I wrote this yesterday in response to this comment from Dino, and then it got expanded into other things I read in other threads, so I didn't get around to sending it. Many of the things have since been touched on by others.
dndn1011 wrote:It is well known, that he who tries to keep hold everything is likely in the end to have nothing.
I'll always have the version of Kick Off 2 that I bought in a computer store. It's full of PBD goodness and goalkeeper madness. I loved it from day one, and I still love it today. A few years ago, I discovered that there's a whole bunch of other people our there that love it too. And they get together to play it. The
same game. How lucky! For 25 years the game has been played, and it is perfect as it is. Perfect with all its intended features, and all its serendipitous bugs and design flaws. Thank you, Dino, for your genius invention, and for not initially discovering these bugs before we could enjoy them. I think there's a fair chance many of us may not be here today if any one of them had been fixed or changed.
You can think of the KOA as a family. Like other families they bicker and fight, they take vacations, and every year they get together to celebrate Christmas. Like other families, there are parents in the house. They pay the bills, keep the house in order and make sure the kids have fun. As in most families the kids take this for granted, and as in most families the parents, through experience, know best. They screw things up on occasion, but since it is a family, it survives.
So I discovered this family, knocked gently on the door, and was invited into their house. As I always do when I'm a guest in someone's house, I take my shoes off and I thread lightly. I observe for a while and try to understand their values. I find that if I do this, I soon get adopted into the family. I prefer this approach, as opposed to kicking in the door, telling them their carpet is ugly, and that it's my house too. With this family, I would still probably get adopted, but I prefer the other way.
I understand the fear that not being willing to change will turn people away. However, in this case I would point out an observation that old and new players are still showing up. They are showing up because they liked the original game(s), in spite of (and I guarantee this) that there were some things about it that annoyed them, and in spite of those things not having been changed. And I think in my case, if I had found that in this house the family was playing a different game, I would have simply gone back home to my house to play some Kick Off 2.
I am open to change. I personally just don't want to change the controllable gameplay. As Gianni said, the changes to the competition version so far have been made with wisdom and care. With the exception of PBDMIX, I don't think they have changed the controllable gameplay, and I suppose most or all can be considered improving the logistics of tournaments. I understand where Gianluca is coming from, and I would gladly play one PBD and one NOPBD game, if the logistics would afford it.
I choose to draw my line in the sand where it comes to controllable gameplay. For me, trapfix is on the other side of that line. A change to the GK behavior is so far beyond that line that I can't see it for the horizon.
Since the one invariant in all of this has been Kick Off 2, I think that if you change something about Kick Off 2, the probability is higher that you lose someone than gain someone. Risk/reward, I guess. There is a delicate balance, as Alkis said.
When there is a Kick Off 2 World Cup I will show up if possible. Perhaps there should be a separate FW cup. I wouldn't pay thousands of dollars to attend it, but maybe others would.
Does the KOA need a constitution? If you asked me I would say no. It seems to be parented quite well. If you read their history, it has survived much worse than the annual discussion about changing the game and tournament settings. But you shouldn't ask me, my shoes are still by the door.
