Current Ability, Potential Ability and Current Potential Ability

Should we have a third ability taken into account in the game, Current Potential Ability i.e. the Potential Ability it is possible for that player to achieve, with a variety of factors taken into account e.g. club, age, injury history.

Example:

*These aren’t the real PA’s*

Paul Scholes at 23 has a PA of 180, there’s every chance of him achieving that PA, so people who use third party scouting tools or editors can sign him and set about training him to his maximum potential.

10 years down the line and a plughole full of ginger hair later;

Paul Scholes is 33 and still has a PA of 180, but has little or no chance of achieving that PA, given age, injuries and first team opportunities. Looking at the editor or using a third party scouting tool, we can see that he has the potential to be world class, but we know he won’t recapture his glory days. What we don’t know is, what he could achieve at this age.

Current Potential Ability would give us an idea of how good an ageing, or injury prone star could realistically achieve. It could fluxuate with all given factors taken into account and PA could remain in its current state.

If it were to go as far as I wish it would go, it would also be provided for younger players and take even more factors into consideration e.g. training facilities, club reputation, club ability.

Example:

Joleon Lescott has a PA of 180 at Wolves, but his Current Potential Ability, with previous factors taken into account, is only 150 i.e. he cannot achieve full PA at his current club.

Lescott moves to Everton and his CPA matches PA, because facilities, club ability and reputation are higher.

I thought of this when using Genie Scout to check newgen nationality (expect a complaint thread in days to come ) and noticed that many players over 30 were available for low sums, with PA’s of 180+. Without any idea how past it they are, the Genie Scout/editor user could be fooled into buying a load of players who have the potential to be world beaters, but left that potential behind long ago.

ermm..not sure how to use the genie scout.

any help would be appreciated.

maybe if i got it working i could put something constructive into this thread!

So you'd like SI to introduce a new variable to make it easier for you to pick up good players when using third party tools to reveal hidden attributes?

Sounds like you need to be addressing this 'problem' to the GS developers, not SI.

Ha, no it's not for me as I don't use Genie Scout to pick up players. I'm suggesting it for my second example as I don't think enough emphasis is put on the players situation when determining potential ability and it's graduation.

GS couldn't provide a CPA, unless it was a feature programmed by SI.

Leaving aside the near-impossibility of calculating a CPA, given all of the variables that contribute to it, what would be the benefit to SI of adding this?

IMO it would provide greater realism in player progression from club to club. It would limit a players ability to achieve maximum potential in certain situations and not only influence career progression, but progression of the footballer, which was dependent on their career choices.

IMO it would provide greater realism in player progression from club to club. It would limit a players ability to achieve maximum potential in certain situations and not only influence career progression, but progression of the footballer, which was dependent on their career choices.

This already happens, surely?

PA is just a value to indicate the best ability a player can achieve, in the ideal circumstances. If Lescott stays at Wolves in your example (and let's assume they stay in the Championship, for the sake of argument), it's unlikely his CA will ever reach his PA of 180. The factors in the game that influenece CA development towards PA (age, match ratings * competition rep/importance, player personality, training facilities, etc.) already do that job.

It already happens, to an extent, but it doesn't go far enough IMO.

The Championship example was a poor choice, on my part. Here's another example;

Michael Carrick plays for Spurs. His PA is 170 and he can achieve that easily at Spurs. Then he moves to Manchester United, he is playing a higher standard of football, at the highest level domestically and continentally and as a result his performances improve and he improves as a player. However, his PA remains at 170.

With this in mind, should he have reached full potential at Spurs, considering Spurs weren't at their full potential? IMO the answer is no, but IMO PA shouldn't be static. CPA would maintain a static PA, and provide a realistic approach to the influence of club and career on the players ability.

I did actually start a thread arguing for a more dynamic potential, here: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=97644&highlight=potential+ability+exist

Having said that, I'm not entirely convinced by my own arguments.. I was trying to start a debate more than anything

The key thing is, PA is a very useful tool from a developers perspective, whereas a dynamic PA (or absence of a PA) would be extremely hard to implement. For that reason, I can't see them changing the CA/PA system any time soon.

Having said that, I'm not entirely convinced by my own arguments.. I was trying to start a debate more than anything

A similar reason to why I started this thread, unfortunately only you and I seem interested

Good idea in theory but I don't think it would be possible as from what i've taken from what you said a players CPA would be too closely linked to the reputation of the club he plays for, i'm sure there are many examples of players that reach their PA at smaller clubs (not that I can think of any at the moment).

Good thread. I think SI should join, to clarify which are the specific circumstances to trig in order a player to exploit its full potential.

In the details they should highlight us which are the algorithms staying behind the scene of the PA and CA.

There is no need to change PA, what you're asking for is achievable with the current system.

I agree there should be more focus on a players situation which would affect if he can reach his PA or not but that can be done without adding another attribute.

I agree there should be more focus on a players situation which would affect if he can reach his PA or not but that can be done without adding another attribute.

I know That's the ideal situation, just trying to start some debate, unfortunately it failed!