Community Letter

Hi my name is Kelley Lewis aka FVPA Kelley I am co-founder (Dec 2009) and co-owner of the FVPA – Fifa Virtual Pro Association. I feel it is important to write this letter to you the Fifa Clubs Community which I hope will put minds at rest. Recent events have led to the FVPA and me being slightly tainted in public by one sides view on a particular situation. I feel it is only fair that I give a view from my perspective of the discussion I was involved in.

A bit of background on me outside of Fifa, I am 35 years old, married with two teenage children, I work full time as a hands on IT Manager, working on my own with the responsibility of 6 servers, 50 users and all software and hardware to do with communication and IT, our main customer base are blue chip food companies who will not settle for second best and this often requires my input at a senior level to ensure our company delivers. I am Vice Chairman of my local youth football club, Manager of my Son’s football team now in my 6th season/year and clubs website administrator. I have a passion for football and am proud to be involved within my local community working with and developing young footballers as a Level 1 FA qualified Coach.

My first involvement within the Fifa Community started in 2007 running a Be A Pro Community forum. It was a very enjoyable time, I learnt a lot, spent hours organising Managers and tournaments, rules and transfers etc. I met a lot of passionate members from the Fifa Community and in particular Mark (co-founder and co-owner FVPA). We went on to experience the new Clubs mode in Fifa 09, I thought it was a master stroke by EA and couldn’t wait to get my hands on Fifa 10 after Virtual Pro was announced.

The more I played the game the more I realised the potential of how good this game mode could be, I must admit I was a little dismayed at the lack of online forum structure and ease to communicate with other teams and players. After discussing with Mark we decided to put our experience of running a community forum to good use and launch the FVPA, we wanted to provide a professional and well laid out forum where Clubs and players could meet up, recruit and enter tournaments, maximising everyone’s experience of the most realistic Fifa game mode.  In the early days we even offered Teams their own dedicated website which was installed and fully managed, it took up a lot more time and resource than I ever imagined but it was used by 4 or 5 clubs. The websites remained available to clubs until they no longer required them and we were able to slowly phase them out so the time could be spent more on establishing the FVPA as reputable Community.

Another important aspect that came out of the FVPA early on was feedback for Clubs, we found that complaints about game play and bugs were able to be turned into constructive criticism, we started to forward them on to EA, we spent a lot time collating information and forwarding it. Not hearing anything back was a little frustrating at first but we kept it up and eventually we started to receive replies!  As well as the information collated we started to send updates regarding the progress of the FVPA growing and developing as a community and were met with some really positive responses. As an example, In March 2010 – We sent a List of 8 things to EA from the Clubs Community and 6 made it to the game, maybe coincidence this early on, we’d like to think not!

Mark and I were approached by EA inviting us to join a close knit group of Community Representatives called GameChangers who work together to feedback and discuss ideas, report bugs and improvements across all modes of Fifa, monitored by the Developers. In June 2010 we were invited to Guildford for some hands on testing of Fifa 10 early development code, travel and accommodation at our cost, but well worth it to get some early game time and give feedback whilst the game was still in development. This also gave us a great opportunity to meet some of the other GameChangers and Fifa Community Reps in person, it was a great experience and I have managed to make many more trips to Guildford during the development of Fifa 10, Fifa 11, Fifa 12 including Launch days. (Inset picture: Mark and I at EA Community invitational Day for Fifa 11 release) Permission was also gained for use of the Fifa and EA sports Logo on our website. The FVPA have also been mentioned on Fifa Podcasts a number of times!

In September 2010 we announced our Gold Community partnership with one of our closest Community friends SweetpatchTV a long running Fifa Community, instrumental in assisting and supporting us with news regarding our project through social networking and articles.

Further friendships have grown and the past 12 months we have been pleased to name UltimateFifa, FifaSoccerblog and more recently YourFifaLeague to our close knit network of partners whom we have the greatest respect for and who share the same passion for their area of expertise as we do.

In January 2011, iFVPA was born this was set to be the biggest leap from the Standard Clubs mode, myself and Giacomo from the Italian Clubs Community FIVP spoke for hours on end between November and December discussing how we could develop an organisation to bring together, Communities from all around the world, a very tough task when you consider the obvious language barriers. This was to be the place where any Virtual Pro in the world could go to and find a community local to their country, to experience clubs in a dedicated environment. It opened up the opportunity for each community to submit their own National team to compete in the highest level of Virtual Pro football to compete for your country in an even more realistic way.  The project got off to a flying start with national teams from Established Communities world-wide signing up. Where national teams did not have an appropriate community that spoke the national language, dedicated Clubs players started to build their own communities, the reach for dedicated Clubs communities was starting to grow. Which in turn meant that Pro Clubs and Virtual pro was gaining a wider audience, more players, more focus by EA maybe? In July 2011 Giacomo came over from Belgium and Spike and I met up with him at Guildford for some Fifa 12 testing and more specifically a meeting with the main man himself Mr Rutter. We had both prepared presentations on FVPA and iFVPA with facts and figures on how the Clubs Community was growing and that we felt that more needed to be done to the mode to make it even more realistic, club badges, kits etc – A lot of things that we all as a Community have been asking for. We spoke about our vision for the continued growth of Clubs. We came away from the meeting very positive and whilst Mr Rutter could not make any promises, he showed a lot of interest in our ideas that made us come away very pleased with our visit.

In September 2011 we launched our 3rd Generation of website a massive improvement on the previous 2. The foundations to create new features ourselves, in an environment that is linked through to the forum and information can be shared. A lot of time and money was spent between July and November with My FVPA (JoomSport) set to be our own internal stats Manager, we have made a decision to pull the plug on JoomSport but we already have a replacement in development that is shaped exactly how we want it, is easy to use and will do what JoomSport should have done in the first place. We also added a new support system, for raising help requests on any number of topics, this is managed by all staff and ensures that we keep a record of all issues and how they were resolved.

One of the stumbling blocks for hosting national teams for the iFVPA project is proving members eligibility, it all comes down to trust and believing that someone is telling the truth, it’s not been without issue but we have worked hard to try and promote a patriotic feel. After various discussions with our host nation iFVPA Managers we set about changing and improving the Eligibility system, the original idea was to have a central forum thread for all applications to be checked over and approved by appointed persons. However Phil did an incredible job coming up with the idea for and writing a module that interlinks into the forum showing eligibility in every post below the player’s profile. It also displays a player pool for each nation by console of all eligible players. We sat up until the early hours of the morning discussing and testing each step of the way to ensure it was exactly what we needed it to be.

In December 2011 we launched FVPA Interactive, another big feature that we sat down and discussed and developed over many hours, it has proved to be very effective from the reports we have had from some players and Managers. All you need to do is submit some simple information about you or your club and what you’re looking for this goes into a Live queue which is displayed on the Website and also tweeted to our @InteractiveFVPA twitter account. Perfect for those looking to play or looking for players to fill in right now!

Now you are probably wondering why I have gone into a lot of detail on the history of my path to where we are today, I believe it is only right that the input and hard work that has gone into the Clubs Community over the past few years plays an important factor in highlighting an issue that arose recently. I believe it shows the focus on ensuring that our Clubs community gets the best chance of having a greater experience through development of features, networking and building relationships with Fifa Communities, Dedicated Clubs communities worldwide and EA Sports themselves.

Mark, Phil and I have a great team of lads who dedicate their own free time to assist in managing the day to day running of the forum, responding to support requests, approving new members by running the necessary checks to keep spammers and duplicate accounts at bay, responding to reports, running and assisting with tournaments. As a team we discuss many issues and project ideas. Without these Volunteers we would not be able to do half of the things we do. Occasionally I receive a complaint about a member of our team, personal insults will not be tolerated. If the complaint is vague I will request more information. If it is structured I will investigate it. There have been times where I have pulled a member of staff up because they made a mistake and on a couple of occasions in the past I have had no choice but to remove a member of staff, which is unfortunate. Any action taken by a member of the admin team remains confidential in line with any action that is taken against an individual member by the FVPA staff, unofficial warnings, official warnings, bans etc. Official Warnings or bans are generally made against Racism, Personal Insults, Harassment, Bullying, Trolling, Baiting, Avoiding the Swear Filter, ignoring an unofficial warning and General Disruption. We could never monitor every thread or post on the forum as there are over 400,000! We follow a code of practice for forums that allow 13-17 yr olds on the forum alongside adults. We have a duty of care to ensure that content on our forum is suitable and does not constitute harassment, bullying or personal insults of any kind, however we still rely on any posts that are deemed to be of this nature be reported so a staff member can resolve the issue. Staff members also following their own set of guidelines, which includes not dealing with any issues surrounding a team you play for or players you are involved with.

In December an argument broke out in the early hours of the morning. The thread was locked and moved while all reported posts were investigated – 8 members from 3 different teams had broken the forum guidelines some worse than others. Some members were banned for 24 hours to “Cool Off” and some received official warnings. The FVPA Staff member made a summary of the actions and reasons. I was prompted to check this out due to an email I had received by one of those banned for 24 hours. On further investigation I found that in my opinion it had been handled correctly, by a staff member not involved in any of the teams in question.

A Private Discussion went on for 4 days in the following order:

1. I first received an Email resignation as Manager of an iFVPA Nation, for their Pro Club to be pulled out of the league and for their account and all posts to be removed from the FVPA.

2. I agreed to all points apart from the bulk removal of posts – due to the disruption of forum threads and iFVPA information, Squad Lists etc

3. I received an email with accusations and insults aimed at the FVPA Staff and threats against the FVPA

4. I asked the member to reconsider their position and they said No

5. I received further insults and threats against me, the FVPA, the iFVPA and Staff Members – And asking for me to not announce his resignation so that he could post it to his players

6. I asked for an update a few days later as I needed to recruit a new Manager for the upcoming Euro Cup tournament.

7. Without discussion I received a message assuming they could stay as Manager, but run the team on a different Website, this is not the ruling of the FVPA, our host nations operate from our Website only as we need to ensure players are registered, are eligible and are not banned. This is our responsibility.

Since then I have had no contact with this member regarding this discussion and to my disappointment I am being alerted to things being said about it that are not true. Please be aware that I did request privately, permission to publish the discussion during the conversation, this was subsequently rejected, I will not publish the document but in the interest of qualified privilege the discussion is available on request by emailing me admin@fvpa.co.uk

I feel it is important to write this letter to you the Fifa Clubs Community which I hope will put minds at rest. Recent events have led to the FVPA and me being tainted in public by one sides view on a particular situation. I feel it is only fair that I give a view from my perspective from the start and inclusive of the discussion I was involved in.

A discussion was raised publicly on the iFVPA which turned into an argument with unfounded accusations and unacceptable comments regarding the people who work hard to run the International setup at the FVPA. When I returned from Holiday I removed it from the public domain. Access to the forum was removed by the thread creator due to the Forum being for Managers and Community Representatives only.

One question that has been raised a couple of times is why iFVPA Nations could not be removed from the FVPA. The FVPA are the host Community therefore have the responsibility to ensure there is a suitable Manager in place and players being selected are eligible. Once a Manager is in place, they run the team from the FVPA Forums reporting to the iFVPA Director of International Football. It is not the responsibility of the Manager to decide or move a team to another website. If a host nation shows they are not applying due care and attention to a team, ensuring they are playing matches, reporting results correctly or falling short of the iFVPA directive then the iFVPA may decide to take action. The FVPA have shown they are fully committed to the International Clubs Community and take the necessary steps to evolve and follow the directive of the iFVPA.

Since this situation occurred, a new dedicated clubs website has been created and it has been stated it is not in competition with the FVPA and that it does not intend to disrupt the FVPA. However as outlined in the attached discussion, we have been threatened and there is every intention to disrupt the FVPA and iFVPA, we have also received concerns from iFVPA Managers from other Communities that have been approached to join a new website.

I absolutely welcome more places for the Clubs Community to get a more enhanced experience which also gives more chances of partnerships being forged, this is exactly what I have been working on as part of the Clubs community through the iFVPA project as explained above, but in my opinion it’s not healthy when discussions have been misrepresented, situations have been blown out of proportion and insults have been aimed at those who have given up their own free time to contribute to the FVPA/iFVPA since 2009. It is a real shame that it there is a divide amongst the UK clubs community we have worked so hard on over the past few years. It is important to me that my commitment to the Pro Clubs mode and Community is not overshadowed due to a disagreement involving one of the biggest things that has complimented Pro Clubs in iFVPA and that everyone is aware of the facts, not second hand or vague details.

This concludes my open letter, I hope that it goes some way to clear up any misgivings or rumours that have been circulating. The FVPA and I will continue to develop and work hard for the Clubs Community and will remain in close contact with EA to bring about the changes we all want and need to shape a better game and experience.

Keep an eye out for new and exclusive features that will make for an even better Clubs experience in the coming months.

Thanks for reading!

Kelley