In the last FIFA installments, there has been little innovation in the Pro Clubs mode. How should this mode change in FIFA 17 to become attractive again? A column.
In the FIFA series by EA Sports, the Pro Clubs mode likely has the most loyal fans – including myself. Since FIFA 10, I have been playing this mode with passion and dedication. However, over the last few years, little has changed in Pro Clubs. What innovations are needed to make it attractive again?
Fascination of Pro Clubs
In Pro Clubs, you create your own club, give it a unique name, assign it a crest, and enrich it with the self-created Pro players of your friends. Then you casually meet in the lobby, take your preferred positions, and start the player search.
Thus, Pro Clubs offers exciting 11vs11 matches. Of course, in reality, usually, fewer human players are on the field, as you don’t always have eleven people online to play.
The club mode requires tremendous tactical teamwork from each of you, which is probably what makes this mode fascinating. Lone wolves or egoists rarely get far here – and are not welcome. Only as a team can you secure victory.
The Pro Clubs mode needs to be fresher
Even though I personally enjoy playing this mode incredibly and playing dozens of matches a week is not uncommon, I must say that over time it seems a bit stale.
While EA Sports, according to the opinion of many gamers, is only interested in keeping the Ultimate Team mode running – as it generates the most revenue with its microtransactions – it seems that Pro Clubs is slowly withering away. Innovations have been scarce for years. Does EA even have an interest in keeping this mode alive?
If this mode were to be rationalized away at some point, many loyal fans of the FIFA series would certainly be lost. Even if the Ultimate Team mode is said to be the most popular mode in the game, there are players who can or want to do little with it.
It can be assumed that no further adjustments will be made to Pro Clubs in FIFA 16, but for FIFA 17, EA Sports should come up with new features for it. This mode must also be refreshed and offer content that has not been known for years. I would like to outline three points that I wish for the future of the Pro Clubs mode.
The gameplay in Pro Clubs must be improved
Even though this is a sensitive topic, I want to address it directly at the beginning: the gameplay. Here it is hard to express an objective opinion because you tend to find the gameplay terrible when losing and satisfying when winning. The topic of momentum in FIFA 16 is one that we want to skip.
In Pro Clubs, there is the option to play as “Any” or not. The “Any” player has the ability to control all players on the field that are not occupied by other human players. However, many gamers (myself included) complain that it is almost impossible to control these non-human players: it takes forever for them to respond, and passing or shooting with them is hardly possible.If you forgo the unloved Any position, some FIFA players complain that the CPU does not adequately cover the spaces in defense and that the defenders only attack the strikers at random.
Also, the goalkeeper in the FIFA series is a story of suffering by itself. In last year’s installment, almost all players agreed that the goalkeeper’s intelligence was a disaster, especially in Pro Clubs mode. Even though FIFA 16 has made significant progress here, there is still room for improvement: for example, he now takes forever to return to the goal after being pulled out. Missing the ball or showing similar blunders are still common occurrences.
In my opinion, FIFA 16 feels really good in both offline game modes and FUT (once you get used to it), but there is still a lot to catch up on in the Pro Clubs mode. Especially the Any control, defensive behavior, and AI game intelligence are not satisfactory. And even if all of this is fixed, the game would still be too Pace-heavy. EA could definitely adjust that a bit.
The performance of the Virtual Pro must be revised
By playing matches and successfully completing certain actions on the field, you unlock achievements that improve your Virtual Pro. With progress, you also receive cosmetic rewards that allow you to customize the Pro. I particularly wish for changes regarding these achievements: too many of them are related to individual actions: I believe that more achievements should be introduced that promote teamwork. In my club, far too many selfish actions are performed, justified by the reasoning: “I still need this or that achievement.” Team play should be rewarded more.
Furthermore, the defensive achievements need to be more extensive to make the defensive positions more attractive for players. Most players want to occupy offensive positions, not only because it is fun to score goals, but also because there are many more achievements to unlock here.
In addition, there has been a problem for years that the achievements earned by players suddenly disappear, and you have no other option but to re-earn them.
Give us more customization options for the club
You can give your club a unique name, choose a stadium, and assign a jersey. There are no more customization options. Here, EA could be creative and, for example, introduce an in-game currency that can be earned after matches. With this currency, you could purchase stadium customizations or create your own CPU players. So far, the CPU players that complete your team are completely random and often have outrageous names. I have always wanted to decide for myself what they should be called, what they should look like, and what their strengths should be. After all, it is my club. Why can’t we decide who plays in it? Here, EA could introduce some customization options for our clubs.
Further improvement suggestions
The Pro Clubs mode has a lot of potential. However, countless tweaks can still be made to enhance the gaming experience.
- In previous FIFA installments, before the Season mode was introduced, I always found it incredibly exciting how many points the opponents had accumulated; that is, what rank they held in the world rankings. I currently find it rather unfortunate that no information about the opponents is provided immediately after the game.
- Additionally, the waiting time in the lobby could be made more exciting: While waiting for teammates in the Pro Clubs lobby, a lot of time can pass. It should be sufficient if you register for the game and somehow interact with the waiting friends in the meantime: for example, you could complete skill games together.
- Furthermore, I find it strange that the captain of the club, the one who starts the game, is not also the captain on the field. What sense does that make?
It’s time for EA to take care of Pro Clubs, not just the Ultimate Team mode. This is a mode with a lot of potential that is far from fully tapped.
In online games, social features are becoming increasingly important; and Pro Clubs is the mode in the FIFA series where many players can interact with each other. EA Sports should focus more on this online experience in the future. Then I would play this mode with my club even more often.
You can see it on social networks: There are many gamers who enjoy playing this mode and organize themselves into groups. Because while some players look for a club, others want to strengthen their clubs with players.
I am curious to see how Pro Clubs will develop in the future. What improvements and innovations do you think are necessary?
In this article, we have presented tips and tricks for your Pro Club.
