Why does the scouting process suck so much in FM10

I'm a little frustrated with this game although it is better than FM09 in almost every way. There is one glaring thing that is bugging me. It's scouts judging potential.

It seem almost every quality/above average players ability or potential has 3 stars. There's only just a handful of players who have 4 stars or more and I haven't seen ANY 5 star potentials. It's making it really difficult to zero in on a couple players if they all are rated relatively the same.

I thought in FM08 and FM09 it was really easy to distinguish who were the guys who had potential. The scale went up to I believe 7 stars which really gives a good range to place a huge database of players.

Does anyone else have a problem with this and if so, is this something that SI is aware of??

I'm a little frustrated with this game although it is better than FM09 in almost every way. There is one glaring thing that is bugging me. It's scouts judging potential.

It seem almost every quality/above average players ability or potential has 3 stars. There's only just a handful of players who have 4 stars or more and I haven't seen ANY 5 star potentials. It's making it really difficult to zero in on a couple players if they all are rated relatively the same.

I thought in FM08 and FM09 it was really easy to distinguish who were the guys who had potential. The scale went up to I believe 7 stars which really gives a good range to place a huge database of players.

Does anyone else have a problem with this and if so, is this something that SI is aware of??

Yes it used to be seven stars, and now it is five. However we now have half stars so it's actually out of 10 now. Agree that loads and loads of players seem to be 3 stars. Just have to keep looking I guess!

What team are you? I'm currently playing as Inter and I'm signing 3-star players. My scout will still tell me he'll be a leading midfielder, but he's 3 stars because he'll be the same quality as my current leading midfielder.

It is after all the scout's recommendation. If you have Messi in your team it's going to be hard to find a player to top him (lots of 2 stars players), but if you have no decent left back it'll come up with more 3/3.5 stars left backs.

It takes some getting used to, and there's something to be said for the old system, but I'm beginning to like it. The current system takes into account the strength of your squad and the strength of your league. I think if you get used to it, it wil give you a better idea of who the good players are and who you'll want to sign.

use your own jugdement as well

makes it more full

also read the sqout report and make sure he has good scouting stats

and get second opinions

use your own jugdement as well

makes it more full

also read the sqout report and make sure he has good scouting stats

and get second opinions

Using your own judgement is ok if you can see the player in training etc, like a real manaer can. But we can't, so in the game signing a youngster is very heavily balanced on what your scouts say.

What team are you? I'm currently playing as Inter and I'm signing 3-star players. My scout will still tell me he'll be a leading midfielder, but he's 3 stars because he'll be the same quality as my current leading midfielder.

It is after all the scout's recommendation. If you have Messi in your team it's going to be hard to find a player to top him (lots of 2 stars players), but if you have no decent left back it'll come up with more 3/3.5 stars left backs.

It takes some getting used to, and there's something to be said for the old system, but I'm beginning to like it. The current system takes into account the strength of your squad and the strength of your league. I think if you get used to it, it wil give you a better idea of who the good players are and who you'll want to sign.

Oh so you're saying if you see someone with a 3 star ability or potential....that is explaining how good they are in respect to your squad. For example a good midfielder might get a 2 star rating for Barcelona but 3.5 stars on Everton.

Is that what you were saying???

Oh so you're saying if you see someone with a 3 star ability or potential....that is explaining how good they are in respect to your squad. For example a good midfielder might get a 2 star rating for Barcelona but 3.5 stars on Everton.

Is that what you were saying???

Exactly. I moved from FC Utrecht to Inter and theplayers on my Utrecht shortlist, when scouted again at Inter, had their amount of stars reduced.

Exactly. I moved from FC Utrecht to Inter and theplayers on my Utrecht shortlist, when scouted again at Inter, had their amount of stars reduced.

Ok thanks, by the way Forza Roma!!

As has been mentioned the stars are relative to yoru current squad, so a player who is 3 stars for Chelsea would be 5 stars for Burnley. It's all relative to your current squad

As has been mentioned the stars are relative to yoru current squad, so a player who is 3 stars for Chelsea would be 5 stars for Burnley. It's all relative to your current squad

Is it also still relative to the league you're in? Or has that been eliminated from consideration? I know in the past a player was judged based on the league; when promoted, their stars went down as they weren't as good compared to the new higher league.

So it's JUST based on comparison to other players on your own squad now?

Is it also still relative to the league you're in? Or has that been eliminated from consideration? I know in the past a player was judged based on the league; when promoted, their stars went down as they weren't as good compared to the new higher league.

So it's JUST based on comparison to other players on your own squad now?

I think thats realtive. If you have a good championship team and get promotion to the premiership then your obviously going to want to replace your players for better ones. These new players will be rated with more stars than your current players so, relatively, will be better.

I cant give a definate answer on the promotion question, but when i got promoted with Newcastle it seemed as though the starts dropped in comparison to the league.

An additional question. If you have some who is rated at 3 star potential against a current squad member, does this mean he has the potential to be better, worse, or the same as the player he is compared to?

I always check a number of stats for my scouted players. For youngsters I like to see some decent physical stats and mental ones too before signing them. Determination, anticipation, pace, that sort of thing.

As has been mentioned the stars are relative to yoru current squad, so a player who is 3 stars for Chelsea would be 5 stars for Burnley. It's all relative to your current squad

but it doesnt scale ..playing world class team best youth potential you can have is 3.5 stars.. even if its 199 pa.. and he will reach it..

my world class striker who started playing more and more in first team since 18 years.. having 187 pa.. and last time i played had over 160 ca done already being at age of 20,

his stats were insane for striker.. finishing/dribling/firstouch/heading all 18-20, same come composure and physical attributes.. in short he was best target striker in game by miles..

yet he was just 3 stars potential

but it doesnt scale ..playing world class team best youth potential you can have is 3.5 stars.. even if its 199 pa.. and he will reach it..

my world class striker who started playing more and more in first team since 18 years.. having 187 pa.. and last time i played had over 160 ca done already being at age of 20,

his stats were insane for striker.. finishing/dribling/firstouch/heading all 18-20, same come composure and physical attributes.. in short he was best target striker in game by miles..

yet he was just 3 stars potential

But what was the CA of the plyer he was being compared to? If its a roughly similar CA then your regen is going to get 3 stars as his potential means he will be of relatively similar ability to your current striker, or the one who he was compared to.

I signed a regen CB, and my scouts rated his potential to play at a similar level to my then current CB, which resulted in the player getting the 3 star potential. Now i have sold my original CB and play the regen he is rated at 4.5 stars CA. Other regens i have signed are compared to my 4.5 star CA regen, they all have the ability to play at a similar level and are given 3 stars potential and so on. Hope that makes sense?

So simon.baker, what you are saying is that star rating is only based relative to other players - not based on league. Yes?

So if it's all relative to other players on the squad, it would be impossible to have all of your players with 3.5* or higher. Someone is going to be ranked lower, someone higher, or at best, all the same (3 stars). When I look at my club, let's say my MCs, the fact that one is 2*, one 3*, and the other 4* doesn't mean that the first isn't good. He's just less good than the others, relatively. Yes?

I believe that squad stars are relative to league/reputation and scouting stars are relative to your squad.

So Leo Messi, were you Barcelona, would be 4.5-5*/4.5-5*, whilst 'the next Leo Messi' if you scouted him, would be 3* PA

It all depends on the ability of your scouts. I have found that scouts (rightly, as is the same IRL) cannot judge potential ability that accurately, but judge current ability much more accurately. This means that a player has a PA of 199, then they might be grouped in the 170+ or 180+ category. If your best player has an CA of 197, then your scout will be able to judge them more accurately and put them in the 195+ category. Therefore your scouts won't give your youngster a particularly high potential rating. I don't really give the star system any thought now. I just look how they judge them, (as a 'good' or 'leading' division player would be good enough for my side) and look at their attributes related to their age. It's really just all a bit of luck, and getting good enough scouts. And if you think about, IRL you can't really tell the potential of a player, so to make it more ambiguous is more realistic.

please dont forget that the scouts are meant to have an element of error about them..

the star potential is based on the reputation of your current players and squad among other things...

as has been said... in real life not even the masters like arsene wenger get it right every time... what you see as a frustrating error , i see as a great feature which enhances the realism of the game... use your own damn judgement.... you can scout a player as much as you want...

you say you cant see the player.. but you can... scout a match he plays , watch him play for a few games.. and make your own judgement , taking your scouts judgement into account as an extra...

scouts arent meant to be definitive.. just an indicator / filter system for your scouting

So simon.baker, what you are saying is that star rating is only based relative to other players - not based on league. Yes?

So if it's all relative to other players on the squad, it would be impossible to have all of your players with 3.5* or higher. Someone is going to be ranked lower, someone higher, or at best, all the same (3 stars). When I look at my club, let's say my MCs, the fact that one is 2*, one 3*, and the other 4* doesn't mean that the first isn't good. He's just less good than the others, relatively. Yes?

Basically yes. In a scout report it will say something like "scout a believes player a is the best central defender in the squad but player b is quite away from that standard" blah blah blah

Then under the potential bit you get something like "scout a belives player b has the potential to play at a similar level to player a"

Now if the senior player is your best CB and is rated at 4 stars in his coaching report, then the regen or scouted player will have his ability rated relative to your current best CB, which is the 3 stars thing. Given time, if your regen develops to his full potential and reaches the same level then he will become 4 stars in the coaching report

So simon.baker, what you are saying is that star rating is only based relative to other players - not based on league. Yes?

So if it's all relative to other players on the squad, it would be impossible to have all of your players with 3.5* or higher. Someone is going to be ranked lower, someone higher, or at best, all the same (3 stars). When I look at my club, let's say my MCs, the fact that one is 2*, one 3*, and the other 4* doesn't mean that the first isn't good. He's just less good than the others, relatively. Yes?

dont forget its reputation aswell..... so even a player who will eventually become the next messi will be rated lower as messi has a higher rep, higher ca etc

Hello

For me it is all about attributes not silly scout star opinion.

Thankyou

I agree with Borat. Sod the stars.

I signed Areola for Man Utd and Crazy phelan said he is not good enought for the team and i should remove my offer , He has -9 or -10 Potentian i think ... So it all depends on your judgement also , Get him scouted for 3 games , it gives scouts more info

but it doesnt scale ..playing world class team best youth potential you can have is 3.5 stars.. even if its 199 pa.. and he will reach it..

my world class striker who started playing more and more in first team since 18 years.. having 187 pa.. and last time i played had over 160 ca done already being at age of 20,

his stats were insane for striker.. finishing/dribling/firstouch/heading all 18-20, same come composure and physical attributes.. in short he was best target striker in game by miles..

yet he was just 3 stars potential

Quite possible if his hidden attributes were poor.

Now if the senior player is your best CB and is rated at 4 stars in his coaching report, then the regen or scouted player will have his ability rated relative to your current best CB, which is the 3 stars thing. Given time, if your regen develops to his full potential and reaches the same level then he will become 4 stars in the coaching report

So Basically scout reports - 3 star is average and say a player you have scouted is goin to be a star better for example, then his potential rating will be 4 stars?

Don't look at the stars,look at what your scouts say,like "fairly good signing" or "good signing",if he says "good signing" about a player then he is worth buying

Don't look at the stars,look at what your scouts say,like "fairly good signing" or "good signing",if he says "good signing" about a player then he is worth buying

Yeah I usually do look to see if they are better but you cannot have that on your squad overview, so i go off the stars!

What grips me is that when I send a sout to Italy,he only manages to find 3 star players between the ages of 16 -22. I am playing as spurs so surely he should be able to find better players who are older but when I ask the same scout to look only at Serie A , HE FINDS NO PLAYERS AT ALL.

Someone explain that to me

What grips me is that when I send a sout to Italy,he only manages to find 3 star players between the ages of 16 -22. I am playing as spurs so surely he should be able to find better players who are older but when I ask the same scout to look only at Serie A , HE FINDS NO PLAYERS AT ALL.

Someone explain that to me

Scouts tend to only look at players who are interested in coming to you, so maybe there's not a lot of Serie A players that want to come to Spurs. Also, does the scout in question have decent knowledge of Italy? Is Serie A an active league in your game? Are there actually matches being played during the period for which he has not found players?