LEROY: Because I started to have faith in the game again, but now it's gone. Applying the word 'cheat' to an algorithmic program is ridiculous, but for the sake of this argument I am a definite YES. Cheating in this sense refers to:
1. One shot one goal syndrome
2. Merciless AI regardless of team/ability
3. The infamous 4-2-4. Reading recently switched to this in the 29th minute after I was 2-0 up. They scored 3 in quick succession then reverted back to a 4-4-2. Clearly, it's a 'cheat' tactic adopted by the AI in order to get goals. It's far too effective, and since it doesn't work for us, it's cheating.
4. The infamous 5-4-1 brick wall formation that can keep out goals infinitely regardless of team/ability. Try playing defensive away to Arsenal or Man Utd and you'll usually concede in the first 10 minutes. It's not possible to defend effectively in this game.
5. Profound lack of feedback. There are so many variables other than tactics now that affect the outcome of a match, that it's impossible to nail down a problem, hence the fact that there are still tactical threads open still asking for fundamental answers. The answers can not be given because NOBODY on here knows them. If you say you do, you lie. The x-factor is too great. All this forum is, is a huge mass of theory. And the fact that people constantly claim that people's theories don't work shows how much randomness and inconsistency there is in the game. Of course, people will always claim that it's 'different from team to team', or 'it's simply a guideline.'
6. Ludicrous mistakes and goals that have no relevance to the match. It seems as thought the engine is trying to tell you that something is wrong, but it's impossible to say what since watching the full match reveals very little, and it's simply not football to set up a system to 'avoid mistakes.' Often it feels that tactics are irrelevant since outside variables create ridiculous goals and events.
7. Pathetic manual and 'broken' sliders. The fact that we still don't know what each slider does constitutes a massive problem. The defensive line slider does nothing, and we still don't know what creative freedom or free role does because it's simply not observable in full match mode.
8. New players ALWAYS getting injured.
Flamini: 3 months
Delgado: 5 months
Pizarro: 2 months
Jankulovski: 3 weeks
I am sure I have missed something.
CLEON: Why do I play the game? because I can overlook all of these poor poor flaws. Obviously, these things are not happening constantly, otherwise the game would be unplayable, but they do occur at different moments in time. Sometimes I am unstoppable and go on massive winning streaks, but it doesn't mean anything to me. It's a hollow feeling because I know that I could just as easily be on a massive losing streak and be none-the-wiser. That's the fundamental problem with the game — the feeling of randomness due to no feedback. My brother just finished our second season. I finished a respectable 10th after my dreadful start with the Toon, and he finished 1st with Everton after a poor first season. Along the way he beat Man Utd 5-1, me 5-0, and Arsenal 4-0. he has no idea why. His team isn't that good either. I've said it before, I'm an FM fanatic, but 06 was a better game by miles — at least it was much more fun than this version. In all my time playing these games, I have never heard of so many disgruntled fans. There is a clear divide with this version and with this fact, it can't be denied that there is a problem somewhere. I don't care if you've never lost a match and find the game easy (I'm not referring to you personally :thup
, it simply can't be denied that people are struggling with this version. And the bid problem is this: NOBODY KNOWS WHY.
Linear Mode
