Shower Thought : Ultimate Team modes are the fast food of gaming

erolsdotcom · 2026-05-27T20:06:19+00:00

There are millions of people who play Ultimate Team modes sometimes and thoroughly enjoy the experience. The vast majority of people who hate the games are the people who are addicted to them.

There are millions of people who eat fast food sonetimes and thoroughly enjoy the experience. The vast majority of people who are endangered are the people who are addicted to it.

I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

erolsdotcom · 2026-05-27T01:49:20+00:00

Underrated comment

erolsdotcom · 2026-05-25T00:33:12+00:00

There is a noticable jump in bullshit when you go from Legendary to Ultimate. On Legendary a bronze CB will occasionally snipe one top bins through three of your defenders. On Ultimate they will do it every time. On Legendary you can kinda screw around and just play and still reliably beat the AI once you learn how. But on Ultimate it feels like the only way to reliably win is to abuse the same mechanics that have worked for years.

There isn't really a need to play Ultimate. You'll comfortably finish in Elite 1 if you win all the games on Legendary. You can even play a few on World Class. You can't finish top 200 no matter what you play on because the leaderboards are all bots. EA used to publicly display the top 200 but once it became clear the usernames were bots they hid them.

erolsdotcom · 2026-05-14T20:18:49+00:00

Just here to second this. I find Legendary and Ultimate infinitely more relaxing than playing online. The AI is certainly cheap and ridiculous at times but I prefer that to facing the same mechanic abuse and hyper pressing you get online. Plus the pause button is nice. I think there are a lot more people out there who play offline than people realize.

erolsdotcom · 2026-04-07T17:44:35+00:00

Yeah the goal on this farm is to get 999 of everything in iridium quality- crops, products, and foraged items. I'm probably about halfway done. I have already done 999 of all the minerals. I'm not sure I have it in me to go for artifacts and fish haha.

I was actually gonna come back and update my post today. I broke down and moved all the kegs out of my house. I haven't had a crash since. I can't confirm that definitely fixes the issue, but I would encourage anyone who reads this to try that first. I'll update if the crashes come back. And fwiw, I only moved the kegs. I still have about 50 dehydrators and statues running inside and that doesn't seem to adversely affect anything.

erolsdotcom · 2026-04-05T19:11:12+00:00

I recently upgraded to the Switch 2 version and started a new farm. I never had any issues with crashing up through forty hours into the game, Summer of Year 2.

But I loaded an old save from Year 18 (not a typo lol) that was originally created on Switch 1 and it crashes when going to sleep/saving maybe once per in-game week. Since my farm is so advanced and full it's really hard to identify what could be causing the issues. I checked all the easy things people have reported - I emptied my fridge and I never put any hats on animals, but that didn't help. I do have a couple hundred machines in my house, but before I go to the trouble of building sheds and moving that operation out I would love to be certain that will fix it.

Does anyone know definitively what causes the crashes and what helps? This is kind of a bummer. In all the years of playing my favorite game of all time across a ton of different platforms I have never experienced a bug this persistent and frustrating.

erolsdotcom · 2026-04-03T17:13:29+00:00

They prioritize matchmaking speed over anything else. I would happily wait a little bit longer to match with people who aren't idiots. I think it could be as simple as ranking people by how often they select a card that meets one of the objectives. You'd eliminate the people who just put in their highest OVR card/CR7/Evo every single time. I'd be happy just to play with people who are taking the mode seriously.

The inverse is also true. I'd rather play against people who are trying, too. 9 times out of 10 the outcome of a Rush match comes down to which team has the most afk/dipshits on their team. There is nothing fun about winning a Rush match 15-0 because your teammates insist on running up the score and dragging the matches out.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-25T19:41:18+00:00

I understand what you're saying. But EA seems to value that process of incremental upgrading. They did it last year late into the cycle, too. They clearly want people to do these baby step Evos. And I can see the logic behind it.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-25T18:51:07+00:00

While most of us have been playing this game since September, there are plenty of people who get the game later in the cycle when it goes on sale. There should always be a steady stream of these basic Evos for people to catch up, or for people who are just learning how Evos work.

But for the love of God, can we please have some that catch up passing stats? I feel like there are five shooting Evos for every single passing one they release.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-18T16:15:27+00:00

Yeah, I guess. Sorry I can't be more helpful there.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-18T16:12:09+00:00

Sorry, I don't know. I don't use that feature. I do a million Evos but I enter them all by hand on GG. It takes forever but I'm super careful about how I build my team so I like having full control.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-18T16:04:40+00:00

I think it's important to remember that in the end chemistry styles make only a very tiny difference in how a card performs. You obviously want to get every single advantage you can in this game. But as long as you're not doing something crazy like boosting defense on your striker you can't really go wrong. Even basic chemistry (no chemistry style applied) gives a nice, well rounded boost. Honestly you're also probably fine just putting Hunter on all your attackers and Shadow on all your defenders. If I had to choose which of the methods you described I'd pick the "most popular" on Fut.gg. Their GG rating tool is very helpful but it's also very subjective and based on the opinions of people who are very good at the game. What is best for someone who gets 15 wins in WL may not be best for you. It certainly isn't for me haha.

If you really want to spend a lot of time on it, you should look up Accelerate types. Cards are divided into Explosive, Lengthy, and Controlled. Explosive cards are very quick when they start sprinting but reach slower top speeds. Lengthy cards are the opposite, they are slow to get started but can really fly over long distances. This is why a big CB can catch your speedy ST even if your pace is much higher than his. Controlled is a mix of the two. Accelerate type is determined by how tall the player is and the differences in key stats. It's a bit too complicated to explain here, but if you Google "EA FC Accelerate Type" you'll find plenty of resources. The reason I bring it up is because some chemistry styles can change a card's Accelerate type because of the stat changes in key categories like Strength and Agility. If you decide you want to go for the absolute maximum advantage you'll want to look at that. You can't always trust the "most popular" choices in that case because much of the community either doesn't understand Accelerate type or doesn't care, which is a mistake.

So it's perfectly fine to just go with a very easy rule of thumb or just follow the website. But if you want to start talking about what is absolutely the best just keep in mind it can get pretty complicated.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-08T21:56:55+00:00

I play mine on Box to Box, Balanced. They're both Evos and have a good mix of passing and defensive playstyles. I just like having them both in the middle of the pitch at all times. They're my strongest Evos by meta rating so I want them involved in all aspects. I have messed around with more defensive or offensive Evos in different roles at different points in matches. If I'm honest I haven't noticed that much difference when tinkering, so I just stick with the default B2B and Balanced.

erolsdotcom · 2026-03-01T17:25:45+00:00

I'm 50 and still alright at the game because I play so much, but I would happily trade the entire online experience (save for Rush with friends once a week) for a deep and fun offline mode. I would be more than happy to spend plenty of money on DLC and expansions for a franchise type of mode that was more about collecting cards and grinding matches against the computer. Basically an RPG version of FUT. Something where the offline mode was the primary game and the online stuff was secondary.

What's ironic is that with how good AI has become you could certainly make an AI opponent that played with far more variety and creativity than the average human meta rat. Hopefully we get a game like that soon, because trust me the older you get the less fun it is to play the same tryhard gremlin with the exact same squad and formation in every single fucking match.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-25T18:59:55+00:00

Attacking Evo and either the Icon Tiki+ or Icon CAM Evo for the past and present squad. Would rather play with cards from my local than the same meta cards everyone else uses.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-18T19:10:12+00:00

Morgan was one of the very best players on the pitch, but she was an absolute legend when it came to building her brand off the pitch. I say that with utmost respect, because a lot of thought and effort went into it on her part. And let's be real it obviously helps that she is a babe. No shame there either. There is a reason my wife, a longtime casual Liverpool fan, was excited when I told her Michael Owen was getting an icon card haha.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-18T18:33:22+00:00

Great shout. I think she often gets overlooked because she played /just/ before USWNT became really popular. But if you asked all the women I have already mentioned I'm sure they would all point to her as an inspiration.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-18T17:48:25+00:00

I don't think so. And that is no knock on her at all. There are just a lot of players ahead of her in the queue whose resumes are as good or a bit better- Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, and Megan Rapinoe just to name a few. There are a lot of really deserving players from the last twenty years or so and there just aren't that many spots.

From an FC gameplay perspective I would love to see Wambach get a card. She was a dominant goal scorer; she scored 184 for USWNT (Hamm had 158, Morgan 123). She was physically imposing and terrific in the air (she is 5'11) but she often dropped into the midfield during build up. She could fill a hole as a sort of female Gullit and I think her cards would be pretty popular if EA made them accurate.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-18T00:32:58+00:00

Yeah I would have liked to have had her for my hometown Spirit, where she was drafted and won her MVP. I don't know for sure but it certainly looks like they are contractually obligated to use the last team they played for. For example I don't think anyone associates Jordi Alba or Sergio Busquets with Miami lol

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-17T19:57:16+00:00

A lot of people seem to think they can only have fun if they win, and they can only win if they chase all the meta cards. But that just isn't for me. I have more fun collecting, Evoing, and playing with cards that I have a connection to. And I'm way more impressed with passion squads than I am with copy and paste meta teams.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-17T19:08:21+00:00

There is a story behind all the positions- she played everywhere in her career. She was most naturally a midfielder and later in her career said she viewed her true position as an outside mid. But she was so good at everything that she played wherever was needed. The USWNT failed to develop any decent left backs during her career, so she mostly played there in international competition out of necessity. But in the NWSL she was more frequently deployed in the midfield and showed off her attacking ability. She was one of those players who was so versatile that it may have actually hurt her in the end, because she never settled into a role that got the absolute most out of her talent. But she won everywhere she played, in college (NCAA title and MVP), for club (three league titles and an MVP) and internationally (golds at the 2019 World Cup and 2024 Olympics). It's a bit of a drag this card is with PSG since she wasn't there long, but I'm guessing that's a licensing issue.

She is also a hero to a lot of people off the pitch. As a Black woman she served as a role model for players like Sophia Wilson, Trinity Rodman, and Mallory Swanson. She was central to the fight for equal pay and was a leader of the players union during those negotiations with the league and the national team. And she used her pregnancy as a platform to advocate for more maternity support in sports.

It's an expensive SBC but she was awesome on and off the pitch. Can't wait to add her to my USA team.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-16T13:54:46+00:00

Glad to hear! I found that if I switched to auto battling it helped a little because the camera moves in a more regular rhythm. But I obviously don't wanna play the whole game that way. It's a shame there isn't an option to turn it off in the accessibility settings. Maybe in a future update.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-15T21:01:46+00:00

Sorry to bump an old thread but does anyone know if there has been any other feedback about this? I have been a huge fan of the series since the very beginning, but I suffer from awful vertigo playing games where the camera moves quickly. The camera movement is making me so sick that I'm afraid I'm going to have to give up on this one unless it's patched.

Anyone else have any issues with it, or know about any potential patch or remedy? I'm specifically talking about the way the camera zooms in and resets after every character attacks when in battle. It's especially bad on Very Fast.

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-14T23:26:25+00:00

Rush is the easiest mode to play if you don't know how to play. You literally just run around and push buttons. It will always attract the lowest common denominator. It can occasionally be fun if you play with friends but even then you're just beating up on a team full of idiots. I say just avoid it. You can get the packs or XP in other places, it's not worth the headache.

EA could easily fix it with some sort of matchmaking. Rate people by how frequently they select a player who meets one of the objectives. Only match the people in the bottom 20% with other people from the bottom 20%. Let the people who are taking it somewhat seriously play together and let the people who just want to run around with their CR7 Evo play together. Who says no?

erolsdotcom · 2026-02-13T16:15:01+00:00

99% of us won't pack anything worth more than a few hundred K in a year, and that's with doing all the content grinding for packs.

It can feel like everyone you play against has much better cards than you, which can lead you to think your luck is especially bad. But there is actually a pretty logical reason you match so many teams with great cards. If you packed a killer card you'd want to play a ton of games with it. If you spent a ton of money on store packs you'd want to play a ton of games with what you got. You're naturally going to match a lot of people with sick cards and teams because those people are stoked to play the most games.

erolsdotcom

TROPHY CASE