EA SPORTS FC 26

Chris Davies said:
Came here to post the same thing.

I don't know why I'm surprised.

The pros (a tiny fraction of their user base) may as well be a part of the dev team at this point. The average consumer (the majority of their user base) has no chance.
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There is such a wild swing based on what people want. They make one change and there's 1000 people calling for the exact opposite. I'm not really feeling their identity is filtering through the feedback all that much right now unfortunately.
 
I'm finished with this game until they update it again. Pisses me off so much. Listening to the community is stupid. They are as clueless as the person who thought listening to the community was a great idea. Make it simcade, anything that's broken or overpowered, fix it. PAY people who have good insight and a liking for different modes to balance the fixes. It's not bloody hard.

The lesson was taught around CoD: Ghosts and CoD: Advanced Warfare.

Fans: "We want something different than the same CoD every year"
Devs: "Ok, how about this? You now have exo suits and can fly, making firefights vertical as well as horizontal"
Fans: "Why did you change it?? We want CoD like it used to be"
 
Social Media just gave too much idiots the chance to let them be heard. If you look at the Video/post that @Chris Davies shared, you can see that the guy had an open shot every time he moved to the other side and the defender never closed him down or anything. But still all that guy says is "The defense is mirroring every move I make". That is so dumb, that it's not even funny anymore. There is nothing about that defense that has to be nerfed. But EA listening to this part of the community is even dumber.
 
Colon said:
Social Media just gave too much idiots the chance to let them be heard. If you look at the Video/post that @Chris Davies shared, you can see that the guy had an open shot every time he moved to the other side and the defender never closed him down or anything. But still all that guy says is "The defense is mirroring every move I make". That is so dumb, that it's not even funny anymore. There is nothing about that defense that has to be nerfed. But EA listening to this part of the community is even dumber.
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Unfortunately the idea of listening to the feedback is one problem and the other major one is the application of the changes.

It always seems like they are undertested and not considering the bigger implications of their changes/adjustments. In my experience with modding if you focus too much on just one particular thing and never allow yourself to zoom out and look at the overall bigger picture, it's always messy when you finally do.
 
I'd also add the update has broken the replay camera. How many times a goal is scored and the first replay is staring at the centre circle...

EA do this with Apex too. An update is released, the game will always have some issue
 
Iā€™m a bit confusedā€¦
@Chris Davies , you had the chance to talk with the developers, and from the interview it seemed to me that their intention is to keep the two gameplay modes separate and listen to feedback for both.

Now, knowing that the defense will be scaled down worries me a bit. They should also update the Trello board so we can understand the direction theyā€™re taking and which feedback theyā€™re actually listening to. For example, thereā€™s a lot of feedback about the lack of fouls, and in two of the latest patches fouls were mentioned, but in-game thereā€™s really little evidence of improvement.

This kind of situation makes me feel stupid, because I keep giving feedback hoping to be heardā€¦
 
Yeah, not surprised in the least.. anyway, for as much as I want to give them credit and being hopeful, they should at least come clear on the two gameplays issues. Is it a thing, or is it not? Cause we can dance around words all day long, but if single player experience gets nerfed cause squad battles (or whatever it's called), giving the same online crowd control of this too, it's just all a big nothing.
 
Madmac79 said:
Yeah, not surprised in the least.. anyway, for as much as I want to give them credit and being hopeful, they should at least come clear on the two gameplays issues. Is it a thing, or is it not? Cause we can dance around words all day long, but if single player experience gets nerfed cause squad battles (or whatever it's called), giving the same online crowd control of this too, it's just all a big nothing.
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If itā€™s true that they listen to the community and read the forums (as mentioned in the interview), they should have realized by now that offline players are asking for one type of product, while online players want the complete opposite.
 
Just to clarify based on the last three posts (@Bale_86 / @Madmac79) - I very much doubt these changes will apply to Authentic mode. I wouldn't worry about that.

My frustration isn't about the offline gameplay here. My frustration is on behalf of the majority of consumers, the "non-enthusiasts", who buy a football game expecting a football game... who mostly play online, and who have zero "competitive" interest... but who have to put up with the gameplay being, in my view, degraded, for the sake of the "competitive" scene.

It is just so unfair to the consumer. I want to play online again, but I can't, because it's one thousand million lightyears away from a team-based sport. I'm angry on behalf of your average Joe who doesn't even know what a forum is, who is going to wonder why the game keeps getting even twitchier and even dumber in defence.

I really don't believe anyone wants 10-9 scorelines outside of the "hardcore" competitive guys.

Authentic mode won't suffer these changes, I would bet on it. But my one disappointment is that, in the interview - talking about the "fidget spinner" R1 dribbling that was toned down, and the resulting backlash from these "pros" - Bogdan says:

"Let's wait, let's look what happens over the week as people play those Competitive games [...] we don't want to make rash decisions."

Within days of saying that, a patch was released that increased dribble speed again, and now here we are again with some dumbing-down of the AI (to clarify, for online play exclusively, we can safely assume).

I wish I could find it, but I saw a tweet yesterday that was a "pro" saying the quiet part loud - "I'm not winning all my games any more, I'm getting beat and that shows how broken this game is" ... that's the reason the screaming is so loud.

And yet they get their demands, time and time and time again, at the expense of good gameplay. It's not fair.
 
Its a business decision. Those "pros" are the whales that spend the most money so as a company they have to cater to them.

On the NBA 2K forum one dev said that the sim players are the most demanding but spend the least amount of money. Thats were we are at right now.
 
I wonder if all of the title updates are also a way to fight piracy. If each update scrambles the code. It makes removing all the work of removing Denuvo checks from the previous title update fruitless, so then itā€™s really only able to be cracked once they stop with the title updates. At which point they donā€™t care because they have a new game to sell.
 
Personal opinion indirectly related to FC for discussion - spoilered to avoid clogging the thread (actual news above):

Today, Sky Sports released "Halo", a "for-women" media channel (TikTok specifically).

They decided to dumb this down to an astonishingly patronising degree for the 21st century.

Those hoping for deeper, more insightful content on womens sport specifically, were presented with clips and interviews (from mens and womens sport) with sparkles and emojis layered over them, talking about Starbucks drinks and pretty things. "Slay queen!"

The reaction to this - taking a subject matter people are deeply knowledgeable and passionate about, and treating them like idiots - has been fierce.












What has this got to do with FC?

Well - I really don't think it's unfair to argue that FC's default gameplay ("Competitive") is doing the same thing, and I'm wondering just how low it will have to go before it gets a similar reaction.

There may be more "leeway" with it being "just a game" - and I totally understand - (even appreciate) the game has to be made primarily for the lowest common denominator...

...except I truly don't believe that's who the game IS being made for, as I think the lowest common denominator would still want a football game where matches mirror real-life, where scorelines rarely add up to double-figures and humans move at human speeds with human ability.

Instead, it's being controlled by streamers (like CoD - see below) and those who simply have to win every game to retain their "pro" status, who need the game to be as familiar, 1v1-based and streamlined as possible, every year.

They actively don't want a football game, they need an "eSport" - but to be frank, calling FC that seems a big disservice to other eSports that represent a hell of a lot more of the "real thing" than FC does and really make you think - even if they're not the most accurate simulations, e.g. Gran Turismo.

I also appreciate the fact that Authentic mode now exists, which is a very clear attempt to reach out to the more passionate football fans looking for a realistic experience.

But that's still, right now, a bolt-on mode that's not miles away from the default game, that can't even be used online with friends - let alone competitively.

It's a step in the right direction, but I think it's short-sighted (and patronising) to treat it as the "alternative" experience, rather than blowing people away by giving them a fresh, grounded, much more thoughtful experience by default - instead of treating the majority of their audience like children.

(Unless that is the primary target for their base gameplay, which would be odd when it's the "pros" getting their demands met, rather than the general public - and again, shouldn't that mode be the alternative and not the main game?)

On a related note... Bowing to streamers is an industry-wide issue, it seems. But they do help sell games, so the power they hold is unsurprising.


But it's not just a "boomer opinion". Look at the player count (and imagine for one moment that FC had a serious contender).

 
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HeWillKnockFourTimes said:
Anyone seen the apparent "open world" FC leaks? Not 100% if they were real but..
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I've reason to believe they're real - but that it's a prototype as much as anything. My hope is that, eventually, it becomes a hub for the more casual players and allows the "main" game to become a lot more authentic - but, I'm not sure how popular it will be when (as it stands) it's just a few Rush variants and some party games. I see very little online chatter about Rush - I wonder how popular it is.
 
Chris Davies said:
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I don't mind seeing the old 'unlicensed national teams with real players' like older Fifas had. As long as the kit colours are correct, then it shouldn't be too bad (e.g. England (even though licensed, this is an example) would be white shirt, navy shorts, white socks, Belgium would be dark red shirt, black shorts, dark red socks. Any pattern or design on them outside of the collar would be up to them, as long as it made sense i.e. a black design for Belgium, a navy design for England etc.)
 
Chris Davies said:
I've reason to believe they're real - but that it's a prototype as much as anything. My hope is that, eventually, it becomes a hub for the more casual players and allows the "main" game to become a lot more authentic - but, I'm not sure how popular it will be when (as it stands) it's just a few Rush variants and some party games. I see very little online chatter about Rush - I wonder how popular it is.
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Sadly, I think they are just slowly copying what 2k has been doing with NBA 2k for ages. One can only hope that they fail miserably.
2K's hub city where you have to complete absurd quests like modelling designs or stuff like that during your NBA career is an incredibly time consuming monstrosity. The MyPlayer aspect in NBA2k is a huge part of the game. Lots of guys just want to go all out on accessories and tattoos for their players (which all cost virtual currency) and be the man. Luckily, football is an 11-player game so the focus on the individual will never be the same as it is with basketball.
Volta, Rush and all of that stuff was a minor attempt at copying some of 2k's online features.

The sad news though: 2k has consistently drifted aways from being a simulation to a 'but the skill gap, bro!' game. Right now offline you can only score when you 'green' a shot (great-perfect timing). All depends on the user's input, individual player stats aren't as relevant. A player with good timing and a crap player will score more shots than a mediocre player with Steph Curry. I stopped buying 2k because it just isn't a fun NBA sim anymore but rather a competitive bore. I want to have a fun time and relax while gaming, not stress about every single user input because pros have nothing else going in their lives and spend countless hours learning the perfect release points and individual animation timings.
2k is an absolute shitshow when it comes to greed and catering to the pros.

It's one of their moneymakers and EA (with new ownership) is said to look for new ways for monetuzation so they will certainly push for a similiar experience.
 
Premise: Iā€™m not interested in getting views, I donā€™t have followers and I donā€™t care about having them. For me, on Xbox Series X this is just the fastest way to record and share a match.

This was a good match, I really enjoyed it. Around the 20th minute the CPU committed 3 fouls with believable and varied dynamics, but unfortunately those were the only ones in the entire game. It would take very little to make the gameplay better.

In the first half I dominated, while in the second my team was more tired and sat deeper, stopping attacks by closing passing lanes.

 
I just remember my controller vibrating as soon as I tried to take the ball off the cpu, and nothing happens, when I played the trial recently. Surely this absence of physicality is something that only should belong to the competetive gameplay where they want to limit the amount of interruptions in a match. In 16 wich is my go to-game, I sometimes try to play a bit rougher if I feel that I need to, in order to break a counter attack etc. And it works, sometimes just by running in to the other player. And this goes both ways, the AI does the same.

If I put all of the other flaws aside, I'd say that this is the most frustrating thing for me, the lack of physicality. I should be able to put someone down with just the standing tackle and my momentum, not only by slide tackling... I hope they sort it out for the authentic mode.
 
patzor said:
I just remember my controller vibrating as soon as I tried to take the ball off the cpu, and nothing happens, when I played the trial recently. Surely this absence of physicality is something that only should belong to the competetive gameplay where they want to limit the amount of interruptions in a match. In 16 wich is my go to-game, I sometimes try to play a bit rougher if I feel that I need to, in order to break a counter attack etc. And it works, sometimes just by running in to the other player. And this goes both ways, the AI does the same.

If I put all of the other flaws aside, I'd say that this is the most frustrating thing for me, the lack of physicality. I should be able to put someone down with just the standing tackle and my momentum, not only by slide tackling... I hope they sort it out for the authentic mode.
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Yeah I'd agree with that completely. I wish there was a dev who would recognize that, and reduce the "balance" attribute or whatever is equivalent for all players. Most fouls IRL are not even sliding challenges and sometimes not even tackles for the ball - they are just more upper body contact and being pushed without playing the ball.

We'll get more fouls the more that can happen.

From a slider perspective, I've increased acceleration to the 50s because we have to understand the game is about momentum. Under 50, it's more of a solid feel because there is more of a grounding of players - but at the same time, they won't fall over as easy - and the momentum isn't enough to be recognized as a foul at times. Such a balancing act, but typically down to the sacrifices we're willing to make.

There's so much potential though, because these types of fouls do happen - and should happen a lot more. Change of direction, pressure, clumsiness, etc.

 
Wouldn't be surprised if EA try to make FC more like Fortnite, a "platform" to keep people in the game even when they're not in a match. Like gimmicks in the open world, and live streamed events.
 
Chris Davies said:
Just look at the top-liked replies to this.

Only the eSports Pros want defending dumbed down, and yet Competitive is made for the majority of players.

Absolutely infuriating that they continue to dictate development. I sincerely believe everybody other than these "pros" want to play a football game online, and not a 1v1 skill-gap-me-bro AI-less skate show that bears no relation to football.

Pleeeeeeeeeease keep improving the game for everybody, EA. This is what the AI should be doing (scaled up/down depending on the defender's ability).



Also, I have to agree with this - online and offline:

(Well, I don't agree anything needs to be faster or more responsive... But I do agree pass-pass-pass is all you see due to the 90% pass accuracy and the game rewards very little else.)

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I feel like every update is the equivalent of giving a bad girlfriend an ultimatum to change but she swings from one extreme to the other and so whatever state she's in, she's undateable.
 
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