I'm not sure how EA can make everyone happy with assisted. Some people actually love every single pass to hit the target and every shot to end in a goal. Sad but true. It makes them feel like gods in Legendary mode.
I think that once EA get the AI sorted 100% then assisted won't be such a problem. EA have made scoring a little more troublesome on assisted this year though. That's a fact. Finesse finishing with players like Gerrard and Lampard is way too easy though. Keepers should really be able to pick up on a curler.
There are a few issues. The first thing is that, yes, people LIKE to do this, that and the other, but people shouldn't always get what they want, and in this case it's damaging the game. The issues are various, but the primary one is simple. Forza 3's demo recently came out, and, there is something very, very striking about that game.
It has a lot of assists. ABS, TCS, STM, Automatic gears, automatic clutch, suggested line, and, even auto-braking. The EASE of driving with all of these on is immense...
You know what though? If you look at the leaderboards, in every single one the top 10 is comprised almost entirely of people using 1 assist (automatic clutch - it's a real pain on the controller for most). Even with the clutch, slowly that is being taken over by clutch-users too.
For anyone that CAN, there is no question what you should choose because the results, AND the fun, and the control, and the realism are all in one place. That's how it should be on FIFA.
The issue for EA is this - assisted is easier, and, better. That's the problem. You should get an ADVANTAGE out of playing on manual if you put the effort in to learn how - but you don't, and that's the issue.
Manual (or semi, or whatever) should give you more control, and by extension, if you are good enough to utilise the control, better results. Whilst there may be some genius-freak who can actually do better with manual than assisted, the vast majority of players, including the really skilled ones cannot.
I'll tell you right now - if I was in control of EA for just this part of the game - just the assists. People would not know what had hit them. I don't mind if people want to play on an easier mode, but they should be consigned to one of two things:
1) They will be on different leaderboards, and labelled as amateur
2) They will be beaten by people who know what they are doing without the assists.
I'd also entirely remove the system and put in a new one, massively decreasing the level of options to at maximum 4, which would comprise:
Noob - (essentially assisted)
Amateur - (essentially semi, but manual on both through balls and chipped through balls)
Professional - (manual, but, with some assistance on shooting and crossing)
Extreme - (full manual)
and personally I really wouldn't mind if they removed the two extremities. I prefer manual to the other ~100 combinations, but I'm adamant that the shooting and crossing is too much, though I'd probably choose somewhere in between semi and manual.
Any number of situations could be implemented - but what is ABSOLUTELY certain is the system at the moment is terrible. I find it insulting that when I press 'Experienced' tomorrow when I get the game, it will decide that I'm good enough to play on World Class, and yet, not good enough to learn to play with some control.
This is one of my main things I want changed, I want a TOTAL rethink next year, or, at the very minimum a radical improvement. I am literally praying that I will be able to ATLEAST get a game on semi.
