video game – The Concordian

“It was so unhealthy,” says one user about time-consuming video game mode

A few weekends ago, I played 40 games on FIFA 18, and there was a good reason for it.

In the game’s flagship mode, FIFA Ultimate Team, there’s a competition called Weekend League, which allows users to play up to 40 games every weekend, from Friday through Sunday, and earn prizes based on their number of wins. To qualify for this mode, the user must win a mini-tournament during the week, or have earned 11 wins in the previous Weekend League.

After I won the mini-tournament during reading week, I qualified for the Weekend League from Feb. 23 to 25. Although I have qualified for it twice in FIFA 17, it was the first time I qualified in FIFA 18. I played 20 games on Friday, and then 10 on Saturday and the rest on Sunday, winning 14 games over the entire weekend. I qualified for the following Weekend League, but only had time to play three games.

Some of the best FIFA 18 players in the world compete in the Weekend League on a regular basis. For eSports gamers, or at least fans of FIFA 18, it’s a serious competition but also takes serious commitment.

Playing 40 games in 72 hours is not an easy task. Let’s do the math: each game takes about 20 minutes (and up to 30 minutes if the game goes to extra time or penalties), so that’s at least 800 minutes of playing, which is over 13 hours. Imagine spending an entire half-day of your weekend just playing video games—that’s what many players do every weekend.

The Weekend League also takes away from a user’s social life. Personally, I didn’t feel like that, because I made plans throughout the weekend (which were eventually cancelled), and I still played hockey on Saturday night.

However, for others, the Weekend League takes over their weekend. The Concordian took to reddit to see how other users cope with balancing their social life and playing this mode.

“I’m 29, have a family to provide for and work full-time including Saturdays, so I’d have to sacrifice doing anything Saturday night to get my games in,” wrote one user, Stephen B. “It got to the stage where I was snapping at my family and friends all the time, neglecting my social life and thinking of FIFA every minute of the day. It was so unhealthy.”

Another player, Mark P., said he also had to play his games late at night—sometimes until past 3 a.m. “Working all week and then cramming 40 games into a few remaining weekend hours makes it feel like a chore,” he wrote.

Some players wrote they don’t play all 40 games, but rather play until they get 11 wins—the minimum needed to qualify for the next Weekend League. Those who use that strategy said they have more free time during the weekend, and the game is not a burden.

Video games should be fun, and not something that dictates your weekend. Yet, EA Sports has turned this video game into a social life-killer and a chore.

Former Concordia student Mike K. wrote he used to play all 40 games in FIFA 17, but now that he works 18 hours over the weekend, he can’t play as much. He said he used to prioritize the video game over other activities, too.

“I don’t think something can be a hobby when it’s forcing you to spend about eight hours [a day] on it during the weekend,” he wrote. “I’d classify it as an obsession for those who sacrifice other activities to complete it on a weekly basis.”

The reddit users requested only their first name and last-name initial be used.

Main graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

Don’t play around with love – or do

There’s a universal truth in saying that love and relationships are difficult. Harder still, is the expression of these difficulties, even between adults.

“Will Love Tear Us Apart?” is a game that attempts to express what words often fail to convey between people, and puts us in the shoes of an individual dealing with a failing relationship. The game abstractly defines itself, with crudely drawn genderless figures in a black and white world. The sounds are mellow, but there’s a permanent feeling that something is incredibly wrong. Although each of the three “phases” of the game are different, they are played out in a simple fashion that requires very little explanation to understand.

The first phase is the argument, where you sit at a table opposite your partner. While the argument has no words, it does contain emotions: anger, compassion and guilt. Your chosen reaction either makes you win, lose or stall the argument. The patterns of emotions become predictable, and winning soon becomes trivial. The disturbing factor is that every subsequent “victory” drains the life of your partner until they become nothing but a skeleton. The last victory, where you absorb your partner completely, causes you to move forward to the next stage where things get fairly tricky.

You are transported into a maze, where you control both parties, attempting to make it to the center of a heart. The maze is riddled with obstacles: the walls contract as you get closer to the centre while blood begins filling the pathways. Should any of the two parties die before at least one of them reaches the light at the centre, you’re forced to start the maze over. The instructions read: “To save the partners from the pain of breaking up, guide them to the light.”

The truth is that this phase can’t be won, no matter how well you strategize. The pathways will close, leaving one of the two partners stranded and left to die, either eaten by a parasite or drowned in blood. “It’s not a flaw in timing. One is always left behind,” the game reminds you.

Although it would be unfair to spoil the game at this point, it becomes clear that the ideas expressed during the gameplay are true to life. There’s an innate reality of the difficulty of relationships and the struggles that we face when undertaking that journey.

You can experience the free-to-play browser game for yourself at www.willlovetearusapart.com

This symbolism, firmly expressed by the creators is spot on and its impact reminds us that there are never any clear winners or losers in relationships, only participants. This entire journey clearly glorifies the values of communication and makes you, the player, understand that winning an argument really just means that your partner has lost it.

While the game isn’t perfect, it stands as a testament that games can be art, despite critics saying otherwise.

In the third phase, if you choose to take one of the wrong paths, the game will have you start over from the first phase. Although the goal of this forced restart is most likely to convey a message of futility to the player, it’s hard to have it create the same impact that these decisions would have in a real life situation. When this happens, it often feels that starting over comes as a relief from the strain of the tensions in the relationship. We get this romantic notion of a second chance, when in truth we’re only starting the entire cycle over.

“Will Love Tear Us Apart?” may seem like a pessimistic game at first glance but, buried in the troublesome images, it displays is a message that begs to be acknowledged.

You can experience the free-to-play browser game for yourself at www.willlovetearusapart.com