This is my personal opinion but I don't like too much those changes of the game during the year.
Specially about basic features of the game like the participation in competitions or associations, transfers of players, building the team, game play, gathering/management sources.
Ok, some small cosmetic changes are welcome - or fixing few small things but in generals it's a strategy game and we must know the rules for the next year and not have a surprise every 1-2 months.
As the nord-guys have contact with communities, the can gather the suggestions, improvements or problems of the game and once in a year implement those changes.
It would be better of course if they could communicate that a month before, so to express our concerns but ok.