Improvements for the Game

[solid kernel]

We’re approaching the final phase of the game, and now is the perfect moment to make meaningful improvements—for balance and to reconnect with the community. Listening now would benefit both players and long-term engagement.

Key points:
1.Reduce Auto-Defending – Too strong, it removes the skill gap and creates unnatural rebounds.
2.Reward Manual Defending – Manual defenders should feel effective; relying on AI is currently easier.
3.Fix Rebound Logic – Too many rebounds favor defenders. Rebalancing would make outcomes fair and physics-based.
4.Restore Goalkeeper Control – Reducing auto-defending should come with improved manual goalkeeper movement.
5.Improve Passing – Incisive passes should be precise and reflect player stats.
6.Base Gameplay on Stats – Attributes should clearly impact gameplay, rewarding choices and team building.
7.Reduce Rigid Animations – Movements feel stiff; more fluid animations improve responsiveness and immersion.
8.Increase Responsiveness – Controls can feel heavy even beyond connection issues. Smoother input improves performance and fun.
9.Aim for Balance, Not Overpowered Mechanics – As Maddy suggested, the goal is equilibrium. Include natural football elements: headers, volleys, varied playstyles. With the final phase approaching, focus on enjoyment; features can be unlocked while balancing mechanics like goalkeeper control.

[echo bridge]

I do think most of your points are valid. The one I wouldn’t necessarily say is needed would be improved passing and gk movement. I think community is quite split on GK movement but a majority is positive about gk movement nerf. We’ve asked for it for years so they can’t just revert it because some people think it’s bad. Second, the passing has been boosted very recently in the latest patch. They nerfed tiki taka so it’s more matched with stats instead of playstyles. True that incisive and pinged are still very necessary but to be honest there are so many other big things to fix where passing shouldn’t be a main focus rn. Everything else is very true though.

[solid kernel]

Regarding the idea of being able to move the goalkeeper again, this would only make sense if auto defending were patched, in order to maintain a proper balance. The issue people had was that, on top of getting past a wall of defenders, opponents could still completely shut down an attack after all the effort put in, which is already quite difficult. The purpose of this would be to preserve a certain level of control