It might not be me!

For a number of years now I've felt that I was simply too old to enjoy FM like I used to. Don't get as immersed in it and I assumed it was age/life etc. I felt sorry for myself and the capacity for immersion I lost but such is life. A couple of days ago , however, I loaded up 03/04 and, yep, 100% immersed again! Is it just habit? Is it just muscle memory? Maybe. But a couple of things stood out for me, for what they're worth.

(1) The game now feels like a game. Strangely, 03/04 felt like a simulation, not a game. Why does it now feel like a game? Media and Team talks, for example, remind you that you're playing a game, you click x in order to get x. You go through the motions click click click but there's a slight dice rolling element. It's very much NOT a simulation (as the formulaic options remind you all the time) and it's a bit like rolling a dice to see how many moves forward you can make. It rupturs the illusion and takes away immersion in the game.

"Don't do media and team talks" you say, give the media interviews and team talks to the ass man. This ruptures the illusion even more as players get the hump because no ass man, like no media or teams talks can be simulated properly. Computer graphics do a better job at simulating football on tv than Ai does of simulating interpersonal relationships! You delayed the visuals until the technology was there, but you've lumped forward with media and team talks when the proper ai is a long way off. Again media and team talks don't work as part of a simulation, like 03/04, where imagination is nudged along, creating an immersive experience. They are simply part of a game that snaps you out of the kind of experience 03/04 provided.

There should be an option to turn it off. Please

(2) A much less significant point. For as long as I can remember (14 years give or take) CM/FM has been compared to a spreadsheet. Fine. But has anyone noticed what is happening to Spreadsheets and Word Processors these days? Over the years they've become bloated with clutter and Microsoft, Nisus, Apple etc etc are trying to declutter them, take away information that the user doesn't want or need at that moment and make the interfaced less cluttered. CM 03/04 had information if you wanted it but didn't clog screens with clutter. It was a much prettier interface, much more clutter free and less bloated and cluttered than today. This is not a big issue but the time it takes the relevant issue to hit the eye has lengthened since 03/04. Office suites are working on reducing the bloat and clutter which is responsible for this delay, I think SI (Ter, your 03/04 interface was beautiful!) should do the same.

Anyway, none of this is a complaint, it's a great game and since the late 90's it's given me a wonderful hobby. Many thanks for it and God knows it owes me nothing. But with just a couple of "options", like turning off media interviews and team talks, those who want a simulation can have it and those who want a game can be catered for too.

To be honest, I disagree. I think that FM has been growing more and more as a simulation, but that's because it's been getting more realistic and for me greater realism = greater simulation. Also, I find that this year's interface, while it takes time to adjust to, smooths some things out and does tuck away the less-used stuff.

Most areas of the game have improved greatly, I just wish there could be an option to switch off interactive media / team talks or anything else that reminds me of those books that used come in cereal boxes which said do you (a) .... In which case go to page 89 (b) .... In which case go to page 63 ad so on. That way people who like it can enjoy it and people who find it ruptures the immersion can lose it.

I can understand what you are saying with the press conferences and teams talks, and the repetitiveness doesn't make it a better game, and it bores me too.

understand where you are coming from

as my enjoyment, addictedness level was much bigger when i was younger around cm03/04 time i was about 14 (and mind you i didnt know anything about football) but really enjoyed the game!

now i feel im going through the paces and find it all a bit "predictable" and like you've said i also find myself ticking "assistant manager to take press conferences & team talks"

Boredom is one thing, but it's also rupturing the immersion.