Hey everyone! Welcome to our second Mini Dev Update.
One hot topic right now is the question of priorities during volleys, and consequently the meta of the game. We agree that the current state of the meta needs to be addressed, but it is not as simple as adjusting or tweaking a single value, since volleys themselves are one part of multiple complex systems. This is our first post on the topic, to discuss the basics of the system, and the impact on the high-level meta / dominant strategy. Another dedicated post will feature a deeper dive on the volley system, to give more in-depth information on how the system is balanced.
VOLLEYS AND PRIORITIES (SIMPLIFIED)
To keep it (very) simple:
- The volley system’s objective is to find "targets" that you can perform a volley action from
- What we call "targets" are future positions of the ball that you can reach by respecting a certain maximum speed (which depends on your current speed and orientation)
- When a target is available, and you give a volley input, the target is selected and you will travel to that position to volley the ball from there (the player snaps to that target)
- These targets represent a future position of the ball along its current trajectory, so they all have a defined “time code”
- If another player selects a target that is earlier in time than yours on the trajectory, they will “beat you to the ball”, and cancel your volley
The system was built to challenge the player on positioning and movement dynamic, while maintaining a reactive and fluid game feel, and it works for this purpose. However, when multiple players go for very similar targets (which feels like “going for the same ball”), this can get a bit messy and unclear. The system might have selected for you a target that is 40ms later than the target your opponent selected: you would perceive these as the same ball but lose the 50/50 without having enough information to process why.
Overall, you should expect to get more targets if you try to orient yourself towards the ball’s future trajectory and keep up your movement speed towards that trajectory. This is why the Extra Effort in practice gives extra “priority” to players: it gives you a lot of extra “potential speed” to get to targets and will give you volley targets that are earlier in time, beating other players to the ball.
When two players are going for the same target, a system called the “volley stack” resolves contested volleys. Currently it is mostly in place to better manage network conditions, and to prioritize volleys by goalkeepers whenever possible. The volley stack is one of the systems which we will build upon to better manage the resolution of duels in the future, to make them more clear, and add depth to the gameplay.
To be perfectly clear, as much as we are happy with the volley system as a gameplay mechanic, we are not satisfied with the current state of contested volleys and are 100% in agreement with the community that the system needs to better manage these situations, and give priority to the right player and action at the right time.
THE META
The current meta at higher levels seems to be focused around forcing aerial 50/50 contested volleys near the enemy goal, often after kickoff, or a catch from the Goalkeeper. This makes a lot of sense for the attacking player since:
- As an attacker, you have very little risk (losing the ball), but very high reward (getting a good shot on goal/scoring a goal)
- The setup is simple (putting an attacker up front and crossing the ball in from the center of the pitch, directly in the penalty area)
- In these situations, it’s rather easy for the attackers to shoot on target, especially when coordinating vocally, but it’s too difficult for the defenders to counter the volley or win the 50/50.
This strategy is repetitive, uninteresting to watch, and doesn’t incentivize creative plays.
The efficiency of this strategy is due to a number of issues:
- Issues with the defenders only having the volley as a counter. When the ball is contested closer to the ground, players can counter shots with the Defense mode, Tackles, and Dash. In aerial duels, the Outfield Dive is inadequate in its current form.
- In the same way, countering a volley with a Goalkeeper diving forward outside of the box is inconsistent and cannot be relied upon, even though it is an intuitive and realistic way of responding to the situation.
- The volley system itself does not do enough to communicate how it functions. This means players cannot use their knowledge of the volley system to jockey into position and beat their opponent’s positioning and decision making
- Even when players do understand the system, it does not do enough to create fair resolutions of 50/50 contests
- This is compounded by the Extra Effort’s ability to look for more volley targets which allows it to “force priorities” over players that are not using it
- There is another issue with a mechanic in the game that is not clearly shown to players: your shots are more powerful depending on the speed of the ball and the speed of your character. This means that not only does this Extra Effort shot have an easier time getting a volley off, it also shoots with extra speed, making it even more challenging for Goalkeepers to react
We already have a number of solutions planned out to answer all of these topics. Some of these can be activated in the short term, and we already have some ready to deliver soon. Some others will take more time to integrate completely, but we aim to have a consistent, and stable delivery of updates that will improve the metagame over time.
NEXT STEPS
Over the next few updates, we will:
- Improve Outfield Dive so it becomes a more efficient defensive tool and gives defenders more options
- Improve Goalkeeper dive so it picks better targets when contesting a ball that is volleyed by an opponent
- Refine the volley system so that players can better control the outcome of contested 50/50s, and give the power back to defenders
- Tone down the direct impact of Extra Effort on volley target picking so that it becomes less of an “I win” button
As discussed, we already have tweaks being tested for patch 3 that will rebalance things slightly in favor of defenders and away from extra effort aerial volley shots:
- Reducing the maximum speed to reach a volley target while in extra effort
- Reducing the impact of character speed on shot power when in the air
Our strategy is to identify quick solutions that will improve player experience over time, but also focus on bigger solutions that will take more time to come. As soon as we have designed, implemented and tested improvements for all the problems listed above, we will try to deliver them ASAP, and keep the community updated!
Thank you once again for playing Rematch!
Quick reminder, Patch 2 is now live, feel free to check out the patch notes below!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2138720/view/625556610639462619
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138720/REMATCH/