Cheers Paul.

Do you like the game in general though?  Have you tried FIFA 13 yet?

i've just finished my first season in Master League, managed to secure promotion in 2nd place after a sticky patch around february/march almost saw me blow it.  a couple of key victories in the last few games got me back into it, including a game against my nearest rival where for possibly the first time in my life, i switched to a more defensive formation for the last 20 minutes in order to hang on to a 1-0 lead...
on the pitch i've mostly enjoyed it, with that traditional PES mix up of amazing action quickly followed by hatred and rage at being fucked over.  my current hate now is that i keep getting tripped/stumble by the AI, don't get a free kick, but slow down enough so that the AI can recover the ball.  last game of the season (which i needed to win to guarantee promotion) saw me denied a stonewall penalty like this, though fortunately i still won.
i also pulled off one of my classic PES howlers for the first time (in this version) last night...the keeper parries a shot, striker is in space with an open goal, tap L1 to take control, press shoot....but actually i pressed L1 and shoot to close together so my striker chips the ball over the bar from the 6 yard box....

That foul thing they get away with kills me too. I can just about deal with it when it's in the middle of the park, but when the last man does it to you and doesn't even give away a free kick never mind getting sent off it really sucks the life out if me. 

I lose the will to play the game when I get crap like that. Have you also noticed that it always happens even when the defender is slower than the striker? And that you can't pull off this kind of cheating yourself? I might be done with playing the AI. Sad times.

You bought it???

I think DJR was considering buying both this and FIFA.

@loxdog don't think you have any say in the transfer fee, the scout does negotiations, then if that's successful you can agree/alter/refuse the players wages and contract length.

@Paul  it's like the AI can do the run/press tackle move constantly (which doubles as a pull from behind i think) and won't ever get blown up for it, whereas us humans have to do it at the right place and time or it's a yellow card.

Olimite wrote:

Yep. then had the realisation that I need to play less football, not more.

I usually have that realisation too late too. I have a solution for mine though. Get nephew to play it, he loves it, and that way I get some achievements too. He doens't play all the time though.

I will play more, but need less football and more other stuff in my gaming life. Impulse purchases are hurting me, must be more disciplined.

Plan M wrote:

Picked this up this morning.  It's football sex.  I am in love again. The pace of the whole thing just feels right.  I just can't go back to FIFA 13 after this - that game is an arcade fest now in my opinion. The player models look so amazing on this too.  Commentary is still awful but that can be turned off. Daymo's patch is awesome - updates all proper stadia and kits.

What I like about the pace of the game is that the players don't fizz around like they're on fast forward, but you can still play the game at a high tempo.  usually in footy games, if they slow the pace of movement, the whole game slows down to a bit of a trudge, or if the players are faster the whole thing gets manic.  this has a nice balance where the players move at a reasonable pace, but you can play football as fast or slow as you like.

Plan M wrote:

Picked this up this morning.  It's football sex.  I am in love again. The pace of the whole thing just feels right.  I just can't go back to FIFA 13 after this - that game is an arcade fest now in my opinion. The player models look so amazing on this too.  Commentary is still awful but that can be turned off. Daymo's patch is awesome - updates all proper stadia and kits.

With all the things that bug me, it's still better than last year. Just could've been perfect with a little bit more tweaking (was the early release too much?)

RamSteelwood wrote:

Plan M wrote:

Picked this up this morning.  It's football sex.  I am in love again. The pace of the whole thing just feels right.  I just can't go back to FIFA 13 after this - that game is an arcade fest now in my opinion. The player models look so amazing on this too.  Commentary is still awful but that can be turned off. Daymo's patch is awesome - updates all proper stadia and kits.

What I like about the pace of the game is that the players don't fizz around like they're on fast forward, but you can still play the game at a high tempo.  usually in footy games, if they slow the pace of movement, the whole game slows down to a bit of a trudge, or if the players are faster the whole thing gets manic.  this has a nice balance where the players move at a reasonable pace, but you can play football as fast or slow as you like.

Excellent point.  I played a CL campaign last night on superstar difficulty and had so much fun.  I watched Man Utd in the CL before playing and then played this straight after and the pace is so realistic now.  

Really enjoying this.

@loxdog

Yeah they should have held off until October in my opinion and included Communities and up-to-date transfers in retail version on release day.

Google search 'Daymos Option File V.2'. It will solve all your problems and even give you updated kits, stadia etc

All you need is a USB stick.

@Moot_geeza there's an option file for PS3 on the winningelevenblog site...i linked to it a few pages back.  I'm using a very early version of it (i'd guess they've been updating it since release) but even that had all correct leagues, names and kits for the main ones.  I also installed a 'chant pack' so when playing at home as Newcastle the crowd sing 'walking in a robson wonderland' etc...or if you want to stay 'official', Konami announced even before realise that there will be an update early october with all the latest transfers

RamSteelwood wrote:

also, my second season in ML is not looking like it will be going well...having secured promotion at the first attempt, and agreed a transfer with a rather high salary player, i was let down by a lack of prize money and financial backing from the board for the new season...by the start of August i was over 1.6 million in the red and you need to be in the black by end of august...cue a backroom reshuffle (slightly decent coach replaced by el cheapo coach), squad trimming (release all the players that don't regularly make the squad), then agree to the sale of my 4th choice striker (which hurt as he was a promising prospect)...but i was still a bit in the red come the first game of the season....cruelly it was away so no gate receipt money for me....and even crueller, i got absolutely humped by fulham so approaching the end of august, still in debt and with a first team not strong enough to match up with fulham...then my top young striker got a serious injury that would keep him out until christmas.  and being heartless, i promptly released him, freeing up enough wage money so that i was back in the black, but now with only 2 recognised strikers. this could be a long season...i don't think i've ever finished outside the top few places in any season in ML before, but this year a relegation battle could be on the cards!

Ouch. The whole situation with money in Master League needs to be revamped so you can only spend your means. I hate the fact that you can overspend, although at least it's "realistic". Not as "realistic" as paying £20m for a player valued at £2m, or have they fixed that?

loxdog wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

also, my second season in ML is not looking like it will be going well...having secured promotion at the first attempt, and agreed a transfer with a rather high salary player, i was let down by a lack of prize money and financial backing from the board for the new season...by the start of August i was over 1.6 million in the red and you need to be in the black by end of august...cue a backroom reshuffle (slightly decent coach replaced by el cheapo coach), squad trimming (release all the players that don't regularly make the squad), then agree to the sale of my 4th choice striker (which hurt as he was a promising prospect)...but i was still a bit in the red come the first game of the season....cruelly it was away so no gate receipt money for me....and even crueller, i got absolutely humped by fulham so approaching the end of august, still in debt and with a first team not strong enough to match up with fulham...then my top young striker got a serious injury that would keep him out until christmas.  and being heartless, i promptly released him, freeing up enough wage money so that i was back in the black, but now with only 2 recognised strikers. this could be a long season...i don't think i've ever finished outside the top few places in any season in ML before, but this year a relegation battle could be on the cards!

Ouch. The whole situation with money in Master League needs to be revamped so you can only spend your means. I hate the fact that you can overspend, although at least it's "realistic". Not as "realistic" as paying £20m for a player valued at £2m, or have they fixed that?

I did sign a player from another team, and you do get to 'alter' the transfer fee if you want to barter (after the scout negotiates an agreement off his own bat)...i think the fee was over double the players 'value' though...and the players i sold went for way over their value too (even though i'd put them on transfer list).  these were all cheapo players mind, but it appears the value isn't really related to the transfer fee...

the main problem with the money thing though was that it allowed me to fuck myself over without much guidance...i at least had a vague memory of how it would work but new players could really get done over.  basically i signed a player after the january window shut, thinking i had enough in the bank to cover his wages...but it didn't take the money then as the player didn't join until the new season, at which point i had to pay the wages for my whole team, and i found out i didn't get any extra money for the new season (just the piddling amount from my sponsors).  so i was naive to think i'd get more money, but at the same time the game would have let me (pre) spend as much as i wanted after the january window without really showing that the money you have now will need to pay for next season too!
it would be much better if you had to balance the books by the end of the season, rather than the start...so you still pay wages up front, but if you're in the red then you can try to make it up through the season (they could even charge interest), then you get sacked/players sold at the the end of the season if you're down...

AI still kicking me off the ball and not giving away a free kick. I might be finished with this tripe already.

damn you evil game!
first i got knocked out of the FA cup by Sunderland (when playing as Newcastle!).  i had rested a few star men, but was 1-0 up before a late equaliser when my CB ran in the wrong direction when chasing a through ball, then they got a late corner and you know how that ended (though in a subtle change, they didn't bury the header, but no one tried to do anything to the cross until it hit my player at the back post, who like everyone else ignored my pressing 'shoot to clear' and instead trapped the ball nicely for their striker to volley home).
but i took it manly, marched on to the next game away to Everton...battled back from a goal down, leading 2-1 as we entered the final moments...another long ball pumped into the box, but the defender has it covered, all the time in the world...and he heads it out for a corner.  that's what really annoyed me because we really do know what happened next.

and all i could do was sit there silent with rage, and flick the Vs at the TV!