“Take on the role of Footballer, Manager or Journalist in a world where teamwork, strategy and people matters!”
Footballidentity is an online football game in which the entire ‘world’ consists entirely of human controlled characters, and human controlled characters alone – you’ll find no AI bots here.
Depending on individual preference, players can choose to become footballers or managers, even journalists – with every other character in the game being controlled by another registered user, thereby placing great stock in your ability to successfully communicate and interact with other Footballidentity members via the live chat streams and official forums.
Getting started…
Registering is as easy as filling in a form then clicking an ‘account activation’ link in the automatically generated email that is rushed to you once all the T&Cs have been accepted…
Once the all the necessary information has been filed, you will be spirited to your Footballidentity member hub which contains direct links to your inbox, friends list and various other options…
With your account up and running, the next step is to create a character by following the link from your homepage. You will then be presented with three options…
Like any right-minded football fanatic, I elected to choose the righteous path of the superstar footballer, with one eye firmly set on becoming the next Lionel Messi – though you can also purchase extra characters if you also fancy having a crack at becoming the next great manager and/or journo as well.
Anyway, before Barcelona come calling and the million-dollar contracts begin to roll in, players must agree to several ‘character expectations’ which are duly pointed out to you in your job description – i.e, you must train with your side once a week, attend tactical briefings and play at least one game a week to avoid having your ‘contract’ (read: your Footballidentity account) ripped up and thrown in the waste paper basket.
Finding a club…
With a character created and a position (attacking midfielder) assigned, it’s time to advertise your services on the Footballidentity forum…
Leave a ‘wanted ad’ with all your details (see the various sticky threads to find out which details you need to include) on the forum and sooner or later a manager will come sniffing around, keen to add you to his burgeoning squad.
Taking to the field…
The matches are broken down into turns in which you, your team-mates and your opponents all decide upon their actions simultaneously during each turn whilst the two manager look on from the ‘sidelines’.
Each turn is then broken down further into phases (4 phases if somebody is in possession at the start of the turn, and 3 phases if not) with each phase allowing the player to perform different tasks such as high and low passing, tackling, pressing and hard or measured shooting.
It may sound a little complicated, but Footballidentity’s user interface is perfectly intuitive once you’re sat in front of it (it’s actually fairly reminiscent of the old 2D match engine that the old Football Manager games used to utilise) and a quick leaf through the extensive ‘help’ section should iron out any kinks that you happen to experience.
Moving into management…
The management arm of Footballidentity is arguably the most demanding and important role in so much as the game intrinsically revolves around them and, while the playing staff can be relatively fleeting and lightweight in their approach, it is the manager’s dedication to the cause that can really pull a great side together – a true test of your leadership and motivational skills.
You have to assemble a squad, train them up then pick your way through your tactics for the next match all this whilst delicately fluffing the ego of your prodigious young striker or nursing the dwindling confidence of a ‘keeper who has let one too many shots squirm through his grasp.
One question: do you have what it takes?
Summary…
It’s perhaps worth mentioning that, with any new MMO game, there seem to be a few isolated teething problems regarding online lag – though the team of developers are constantly beavering away to alleviate such bugs (after all, Footballidentity is still in it’s beta stage), with constant ‘system update’ bulletins being posted on the live news feed.
The matches in Foolballidenlity will really put your tactical skills to the test as, due to the fact that all your teammates are being controlled by other users, you will have to make sure that your team is all pulling in the same direction if you want to become a well-oiled, league-conquering machine.
Individual ego problems and collective tactical weakness are both surefire ways of ensuring that you (or any of your teammates) will never get to rub shoulders with Senor Messi, or Senhor Mourinho, at the top of the tree!
Try out FootballIdentity today and tell us what you think!
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