Where has the Magic gone? (Not a criticism of FM10)

I did look around for threads like this and didn't find anything, so I'm sorry if this thread has already been done. Basically, I'm finding that some of the magic of the game has worn off and I can't pinpoint exactly what it is. But I don't think the problem is exclusive to this version of Football Manager, I have found it missing in the previous few versions. Championship Manager 03/04 was the first version I played, and I found that absolutely brilliant, and I don't think any of the next iterations have quite matched up to that for me. The odd thing is, I haven't got a single criticism about FM 2010. The match engine is good, the tactics are fine, there is no problem with the transfer system or any other part of the game. It is just..... completely flat, no spark about it to want to make me continue.

A good example was last night. I had just had a good season as Manchester United manager, finishing 4th in the league despite having other 80 points and winning the Champions League. I made a very poor start to the next season, and thought that I would start a game as another English team and try to get up to the Premier League and ultimately win it, so I picked Newcastle United. I haven't finished a season not as the manager of Manchester United for a long time, 2 or 3 versions of FM I think it is. But when I started the game and got near the start of the season, I just couldn't find any motivation to carry on. I want to play many seasons on Football Manager, but when I come to actually play it I hardly finish any seasons at all. I normally 2 or 3 seasons in total on each version of Football Manager, despite me wanting to finish much, much more.

So what does everyone reacon: am I completely mental? What should I do? What can I do to overcome my phobia of not playing as Manchester United (the team I support)? How can I finish more than my 2 or 3 seasons each version?

Again, I'm sorry if this has been done before or is in the wrong forum, perhaps it would be better suited to the off-topic forum.

P.S. My season as Manchester United took 20 hours to finish, with only the English leagues up to and including League Two and the Scottish Premier League running, a small database and a relatively decent laptop (own graphics card, 3GB Ram, Dual-core processor). Is this a small, average or large amount of time to complete a season? I have a much better spec computer at home (quad score process, 4GB Ram, Geforce 9400 graphics card), would this finish a season any faster?

For me FM 10 is brilliant - even with the obvious small amount of bugs. The magic is certianly still there. To get motivated to playa agin I would take a little break and then take over a club which you can build up and nuturing youth (regens) keeps you going. Also, I think 20 hours is probably the average amount of time that someone spends on a season. Personally, I take around 30 hours or more to complete a season because I like to set tactics, go over training, transfer targets, scouting and statistics quite a lot - but I am content with it, which is all that matters.

Id say 20 hours is about average for doing a season, usually takes me about that much I think, although I usually leave the machince switched on, so the time counter is often unrealistically high!

I'd suggest either taking a break from the game, or take yourself over to the challenges forum and see if anything tickles your fancy in there. I was pretty much the same before I discovered that forum (dafuges challenge, and rancers) back on 08, and since then, I'm well and truly addicted again, and I simply HAVE to play on into the future to see how well my vision for each club turns out.

The other way is to try not to manage the club you support. Its a lot more difficult, and frustrating, and often less enjoyable than managing somewhere else...

hello

im a big arsenal fan i tried at least 3 or 4 times with arsenal where i just give up

the other day i strated a new season with newcastle i cannot get of the dam thing now im at work thinking about possible buys tacticts for next game etc

the magic is defo there ,5 mins till i finish work ,back in the hot seat lol

Thank you for the suggestion of the challenges forum, I haven't been in there before but I've found WW's International Champions League Competition which really takes my fancy. After that, I'm thinking of taking up rancer's challenge because then I play as a small team and outside England, whereas Dafuge's challenge is in England and I want to play outside of England. We'll see how I get on, perhaps I'll be unsuccessful but for now thank you for the suggestions

Thank you for the suggestion of the challenges forum, I haven't been in there before but I've found WW's International Champions League Competition which really takes my fancy. After that, I'm thinking of taking up rancer's challenge because then I play as a small team and outside England, whereas Dafuge's challenge is in England and I want to play outside of England. We'll see how I get on, perhaps I'll be unsuccessful but for now thank you for the suggestions

I am glad you have found something that tickles your fancy. I find that when you try too hard to enjoy a save, you end up hating it. Many of my best saves on FM have come from actually getting sacked from the club i wanted to manage, only to surpass them with a smaller club i signed for and then end up achieving great things.

This year, when i eventually got fm10 for xmas, i knew which team i wanted to be, Liverpool, due to their real life poor performances i wanted to do better.

I am guessing "Mr. Rooney" that your a little older now, possibly mid to late teenager. Your having new discractions in your life, eg studying, drinking, women, whereas in the Championship Manager 2003-04 era of your life, football was the sole focus. I am only speaking out of my own experience. ( I am gonna go out on a limb and guess your 16)

I get into and out of games where I will kick the ass out of one, then put it on the shelf for a few months and rinse and repeat.

What's helped me in this game when bored of the same old (like you, would always end up playing the same games) is to untick the 'use real players' box so you don't chase the same old staff/players for the same old teams....load as many leagues as your computer can realistically take....set yourself as the lowest reputation (i.e. opposite of former intl footballer)....start unemployed and just take the first random job offered wherever that might be.

I am glad you have found something that tickles your fancy. I find that when you try too hard to enjoy a save, you end up hating it. Many of my best saves on FM have come from actually getting sacked from the club i wanted to manage, only to surpass them with a smaller club i signed for and then end up achieving great things.

This year, when i eventually got fm10 for xmas, i knew which team i wanted to be, Liverpool, due to their real life poor performances i wanted to do better.

I am guessing "Mr. Rooney" that your a little older now, possibly mid to late teenager. Your having new discractions in your life, eg studying, drinking, women, whereas in the Championship Manager 2003-04 era of your life, football was the sole focus. I am only speaking out of my own experience. ( I am gonna go out on a limb and guess your 16)

Sorry to bump this thread, I'm not trying to spam the forum. It's just I've got the same problem again, I just can't get stuck into anything.

Part of the problem is that there are so many teams I can play as, I get bogged down in the decision making and never actually play anything.

Fatboy, you are right in that I do have other things and you're not far off about my age (I'm a couple of years older). However, I'm still a gamer. I still play video games regularly. I really want to play Football Manager, but I don't know what to do. You are also very right about hating a save you try to enjoy too much, but how can I overcome this?

Also, my next problem is that I don't know what version of the game to play. Football Manager 2010 is very good, however for me it takes too long to play a season and press conferences are tedious. Football Manager 2007 is an idea, for some reason I've got a bit of nostalgia about it despite never really being that successful on it the first time around. Championship Manager 01/02 is another idea, although having also having played with a viewable match engine of some sort I find it difficult to play using only text. The final idea is for Championship Manager 03/04, the game that started it all, however I would also find this difficult to play because of the outdated squads.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Apologies again if these seems like bumping or post boosting, that is not what I'm trying to do.

If you want magic, there is a game called world of warcraft!

Seriously though, set yourself a challenge, I find this re-ignites my fire for FM.

Why don't you try and get newcastle back into the prem or something like that? maybe try a career game and start unemployed? I took over newcastle, got them promoted, won the prem in my third season and then noticed my beloved LFC were floundering in 8th place and not even in the mickey mouse europe cup! I had to fix this after rafa got the boot. The squad I inherited was awful, they were 40mill in the red, so it was a mammoth task to get some stability, and there was nothing more satisfying than sorting them out. Admittedly, I was lucky enough to have a tycoon take over half way through my first season (result!), but it has still been great fun and got my stoke up for FM again.

Hope this helps!

i have the same problem of starting games i never see throgh more than 3 or 4 seasons, and im constantly starting new games, sometimes 3 or 4 in the one night. the posts above have it spot on, i find i need to take some time away from it or set myself challenges, like taking a small club to dizzying heights. you need to sit down and get nostalgic about football, think about restoring fallen clubs to former glories e.g notts forrest, parma, aston villa. or watch alot of skysports news, that gets me in the mood and gives me ideas about who id like to manage. im sure everybody will have down turns playing fm but its still the ultimate manager game, and one of only two games that i ever play.

i think il try using not real players, it would be a change from always going for the same players and staff.

It sounds as if you are talking about what you believe is a bygone era. If that is the case, then maybe this series has had its run with you and you should put the game aside. Like most games that run in series, this version is not for everyone.

the magic is still present in the game for me

CM4 was the first management game I ever played, it's took up countless hours of my life and I still play it now and again to this day.

FM06 was the first FM I played/owned, and although it was a solid management sim I just could never get into a game and stick with it.

For me FM10 surpases them both, definitely my favourite management sim.

Maybe the problem is with you instead of the game. It's not that strange that a game that never had any fundamental changes doesn't appeal to you anymore after ~7 years.

I often find it difficult to motivate myself to play with new saves or at the beginning of the season. The game is flat at this point because nothing has happened yet.

Once i progress abit I find myself totally immersed in the fantasy of what is my own little football world. Things happen that are unique to my save - thats the brilliance of FM.

I kind of agree. I can find magic but only if I impose it on the game myself. My main gripe is that there is no real difference between playing, say, Barcelona or Bristol City. I can get BC up to the point of playing and winning like Barca, just takes longer. Every team, and subsequently every game, is the same, since the only discrepancy is how long it takes to get to the top.

IRL Barca have presidential campaigns that affect the club, certain standards of quality football (no hoof-ball tactics), as well as the pride of having many home-grown players, but you can bypass that if you want and just use the same general tactics and thought process as if you were Bristol City. I want there to be general restrictions and expectations for each club that go beyond simple "win this competition" "Stay up" etc that make each team like a genuinly unique experience. As I mentioned earlier I can impose this on the game myself, but if I were to deviate there would be no in-game repercussions.

Mr. Rooney, I have the same problem as you. I just can't get into this fm 10. I have tried countless different team and leagues and still can't settle. I start with a team and get to about the first match of the season and decide i'm bored, after buying and selling all the players!!.

I used to love the champ man series and could'nt get off them untill the developers moved to fm and i moved with them. The thing is i tired champ man 10 and couldn't get into that neither, so i'm stuffed regarding footy management sims.

The thing is people can give you all the advice you want and still wont help you. Not knocking other poeple's advice but i been in the same position and have asked peeps on other forums for help. I'll listen to their advice and try again and still...nothing! lol. Prehaps like someone mentioned, we have played these games for so long and now were stuck in a rut and probably don't find it interesting. Then next year the updated version might have that 'magic' again. I'm trying Tottenham and have vowed this is my last game, if i don't like it, i'm going ot put the game to oneside and forget about it for a little while!!.

I agree with godber, from personal experience it takes me about 10 attempts to create a save that "clicks", then once i'm managed to get into a save it usually lasts for a long time. I'm also a Man Utd fan, and yet it took me about 15 attempts to get past Jan of the first season as I searched for a save that felt right.

Once I've left the known and entered the unique world of that save then it truely grips me

That said, i also haven't managed more than 2 seasons with any other club, but in part this is probably due to my frustration of not (yet) having a ManU save I was happy with and now i have a good ManU save i see no real reason to start again elsewhere.

Thanks for the comments guys. To be honest, most of the problem is that I'm absolutely hopeless at making decisions, it's the same with Madden I'll spend ages making a decision instead of just playing the game. I guess I just have to take the Alan Hansen quote "Indecision is fatal" (did he really say that, or am I just imagining?) literally to heart. I think I've found a way out, since I can't make a decision what I'll do is start a game with England with several leagues running. Then, I'll see what jobs become available and that way I don't have to make a decision by myself, the game makes it for me.

Like someone above posted...I've been Notts County this years after maybe 10-15 years (omg how old am I getting) of being Derby to start every single time. I set myself an Only British transfer policy, and am loving this save more than I've loved a save for a long time.

Someone else again has put that once you turn a corner into Barca-like greatness, it doesn't matter who you are, Notts, Rushden or Fulham, the matches, seasons and expectations pan out exactly the same.

My ony gripe is that I was out of League One by patch 10.2 so missed all the lower league ground match backgrounds I never saw with Derby. So am thinking of doing Notts a few more seasons then managing Matlock in Conf N. Now THERES a challenge, continuing my all britsh transfer policy there.

To Mr.Rooney and Crazy-Craig,

Must admit i'm in a similair boat to yourselves and think one of the other peep's hit the nail on the head, i think i might just have grown away from the game as such. There are mountain's of exciting new developments and while people can praise/criticise things that are good/bad about them (i do myself) i think it's just stopped being the game for me anymore.

Work/relationships etc have restricted my free time so i can no longer sit there for hour's on end each day trying to build up my team to win all and sundry, and i think i am now more of a casual gamer who just want's to sit down for a few hour's now and again and enjoy. Unfortunately, FM doesn't really cater for that, as to enjoy the best parts of the game, you need to immerse yourself in so many parts. I myself usually end up spending a large amount of time scouting and laboriously searching the Player List for some gems then find it's time to do other things and i've not even played a match yet.

Still plodding away on my Real Madrid save and after getting rid of the new "Galactico's" and filling the team with a bunch of youth's (average age 23) i have now managed to win the Champions League for the second year on the bounce in my 4th and 5th season.

As much as i am now a casul gamer, i could still never bring myself to play any of the other alternatives out there. As much as it may have it's fault's, FM is still the best on the market, and for that reason alone, i'll still load it up now and again. Just a shame it's not as often as it used to be.

I think it is possible that as we have gotten older and possibly wiser, our responsibilities have altered and we have less time to focus on the game. So whilst it was no prblem to 'waste' 10 hours a day playing previous versions we now have niggling thoughts in the back of our heads telling us we should be doing a million other things instead therefore spoiling our enjoyment of the game.

I wonder if I would love FM more if I was 15 and had no social life? (I say that because at 15 I did have no social life LOL). Last night I found a bug that I last encountered in FM09 - now transferred to FM10 - shame on you SI. Add that to 3d not working despite being up to spec and fully updated on drivers etc etc, and an average of 1 "out of memory" crash per day, there is a LOT of scope for improvement! Polished?, I dont think so!. Still enjoying the game but sometimes it does feel a bit too awkward or fiddly to adjust tactics constantly to try to get the result of expectations, and then there are way too many freak results both for and against my team. I think CM0102 was closer to getting the balance of everything right but I think I would miss the 2d classic view (and indeed 3d if I could get it to work!!) to play that almost 10 years old game on a regular basis. It does come out when FM10 annoys me though. And FM09 without the New FM10 tactical wizard / creator, is very frustrating too.