Does your controller have bite marks in it? Is your bedroom wall full of head-shaped holes?
Do you run down the street naked throwing things at your neighbours screaming, “It’s &%$#ing scripted!”? (…just me?)
If so then this piece of advice is going to improve your enjoyment of FIFA 13 around a million percent.
The Background – Creating A Level Playing Field
In FIFA 10, if you were 12 goals better than your opponent you’d win 12-0. But those days are long gone.
Whether intentional or not, things like the increased contextual elements in FIFA and the ability to let the AI defend for you, the randomness of things like the impact engine and first touch control, error percentages introduced to passing and shooting all mean that matches between people of vastly different skill levels are no longer a foregone conclusion.
(In my personal opinion, EA’s need for FIFA to appeal to the casual gamer meant that as well as making it the most authentic football simulation on the market it needed “dumbing down”.)
Is that a good thing?
It is if you’re a casual gamer… For the more hardcore gamers though despite making the game more exhilarating, it’s turned FIFA into a blood boiling concoction of frustration, euphoria, relief and rage.
There’s also the argument that it makes the game more realistic. Upsets do happen in football.
Celtic beat Barcelona 2-1 and stats show that the team on top doesn’t always win.
You only have to look at the stats from Celtic’s recent 2-1 smash and grab over Barcelona in the Champion’s league to see that it’s not always the teams that play “the beautiful game” that come out on top.
I’m sure that even the staunchest Celtic fan wouldn’t argue that Celtic are better than Barcelona but through resilience and playing to their strengths they battled to a heroic victory.
This realism is no consolation to hardcore FIFA players however who feel that by reducing the amount that they’re in control your effectively evening the odds. The problem, they argue, is that by removing 100% control you’re leaving more things to chance and chance always favours the underdog.
On the plus side, over the course of a season true skill will still shine through and good players will still prevail and rise through the divisions but nowadays you’re inevitably going to pick up a few losses along the way.
FIFA’s not like it was a few years ago and that’s why this tip is so important to your enjoyment of the game.
How To Enjoy FIFA More!
So what is this holy grail to heightening your enjoyment of playing FIFA?
It’s simple… Learn how to lose!
What!?!? Are you mad!! Winning is EVERYTHING!
For the record, I’m extremely competitive. I hate to lose!
The difference between me and the majority of FIFA players though it seems is that I can differentiate between when winning’s important and when it’s not.
To put losing a game of FIFA into perspective…
- I run a business that directly affects the livelihood of my family. Losing’s not an option.
- If I had a job interview for the job of my dreams and I didn’t get it, I’d be gutted.
- Playing a game of FIFA – of course I always play to win but if I don’t it doesn’t matter one little bit.
I know that’s probably not what you wanted to hear but it’s so true. In the grand scheme of things losing a game of FIFA doesn’t really matter.
- It doesn’t make you any less of a man.
- Failing to reach Division 1 won’t damage your career prospects.
- Chicks won’t stop fancying you just because your win / loss ratio has dropped below 3:1. (In fact, quite the opposite. If you play too much FIFA your relationship could be at risk!)
Unless you’re a professional, winning’s nice but all you’ll have to show for it is some impressive virtual statistics that’ll be wiped clean again next September. There’s much more to FIFA than just winning.
Once you learn how to take a loss I guarantee your enjoyment of the game will improve profusely.
FIFA Rage
I never used to be so blasé about FIFA. It used to wind me up something rotten! A session of FIFA could put me in a bad mood for the rest of the night which would a knock on effect to other areas of my life.
How silly does that sound when you read it out loud? Getting that wound up over a game! But I know countless people that get ten times more wound up than I ever did and from the rage quitters and abuse you get online when you win it seems like people that don’t rage when losing are in the minority.
I still get frustrated when I pass it to a team-mate in acres of space 6 yards away from me and the ball decides to go to a team-mate 30 yards away that’s being marked by 3 defenders. Or every time I’m clean through on goal and my attacker’s first touch goes out for a throw in.
But nowadays I play with a smile on my face. Not only do I enjoy the game more I’m finding that I’m playing better than ever because I’m relaxed, confident and playing with a clear head.
Emotions run high in football and with FIFA’s realism it’s inevitable that emotions will run high in the game. FIFA’s ability to create those emotions is what makes it such a great (and such a frustrating and rewarding) game! But leave those emotions on the pitch and you’ll enjoy the game so much more.
Be Gracious In Defeat
If you lose don’t get wound up, don’t rage and certainly don’t send abusive messages.
Just take a deep breath and think about the reasons why you lost. Learn from it and become a better player then make sure you don’t make the same mistakes again and if FIFA screwed you over, shrug it off and forget about it.
Rise above it and show your class by sending a congratulatory message to your opponent.
“Well played, I’ve never seen anyone contain with seven defenders quite as well as you did.”
Or maybe,
“That tactic you used all game where you lampooned the ball to Walcott and then ran as fast as you could in a straight line towards my goal was genius!”
Ok, maybe be a bit more diplomatic…
If you do have a good game and you don’t come out on top, if your opponent played well send him a message saying “well played”, or “good game”.
It doesn’t cost anything and it makes a really refreshing change receiving a positive message as opposed to a barrage of abuse each time you win.
And who knows, that small courteous display of respect might rub off on your opponent who in turn might display the same respect to their opponents and so on and maybe, just maybe we can make the online world of FIFA 13 a brighter, more amicable place.
Final Thoughts
Remember why you bought FIFA in the first place. To enjoy the game. Leave your emotions on the pitch and respect your opponents (no matter how much of a *&^% they’re being).
FIFA’s an outlet, an escape from the stresses and tribulations of real life. Not the other way around…
What’s the worst you’ve raged playing FIFA?
26 Comments
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Bit hypercritical Craig, when I beat you 1-0 (against the run of play), you started shouting and said hurtful things about my mum: “She’s only an average cook” and “I bet she’s got no friends” if I remember correctly. :)
Haha, shh! I think it was the robot celebration that finished me off…
I shouldn’t have said those things about your mum though, it’s not her fault she’s got no friends and she can’t cook. :D
i alwayz appreciate d opponent….even if he loses…:-)
play 4 fun…nt 4 winning all d game…
hey u play . .ps or xbox..?? can i hv ur id…?
Cheers for the comment Hammad. I’m on Xbox mainly.
hahaha im using those “congratulatory” messages next game
Haha, I’m sure that’ll go down well :D
very motivating graig….i think alot of fifa gamerd have this problem..
good job man…:-):-):-):-..i hate losing to…but i thing learn tco lose..is the best option.cause you don.t lose a thing…it.s just a game with alot of passion..cheers mr graig…one of the be.st tips…:-):-):-)…challenge me
Thanks for the kind words Robert. Much appreciated!
I don’t consider myself I “good” player so it is nice to hear that “good” players ALSO have their passes to a teammate 6yards away go to the guy covered by 3 defenders 30 yards away.
I was yelling at myself for sucking or pushing the button to hard or who knows what. Now I’ll just chuckle and say “Oh FIFA, you silly game…” ;-)
Yeah, don’t worry – passes go astray for everyone :)
What about when it’snear the end of the game and ur tied, then ur opponent scores a goal to take the lead and all he does for the last 10 minutea of the game is pass it back and forth between his defenders nothin ticks me off more than that
Yeah that is frustrating. A tip to combat that though is to go more attacking and use high pressure (or team pressure).
You’re attackers will be more likely to close down the ball higher up the pitch and he won’t be able to pass it around as easily.
Yeah, what you say is logical and constructive. But…..
How can you keep calm when your opponent scores a sh.. goal and afterwards just keeps the ball in his half and passes around until the time runs out… And mysteriously the connection is lagging allowing him to see me frame by frame and adjust defense… I wished him things i did not new I can think of…
I know how to lose to a better player … I lost even 10-2 … and didn’t got upset because i knew he was better… but as you said .. is not always that the one that plays the beautiful game wins.
cheers!
@ unanimousnoe …. i just read your post and saw that we exemplified the same situation… maybe we faced the same EPIC player :)))))
This people should be banned somehow..
Story of my life bro ;p
I would take my shirt of and start beating the sofa all while screaming in complete anger lol
I now force myself to only play a max of 1 hour a day (a good tip for all of you), and I will use your post ofcourse
Now I can finally come back at groing socially (17yo).
Im still 220-30-80 on UT in DIV 1 btw
PS Anyone playing on PC(with xbox controller).
Respect
All Ive been doing for the past couple of weeks is curse ea sports for the way they created FIFA 13 lol ! Just played FIFA 12 and I kind of appreciate FIFA 13 now. Finesse shot is very challenging and playing with Barcelona needs a lot patience. Anyway like you said we need to accept defeat without anger. Thank you for your emails . Version 2 of the FIFA 13 guide is it out yet
I rage worse than anyone I’ve ever known. I had to buy 5 copies of FIFA 12 after smashing 4 of them. Quit playing it entirely 2 months before FIFA 13. And FIFA 13 UT online play has caused me to lose 3 controllers, a scratched FIFA 13 disc, and I broke the plastic fan grate on the xbox 360 console – currently in the process of switching to PS3 in hopes of less buggy online defensive gameplay. It will kill me though that I can’t transfer my FUT cards (which I’ve added up and learned that I have approximately 4.5million+ in cards!) from xbox to PS3
Thank you for your tips, Craig – I think this is the better guide in ultimatefifa.com so far. Sometimes it’s really hard to calm down, especially when you feel there’s something scripted between you and the opponent… But you helped me to realize the real reason because of I play FIFA: to have fun, to enjoy a beautiful sport and to relax myself. Thank you so much. Sorry for the bad english, cheers from Italy!
[…] My Number One Tip To Enjoying FIFA 13 More! […]
I’ve been through countless controllers and sold FIFA 12 back in January (blamed it all on the new defensive scheme). Just got 13 at a black Friday sale and am enjoying calmly. I think the time off helped.
I rage real hard by punching the shit out of my couch and throwing my controller up in the air. Usually I just catch it. Sometimes it hits the wall. Seriously…PRO EVO needs to come back with a good online play community.
the worst is when you are 1 on 1 with the keeper and on a break-away and just when your about to shoot the game winner your player pulls a hamstring and the ball slowly rolls into his grasp. At first i curse EA for making such a scripted game bu then i realize, maybe i should of made subs lol
Nice article but why should we learn to deal with the game when its borked
7 controllers smashed thank to being mugged of by ea!!! Ridiculous own goals, rebounds, lucky bounces are truly horrendous in fifa 13 and will always favour the weaker team/ player.. Skill has impact on the game. Decides the winner of each game, with either blind luck or playing on past 110 minutes so someone can equalise or score the winner.. Games in the bin where it belongs!!!
Man, amazing post! hahah
Amazing how I’m having this very problem right now, and that’s how I ended up here.
I was always a calm person, but Fifa 13 is making me have rage strikes that makes me want to throw my controllers against the tv. As you mentioned, when I lose too much my night and my mood is completely ruined.
After reading this post I will try to be more relaxed (I’m sure I lose a lot of games because I’m nervous and angry) and try to get past this problem. If not, I will really break Fifa 13 dvd in two and move on.
Nice article, I managed to stay in Div 1 for quite sometime and often getting 5 – 6 winning streaks before drawing or losing a game. Somehow for the past 2 weeks, I kinda totally lost in the game, got dropped to Div 4 after maintaining a series of losing streaks and having won just 2 – 3 out of 30+ over games. From the way it looks, I am heading to Div 5 soon. Having some issues with work and relationship lately, I thought I can seek solace in something I always feel I am fairly good in but guess I may have to stick to some FPS set on easy mode for awhile.