I've come to the realisation over the past few days that for as long as FC is one game, it's just not going to appeal to me (and from the sound of it, most of us).
Having an "Authentic" team is a clear signal to me that EA do care about "us" - clearly, we're worth something to them (i.e. money, which is fine by me).
But I am now absolutely convinced that trying to build a realistic game from the building blocks of an eSports one is like trying to build a car with bricks. Sure you can do it, but it's never going to behave properly.
I know some people are happy with Authentic and that's good, but objectively, replay the last ten seconds of gameplay at any point and you'll see:
Etc. etc. etc.
- AI players hyperactively full-speed sprinting from one place to another in the middle of the pitch
- Passes leaving players' boots by magic - only shots need actual contact
- FCIQ forcing players into pixel-perfect positions and then doing nothing
- A line of defenders who react like they're unaware a football game is going on, except for the 1v1-enabled player
- Goalkeepers rooted to the spot
Sliders can't add ball physics where none exist. Passes very clearly operate like this - "calculate the user's desired target and weight the ball to get it there perfectly" (including SMASHING the ball at 100mph, to a boot that controls the ball like silk).
Passes don't take into account limb momentum, ball contact etc. (even on "manual" - which, by the way, you shouldn't need to use for a player's contact with the ball to make any sense) - and there's still no such thing as a deflection. Either the ball sticks to you like a bit of dandelion fluff, redirects to a player, or goes into the goal.
Okay, next year I might be here again hoping for improvement, because I'm a hopeful person. But the thought of doing another interview with Andreas/Bogdan right now - I'd really struggle for questions, because football and this gameplay have so little in common that the only thing I could ask is "have you played FIFA 14 next-gen or FIFA 16, and if so, how do you think FC can hold a candle to your own company's previous games where the ball felt like a ball, and players had human physical limitations".
Giving feedback feels like talking a different language because it's not a case of "it would be great if X was better". The whole core of the game is just wrecked from years and years of deleting AI and physics for "Competitive" players (and I must reiterate, so many of them don't appear to want this handholding).
"Giving feedback feels like talking a different language because it's not a case of "it would be great if X was better"."
THIS is exactly why I am not as hopeful as you are. And this is also why I don't buy this game on day 1 anymore after doing so my whole life with excitement and joy... I often see EA asking for "feedback" on Steam, and I have no feedback because I literally think the game is just all wrong, and I really mean fundamentally everything is wrong. In order to give feedback I actually need to at least like the fundamentals but with these EAFC/HyperMotion builds, it's just all wrong I'm afraid...FIFA 23 was not great but it was salvageable and I had feedback still then, but that was 3 years ago and EA thinks that they have a better game now, which just leaves me speechless and without feedback, clearly I am not the target audience here.
