Hardcore FUT players should honestly hold their tongue when it comes to the pace of the latest installment's beta. They fly around the pitch with a squad of 96+ rated TOTY players, in a inherently faster game mode that utilizes chemistry styles. The vast majority of their players they use are going to be at or near 99 pace, especially at this point in the year.
Of course Kick-Off is going to seem slow to you. It's not that the pace of the game is that much slower (if at all), it's that what you're used to is so unrealistically fast, it doesn't resemble football or other game modes within FIFA! I know, it's such a difficult concept to grasp.
If I recall correctly, some of the top FUT YouTubers don't even follow the sport. For the rest of the FUT zealots, I'd wager that they either don't know much about football, or they just want the football equivalent of NBA: Jam. Children in general (which are a very large portion of the user-base) might prefer over-the-top, flashy highlights they can boast about on Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube to anything that resembles what they witness on TV. Would it be that far-fetched to believe that there are large swaths of FIFA players out there that don't watch matches week in and week out, but consume compilations and highlights instead? As in, they're only exposed to the best of the best. It would massively skew their perception of the sport if that were the case. Since FIFA is fairly casual in terms of gameplay, it doesn't require you to be a football nut in the first place. The barrier to entry just isn't there.
Then we have FUT "influencers" and wannabe YouTube stars. I envision them sat in front of their phones, picture after picture trying to dial in their best impression of "The Scream" painting for the thumbnail of their latest installment of clickbait. Strips of tape on the floor to act as a landing spot for when they they practice launching themselves out of their chair as they feign excitement for their latest pack opening that doesn't even correlate with the title of video because again, clickbait.
We'll hear them complain about the lack of "skill-gap" in an annual, pay-to-win game that's riddled with RNG because it's
based on a real sport. As if FIFA is League of Legends. They're under the illusion that FUT is a "competitive" game when in reality, it was never geared towards being an eSport in the first place. It falsely brands itself as such in order to maximize exposure and profits. Afterall, they need little Billy to feel compelled to beg for money or grind after he gazes upon his favorite pro's 30 million coin squad. Need to keep those retention rates up to satisfy the shareholders!
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You know what else would improve the skill gap? A game where possessing actual football knowledge is paramount.
