Could some features be made optional?

I would like to suggest that for FM11, some features be made optional.

I am specifically thinking of press conferences and team talks (but there are probably others).

These two feature annoy me SO MUCH. Actually to a point where I don't really want to play the game anymore. They make it a chore instead of something fun, I think.

I am so tired of having to think about what the correct team talk is for EVERY match, and clicking the assistant button is annoying. The same goes for press conferences.

So, SI, how about you simply, in the options, have a number of check boxes where the users can select/de-select the features they want?

I have a number of friends who, like me, have previously been big fans of CM/FM, but now simply don't want to play it because they feel it is a job and not a game. And especially the two things mentioned above, team talks and press conferences, are mentioned AGAIN AND AGAIN as something that seems utterly pointless and VERY boring.

I don't ask you to remove them entirely, some people probably want them. But I REALLY think you should consider making them optional.

I think it's fair to say that SI might as well remove these two feature entirely if they don't plan to massively overhaul them for the next game. I don't think anyone actually likes either of them, particularly press conferences.

You don't have to click it each time, you can set it up once under your manager settings for your assistant to take control of these, and he will do it forever.

For press conferences you can set you assistant to attend every match in tem settings. That's what i do anyway!

Both of the things that you say you want to be optional already are

I haven't done a press conference in years (except the one you have to do when taking over a new team) because like you, I find them boring and annoying. I always tick the "Responsible for attending press conferences" box in the Assistant Manager options on the team settings page.

Similarly, if you don't want to do team talks just tick the "Assistant manager/coach takes control of team talks" option, again on the team settings page.

Simples.

Hey, great that it is already that way! I wasn't aware of that feature.

My wish is fulfilled, but then I would urge SI to maybe take it a step further and remove the features all together (if the majority agree).

Because ticking the "assistant takes care of..." thing feels a bit like then one is not doing everything one should to make sure everything is running smoothly. And sometimes the assistant says some pretty stupid things in the press conferences.

I would say, just consider whether these features are actually necessary in a GAME.

For me they are exceptionally tedious.

Press conferences are really boring I never do them.

Team talks are important and I do control them all the time.

You send your ass man to all press events and set the ass man to do the team talks automatically if you want. It can be set so that you don't need to click the assistant talk every match.

It's all very well letting your ass man do them, and by doing that making them optional, but this has an effect on the game. Ass men can make some very strange decisions in both team talks and press conferences.

These features are both so limited that they need to be either improved or removed imo.

press conferences i dont do as they are so boring, but team talks i do every game and i feel does have an important role in the out come of the game, they could do with a overhaul though more options etc.

I think press conferences have a place in the game, but need to be improved.

Hey, great that it is already that way! I wasn't aware of that feature.

My wish is fulfilled, but then I would urge SI to maybe take it a step further and remove the features all together (if the majority agree).

Because ticking the "assistant takes care of..." thing feels a bit like then one is not doing everything one should to make sure everything is running smoothly. And sometimes the assistant says some pretty stupid things in the press conferences.

I would say, just consider whether these features are actually necessary in a GAME.

For me they are exceptionally tedious.

Well seing as the game is marketed as a football management simulation (and plays like it too), boring and repeditive press conferences are par for the course (and are probalby better spread than in FM09 where after every game even at Conference level you would get a conference attended by national level journalists). For a real life example I'm sure Alex Ferguson is getting a bit tired of hearing off a journalist "Rooney has been magnificent today" after every match, evn if he agrees with the sentiment.

Team talks are one of the most important ways of infuencing a performance, and if you have ever played a sport at any level you would know how vital they are in getting the extra effort needed and in gelling a team. So no keep them both in the game as they are to integral to the experience.

Well seing as the game is marketed as a football management simulation (and plays like it too), boring and repeditive press conferences are par for the course (and are probalby better spread than in FM09 where after every game even at Conference level you would get a conference attended by national level journalists). For a real life example I'm sure Alex Ferguson is getting a bit tired of hearing off a journalist "Rooney has been magnificent today" after every match, evn if he agrees with the sentiment.

Football management simulation does not mean that every feature of football management should be included no matter how boring it is. It's still a game after all, and while realistic should also be enjoyable. Press conferences are not.

Team talks are one of the most important ways of infuencing a performance, and if you have ever played a sport at any level you would know how vital they are in getting the extra effort needed and in gelling a team. So no keep them both in the game as they are to integral to the experience.

And you would also know that they are not simply a 'pick the best option' type affair. Once you learn team talks you always know which one to use in any given situation to get the best result. While essential they're currently very limited and have been pretty much unchanged since their introduction. So again, they need improving and expanding.

Next season EPL managers will be contractually obliged to do post-match press conferences - no option. So what you are asking for flies in the face of realism, which is what FM strives towards.

Next season EPL managers will be contractually obliged to do post-match press conferences - no option. So what you are asking for flies in the face of realism, which is what FM strives towards.

Fun is (or should be) the most important thing. Being able to view a 'live' match with only 'key highlights' flies in the face of realism but it would be suicidal to only allow us to watch full matches.

I know that example is extreme but it highlights the flaw in the 'have this feature simply because it happens IRL' argument. I'm all for realism, it's the reason I love FM, but at the same time if FM wasn't fun, I wouldn't play it.

I agree that Press Conferences (in their current iteration) get tiresome. Luckily my Assistant Manager appears to be on the same wavelength as me and so I'm happy for him to take them.

Team talks, especially at half time are vital and I would hate for them to be removed. I've lost count of the times I've been able to get my team flying after half time with a well chosen team talk (i.e. defender is showing as 'playing nervously' with a 5.5 rating at half time - tell him 'He can make a difference' and watch him finish with a 7+ rating and having had a stonking seconld half).

Well seing as the game is marketed as a football management simulation (and plays like it too), boring and repeditive press conferences are par for the course (and are probalby better spread than in FM09 where after every game even at Conference level you would get a conference attended by national level journalists). For a real life example I'm sure Alex Ferguson is getting a bit tired of hearing off a journalist "Rooney has been magnificent today" after every match, evn if he agrees with the sentiment.

Team talks are one of the most important ways of infuencing a performance, and if you have ever played a sport at any level you would know how vital they are in getting the extra effort needed and in gelling a team. So no keep them both in the game as they are to integral to the experience.

Yes, and I think this is the argument that SI uses also (the "it's that way in real life so we must have it in the game" argument).

But in real life you also have to eat and go to the toilet, we don't have that in the game do we? What I mean is just that every feature in a game must be carefully designed to be FUN!

And press conferences is a gross example of something that is so NOT FUN it almost hurts.

I really hate the team talk thing too, but not quite as much.

But both features I hate because they FORCE me into doing something that is just not fun. However, I feel I HAVE to do it to get the best performance. Therefore it becomes a chore.

I REALLY think SI should seriously consider to cut down on these features. I think a more "slim" FM would be IMMENSELY more enjoyable.

They need to consider to how extreme a degree they want to take the realism. And also, what stuff from real life is it even POSSIBLE to implement in a game? And I really feel that press conferences and team talks are not possible to implement in a satisfactory way.

They just become spreadsheets.

For team talks, just replace them with an algorithm that gives players a small (dis)advantage before the game.

For press conferences, either remove them, IMPROVE them A LOT by, for instance, making them into a kind of a mini game (don't know how, though) or make them very very rare.

For now it's impossible for me to get hooked like in the old days. It just feels a bit too much like work...

Well if it's the case that you're not having fun being a manager of a football club then I suggest that you don't play football management sims. Sorry for being so blunt on that point but it might be a good idea.

Using eating and voiding as examples equated with press conferences and team talks is a bit of a straw man arguement, as they have nothing to do with being a manager and so are pointless towards the arguement.

Well if it's the case that you're not having fun being a manager of a football club then I suggest that you don't play football management sims. Sorry for being so blunt on that point but it might be a good idea.

Using eating and voiding as examples equated with press conferences and team talks is a bit of a straw man arguement, as they have nothing to do with being a manager and so are pointless towards the arguement.

I think there has to be a balance between sim and fun, otherwise I wouldn't pay for it.

It's not making it optional that is the answer. It is HOW it is made optional.

- Press conferences should be about the match, the result and the effect. Everything else is superfluous. Every match is unique, therefore (if detailed enough and properly constructed) every press conference is unique. What we have now is the superfluous bit, which is why no-one wants to do them.

- At the end of every match (you will see the logic), you need one button - "Attend Press Conference", ignoring it and pressing continue instead sends the assistant automatically. That way, when you have had a particularly good/bad/controversial match (i.e. when you would naturally start interviewing yourself in your head) you will want to attend. The rest of the time you can forget it is there. Right now it is infuriating having to answer pointless questions, but not even having a press conference when you are feeling talkative.

Regarding team talks, while they are very limited, I personally don't see it as any more mundane or unnecessary than picking the team. It's hardly riveting stuff, but it only takes a few seconds.

definatley agree with this thread they are boring, but i also think the team talks play too big a role in the match performances etc, why should players need to be told such a specific thing to play to their ability, dont think they should be removed because they are apart of football just not that big apart imo just think they should be toned down alot matches should be more about players and tactics. as it is now i can play the same tactic and team and the difference between a 5-0 win and 5-0 loss is the motivation. same with press conferences theyre boring but i think they could be good if there was more to them.

and the option to let your assisstant do the team talks gives even more problems, they just say you can win today in every match ...-_-

I think this has been discussed a few times. Optional check boxes like this are not "simple".

Because so much is linked to things like press conferences and team talks, the check boxes would have to take you to a whole different game. It would need re-coding entirely to take out the effects that these features have. If they were just window dressing it wouldn't be an issue, but they are integrated into the players' performances and therefore the match engine.

I'm not disagreeing with the principle, I think it's a good idea and would love it to be a reality, but from what I've read in previous discussions it's just not do-able.

Well if it's the case that you're not having fun being a manager of a football club then I suggest that you don't play football management sims. Sorry for being so blunt on that point but it might be a good idea.

Using eating and voiding as examples equated with press conferences and team talks is a bit of a straw man arguement, as they have nothing to do with being a manager and so are pointless towards the arguement.

I do agree that my examples were pretty extreme. But it was just to make the point that not all things from real life need to be included in a game.

And, at least as they are now, I think press conferences are a blatant example of that.

To be a bit extreme again, in a few year we risk that in FM, before a match, we have to:

1. Select teams for the day-before training session

2. Select training exercises

3. Choose whether players are allowed to have wives in their hotel rooms

4. Select what time players must be in bed (with or without wives)

5. (optional) Watch players have intercourse with wives (who knows, maybe their performance there might indicate if they are a starter for next day's match)

6. Choose whether to force players on an early morning run

7. Select player(s) to accompany you to the press conference

8. Attend press conference

9. etc etc, you get the picture:)

Of coarse the above is highly exaggerated but I really think FM is moving in the direction of WAY too many features.

YES, it should be a simulation and realistic but NOT at all costs. And right now I think, at least to an extend, that it is ruining the fun.

Just remove features that a lot think are boring and focus on the match engine!

I think this has been discussed a few times. Optional check boxes like this are not "simple".

Because so much is linked to things like press conferences and team talks, the check boxes would have to take you to a whole different game. It would need re-coding entirely to take out the effects that these features have. If they were just window dressing it wouldn't be an issue, but they are integrated into the players' performances and therefore the match engine.

I'm not disagreeing with the principle, I think it's a good idea and would love it to be a reality, but from what I've read in previous discussions it's just not do-able.

You are right that it is not simple since they have an effect. If it was implemented, that effect would have to be simulated. Which is the same as just making the ass man take care of it.

I guess I am reaching the conclusion that they should just be taken out.

I think training should be optional as well, with an option to work like in the old CM games (that is, fully automatic, more or less like FM Live too).

I think training should be optional as well, with an option to work like in the old CM games (that is, fully automatic, more or less like FM Live too).

To have a game where players never train would be unrealistic in the extreme.

If you don't like training just keep the default schedules and ignore it - how hard is that?