For over a month, the gates to the new EA FC 26 have been open. However, according to the community, the football hit has already taken a significant step back after the current patch. Or is it perhaps the community that is the problem?
What kind of step back is this? At the heart of the recently released patch 1.1.0 is the focus on improving the defense – a misguided approach for some, at least according to FTP_Cucuy on Reddit: “Congratulations to everyone who complained! We have FC25 again.”
The starting point for this is EA’s reaction to the feedback from many players who have complained for days about the nearly impossible defending against highly skilled dribblers. Some even completely gave up their defense in the meantime.
Even the developers felt this response and explicitly mentioned it in the patch notes on ea.com: “We received your feedback that experienced dribblers in attack are too strong, and we want to offer you an improved defensive option for dealing with them,” said EA.
However, since this reaction to criticism does not sit well with many in the fanbase, players in another Reddit thread posed the fundamental question: Is EA FC’s true problem not the developer, but perhaps the community itself?
“You will never be happy and will always have something to complain about.”
Is the community really the problem? User orisadagoat summarizes the entire above topic in one question on Reddit: “You asked for the defense to be improved, and now that people are using their improved defense, you complain about it?”
A ping-pong game between developers and their community. Fans complain, Electronic Arts tries to improve it, but does not hit the perfect point, and everything starts all over again.
The Reddit user adds: “You will never be happy and will always have something to complain about.” A thought shared by another, but the developers are not entirely seen as innocent lambs:
I agree 99 percent with what you said, except for the part where you absolved EA of responsibility. What you said about the community is true, but ultimately the responsibility lies with EA. They are shortsighted. The game is full of bugs, and I’m convinced that every single update makes the game more and more a mix of the previous FC edition and less of itself.
In the end, the question remains whether EA can ever find the right middle ground – between what is technically possible, gameplay-balanced, and satisfactory for the community.
Who is now the problem of EA FC 26? Whether EA or the community is the bigger problem is hard to answer. What is certain is: As long as both sides hold on to different ideas, there will hardly be a patch in the future that makes everyone happy. However, the fact that the community of EA FC 26 is not complaining for the first time about supposedly game-changing content can also be read here: A new map in EA FC is currently annoying everyone, and the community is asking: “Why does this happen every year?”.
