{"id":13489,"date":"2019-12-18T01:15:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/?p=13489"},"modified":"2020-06-09T15:14:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-09T14:14:05","slug":"fifa-20-pitch-notes-update-on-fifa-connectivity-and-responsiveness-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/fifa-20-pitch-notes-update-on-fifa-connectivity-and-responsiveness-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA 20: Pitch Notes &#8211; Update on FIFA Connectivity and Responsiveness Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>EA <\/strong>has recently released a Pitch Notes regarding server responsiveness and what it wants to implement for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Connectivity is always an important topic given the growth and scale  of the FIFA community, and you\u2019ve made it clear to us that you want more  details about how we\u2019re addressing your concerns and how we\u2019re  prioritizing solutions. In the later stages of FIFA 19,&nbsp;we began to share some of the changes&nbsp;that  we had implemented to improve the online player experience. And we\u2019re  going to give you visibility into some of the additional efforts we\u2019re  making around online connectivity, data centers (\u201cservers\u201d), and  gameplay responsiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re working on optimizing the online FIFA experience daily as there\n isn\u2019t one single quick fix to this challenge. Not for any game, and \nespecially not for FIFA given its size and scale. This is our challenge \nand one we\u2019re committed to improving for all of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re going to be as transparent as we can be. Below are some steps \nwe\u2019re taking, and we\u2019ll provide additional updates to you as we get \nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why Haven\u2019t You Made This Better Yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In short, online connectivity is a complex set of interactions and \noften depends on the type of game you\u2019re playing, the connection you \nhave, the providers that service your connection and, of course, your \nlocation. These issues aren\u2019t something that can be improved with a \nsingle patch. The solutions require careful consideration and \nprioritization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We know that the internet is generally designed to provide stable \nconnections towards everyday activities like downloading, web browsing, \nand streaming. Optimizing for precise gaming at this scale is a unique \nchallenge, especially in 1:1 gameplay scenarios that are core to sports \nand fighting games in which both players need to have all inputs and \non-screen actions directly tied to what the other player experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Defining What We\u2019re Talking About &amp; What We\u2019re Working On<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since our&nbsp;last update,  our team has been working towards identifying and optimizing for four  critical areas. We thought it would be worth defining these here  because, for example, what you might call \u201cspeed up lag\u201d might mean  something entirely different to someone else. Here are the key terms and  infrastructure we\u2019ll use here and in future posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Button responsiveness<\/strong>: how quickly the game responds to your inputs.<ul><li>Sometimes referred to as \u201cinput lag\/delay\u201d. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Input loss<\/strong>: when an input is performed correctly on a controller, but it is not reflected in-game.<ul><li>Sometimes referred to as \u201cbuttons not registering\u201d. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Game speed<\/strong>: when the online gameplay does not appear to be running at the expected speed.<ul><li>Sometimes referred to as \u201cplaying on ice skates\u201d, \u201cgame feels slow\u201d, \u201cplaying in mud\u201d or \u201cplayers not getting enough traction\u201d. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Temporary freezing<\/strong>: when the online gameplay freezes for any amount of time during a match.<ul><li>Sometimes referred to as a \u201cmicro stutter\u201d. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have been actively working on these things, and they\u2019re not the  only  factors we\u2019re testing and trying to improve. And, there are often   trade-offs that we have to consider when optimizing the game. For   example, the game stutters when packets are getting stuck over the   internet. We have intentionally made the game more responsive over the   years, which means that if you have a slower internet connection that   you could see more stutters. We could artificially &#8216;smooth&#8217; this out but   that would result in greater delay for other players. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below are a few additional areas we are working on to enhance the \noverall experience and as we investigate solutions. Some of these will \nnot bring immediate changes to the gameplay experience but it\u2019s \nimportant to understand that there are many factors to consider as we \ngo, and we have ongoing investigations and planned live tests to \ncontinue strengthening the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Live Testing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some connectivity and responsiveness solutions require live testing \nin order to gain a real-world understanding of their impact. We are in \nthe process of setting up and conducting this testing with limited \ngroups of key players. These tests will provide us with valuable data \nthat will inform future actions taken by our team.&nbsp; The first ones will \nbe looking at button responsiveness and input loss. You can expect to \nhear more about some of these scenarios early in the new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Game Latency Investigations &amp; Improvements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are continuing to capture data through\u00a0Gameplay Responsiveness surveys\u00a0with  key members of the community to better assist in latency  investigations. Our most recent survey happened last week, and it is the  third time we\u2019ve run one like this since launch. The data generated  from these surveys allows us to identify key areas of improvement and is  helping to drive solutions around the topics noted above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Data Centers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since FIFA 20\u2019s launch, we\u2019ve added a new data center and moved 8 \nadditional data centers to optimize our global network, which now \nconsists of 15 locations across 6 continents. We\u2019re currently \ninvestigating where it would make sense to add additional data centers \nin order to improve the matchmaking experience for as many players as \npossible. As we add more locations, we need to balance a trade-off \nbetween a higher likelihood of a good connection for a player and the \nsize of the player pool connecting to each data center to help ensure \noptimal matchmaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes the data center that\u2019s closest to you isn\u2019t the one that\u2019s \ngoing to give you the best experience. This is because some Internet \nService Providers (ISPs) don\u2019t always move data directly from point A to\n point B.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Matchmaking System<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In October, we made a modification to the matchmaking system in FIFA \nUltimate Team (FUT). This change was targeted to help increase the \nquality of online matches by updating rules around acceptable ideal ping\n thresholds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have seen some initial ping improvements across matches globally, \nand we will continue to monitor the matchmaking system and make \nadjustments as needed. Our priority with the matchmaking system is to \nensure an optimal and fair online experience. We need to then balance \nand tradeoff between three main factors when tuning our matchmaking: \nopponent connection quality, skill level gap and the overall time a \nplayer must wait to find a suitable opponent; each factor must be \ncarefully weighed to maintain a well-balanced experience. We&#8217;re also \nlooking at more ways for players to see in-game information about their \nconnection status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019d also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank all  of you who have been instrumental in sharing feedback and working  hand-in-hand with us through this process. We recognize you want more  updates, and our aim is to deliver that as we move forward. We will keep  the conversation with you going. Keep telling us what you\u2019re  experiencing and we\u2019ll keep telling you what we\u2019re doing to help improve  your online experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>FIFA 20<\/strong> is available from September 27, 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC,  Nintendo Switch. Keep on following us also  through our social <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/futukofficial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ultimateteam_uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> for other news and information.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EA has recently released a Pitch Notes regarding server responsiveness and what it wants to implement for the future. Connectivity is always an important topic given the growth and scale of the FIFA community, and you\u2019ve made it clear to us that you want more details about how we\u2019re addressing your concerns and how we\u2019re [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[868,22],"tags":[90,26,154,116,1127,28],"class_list":["post-13489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pitch-notes","category-ultimate-team","tag-fifa-20","tag-fut","tag-fut-20","tag-pitch-notes","tag-responsiveness","tag-ultimate-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fifaultimateteam.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}