My trophy addiction cost me 20 bucks

I consider myself somewhat of a trophy hunter on PlayStation Network. I've reached trophy level 16 and genuinely enjoy taking the time to find these oh-so-important meaningless accolades. I was into earning Achievement points on my Xbox 360 for a while, but I eventually became disinterested in the numbers. When Sony launched the trophy system, I was skeptical but eventually found the leveling system scratched an itch that never seems to heal quite right. Why is this important? Well, it’s not, but it sets up how I became trapped in Madden Ultimate Team and the effect it had on my psyche.

For those unaware, Madden Ultimate Team, or MUT, is an independent card game in Madden 12 — along with pretty much all EA Sports games — where players, uniforms, coaches, stadiums, contract extensions, and other elements are treated as playing cards. For example, if you have the Tom Brady card, you can place him in your depth chart and use him in your MUT games. The games play out just like any other game of Madden, either against the computer or other players online. Think of it like a smaller, yet more immediately rewarding, version of fantasy football, which I also love.

The cards are bought in packs, much like real-world card games like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh. You buy packs with game-earned "coins" or out-of-game-earned "dollars." Now, microtransactions are nothing new, and if you play anything on Facebook or the awesome League of Legends, you can see where this story is going. My downfall was set.

So, I had a Saturday to myself and wanted to get the platinum trophy in Madden 12. I hunted down all the trophies, gaming the system the entire way, and I found myself without four of them. I went over to MUT and was given my first pack of players. With apologies to all the athletes who work themselves into early retirement, my team sucked. I mean, it sucked pretty hard. We had an overall rating of 65, and I needed to get a rating of at least 80 to claim the trophy. I tried to get some coins from playing games in the MUT mode against the computer, but even against the horrible Bengals, sorry Cincinnati, it was still a struggle. So I did what any sad-sack trophy whore would do. I looked at the real-world prices for packs. I had four dollars left over in my wallet from a previous purchase, so I rationalized the first pack as being free. It obviously wasn’t, but I was doing some mental gymnastics.

With my first pack bought and my team slightly improved, I tried again. The Bengals were still a bit tough but much more manageable. The platinum was drawing closer but still eluded me. I needed to play 20 games in MUT, achieve a team of over 80, and make a trade online. I sat down to play at noon, and it was already four. My girlfriend would be home in a couple hours and I didn’t want her to see me like this, contemplating spending real money to buy fantasy cards in hopes of unlocking an even more fictional trophy to sit on my imaginary mantle. I panicked. While it pains me to say it…I bought more packs of cards.

I mean they were right there. All I had to do was press the X button two times, and a new set of virtual players would be mine. I want to maintain at least some dignity, so let me tell you that I sat at that menu for a good while. After thirty seconds of deliberation, I bit the bullet and used my hard-earned money. It was just too tempting.

The worst part was that the packs weren’t all that cheap. They were on a tiered system with the lowest tier having the worst-caliber players and costing the least while the highest tier was the inverse. To finish my sad story, I ended up paying about 20 dollars to get the team I needed to unlock the trophy. Twenty dollars that could, and should, have gone to just about anything else. I simulated the rest of the games I needed and offered up Ed Reed for any random card on the trade market. In one swoop I had:

1) Devalued MUT for people who really enjoy it.

2) Wasted five hours of my day.

3) Wasted 20 dollars.

EA loves idiots like me, and while I admit how absolutely moronic I apparently am, it was fun. Yeah, I fed the cash cow and didn’t do anyone any favors — except the guy who got Ed Reed for Soldier Field — but at least I was engaged in my video game. You might say it was for all the wrong reasons, but who has the right to tell someone else how to play? I enjoy hunting trophies, and while Madden 12 may have made me its bitch, I now understand how easily individuals can be separated from their money. I never understood how games built on microtransactions thrive, until now. Some people buy bad games just for the trophies and Achievement points. I used to scoff at them. Now I wish I could have bought Terminator Salvation because even that seems to have more honor.

Do I regret it? Not really. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wish I still had that 20 bucks, but the experience taught me a valuable lesson about the changing landscape of the gaming industry. I have a better perspective now. You should be free to play a game and spend your money. Just know that there is always someone out there looking to take it from you. EA is not wrong and neither am I. The beauty of this almost-dominating business model is that it doesn’t force anything. Granted, MUT is a bit different than other microtransaction systems in that you have to own the 60-dollar game beforehand, but you get the point. Not in a while has a lazy Saturday illuminated so much about the industry and my place in it.

By the way, I did receive the chime and the platinum trophy. It’s on my mantle, next to my 16,340 Achievement points, my Steam points, and my Blizzard points.