Fifa 11 Xbox 360/PS3

How do I put the dribbling to analog and use differnet speeds.

I try to make sense of above posts but not sure what you are on about?

You can dribble at different speeds by pressing light or strong and this improves the game?

Any other changes?
 
I tried mfmax's challenge last might and got some bizarre results. I tried Coventry v Bristol City, with both teams, and though individuals weren't able to dribble like, say, Iniesta can on those vids, you can still feather the direction stick to make a ton of space. Controlling simple passes with only a slight movement, gives you miles more space. Stronger players could shield and turn defenders, and others could carry the ball pretty far while jostling to keep defenders at bay. All in all, it seems just as easy to use 'lesser' players than top internationals, but you have to be move direct because the same subtlety of movement isn't there. A jinking run won't really work for example.

However, and this is where the game seems screwed to me, is that I tried using the technique as Coventry v Bayern Munich, expecting my players to be totally unable to make space at slow speed because their touches of the ball would be too heavy against superior defenders.....

Well, Coventry beat Bayern 1-0, it should have been more, and I had 60% possession, 12 shots to their 8. Most of the game saw me being camped in their half, and using my new way of playing I comfortably retained the ball. Bayern couldnt muscle off my strong players, and for the first time ever playing this game, travelling slower gave me a physical edge over the AI.

This is a major flaw though. I simply shouldn't be this comfortable with such a huge gap in the two teams' ratings. A striker rated at 60 could shield and then turn a Bayern defender with ease.

This odd, because previously I'd played Chelse v Valencia and got outplayed for large periods.....but either way, the added ball control I now have makes playing Bayern feel only a fraction tougher than playing Bristol City.
 
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Romagnoli, in that case then they won't have added the dribbling with any great sense of overall design in mind, but for me it works. I still get closed down, but the challenges are less frequent. If I show the AI the ball, it stab tackles as usual, but shielding, turning and changing direction really confuses the AI at lower speeds.

Just using L2 and direction doesn't reall work for me, instead I use it as a kind of first touch button, and for performing the odd drag back to turn out of trouble. I'm not sure why it doesn't seem to work for you though. Don't you find that controlling a pass like this means the player has less momentum and so can use their body strength more?

Playing this way doesn't open up new animations or anything, it does however, for me, make the AI much less of a superman rugby tackler and really evens up the physical side of the game. I'll post some vids of the championship matches later to show how slow dribbling helps your player to counteract physical challenges.

The downside to this, that I mentioned in the post above, is that keeping the ball now seems too easy in advanced areas of the pitch. Maybe a move up to Legendary, and full manual might be be better in the long run, though how much this will make the AI attacking better is anyone's guess. Bristol City oddly gave me far more problems than Bayern Munich did!
 
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I'm not sure about this, but I do remember the difference between walkingm running and sprinting with the ball and how the AI reacts.

But to me, it's always felt like "cheating", because the lower speed seems to switch the AI off, having them stand back and give you space at points when they should just be tactically closing you down. The same goes for the physical nature, there is a balancing issue whereby you get the impression that if you walk slow enough the AI (for your player aswell) will go into a generic animation cycle that has little regard for the actual player attributes. I'll try a give it a go at the weekend to see if I can test it out.

But I've always felt that playing at a snails pace just diminishes the actual relation between your own player, your control level/skill and the AI to a baseline set of animations that has little to do with anything. It's then when you do speed up slightly above the baseline that the player stats start to work again and because you are in more control the differences between players are more noticable.
 
TikTikTikTikTik said:
I'm not sure about this, but I do remember the difference between walkingm running and sprinting with the ball and how the AI reacts.

But to me, it's always felt like "cheating", because the lower speed seems to switch the AI off, having them stand back and give you space at points when they should just be tactically closing you down. The same goes for the physical nature, there is a balancing issue whereby you get the impression that if you walk slow enough the AI (for your player aswell) will go into a generic animation cycle that has little regard for the actual player attributes. I'll try a give it a go at the weekend to see if I can test it out.

But I've always felt that playing at a snails pace just diminishes the actual relation between your own player, your control level/skill and the AI to a baseline set of animations that has little to do with anything. It's then when you do speed up slightly above the baseline that the player stats start to work again and because you are in more control the differences between players are more noticable.
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Not sure about this. Travelling at walking pace still activates the AI into trying a tackle, only it tries to time a standing stab tackle rather than the famous 'rugby' sprint and collide method it usually did in it's own half, which most of the time left your player lying on the floor regardless of who they were.

The AI still wins it's share of physical battles however, but a lot depends on the player's strength stats. If you're sprinting or running quickly then the AI's approach to winning the ball becomes extreme, like it sees a heavier touch as a loose ball and flies into the tackle at full speed and with bizarre accuracy. But even if you stop moving entirely, the AI still stands off for a very short while before deciding to come in and challenge you.

At slow speeds the stats, for me, seem to become far more relevant. The odd physics in this game certainly seem to deem it so that, if you're say sprinting or running quickly from left to right, the AI can meet you head on and flatten you. Do that at a much slower, feathered use of the stick, and the game seems to balance out the strength of each player involved. Sometimes you get tackled, sometimes you hold them off. It's still a lot better than being smacked to the ground 99 percent of the time.

Besides, taking slower, more frequent touches of the ball seems to buy you that extra half a yard to turn away from a defender or pick a pass. You're simply not filling the space between you and a defender by taking heavier touches or running headlong into the AI defence.

But the main problem seems to be the actual effectiveness of this. It seemed brilliant until I realised that I could apply the same tactics using Coventry City against Bayern at the Allianz Arena, and still play largely to the same level of effectiveness. That is not right at all. I'd have expected the game to allow me to make space for a pass, but passing was far too accurate for Coventry (no offence, Coventry fans!) and it seems too easy now to turn defenders using strength. A 60 rated Coventry player ideally shouldn't be able to take a pass with his back to goal, turn in an arc (using light touches of the stick) and put himself through on goal, when he's up against a renowned international defender. It wouldn't happen in real life, yet I did this 3 times in one match. So maybe there's a big balancing issue with slow dribbling that needs to be addressed. Maybe it's too effective, especially with lesser players. However, that said, the same tactic didn't work too well against West Brom....maybe the developers just don't like Bayern Munich or something ;)

Nevertheless, until a week or so ago I'd totally given up playing the game altogether because I was sick of having no time on the ball, failing to create chances, couldn't dribble, and repeatedly got rugby tackled to the floor. I suppose anything that gets a little bit more value out of the £30 I spent on the game is only a good thing :))
 
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goalsies said:
How do I put the dribbling to analog and use differnet speeds.

I try to make sense of above posts but not sure what you are on about?

You can dribble at different speeds by pressing light or strong and this improves the game?

Any other changes?
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As desribed really, I dribble at different speeds purely by varying how far you push the player direction (left) stick. Sometimes you can turn away from defenders using L2.

Other times, if you want to sprint, you can combine different speeds of the stick movment with how hard you press the sprint button. Both have an effect. This lets you sprint at varying speeds, which is useful if you want to keep good control over the ball but move into space a bit faster than the standard dribble.

It's really about combining speeds as and when the situation sees fit, though not many people seem to find it's working for them.

Hope that helps at least a little bit :)
 
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LTFC/Tik - it's because you aren't playing a football game that is balanced to be robust and handle different experiences in a realistic manner. The objective of how you are playing at the moment with this learning how to use the slow dribble to not be pressured is not to find out how best to succeed at playing football with your team against others. It's how best to manipulate the AI to not play in the way it usually does and in the way people play online. In essence you are trying to exploit the offline game in the way people will spam aerial through balls this year or lobs last year. The difference is you are exploiting the game for sim purposes, whereas others are exploiting it to win.
 
That strikes me as an unnecessarily negative way of describing it. What LTFC talks about sounds much like how I've been playing the game all along, where the goal is an enjoyable, technical play-style rather than a deliberate attempt to manipulate the AI.
 
nerf said:
That strikes me as an unnecessarily negative way of describing it. What LTFC talks about sounds much like how I've been playing the game all along, where the goal is an enjoyable, technical play-style rather than a deliberate attempt to manipulate the AI.
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If that's how you perceive it then I'm happy for you.
 
I agree with Romagnoli. I've gone through all the different phases with Fifa all this year: playing full manual, not touching tackle, not pressuring, playing slow, etc... And all of this has always come to the same end, it's a way of milking some more hours with the novelty and temporarily creates the illusionthat you are playing more "sim", but at the end it's all yourself lying to yourself.

It's not a bad thing, all this things have probably added a lot of gaming hours to my Fifa collection, but I'm to a point where I already tried everything and the problem is not HOW I PLAY the game, but how the game is DESIGNED.

We all agree more or less about Full manual being mainly a way to overcome some absurd decisions in the control layout and add error to the passing equation, it makes the game better, but not more realistic overall.

Playing by almost walking can get some benefits at short term, but once you discover that is a kind of AI bug and it doesn't add any layer of simulation to the overall experience, what's the point? Plus, it only works against CPU AI and in certain difficult settings. Go multiplayer and it gets trashed by the stupid rugby-like experience.

I mean, it's obviously a better game if you play with subtelty, but as long as it only works under very strict conditions and it's not part of the CORE experience by the designers, then it's just an "exploit", as Romagnoli described it. A good one, no doubt, for single player. But it doesn't change at all the many critical core problems of the series.

STATS should drive everything in the game to the maximum extent. I want bad players to miscarry the ball, to miss a first touch, to be in the wrong defensive position, to miss passes... I want players to react according to its possibilities, and finally make SKILL, PASSING and TACTICAL AWARENESS attributes that clearly make a difference between Iniesta (slow, but technically gifted) and any sunday league strong and fast player, but unable to play beautiful football.

To me, that should be the main focus of the series. You solve this and you add a real layer of depth to the game. Right now, all this "try to play like this" ideas can apply to any player for any team. That's not good.
 
nerf said:
That strikes me as an unnecessarily negative way of describing it. What LTFC talks about sounds much like how I've been playing the game all along, where the goal is an enjoyable, technical play-style rather than a deliberate attempt to manipulate the AI.
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It's an exaggeration but the gist of it is pretty accurate. If tilting the stick is treated differently to L2 by the AI despite them being identical and despite the developers themselves not intending to make them any different, and you get the sorts of experiences that LT describes when mixing the teams up, and your entire philosophy of play would be comfortably smashed online, then it's manipulating the AI and pretending that particular limitations exist, rather than those limitations existing and you pushing the game to its limits.
 
LTFC said:
Romagnoli, in that case then they won't have added the dribbling with any great sense of overall design in mind, but for me it works. I still get closed down, but the challenges are less frequent. If I show the AI the ball, it stab tackles as usual, but shielding, turning and changing direction really confuses the AI at lower speeds.

Just using L2 and direction doesn't reall work for me, instead I use it as a kind of first touch button, and for performing the odd drag back to turn out of trouble. I'm not sure why it doesn't seem to work for you though. Don't you find that controlling a pass like this means the player has less momentum and so can use their body strength more?

Playing this way doesn't open up new animations or anything, it does however, for me, make the AI much less of a superman rugby tackler and really evens up the physical side of the game. I'll post some vids of the championship matches later to show how slow dribbling helps your player to counteract physical challenges.

The downside to this, that I mentioned in the post above, is that keeping the ball now seems too easy in advanced areas of the pitch. Maybe a move up to Legendary, and full manual might be be better in the long run, though how much this will make the AI attacking better is anyone's guess. Bristol City oddly gave me far more problems than Bayern Munich did!
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Seems like a move to Legendary is prudent. It's a bit unfair to criticize the AI for being too easy if you aren't playing at the highest level. I think you'll be pleased with the challenge.

Although to be fair, the flaw with any sports game is that if the user becomes so good (composed, organized, always make the right decision) than you no matter what team you control they will always be playing above their skill level. But, I suppose if you put a coach like Mourinho in charge at a club like Coventry to get them organized and had them play some unorganized world all stars team, I bet the organized team could dominate the game.
 
romagnoli said:
It's an exaggeration but the gist of it is pretty accurate. If tilting the stick is treated differently to L2 by the AI despite them being identical and despite the developers themselves not intending to make them any different, and you get the sorts of experiences that LT describes when mixing the teams up, and your entire philosophy of play would be comfortably smashed online, then it's manipulating the AI and pretending that particular limitations exist, rather than those limitations existing and you pushing the game to its limits.
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Playing this way works great in offline multi-player. It's extremely easy to side step a high speed barging tackle against a human controlled player just as easily as against a CPU defender. It certainly might not work well against an online opponent because the timing could get screwed up with latency. I would describe that as a different type of problem, however.

Somehow thinking the developers didn't intend for the game to be played in this manner (or several other manners) is absurd. There are a plethora of new animations this year that occur when using skilled dribblers at a deliberate pace. And of course, they heavily advertised these features withing personality +

"With Personality+ a footballer's abilities on the pitch is mirrored authentically in game, creating individual personalities. Players will be distinguished from one another through a sophisticated database that evaluates and grades each player's skill-set over 36 attributes and 57 traits, compiled by 1,700 scouts around the world. Real Madrid's Kaka will deliver crisp, creative passes, Barcelona's Andres Iniesta will utilize tighter turns and close control to dribble through defenses, Manchester United's Wayne Rooney will hold off defenders and strike shots from distance with pace, and topflight defenders like Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus will anticipate, predict and react to offensive players to win back possession.

Goalkeepers have also been injected with Personality+. The real-life personality of the keeper, whether acrobatic or traditional, will dictate his style in game. Dive attributes will determine the keepers with the ability to reach for further shots while reflex attributes determine reaction times, so a keeper like Petr Cech of Chelsea FC will show be able to showcase world-class skills."

...

"360° Dribbling - The market-leading 360° dribbling system that provides finer dribbling control, enabling players to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible"

So to say that somehow not dribbling at a breakneck speeding being some sort of "AI cheat" is absurd.
 
drekkard said:
I agree with Romagnoli. I've gone through all the different phases with Fifa all this year: playing full manual, not touching tackle, not pressuring, playing slow, etc... And all of this has always come to the same end, it's a way of milking some more hours with the novelty and temporarily creates the illusionthat you are playing more "sim", but at the end it's all yourself lying to yourself.

It's not a bad thing, all this things have probably added a lot of gaming hours to my Fifa collection, but I'm to a point where I already tried everything and the problem is not HOW I PLAY the game, but how the game is DESIGNED.

We all agree more or less about Full manual being mainly a way to overcome some absurd decisions in the control layout and add error to the passing equation, it makes the game better, but not more realistic overall.

Playing by almost walking can get some benefits at short term, but once you discover that is a kind of AI bug and it doesn't add any layer of simulation to the overall experience, what's the point? Plus, it only works against CPU AI and in certain difficult settings. Go multiplayer and it gets trashed by the stupid rugby-like experience.

I mean, it's obviously a better game if you play with subtelty, but as long as it only works under very strict conditions and it's not part of the CORE experience by the designers, then it's just an "exploit", as Romagnoli described it. A good one, no doubt, for single player. But it doesn't change at all the many critical core problems of the series.

STATS should drive everything in the game to the maximum extent. I want bad players to miscarry the ball, to miss a first touch, to be in the wrong defensive position, to miss passes... I want players to react according to its possibilities, and finally make SKILL, PASSING and TACTICAL AWARENESS attributes that clearly make a difference between Iniesta (slow, but technically gifted) and any sunday league strong and fast player, but unable to play beautiful football.

To me, that should be the main focus of the series. You solve this and you add a real layer of depth to the game. Right now, all this "try to play like this" ideas can apply to any player for any team. That's not good.
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Excellent post. Email it to Rutter.
 
Yes, because in FIFA 11 controlling Iniesta is the same as controlling a Sunday league player. What game are you guys playing?
 
romagnoli said:
If tilting the stick is treated differently to L2 by the AI despite them being identical and despite the developers themselves not intending to make them any different, and you get the sorts of experiences that LT describes when mixing the teams up, and your entire philosophy of play would be comfortably smashed online, then it's manipulating the AI and pretending that particular limitations exist, rather than those limitations existing and you pushing the game to its limits.
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No, there's a misunderstanding here. I wasn't talking specifically about 'tilting the stick' (that's not something I've conciously pursued), merely referring to adopting a slow and technical approach that concentrates on protecting the ball. I use the Left Trigger endlessly, exponentially more than Right Trigger. This is a technical style of football that I like to watch & to play, not some designed attempt to fool the AI into behaving differently.

Nor is it an argument to suggest that the game is superbly balanced just because it can be played this way.
 
EatonTJ said:
Yes, because in FIFA 11 controlling Iniesta is the same as controlling a Sunday league player. What game are you guys playing?
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After reading your replies to the other posters posting about very well known issue's within the game I'm wondering what game you are playing...
 
I agree totally with the game's problems. Totally. But I don't think that playing in a slow style is 'exploiting' the AI, because it's nowhere near guaranteed. My win ratio of offline games hasn't improved, but the quality of football I'm able to play has. That is to say, I can now try to score more exciting and for want of a better word, realistic goals because the AI is reticent to sprint into you at top speed and wrestle you off the ball. But I'd argue that an exploit is something that near guarantees a win. Travelling slower with the ball isn't that, it just gives you slightly more control. It's not as if the AI is not activating and just standing there while you move with the ball.

There is a massive flaw in the game design that this style of play is something that can only be done offline. I know nerf says he can play slower offline, but seriously, I'm not gonna attempt it. I find online FIFA horrific, nothing resembling football at all, and the real problems for the game lie with how people can exploit physicality, speed and near endless stamina when playing other human opponents. Even though I don't play online personally, there is a massive fanbase for this game that is centered around playing online. So EA need to make some drastic changes to the way the game allows players to abuse pressure etc.

The main way would be for EA to finally sort out the stamina issue. I think it's the main culprit. Sprinting around the pitch for 90 minutes shouldn't happen, but online it does. Players should have a massively reduced capacity to sprint and recover, and should drastically affect other stats like ball control, pass accuracy etc to kind of simulate a player's mental tiredness that goes hand in hand with being physically knackered.

Maybe if some guy online realises that his players are physically and mentally screwed less than half an hour into a match, then they'll think twice about what they're doing. It's all about introducing consequences to playing in a kind of anti-football way. Currently, you can play online FIFA in a way that barely resembles football at all, and still have no consequences for this. Players can sprint almost limitlessly, so dragging people out of position has no consequence when you can make others easily sprint and hold double press. The game needs to drag itself into a situation where people are punished for constant abuse of high speed pressing. It needs to reward those who play football properly, and punish those who try not to, by making pressure abusers far too easy to pick off.

The downside is that I can't see this happening. Kids for example won't suddenly change their playing style. They'll probably just stop buying the game, and I think EA know it. Which is why I don't think FIFA will ever fully cater for those of us wanting more of a sim. It's not really commercially viable for them to bother.
 
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nerf said:
No, there's a misunderstanding here. I wasn't talking specifically about 'tilting the stick' (that's not something I've conciously pursued), merely referring to adopting a slow and technical approach that concentrates on protecting the ball. I use the Left Trigger endlessly, exponentially more than Right Trigger. This is a technical style of football that I like to watch & to play, not some designed attempt to fool the AI into behaving differently.

Nor is it an argument to suggest that the game is superbly balanced just because it can be played this way.
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Oh absolutely. There's this misconception that people are saying that how you await the game to be played is what is under attack, rather than the way the game is balanced or how playing as such pans out when used online or how the game is 99% aimed at being played by the masses in a completely different way, rather than pushing them towards taking their time. I want how you play to be an entirely valid approach to online, and I want the conditions of the game to be geared to suit your style in far more conditions than currently. That's why I posted those questions a couple of days ago, to only a couple of responses!

The point I am making with that statement/suggestion earlier is not that you or LTFC are manipulating the AI deliberately either. Just that essentially that is what is happening because the AI is being told by its scripting to stand off when you use L2, rather than it standing off because you are consistently as much of a threat as it led to believe. Which isnt implying you're a bad player at all, but that the AI's reticence to be as aggressive when you slow dribble is preordained rather than genuinely the best choice the AI could make for itself at that time.

LTFC - an exploit is a wider reaching term than your understanding. I understand it to be something that gives you an artificial advantage. Essentially I feel that's what you're getting when playing the AI because of the last sentence given above - by standing off the AI is more often than not going easy on you, rather than acting in it's own interests. I want the game balanced such that standing off is a tactically advantageous decision, not you or me holding off to allow the game to appear more realistic.
 
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wabak said:
After reading your replies to the other posters posting about very well known issue's within the game I'm wondering what game you are playing...
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Yes, the "well known" issues of CPU defensive "ESP", super slow defenders catching super fast strikers from behind, and now, "Sunday league" quality players controlling the same as Iniesta...

People can keep saying these things, but they are all ridiculously untrue.
 
romagnoli said:
Oh absolutely. There's this misconception that people are saying that how you await the game to be played is what is under attack, rather than the way the game is balanced or how playing as such pans out when used online or how the game is 99% aimed at being played by the masses in a completely different way, rather than pushing them towards taking their time. I want how you play to be an entirely valid approach to online, and I want the conditions of the game to be geared to suit your style in far more conditions than currently. That's why I posted those questions a couple of days ago, to only a couple of responses!

The point I am making with that statement/suggestion earlier is not that you or LTFC are manipulating the AI deliberately either. Just that essentially that is what is happening because the AI is being told by its scripting to stand off when you use L2, rather than it standing off because you are consistently as much of a threat as it led to believe. Which isnt implying you're a bad player at all, but that the AI's reticence to be as aggressive when you slow dribble is preordained rather than genuinely the best choice the AI could make for itself at that time.

LTFC - an exploit is a wider reaching term than your understanding. I understand it to be something that gives you an artificial advantage. Essentially I feel that's what you're getting when playing the AI because of the last sentence given above - by standing off the AI is more often than not going easy on you, rather than acting in it's own interests. I want the game balanced such that standing off is a tactically advantageous decision, not you or me holding off to allow the game to appear more realistic.
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Suggesting that when the player presses L2 there is some code activated that has the AI stand off in defense is crazy talk. Why you ruin some of your perfectly good critique of the game with these patently untrue statements alludes me.
 
On the contrary. You're doing a Comical Ali. Perhaps you're not having any problems with the reaction times because you're superhuman too? Perhaps there can be a slider for you, and a slider for mankind?

I'm not saying L2 is a completely context-free, on/off switch for CPU pressuring in all situations. Only an absurd person/ insane shit-smearing mentalist/insert indirect slur here would think that was what I meant. But the AI is clearly coded to behave in certain ways, unless EA have managed to create a sentient football being on every disc. If we consider that to be unlikely until the year 2023, then we can safely suggest that it is coded to be less aggressive when you use L2, with the intention of simulating reticence to commit to a challenge, right? Or is this a bit grassy knoll for you?

Well I'm saying that this simulation of standing off does not stack up with how ineffective committing to the challenge is. It's not proportional to the threat posed by using L2 against pressurers over close ranges. You can put up a fight, and you might come out on top a few times. But this is a game where beating a man with a left stick movement is harder than beating a man with an inverted elastico.

If you completely disagree with this and you think L2 dribbling is so effective that it does legitimately force the AI to stand off (unless you are too close to goal) for fear of being rinsed, then I will make a note of that.

And then pop that note in the bin.
 
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EatonTJ said:
Yes, the "well known" issues of CPU defensive "ESP", super slow defenders catching super fast strikers from behind, and now, "Sunday league" quality players controlling the same as Iniesta...

People can keep saying these things, but they are all ridiculously untrue.
Click to expand...

Super slow defenders can catch quicker offensive players in Pro Evo. I have not found that to be the case in FIFA.
 
romagnoli said:
Oh absolutely. There's this misconception that people are saying that how you await the game to be played is what is under attack, rather than the way the game is balanced or how playing as such pans out when used online or how the game is 99% aimed at being played by the masses in a completely different way, rather than pushing them towards taking their time. I want how you play to be an entirely valid approach to online, and I want the conditions of the game to be geared to suit your style in far more conditions than currently. That's why I posted those questions a couple of days ago, to only a couple of responses!

The point I am making with that statement/suggestion earlier is not that you or LTFC are manipulating the AI deliberately either. Just that essentially that is what is happening because the AI is being told by its scripting to stand off when you use L2, rather than it standing off because you are consistently as much of a threat as it led to believe. Which isnt implying you're a bad player at all, but that the AI's reticence to be as aggressive when you slow dribble is preordained rather than genuinely the best choice the AI could make for itself at that time.

LTFC - an exploit is a wider reaching term than your understanding. I understand it to be something that gives you an artificial advantage. Essentially I feel that's what you're getting when playing the AI because of the last sentence given above - by standing off the AI is more often than not going easy on you, rather than acting in it's own interests. I want the game balanced such that standing off is a tactically advantageous decision, not you or me holding off to allow the game to appear more realistic.
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I see what you're saying, but I still don't see standing off as an exploit. The AI counteracts your slow movements by defending a bit more cautious, I think, because it's harder for it to tell where you're going to go next. If you're running quickly in one direction, I think the AI treats your larger, heavier touches of the ball as you knock it ahead of you, as a kind of 50/50 ball, rather that kind of automatically slowing itself down just because you are doing the same. It doesn't give me an artificial advantage at all, I struggled to win tonight against some random Spanish second division team because they were unbelievably deep, pressured me, and I couldn't counteract it. HOWEVER, the AI still didn't ram into me like an American Football player, it was down to tight marking. And you know what? I didn't find it annoying at all. In essence, playing a bit slower doesn't make the game any easier, but it does make it a lot more expansive and seems to iron out a lot of the massive annoyances that I personally had with the game. I totally agree with the other flaws you've pointed out mind :)

The superman tackles are what really annoys me, but I wouldn't say that being able to play prettier football, but ultimately not improve your scorelines, is gaining an advantage, because the AI seems to counteract it with a more tactical, covering defence.

As for holding off to make the game seem more realistic, that's not really why I'm playing like it, though the added 'realism' is a pleasant bonus. I'm doing it for tactical reasons. I'm finding that my team mates are offering better movement off the ball, I have more options to pass, dribble, whatever, but before, playing a quicker game that I was used to with older versions, sees me getting frustrated because I'm outnumbered up the pitch and hammered by those tackles we've all complained about. Because this doesn't happen, I'm able to play a game that's not realistic, but feels more realistic while playing precisely because I have more options with which to play with.

I agree with a lot you say, but in this instance I wouldn't really say the AI is deliberately going easy on me because I'm taking things a bit slower on the ball. That would be a massive gameplay bug, basically (which I wouldn't put past EA but that's an entirely different debate!). The AI seems just as tough to break down, but in different ways that are far, far less annoying than meeting a brick wall of superman defenders with perfect, aggressive tackling.
 
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Sorry to flood the board with videos again, but here are some examples of the game being more 'fun' rather than easy. I manage to keep the ball, create space, dribble past defenders, but most of the time the AI counteracts it and no goals happen. It's still more realistic and fun, however, than being smacked every which way. You'll see the AI in these vids stays tight to you, but doesn't crush your bones with a hulk style tackle.

Note that all but the first video are from just one match, Arsenal v West Ham. I could make these more enjoyable moves, but it didn't result in an AI that was too easy to play against. I drew the game and was lucky to avoid losing.

First one; Coventry v Bristol City. A feathered touch of the stick enables the striker, with his back to goal, to turn his marker on the spot, but the AI still performs very good defensive cover, forces me wide, and the shot is rushed somewhat.

YouTube - a

Second, Fabregas uses all the skill EA give him in the game to take the pass with tight control due to moving at a slower pace, then shields the ball from some pretty insane AI pressure. No sign of it holding off so much, apart from the absence of crazy tackles. Rest assured, though, if you turn the ball towards the close defender, they WILL stab tackle you. In this case, I enjoy pulling off a bit of skill with my best midfielder, but the AI's four or more pressing defenders stay goal-side and keep their position well.

YouTube - b

Third, Arshavin skips by a defender, again using nothing other than the left stick in small movements, and sure, I could have crossed the ball, but there wasn't much on in the middle. The AI double teams up and wallops me to the ground. Usually I find in these instances that if you're travelling at a fast pace, the AI knock you over with a perfect tackle. Here, because it's still under my control, I win a free kick.

YouTube - c

The fourth vid, Fabregas skips past three defenders by dribbling at jogging pace, again without using L2, or skill moves. He then has space, so I open up into a sprint. However, when I slow down again as I approach the back four, I try a through pass, and the AI is well organised and catches my striker offside. He was my only option due to a tight back line.

YouTube - d

Here, my striker dribbles at a jogging pace, which allows him to make inroads into the penalty area, but notice how tight the defender stays with me, trying to jostle me. Thanks to jogging slowly (ish) and keeping a tight control of the ball, the defender doesn't commit to the tackle, but instead he keeps tight to me until I run out of options and try a shot, which nearly goes in, but doesn't.

YouTube - e

Finally, here you can see Arshavin beating a defender with again nothing more than a slight movement of the left stick. I get away, but am rather forced down the line. What I didn't manage to get on video was that I then try a one-two, but we're outnumbered and the defence covers well.

YouTube - f

I hope this at least shows that playing the game in this way doesn't really make the AI any less aggressive. It just approaches you in a more intelligent way. If you let it, the AI will turn into savage muggers intent on hammering you into the floor, but if you don't give it the opportunity it seems to cope with most situations still. Most of the goals I've scored with dribbling etc have been with the best players in the game, which is something you'd expect, but generally the matches, where stuff like the videos above occurred, resulted in tight games and occasionally the odd defeat. Dribbling with lesser players, as the first video shows, makes space but isn't anywhere as devastating as with a world class player. The defence can still cope, but in a way that doesn't leave you hurling the joypad to the floor.

The game is still massively more creative this way despite remaining just as difficult as before. The only abberation was when I managed to dominate Bayern with Coventry, which was bizarre to say the least, but otherwise the AI has countered my build up play for the majority of the time. However the fact that the difference between each player leaps out once you slow your player movement when in tight situations would lead me to think perhaps more subtle controls of direction were intended to be used, whether analogue sprinting was included late or not. I rarely use it to be honest. But those moments where you use slower player movement bring out the individuality of the players for sure. I couldn't do the above dribbles with the likes of a league 2 player, for example. Not to the same degree, anyways.

The very fact that if a strong player sprints, or runs quickly, he gets knocked over easily, but when running slower, he automatically extends his arm, leans into the opponent trying to take the ball, and fends off the AI on occasion, tends to make me think that the game was designed to be played without running at faster speeds all the time. It's just a shame that against a human opponent, speed and power rules.
 
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Just played some FIFA 11 for the first time in a long while, concentrating on using L2 and the left stick like LTFC discussed, and I honestly don't see it having that much influence on gameplay and my opinions in general haven't changed. How "feathering" the stick and utilizing L2 are meant to have much of an influence - and I'm personally unconvinced as to this whole "feathering" the stick thing - when other aspects of gameplay are so over-powering is beyond me. Granted I'm quite out of practice but good god the game plays too fast for me to even think about varying the directional stick pressure in situations that it might make a difference.

I did, however, enjoy the matches I played this evening. The less frequent I play FIFA the more I can enjoy it, unfortunately.
 
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