EA Sports Boosts Tim Cahills Rating in FIFA 15

The other week, we saw the top player rankings released for FIFA 15. Amid the usual arguing about ratings assigned, there was a particular outcry by fans on the behalf of New York Red Bulls midfielder Tim Cahill. EA Sports had assigned the Socceroos stars rating as just 69. Tim Cahill is actually featured on the cover of the Australian edition of FIFA 15, and is one of the brands ambassadors. Gamers, furious about his low rating, launched a deluge of complaints at EA, stating that the decision was disrespectful, a disgrace, disgusting, and other words which we probably shouldnt type here. Some gamers even threatened to boycott FIFA 15 Coins.

We still dont why EA made the initial decision it did. Having hunted around, we havent found much in the way of comment from the publisher-except an excuse which may or may not have any truth in it. EA claims they never rated Cahill with a 69, and that the number in question was pulled from a resource without access to final FIFA 15 data.

The statement is a bit strange, since the word final suggests that at some point they were considering giving Cahill a 69. Regardless of the details, they have listened to their players and have boosted Tim Cahills rating from 69 up to 74. This is only partially satisfactory, and in some ways still seems to be an insult. Why? Last year, Cahill rated a 75. Players with ratings of 75 and above are considered gold cards, in the FIFA games. While EA has boosted Cahills rating, they have not returned him to gold card status.

Do you think EA was being deliberately misleading with their vague statement, or that the 69 rating really was just a false rumor? Are you angry that Cahill still doesnt rate a 75? Vent your frustrations in the comments below. Be sure and check out the Top 50 player list if you havent yet to see where all of your favorite stars rank.

And finally, make sure you pre-order FIFA 15 before the pre-order time window closes! FIFA 15 is coming out in just a couple of days, and you really dont want to miss out on the incredible bonuses. Right now for $59.99, you can pre-order the standard edition and get 15 free Ultimate Team packs! For just $10 more, you can get 40 Ultimate Team packs, Messi on loan for your first 5 season games, the Adidas Predator collection, the Adidas All-Star team, and three new celebrations!

ArcheAge Players Getting Refunds After Bots Make Unauthorized Purchases

Earlier this week, numerous ArcheAge players wrote in the games forums that their accounts were seeing unauthorized transactions, in some cases totalling as much as $150. Now, publisher Trion Worlds has responded, issuing a statement that explains the situation.

Let us start by saying this very clearly: Trion Worlds security has not been compromised in any way, the publisher said. There has been absolutely no breach in Trions servers.

The unauthorized transactions were the result of bots obtaining user information from other sites and then gaining access to ArcheAge accounts if the username/password combinations matched up. What happened was, unfortunately, not a new occurrence, a Trion Worlds representative said.

If players consistently use simple or repeated passwords across different online services, these bots may get access to their accounts, Trion Worlds said. Because of the current momentum around ArcheAge, hundreds of millions of such attempts were made from well over a million different IP addresses in the last few weeks, only a fraction of which ended up being successful [on August 26].

Trion Worlds will provide full refunds to affected players, some of whom say they were affected even though they never played ArchAge. And beginning tomorrow, Trion Worlds will roll out a new security feature to its Glyph account management system that will ask you to input a special, one-time-use code when accessing the service from another computer or a computer you havent used in a while.

You should also change your password and make sure you dont use the same password for multiple sites, Trion Worlds said (though that is good advice anyway). You can change your Trion Worlds password right now through this link.

ArcheAge is a PC MMO created by Jake Song, the man perhaps best known for his work on the Lineage series. The game, developed by XLGames, aims to separate itself from the pack by letting players adventure through the world at their own pace and by blazing their own trails. You wont find pre-defined paths. For more, check out GameSpots previous coverage.