It's a math formula and there are three variables. Yes, I'm over-simplifying it but it's essentially input + context + attributes = outcome. And I did not forget assistance - it's included in the input part of the equation, as the CPU assistance is part of the input.
No, it's not included as the same part of the equation.
User input and CPU assistance are two separate and distinct things, because manual passing does not contain CPU assistance. CPU does not "help target" the receiving player on manual controls, but it does do this on Assisted controls. So you have to make this distinction.
So no, that's not the formula for manual passing; it's the formula for any type of pass or shot and the CPU's assistance level is included in the input. How much it impacts is dependent on your assistance setting. That's the way that it was described although you could break it down further and say that the input variable is made up of user input + CPU input, and the CPU input is the assistance factor.
Yes, how much CPU assistance factors in is impacted by your assisted settings, and this varies from in semi-assisted and assisted settings. But
when you turn assisted off and play on manual, the CPU no longer assists you!
I can even point to the in-game descriptions for this:
Assisted: Pass direction and power will be assisted to help you play passes into the receiver's path and avoid opponent players.
Semi-Assisted: Pass power is assisted, but we will only help you a little with the direction.
Manual: The direction you point is the direction the pass goes, and the longer you hold the button, the stronger the pass will be.
It mentions right there that Assisted helps 'target' the 'receiving player', whilst it leaves that description absent from the manual setting.
Your description of how the assistance works is correct, but it's not overriding attributes. Read again the devs description: first the target is acquired. That's where the assistance is incorporated. After the target is acquired, that's when attributes (and context) come into play, and so attributes have the same role in manual as they do in semi and assisted.
You are kind of right here. Let me be more exact in wording:
A
ssistance overrides user input.
It doesn't
necessarily override attributes, but the end result is the sort the same, as it so severely limits what a player-character is capable of, when those endless possibilities are precisely what attributes are supposed to represent
It's rather ridiculous when you think about it, because you're relying on the AI of FIFA to not only fully comprehend user intent, but also to replicate the intelligence of elite players like Messi and Modric. And the CPU Assistance/AI in FIFA just ain't close to that yet. That's why we need Manual, as it doesn't function by the rules of CPU Assistance/AI.
So with manual you're not going to see better passing from the same player but you can see way worse, depending on your skill. And that's a reason why it can seem less realistic and less dependent on attributes.
Not true at all, not one bit.
Manual opens up all the angles for passes which allows you create better passes than Assisted controls can not make or see or understand. This is one of core fundamental reasons people play Manual controls to begin with, as it enables you to make those ridiculous and exacting passes between the defenses, or into space, etc.
Granted, the way Derek Rae pronounces and enunciates certain player names drives me up the wall.