot]

>80 comments in the Reddit thread
>community implode

 

[TransTrender]

Surprise Mechanics baby!

 

[MALpractice311]

People still gonna buy and support the garbage, so the fake outrage needs to stop.

Yet they will still buy it and the next one and the next one…

It's unfortunate, but the cycle will just continue to repeat because people continue to buy them and give them money. We're never gonna NOT see this happen because of them.

This, this, and this. As long as consumers continue buying these products, the publisher and developers will continue to sell them. FIFA players have only themselves to blame.

 

[Sleepwalker]

The pack is shit and not overpowered (no pack is). It is also untradeable which means you can't get currency out of it. Only retards buy this.

 

[Ronin_7]

EA FC just as trash as FIFA

 

[Luipadre]

yeah yeah meanwhile the game sold record numbers in the UK and probably online too.

Same situation. Shit is just as funny as seeing the cod skin pack negative reviews on steam all the time, but probably the same people buying those shit everytime

 

[near]

So when lootboxes are a little generous it's pay-to-win, when they're not it's predatory.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Also the FIFA reddit is full of morons so im not surprised they are up in arms about this, after buying it, no less.

 

[The Stig]

havent been able to play these games for years because of this BS

 

[Buggy Loop]

Why are peoples still buying this trash, year after year, is beyond me.

 

[Robochobo]

"I knew it'd be bad value, and still bought it anyway."

 

[nani17]

Doesn't really matter they still buy the same shit every year even though it's well known that FIFA has scripting

 

[R6Rider]

These sports games are the trash that I don't even bother to claim when part of PS+, and I say that as someone who claimed the Saints Row reboot recently.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

People are hard wired to self destruct. Could be gambling, drugs, guns, alcohol or whatever. There's no stopping it. Let the cycle repeat until doom time.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

The only sports game I ever got really into was NBA 2K18. I poured hundreds of hours into that game and admittedly spent some mony on opening packs to create an awesome roster. However, once 2k19 was around the corner and I realized that all my player cards are pretty much useless once the new entry releases, it sobered me up and I haven't played any sports game since.

Imagine playing Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic The Gathering and every year your cards become unusable.

 

[wipeout364]

I hope we are allowed to buy more than one elite season opener pack?

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Videogames was a mistake.

 

[Saber]

Thats EA for you, they have being doing that for years now. I'm surprised people didn't expected that, they have only themselves to blame.

 

[Arsic]

I think for me it only takes like a week to have these level of players and not spend a cent. It’s not worth it.

It isn’t pay to win. It’s just fooling stupid people to spend $ on something that is obsolete quickly. I guess for 5 days you’ll feel good then that’s that.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

This probably isn't a novel thought, but I suspect the rise of this lootbox shit is a byproduct of the whole rise of "experiences" - you know, people saying they want to buy experiences instead of material things, etc. MTX turns the material thing of a game into an experience.

And I think this is because people have bastardized the original meaning of experiences - to learn and grow by seeing and doing new things - and have somehow turned it into experiences = temporary and short lived things. So anything that gives a quick hit serves the purpose of an experience, whether it is taking a selfie next to some landmark for followers or opening a $30 lootbox.

 

[NeonGhost]

 

[Spukc]

Why are peoples still buying this trash, year after year, is beyond me.

Because a lot of people buy the console for 2 games.. cod and fifa.

They spend fuck all on other games.

So its playstation NSO 200 on dlc mtx sheit

 

[brian0057]

I don't feel any simpathy for people burning away their child's college fund on a videogame casino.
EA being pieces of shit isn't an excuse for not taking responsibility for your actions.

 

[Raphael]

Wasnt this supposed to be banned by the EU?

 

[Gaiff]

People still gonna buy and support the garbage, so the fake outrage needs to stop.

Not sure if it's fake outrage. Whales make up a tiny percentage of the player base but are the majority of the microtransactions revenues. I don't know if it's the same for console games but if it is, most players avoid microtransactions and truly revile them. The few that don't more than make up for them though.

 

[VN1X]

Doesn't this pack also include the female players?

 

[Trogdor1123]

Good. If the sheep keep paying they should keep extracting more money out of them.

No. They just start putting it into other games then.

 

[SJRB]

FIFA, the de facto smoothbrain normie game.

Like someone returning to an abusive spouse after being beaten for the 8th time, a potent cocktail of players not seeing or not caring about the malicious business practices. Either way, it's a win for EA.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I thought loot boxes was dead? lol

 

[FullMetalx117]

Envy EA here, this is the capitalist dream

 

[Sleepwalker]

People are hard wired to self destruct. Could be gambling, drugs, guns, alcohol or whatever. There's no stopping it. Let the cycle repeat until doom time.

WTF I love the new avatar

 

[mitch1971]

Why are peoples still buying this trash, year after year, is beyond me.

Get fucked four eyes!!

 

[fart town usa]

I hope EA doubles down.

No one should be surprised at this stuff. Quit buying games from shit companies and maybe they'll stop treating you dirt.

 

[mitch1971]

EA are just keeping up with the rediculous amount of money players earn for kicking a fucking ball around.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Get fucked four eyes!!

 

[mitch1971]

Presumed you've seen the film.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Not sure if it's fake outrage. Whales make up a tiny percentage of the player base but are the majority of the microtransactions revenues. I don't know if it's the same for console games but if it is, most players avoid microtransactions and truly revile them. The few that don't more than make up for them though.

I want to believe that, but I don't. I think its more people buying than not.

 

[Gaiff]

I want to believe that, but I don't. I think its more people buying than not.

That's for mobile games. Not sure if the same applies to consoles but I doubt the difference is that dramatic. According to some research, whales make up 2% of the player base but provide over 50% of the revenues.

If we look at statistics for top-grossing games, the whales represent the smallest percentage of users who are responsible for 50% or more in revenue sales of an app. In other words, there’s a small number of mobile game whales, but they account for the majority of a game’s revenue. They will often make a difference for a game from breaking even to being profitable.

Source

There are some truly mind-boggling cases of players spending over $100K and even over $1M in a fucking game.

Again, this is for mobile games which are much more predatory by nature so it might not be that crazy for consoles.

 

[calistan]

It's not really $30, though, and definitely not £30 like 'redditor towfoon' is whining about. Buy the 12,000 point pack and it works out at £19.78, which is more like $24. Gotta maximise your value, don't go for the pauper packs. Rookie numbers in this racket.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Virtual currency needs to be outlawed. "Selling" items that cost just a bit more than the packs of currency they offer it so clearly predatory. Also, research shows that when a virtual currency is placed between real money and a purchase, people no longer make calculated decisions. If this pack was labeled "$30" and debited your bank account, far fewer people would buy it, despite it being the same cost. These corporations will not voluntarily stop preying on consumers, so legislation needs to step in.

 

[March Climber]

Why are peoples still buying this trash, year after year, is beyond me.

There are 2-3 options when it comes to futbol. Even less options with other sports. What other choices do sports gamers have?

Sports gamers have been backed into a corner where they either buy what's available or give up gaming entirely. That's a shitty deal no matter how you look at it.