(Pro) Evolution … Fantasy Football – Does Fantasy Football change the “beautiful game”?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something. I wanted to talk about The Witness which until recently was my game of the year. But I couldn’t quite put to words how great I thought the game was, without just ultimately writing a review of it. So I decided to write about something else, something that would take time until it was complete in order to tell the full story. This year, I’ve got quite interested in alternate reality games; games where normal everyday scenarios become a game through scoring points and competing in extra activities to earn bonuses. These can be internal games (something I feel I’ve always done in my life, create challenges just for me – like mathematical equations etc.) or external games (where we compete with multiple people and post our achievements). I would love to incorporate more of these in my life, such fitness games, trying to push myself further and regularly. But at the minute, there’s only one prominent Alternate Reality Game in my life and it’s just come to an end, at least till the end of august. I am of course talking about Fantasy Football. 

This week, the final premier league fixtures were played out. Many games in which were supposed to be big games or season defining games, such as Man City and Man United playing out for that final Champions League place. But in truth, most of season was sowed up a few weeks back, with consistent Leicester City incredibly winning the league, at the capitulation of Tottenham Hotspur. And as the relegation battle, which usually comes down to the final day, was also over as Sunderland secured safety mid-week in a win over Everton, relegating their arch-rivals Newcastle; as well as Norwich, at the same time. All in all, there wasn’t a great deal to play for on the final day. 

Or was there? 

Whilst my own supported team Liverpool had very little to play for other than an outside chance at finishing higher; my team, which I manage in Fantasy Football, Everyone Into Position (named after an Oceansize Album) - had something thoroughly underwhelming yet no less exciting to play for – a third straight win of my Fantasy Football League. I did it, which is almost as incredible as Leicester City, as at one stage I was dead last and about 150 points behind the leader. Quite an insurmountable total at the time, considering a single goal from a striker nets roughly 4 points. I played a very cunning move at one stage which propelled me to the top, which I’m about to outline now. But I also want to talk about how Fantasy Football, as both enhanced and ruined Football for me. 

Liverpool, under the new guidance of Jurgen Klopp, were still finding their feet with some remarkable performances here and there, but far too inconsistent to keep putting in my team. It was time to use the ‘Wild Card’ and transform this season. The Wild Card is a feature which allows a player once a season to change their entire team with no penalty of point reduction. I used this as an opportunity to start reinforcing my team with players from Leicester City, who I realized probably before anyone else in my league; that they were going to be in the title fight till the end. Tottenham and West Ham too were playing very well, and not as expensive as some players, so it was also time to put them in as well. And lastly, the man plagued by injuries, but is almost guaranteed to score whenever he plays; Sergio Aguero. He was expensive, so I used the rest of my allotted money to fill the team with semi-effective players; players I wasn’t expecting to get points from, but ones I expected to play even just picking up a few points. 

It worked, and I started gaining ground, even if remaining in last place. Fantasy Football is of course based predominantly on luck, as anything (which it often does) can happen. Typically, there is bound to be at least one upset per weekend, but it is far too risky to try and anticipate which game will have an upset. It is far easier to recognize which teams are playing well (such as the ones outlined above) and bet on them to grind out points, which I did. So whilst occasionally the people above me got an influx of points, eventually I was never too far away, based on this expectation of certain teams. 

Now, as I’d already mentioned, 150 points was a huge ground to make up. And I managed to claw it back to roughly 40 – 50 points. But I had an ace up my sleeve, as it were. In some weeks, teams played twice due to fixture congestion and relocation from cup games. It so happened that there was a week coming up where no less than 10 teams would play an additional game. I had slightly given up hope prior to this, but I slowly started to weave in players from the 10 teams that would play twice. Even if just on bench. It was extremely crafty, as I had recognized that the other players in my league had already used their “Bench Boost”, a one off use where a player gets the points from the bench, as well as from the team. Combined with the fact that they were going to play twice; even if they all only got 4-6 points each (which they didn’t, they had more) it would net me a minimum of 20 points alone. I ended that week with about 160-170 points, I was in the lead and never lost it.

So why, after such a victory, would I think Fantasy Football ruined Football for me? Basically, when watching games, my attention would divert more towards the need to win in fantasy football, particularly after I gained this lead. Whilst it is incredibly satisfying to be on top for a week, it’s possible to lose it all very quickly. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, this lead me to making silly moves towards the end; which could have cost me. I also would check the teams my fellow players would put out as soon as they were available. I was consumed. Instead of just enjoying the games, I would watch a single player, praying that he would score a goal or not (if they were in another team). Watching the time tick away knowing that clean sheets where in reach and praying that other teams would lose theirs. In all the drama of the Fantasy Football, I lost the interest in the sport itself and focused more on my team. 

This could be argued that it evolves football, makes it something more enjoyable, as something more substantial is riding on it, other than your own expectations for your team. There was no money involved. No beers at the pub. Nothing. Purely the bragging rights for a few months before it all starts again. Fantasy Football changes the game, literally. It no longer becomes about following one team, but you follow the league as a whole. In order to win your league, you need to understand the best players from every team, and who’s about to hit form and who’s about to lose it. So in many ways, this elevates the spectacle of watching Football as a whole, as I watch most games when they are available to me. But there were far too many games this year where I found myself not really watching the game, not enjoying it. Just trying to be mindful of how it would affect my league.

This is not to say that there weren’t any times where I found myself enjoying games. I just enjoyed them a lot more once my team had got the points on the board, this player scored that goal etc. The security of already having the points. This is especially true for my own team, as even when Liverpool returned to form; I still couldn’t bring myself to put the players in, because I didn’t want my enjoyment of them, tainted by needing certain players to score goals. Pretty bizarre in truth, it sounds like an addiction, but arguably a healthy one. As it was good to discuss tactics and laugh about how the season is going. And, I did gain great amusement in both winning towards the end, but also losing so significantly at the start of the year. 

In the end, I closed out the season by trying to make my team as closest to my nearest rival as possible. This would ensure that any points he got, I too would get and thus stopping him from overtaking me. This led me to the unspeakable act of putting a Manchester United player into my team. Something I hadn’t done to that point. But sometimes you’ve just got to evolve.

'Depressed' Souls; Prepare for Optimism

A few years ago, I was struggling in a particularly difficult time of my life. I had no money, which consequently meant I saw less of my friends and did few activities outside my house (such as going to the cinema or whatever). Looking back now, I realize I was deeply depressed. I had worked my ass off for several months for different companies; without getting paid. I was expected to work because "I wanted to make games"; which in my foolish honestly; made sense to me at the time. Even when I did acquire paid work, I finished the contracts only to not get paid. I realized that getting a job in Games Design was going to be exceptionally difficult. It seems that every job required you to have several years experience and no one was willing to take a chance. This meant I spent a few months working every day on my portfolio, which I'd now changed to focus more on Environment Art. Which seemed to be a more obtainable goal. I gave myself a deadline of 5 working days to complete each Environment that I would design. I would work from 9 til 5, in order to maintain my body clock to "work mode"; which I still have today.

During this time, I would enjoy several game streams as I became more aware of Twitch, and the personalties on it. There were several casters who I took a liking to; Ellohime, Spamfish, Excessive Profanity and ManVsGame. At this time, Dark Souls 2 had been released; a game I was really looking forward to, but couldn't quite justify buying it. So instead I watched these streamers play it; particularly ManVsGame; whom I would actually tune into every morning, to watch. What surprised me was that; these weren't the best gamers on the planet; they were simply great at providing an entertaining broadcast, through engaging with the chat and being sharp and witty should they overcome, one of the many challenges in the games they were playing. Dark Souls 2 is a game that is notoriously difficult. Not quite as difficult as the other games in the series but hard, nonetheless. Knowing this, watching ManVsGame fail repeatedly at various bosses, made me feel like I was in the fight with him. I would cheer and applaud if he beat a boss, despite no one hearing me. And bosses became tedious to me, as well as him, when he fought them in vain, losing consecutively (often up to 10 or so times). This allowed me to experience Dark Souls 2 not just as if I was playing, but also with a community. I got to experience the game I was dying to play, with all the highs and lows, and I got to feel part of a community; despite feeling very lonely. This however was merely the first step towards recovery; as a week or so later (possibly with one eye closed and trying not to think about what I was doing); I bought Dark Souls 2.

Dark Souls 2 is not one of my favourite games. I prefer Dark souls 1, I think Bloodborne is one of the finest games ever made and Demon's Souls, well, it’s... ok, it’s not as good as Dark Souls 2. But for me, Dark Souls 2 is one of the most important games I've ever played. Not because of any design choice made, or the quality of the game; but because it helped me overcome my severe depression. It taught me that perseverance would pay off in the end.

In the Souls series, there’s a set format for how to play the game. The player must be patient; this is to ensure that the player is more defensive and learns to anticipate; this is particularly important early on and consequently players cannot hope to progress without adapting their playing style. Secondly, the player will learn they are never truly alone. Yes, the player will need to overcome most challenges alone and they are usually the only person standing against it. But messages are left across the ground to help and advice other players. Phantoms (presented as Ghosts but are in fact other players) walk the same paths as you, trying to overcome the same challenges. Bloodstains are left upon death, so that players know death is around the corner if they’re not careful. But also, and perhaps most importantly, the players can summon help at nearly anytime. And in Dark Souls, the community of gamers is often more than happy to help a player achieve progress in the game. Lastly, the player must (as the tagline suggests) Prepare to Die. This is not a simple wink at the difficulty of the game. But the sooner the player learns that dying in the game, doesn’t mean failure as long as they learn something in the process; the better. This is because, theoretically if the player can reach the spot they died previously and overcome whatever befell them; they typically will be in a better position than when they died. This is because, the player will have learnt several steps already and should be able to reach the distance in less time, taking less damage, and using fewer resources. Not to mention that the ‘Souls’ regained after having been dropped, will be increased due to them being added to the Souls acquired after death. In fact, I think it’s fair to say because of this; the Souls have very little value during active Gameplay and combat; most gamers, will no doubt see them as really important. In truth it is far more important that the player can learn to use the skills they’ve already got to overcome obstacles, rather than trying to build on something that they’ve not yet achieved (see how this is starting to tie back?).

This setup is, in my opinion, a rather optimistic style of games design, once the player learns it of course. It’s one of the many reasons the Souls series has such a great cult following, aside from trying to unravel the mysteries of the stories and helping each other through fights. The challenges presented always seem great and yet are always achievable. This is because, Games are inherently optimistic as they can always be completed. And The Souls series is no different; whilst difficult, everyone knows can be beaten. Despite what some people may say or think, outside of the very first death; the game never kills you for you to learn something. In fact, the game never presents a challenge, which you can’t overcome with perseverance, skill and adaptability. This is because, From Software actually want you to reach the end, they want the player to overcome their game. Why wouldn’t they want this? The only difference between this and most games is that they want the player to feel like they’ve earned it.

Dark souls 2 presents a format of mini challenges that culminate in greater challenge; a boss. These mini challenges are simply several steps that the player must overcome to reach the boss. The bosses are always the hardest enemies the player will have fought up until that point. They of course, have varying degrees of difficulty but the biggest difficulty the player needs to overcome is the desperation of needing to defeat the boss. These challenges, great and small, combine in to something that often feels only faintly achievable. But with each small step overcome, the optimism of the player rises. This makes the game surprisingly therapeutic, but also rewarding. Bizarrely, as the game progressed, any death just made me more determined to finish the game. It seemed to me that; my hope of success was almost more exciting than success itself.

To relate back, depression is defined as “feelings of severe despondency and dejection”. Games however, are naturally the opposite of this; they’re designed to encourage the player to be optimistic and more importantly feel involved; the game doesn’t progress without the player. And as I’ve already outlined; Dark Souls 2 did this in abundance for me; but not only that, it helped me lift myself out of the dark place that had become my life. The optimism I felt playing Dark Souls 2, actually carried on into my life. I would leave the game and tell people I’d beaten this or that boss; even if they had no idea what that meant. This is because I was achieving something; ‘I’ had done it. And just as I became determined to beat Dark Souls 2, I became more determined to pull myself out of the dark place, I was in.

And sure enough, a few months later, I got the job I have had for 2 years now. Coincidentally, I’m also now playing Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, as I look towards a new job and new challenges. 

Prepare for Optimism.

Review of 2015

This year, I saw a radical change in the types of people who play games. It occurred to me, that pretty much everyone is playing games in some form. And of the people who are not - they should. The escapism created by games released this year, seemed to bridge a gap to so many facets of gaming; that there was something for everyone. It is truly astonishing that a game like the brilliant Her Story; could not only survive and be accepted to the gaming community but also receive several Game of the Year nominations from game outlets, including Polygon; in which it won. For the first time this year, I went to a Games Convention. And without pointing fingers or names, I realized that this in fact was not for me. Not because I wasn’t interested in anything that was on show but the excitement from the show came from discussing with other developers, as opposed to playing their games. When those developers seem few and far between; I felt a little out of place. The show itself changed my outlook on games; based on what types of games I would make in future and instead of thinking “oh this would be a cool idea”; design my games specifically for a target audience (Which I am in fact now doing on my next release). This in turn lead me to realize that I should never attend such an event without bringing a game of my own. On the topic of Target Audience and everyone playing games; this year, despite my mum having been playing games for literally years in some form (Solitare etc.); I finally noticed she was in fact addicted to games. She was always playing games throughout the year; often combining them with other tasks; such as watching TV or reading a book. And although she would disagree, I would argue she plays more games than me. And I played a lot of games this year. No, my mum did not play Bloodborne but she probably played hundreds of versions of Bust-A-Move.

In years gone by when I think of AAA Games that have come out; I tend to only think about Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty games which are out every year. This year it seemed like most of the releases in AAA hit an incredibly high standard of Gameplay and polish. Many of them either throwing out fresh ideas and others revamping their already existing franchises. By making most aspects of the Game Design process feeling iterated and refined to create the best experiences. Games like Dying Light, Bloodborne, The Phantom Pain, The Witcher and Fallout 4, all delivered exceptional experiences for the majority of their content. Slightly worrying is that all of these games seem to have a large open world to explore, and I would argue that only Bloodborne had exceptional crafted Level Design, but no matter; as in each of these games the core Gameplay was incomparable. Which leads me on to my list for my top 10 games, in no order:

• Bloodborne – Master crafted in every sense of the word. The only bad point was that despite three plays clocking at nearly 100 hours and achieving the platinum trophy; I wish there was more of it. Thankfully, the Old Hunters was released which I shall jump on just as soon as other games are cleared out the way.
• Downwell – I’d been following this game for a while, but I was quite surprised how effective the game it delivered its blend of rogue and shoot ‘em up Gameplay. I’ve only played it on PC but it is easily one of the most addictive games of the year and I shall be getting it for Android as soon as its released.  
• Fallout 4 – I feel like the excitement of Fallout quickly died out. I was a little thankful of this because I wanted Fallout to be of the more solitary experience that it tries to deliver. I was underwhelmed by the story but the moments I remember from Fallout 3 are just amplified in Fallout 4; raiding supermarkets and underground bunkers for loot. Fallout 4 also painted some incredible imagery for me personally which last long in my mind ahead of many other games this year.
• Her Story – I couldn’t believe how much this game sucked me in. The game only lasts around 2 – 3 hours but it had its hooks me in me from start to finish. Twice I stopped playing only to immediately return and keep going when I thought of a new keyword. The Non-Linear Narrative is truly something special that many games developers (and indeed people from any media related industry) should experience at least once.
• MGS V: The Phantom Pain – Despite my disappointment with the game; it’s hard to argue that the immediate Gameplay is not completely stellar. Two games this year for me had near perfect controls and technical game elements (camera etc.); one was Bloodborne, the other was The Phantom Pain.
• OlliOlli 2 – Addictive and fluid Gameplay, matched with catchy tunes makes for everything that Skateboarding game you didn’t know you wanted, excellent. This was one of the few games I played on my Vita, as well as on my PS4 and the experience didn’t diminish on the handheld. This was a game that I felt I was designing when I wasn’t playing it, as I tried to formulate combos and manoeuvres, whilst working etc.
• Rocket League – After having time to sit on it, 6 months later, I’m still playing Rocket League. Its arguably my game of the year, sitting equally on top with Bloodborne. My already endless love expanded when I began to learn how to anticipate the ball dropping and start creating lots of chances for my teammates, as opposed to simply trying to score. The fact it’s so simple; makes it easily one of the most remarkable games of 2015.
• Splatoon – I’m not much of an online shooter fan. I’m not much of a painter. I don’t know anything about squids. But Splatoon has all of that and it’s pretty great. I struggled with placing either Splatoon or Mario Maker on this list. But I think the fact that Splatoon feels so fresh and unique, whilst continuously fun; means it’s obviously very special. More of this Nintendo, please!
• The Talos Principle – 3d puzzle games always sound tedious and repetitive in my head. Maybe it’s the potential of having to design one. But Portal is one of (if not) my favourite games of all time; so I should love them. Turns out I do because The Talos Principle is as mind-bendingly iterative as a game can get; and it’s great. The fact that the only real base player interaction is to pick up and place an object, shows you how genius simplicity can be.
• Witcher 3 + DLC  - This game shows how narrative decisions need not be so black and white. To continuously create morally grey area questions, which ask the player to decide which is the lesser of two evils, is excellent and far more inviting than most "alignment" quests in other RPGs. Creating this world must have been so much fun, as it clearly has a lot of love poured into it. Hearts of Stone is one of the finest expansions I’ve played and actually enhanced the game for me.

The Evil Within and the Importance of Game Association

During the summer of 2015, I revisited a few games that; having been released in the previous year, had eluded me for whatever reason. The Evil Within was one such game.

I'm quite aware of the games that get released and I know how well theyve been received. So I knew that (at least through major outlets), The Evil Within had a mixed response from Gamers. Some loved it, some not so much. In a time where I had little money, it probably wasnt a wise investment for me to gamble my money on something that I might not enjoy (I'm usually quite good at knowing what I enjoy). So I didn't buy it. Thankfully, a year later, The Evil Within is great. I actually found it extremely intense to play, like to headache inducing, but in a good way. It's definitely reminiscent of Resident Evil 4; one of my favourite games of all time, but focused more on survival horror. Ammo and Health packs were scarce, enemies took plenty of damage and the environment seemed far more cramped; creating a claustrophobic experience.

During my time with The Evil Within, I was preparing for my Driving Test. This as you can imagine, was a particularly stressful time, where The Evil Within was possibly not the best choice for calming my nerves.  I managed to beat the game a few days prior to my test. This however, managed to come at an ill-opportune time as I was also waiting for the release of the Phantom Pain, which was the same day as my test. As I waited, this left me without anything to take my mind from the impending test, causing the pressure to build similarly to the intense pressure of The Evil Within.

On the eve of my test (and the Phantom Pain, of course), I could hear my brother playing some music whilst he worked. The song was “Clair De Lune” a classical piano piece performed by French composer, Claude Debussy. Whilst, this slow and soft piece of music played, I began to relax and my headache went away. Where had I heard this music before? Well it was not but a few days earlier whilst playing The Evil Within.

During the Evil Within, the intense pressure and threat of imminent death around every corner made me particularly careful. That pressure built greatly on my mental strength, as I couldn’t bear the thought of having start an area again. Throughout the game, this piece of music “Clair De Lune” would be met with a sudden burst of excitement and rush, quickly met by a deep calmness. The music would emit from save rooms as inside these rooms you could save, as well as unlock additional resources and purchase upgrades. More important than any of these, was that it was also a safe room; where enemies literally couldn’t get to you. This bought valuable time to reassess and invigorate mental wellbeing, before getting back into the nightmare. Sure enough, I kept expecting one of these rooms to turn into a trap where a boss would come and smash me into pieces. You’ll be thankful to learn, this never happens; partly due to it not making sense story-wise but also Gameplay-wise.

Something I had never completely considered when designing games was Game Association. I have of course, some experience with this – Allies being Blue and Enemies being Red. But to associate a song with something so prominent in the game as being safe; something which in most games is a menu where the player presses Save or Buy; it changes a player’s outlook on the scenario at hand; particularly in a survival horror setting. For example, whenever (and I mean whenever) I would hear “Clair De Lune” playing, I would immediately run to the door, and couldn't wait to be greeted by the creepy nurse (who even being creepy is not at all creepy compared to everything outside). This often meant I would bypass resources and potentially enemies just to create my next “checkpoint”. This process of Gameplay was exceptionally powerful for me as the player. I believe it’s because this kind of feedback is most often triggered by player interaction, and not by me hearing the music from a couple of corridors over. I didn’t have to run to the door, but as a logical next step; it made sense for me to do so in order to feel as though I was making progress, whatever the outcome as soon as I left the room would be. These save rooms also allowed me to test out areas knowing I would die, just to see the traps and enemies that were lurking beyond; this ultimately calmed my nerves more so.

So in future, I will incorporate as much Game Association into whatever games I decide to make. And yes, by the way, I passed my Driving Test.