King Aymeric is emperor in his realm. 👑

In other words, on VirtuaFoot, Aymeric holds all the power. And as in any monarchy, there are good aspects… and less good ones.
Let’s start with the positives, because they do exist and it’s important to highlight them.
Aymeric has a genuine desire to keep VirtuaFoot alive, to continue developing the game, to introduce new content and to gradually modernise its appearance. Recently, several graphical updates have brought certain parts of the game up to date, and we must acknowledge the work that’s gone into all of this.

But the problem isn’t necessarily what’s being done.
The problem is sometimes how it’s done.
And that’s where our monarchy shows its limitations.

A major change… overnight

I’m obviously thinking of the recent change to the gameplay with the introduction of live statistics and the ability to make substitutions every 10 seconds.

This is the main focus of my criticism today.
This change is drastic, and I’m choosing my words carefully.

It’s been introduced without any real prior announcement, in the middle of the season, whilst some clubs are playing important matches they’ve been preparing for over several weeks.
Above all, this isn’t just a minor cosmetic tweak.

It fundamentally changes the way a match is played on VirtuaFoot!

Whether or not one likes this new way of playing is almost a separate debate. The real problem is that such a significant change would, in my view, have deserved to be announced, explained and then introduced at the start of a new season.

That would have allowed everyone to start on a level playing field and get to grips with the new rules of the game before the start of major competitions.

In fact, why not make the most of every change of season to introduce major new gameplay features?

Many games work this way: a new season begins, changes are announced, explained and then implemented. Players then know the direction in which the game is evolving and can prepare for it.

The real problem: a lack of clarity

This new approach is currently frustrating for some players, not only because it disrupts their routines, but above all because it gives the impression that the rules can change at any moment.

And I think that’s the main problem.

VF players need greater transparency, better communication and, above all, clarity about the game’s future.

No one is necessarily asking to know, six months in advance, every line of code that will be changed.

But when a change directly affects gameplay, it seems only right to me that the community should be given advance notice.

A simple message along the lines of:
‘From next season, we’d like to make some changes to how matches are managed. Here are the planned changes and their purpose.’
would already make a huge difference.

What if the absolute monarchy became a parliamentary one?

Since we’ve gone down the royal analogy route, let’s see it through to the end.

I think our King Aymeric would do well to transform VF into a sort of parliamentary monarchy rather than an absolute monarchy. 😉

He would, of course, remain in control of the game, its development and his vision.

But the community could play a greater part in setting the broad strategic direction.

For example, we could imagine Aymeric regularly proposing several avenues for development:

• improvements to the match engine
• new statistics
• an overhaul of the infrastructure
• new features regarding agreements
• improvements to the transfer market
• new features for clubs
• graphical enhancements.

Players could then vote to indicate which new features they consider a priority.

This would not mean that players would be running VirtuaFoot.

Aymeric would remain the one who proposes the projects, determines what is technically feasible and retains the final say.

But he would constantly receive concrete feedback on the expectations of his community.

And everyone could benefit.

Players would feel that their voices are being heard more and that they are more involved in the game’s development, whilst having a clearer idea of what lies ahead.

Aymeric, for his part, would retain complete control over VF, whilst knowing which developments are most eagerly anticipated by the people who bring his game to life on a daily basis.

Finally, the aim of this deliberately exaggerated analogy involving our ‘King Aymeric’ is obviously not to engage in personal criticism.

On the contrary.

If players react so strongly to changes in VirtuaFoot, it is precisely because they are so attached to the game.

Some have been playing for ten, fifteen, sometimes almost twenty years. They spend time building their clubs, managing their squads, taking part in competitions, forming alliances, participating in the VForum and engaging with the whole community that revolves around VF.

This community is probably one of VirtuaFoot’s greatest strengths.

It isn’t necessarily asking to make decisions in the King’s place.

It’s simply asking to be better informed, consulted and listened to.

So perhaps the kingdom would fare even better with a little more democracy. 😉

Long live VirtuaFoot… and long live the King! 👑

Totalement d’accord avec toi tu as tout dit j’aurais pas dit mieux sincèrement. Mais là vraiment c’est catastrophique injouable, saison foutu plus envie du tout de jouer dans ses conditions et pourtant je l’aime se jeux je pensais qu’on allait dans le bon sens avec les récentes modifications esthétiques boutique etc et bah non même pire que sa au lieux d’améliorer se mdm qui a mon sens buguai pas sa sa engage que moi et bah il l’a tuer plus de tactique c’est du pile ou face maintenant un désastre j’attend jusqu’à la fin de la trêve du championnat et je vois car clairement sa me sera impossible de continuer dans ses conditions. La compétition du moins je formerai et voilà mais quelle tristesse pour moi de faire sa sincèrement

Buguai pas mal à mon sens déjà avant j’ai oublier le « mal » dans mon message