Cheese Gameplay "Simulating" difficulty via cheez

I'll try (and fail) to keep it brief, but buffing/nerfing attributes is not actually difficulty, its just an easy way to create infuriating artificial difficulty.  I've played thousands of HUT games in the last couple years alone..and these cheezes are 100% valid and get worse the higher the difficulty, and imo none are what i would associate with actual, earned difficulty (except maybe the first one)

1. God mode AI defensive stick skills.  So, this is unfair on a few levels.  First, the AI has the ability to extend and aim their sticks to the EXACT angle and degree needed...player control you can put your stick fully out and swing it back and forth.  If the AI can perform context sensitive poke checks, we should be able to as well.  Second part is that playing on higher difficulty just makes you progressively weaker on your stick.  Any tiny little bit of stick to stick or puck contact should not ALWAYS cause fulll loss of the puck, and certainly not when the D IMMEDIATELY recovers it within a split second.  Conversely, the AI has the magic ability to just repeatedly regather no matter how well aimed a user poke check is. I can adapt to the AI d having god tier psychic stick skills at higher diffs...but having zero ability to utilize any nuance in our user stick game is where it creates unfairness.

2. Forcing goalie covers on simple low saves.  Please.Just.Stop...its obvious this is happening, please stop using it as a way for AI to create more pressure/force more d zone faceoffs.  It's incredibly cheesy and needs to stop.

3. Nerfing passes/ ignoring icon pass inputs and directional passes.  About 10 times a game my input just gets overrriden and my wide open passes just go wherever they please.  This is particularly infuriating when on the rush...looking for a 1T with 2 passing options. One guy is always covered and 99% of the time, the pass will be forced to the covered cutter..completely igonoring the ACTUAL direction the l stick is being aimed AND often completely ignoring icon passing.

4. AI D constantly stealing pucks at impossible angles and/or by COMPLETELY IGNORING the laws of physics and pushing sticks through skates, legs, bodies, sticks.  Why are my players selectively intangible ghosts...yet reverse the situation and ANY contact is usually met w a penalty.

5. On the topic of penalties...its gotten better, but my * AI still take 2 to 4 unforgivably stupid and unforced penalties per game.  I could provide literally 100s of videos of the AI committing absolutely nonsense tripping penalties in completely low pressure, unforced scenarios.  If they're gonna commit penalties in the name of realism, they should be realistic penalties, not ones that literally no NHL player would commit, and would be immediately benched and possibly healthy scratched if they did.

6. For the love of all that is holy, please review the ref guide for what charging actually is, and fix it.  A stride followed by a directional cut to contact IS NOT CHARGING.  Charging is multiple atrides with no cut/ directional changes into and through contact.

7. New to this year...the checking needs to be toned way down...its stupid arcadey, and on the high levels ur just getting plowed 80% of the game, and go flying even when its a glancing angle, minimal contact, or a flat footed hit..all of these are scenarios that need to be contextually accounted for in the phys engine.  What we have now is that if the AI makes contact with so much as a pixel, you're getting dumped in a way that would make a year end hit reel recap.  Conversely, the AI seems to have the ability to just completely ignore square, solid contact with momentum...especially when they go into "we're going to score not matter what you do mode"...which I guess can be excused away as forecheck or the pressure system.

8. Higher difficulty should have zero impact on a shooters ability to find seams..yet at the higher difficulty they seem to basically be intentionally aiming for the dmen, or even worse their own players (and not for redirect/deflection) even when there is a clear and wide open seam through which to shoot...this feels an awful lot like nerfing of shooting accuracy.

9. The AI goes offsides unforced way too often., and often makes little to no effort to get back onsides and/or just runs itself into a d player repeatedly.  On the other side...the AI routinely is well offsides without it being whistled. Pick one...either being a hair offsides is 100% offsides for BOTH teams, or BOTH teams are able to occasionally get away with being a bit offsides. Be happy to share vids of AI being obscenely offsides with no stoppage. Also fix the AI friendlies to have much better line awareness and pathfinding for when they are caught off.

10.  What in the actual F has happened to AI pathfinding?  Several times a game AI will look directly at me, step directly into my path, and then just stay there and dry hump me until i completely change angle.  They also will just run into players repeatedly trying to get back onsides, and step INTO open shooting lanes and block shots (no indication they are going for deflections, just str8 up stepping in and blocking my shots).

Pathfinding has always been a little janky, but this year has gotten way worse.  Tried w several Offensive structures too..no different.

AI D is plenty good without my friendlies ALSO playing defense against me.

TL:DR..rather than focusing dev time on adding gimmicks like broken glass (which ironically was just restoring something that the game previously had)...can you please just dedicate some real time and effort into improving legacy gameplay issues that folks have been notifying you of for years, in some cases decades?

I understand the time bound and financial realities better than you know...but that still doesn't mean that at least a little more capacity couldn't be utilized for ongoing enhancements to legacy issues.

I suspect I'm going to get the default response here of "send videos" (if any).  I get that, but not as means to dismiss legitimate concerns out of hand.  In addition to which last year I provided many video links clearly showing issues and labeled as to the issue, all on YT and with links provided as requested.  One single vid was acknowledged, and the obvious and real issue was dismissed rather than at least being acknowledged.  Some of this stuff is hard and expensive to fix and balance, even if the desire is there..fine, I get it..but dont gaslight your HUT players (ie the whales spending all the $) and refuse to own obvious shortcomings.  Maybe learn a lesson from the whole ATT debacle and handling?

Cheers

Chill21red