When I mentioned fake suspense, I was referring to situations where you concede an equalizer or a winning/losing goal just because the game allows it and not due to the user's skills, solely to make the match 'interesting.'
Regarding SWOS, yes, it had the ball detach from the feet and required a skill gap. However, I must say, because there is a different perception regarding stats, statistics matter to a massive extent in GOALS. Far more than any football game currently on the market. However, in some stats there is no error that many would expect, because the developers have stated that they do not want RNG in their game. For example, a low passing stat does not translate into ball deviation and error, but rather into how much power it will have to reach the player.
At some point, while I had a fast defender, I noticed that a striker with the exact same speed managed to outrun me. I reported this to the devs and they replied that speed is combined with agility. So, if a player has high speed but low agility, it affects them during direction changes and makes them look slower. I must say I liked this, and now I pay attention to this combination as well. Also, because of the stats, you can see a massive difference if you have a good team and play against a player with a bad team.
In addition, the passes you mentioned require precise aiming, otherwise the pass goes wrong. This is something I personally do not prefer and would want to be closer to FC/eFootball, but I understand the target which is the skill gap.
I believe the game doesn't have wide acceptance due to the simplistic graphics, simplistic animations, the fact that it has no licensing, and that it is an esports game. However, I also understand the majority here who do not like it. I'm not trying to convince anyone otherwise. I'm just putting forward a different opinion.
As I have said before, since I was young and during the PES 1-6 era (and even older), I was a 1v1 player. I rarely played Master League, and mostly just to fill the gap when we weren't gathered at home to play with friends. There is no comparison to playing against a human opponent. The bad thing is that in recent years there are no people around to do this with, so online, as toxic as it may be, is the only way.
I respect your opinion - even if we agree to disagree, it's clear why you're enjoying the game (and I'm glad you are too, because God knows I'd love to love a football game again).
For me, it's not a football game - but if whatever it is, is fun to some, then that's a good thing and I'm glad it exists. And like you say, you're not trying to convince anyone to love it, and nor are you "toxic" in your points.
Also, every squad/player being unique is a truly fantastic idea IMO, especially in terms of online play. It makes more sense than everyone being able to have their own copy of Ronaldo or Messi. I would much rather all football games used this idea.
(And, I don't think FC or eFootball are "football games" either, with the core of both games being 1v1 eSports experiences with purposefully dumbed down defensive AI and little recreation of its tactics, psychology or physics - or any real difference between e.g. Premier League and League Two players - so it's not like they can't, at least, be compared.)
But I don't agree games like FC are scripted to make them "interesting" - that's always felt like an excuse* from the hardcore eSports guys to me, personally (again just a case of "how did I just lose, I'm obviously being cheated") - or at the very least, poor game mechanics that give the appearance of "script".
I would be lying if I said I haven't seen in FC e.g. the AI scoring from kick-off, holding onto the ball for 60 minutes, then as soon as I score the AI scores from kick off again... But 1) I think you're talking about multiplayer (though it could be impacted by the same AI decision making) and 2) I don't think that's "scripting", I think it's the AI changing mentality / strategy and the overall balance of defence vs. attack makes it stupidly easy to exploit.
EDIT: *This "excuse" thing is all over their marketing - "no excuses, just football" is their motto. They have a very clear target audience and it's that "I can't win because I'm being cheated" audience.
It's pretty clever, given how much moaning I see about FUT players etc. feeling that the game is designed to cheat them - but I have to wonder, when people start losing, if they'll start accusing the Goals devs of "turning into EA" and "adding script" ... we shall see.
Because this is exactly what I'm talking about - people loving it purely because they're winning every game, which is all they really want ("won all games bar 1"). When they start to lose, they will start to blame the game, I would bet money on it:
