Thanks bud, I tried your sliders and really enjoyed them. It took a short while to get used to the speed of the ball, but now it feels pretty realistic to be honest. I switched to all manual and it worked a charm. I still can't shoot on manual, but the match I played with your sliders definitely makes players more individual, and seems to make the CPU feel like more of a human opponent due to the increase in passing error. The CPU feels much less robotic and error prone.
I played a CM at home to Stoke (who have signed decent players and sit 5th in the table) and finally registered a 1-0 win. It felt that the later the game got, the more ragged Stoke's passing got, with several passes drilled straight past their target. The manual passing also helps open the game up a lot, because the feeling of the ball being 'on rails', even compared to semi passing, has gone. Player technique also felt more important because the higher speed and error reduces the floaty, bobbly element to the error sliders, and makes players use their technique stats more to control the ball. Higher skilled players were definitely more comfortable with ball control than lesser players.
I'm sure my result is a one off, but it does feel more balanced using your sliders, and more realistic. The only slider that I have changed is the power bar, which I've drastically reduced down so that I can get more nuance in the strength of passing. On the slider setting of 58 even a light tap of the button can see it drilled, but that's a personal preference that I've managed to fix.
All in all the game feels much better, far more random and more individual, while also making the CPU seem less robotic. Thanks!
Now speaking of manual, I think it's the only way for me to go from now on. It somehow opens up the game so much, that feeling of the ball being 'sucked' towards the CPU has gone and even the CPU feels more manual in terms of its long balls etc. I think players feel more individual than on semi assisted controls. With a lesser player, it might be me who makes them misjudge a pass, but using a better player does correct your mistake slightly and so their passing is visibly better in every respect. I've also found that using L2 while passing steadies the player and makes them perform a much more accurate pass, finally this button actually has a use. Without it, passes will be far harder to hit correctly.
Oh, and the only other thing I've altered are the injury frequency sliders, down to 96. I previously had mine at 95 and didn't see a great deal of injuries, and one match in with them set to 98, Cleverley, Taylor and my VP are all out injured for the rest of the season!
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