Two features added to FIFA 19 have created quite a bit of controversy this fall, leading many in the community to call for their complete removal. Only time will tell if EA takes the outcry to heart but, for now, several players are fed up with timed finishes and keeper movement.
There are few things you can count on in life, but two of them revolve around EA's insanely popular soccer series, FIFA. The first thing you can count on is that there will be a new FIFA game each fall. The second thing you can count on is that some new mechanic or feature in the game will totally piss off players. In FIFA 19, both keeper control and a mechanic known as a timed finish are the cause of frustration, leading many to call for their complete removal from the game. Apparently loot boxes are on the rage back burner for now.
What's interesting about both of these features, though, is the fact that they both seem to have been implemented due to complaints from previous versions of the game. FIFA players like their soccer games to have a high ceiling in terms of skill, and they've been calling for more control over play for quite some time. So, EA decided to address those requests with the inclusion of both keeper movement and timed finishes.
Keeper movement is exactly what it sounds like. Depending on the situation, and especially during penalty kicks, players now have the ability to switch over and control their keeper. This "fix" arose out of folks complaining that they would often put forth a solid effort and keep getting goals scored on them because their keeper was rubbish. The ability to control the keeper would then mean that any huge botches fall solely only the player.
It's logic I'm having trouble wrapping my head around. It's been my experience that some soccer teams simply have a weak keeper. Part of the team strategy is then to keep the ball forward on the pitch in order to prevent said weak keeper from having too many opportunities to screw things up. You'd also want to avoid giving up penalty kicks if you can't rely on your keeper, I'd imagine.
Anyway, EA added keeper movement and, because this is a video game, of course people are taking advantage of it.
The other big issue, according to Comic Book, is the new mechanic known as timed finishes. In previous games, taking a shot on goal typically relied on player skill and an in-game character's stats. Sometimes things came together and sometimes they didn't. With timed finishes, you can now time a second tap of the shot button and, if you nail it, you're more likely to pull off a magnificent shot. The problem seems to be that these kinds of shots are happening too often, as some players have absolutely nailed the timing.
So again, this is an odd situation where players asked for a mechanic that allows for more player skill but, of course, some folks have managed to exploit it. Maybe EA just needs to tweak the feature and make it less of a constant occurrence, but it seems like fans would just prefer it be removed completely.
That makes for a third thing you can count on in this world: You can't please everybody.
