[Cardot]

I definately agree that sliders are not without issues. Often times they aren't explained well, sometimes they have unintendend side-effects and other times they effect the wrong thing or have no effect at all. And yeah, maybe developers do use them as a crutch.

But there are 2 big reasons I like sliders. The first is the ability to customize. Most people here on OS talk about playing sim style. But if you play in an online league with a group here, you will find that everyone has a different definition of "Sim". Infact I am definately not sim. For example I don't play 15 minute quarters and run the play clock down like they do in the NFL and the pure sim guys do. But I also don't want NFL Blitz with guys catching on fire. I want something about 80% up the arcade-sim spectrum, and good sliders allow me to do that.

The other reason for me is being able to adjust the difficulty, and here is where we disagree. If I am in skill level purgatory, you are telling me to practice, and strive to get up to that next level. As much as I enjoy video games, I am not going to "practice". I am 38, none of my friends play video games, and I could care less how good I am. I just want a competitive, fairly realistic escape from the real world for an hour or so a night. I would rather bump a slider or two than invest hours upon hours to find that balance.