Could a more RPGish approach be possible?

One thing Ive been thinking about when you start your new career as a manager. Wouldn't it be interesting to get a set base of points to start and create your manager with. Also based on what position your guy played before becoming a manager would have an impact on your manager's starting abilities.

For example say you were a professional footballer who played Striker. Starting off all professional managers would get the same number of points for allocating, but as you were an offensive player say your stats are attack - 10, finishing 10, dribbling 10 and all the others at 5. A former defender might have defense 10, tackle 10 heading 10 and all others at 5. Then as you were a former professional you get a starting allocation of 10 points to put into any slots you like. Say passing, crossing, goalkeeping etc...

Then as your managerial career goes through you will see changes based on your coaching style. Maybe you can get a bonus point to be placed where you see fit for winning promotion or winning Europa or La Liga or whatever.

These points would all have an effect on your teams ability much like a coaches does. If your coaches are crap, your team wont improve as much in training and what not, so this should be the same or have an even stronger effect.

A couple areas I would like to see that are not at all in the game now are, ability with board/ceo (would help in your getting requests granted), media handling (if its low maybe you take a month off from talking to the media due to a mis-interpretation of your press conference or whatever). The last one Id like to see is crunch time ability (say your team is down late in the match and you make a substitution bringing on a fresh striker and because of your crunch time rating your teams luck goes up and maybe you get a late equalizer that you otherwise would have missed)...although this would probably be the hardest to put into the game.

What do you all think?

One thing Ive been thinking about when you start your new career as a manager. Wouldn't it be interesting to get a set base of points to start and create your manager with. Also based on what position your guy played before becoming a manager would have an impact on your manager's starting abilities.

For example say you were a professional footballer who played Striker. Starting off all professional managers would get the same number of points for allocating, but as you were an offensive player say your stats are attack - 10, finishing 10, dribbling 10 and all the others at 5. A former defender might have defense 10, tackle 10 heading 10 and all others at 5. Then as you were a former professional you get a starting allocation of 10 points to put into any slots you like. Say passing, crossing, goalkeeping etc...

Then as your managerial career goes through you will see changes based on your coaching style. Maybe you can get a bonus point to be placed where you see fit for winning promotion or winning Europa or La Liga or whatever.

These points would all have an effect on your teams ability much like a coaches does. If your coaches are crap, your team wont improve as much in training and what not, so this should be the same or have an even stronger effect.

A couple areas I would like to see that are not at all in the game now are, ability with board/ceo (would help in your getting requests granted), media handling (if its low maybe you take a month off from talking to the media due to a mis-interpretation of your press conference or whatever). The last one Id like to see is crunch time ability (say your team is down late in the match and you make a substitution bringing on a fresh striker and because of your crunch time rating your teams luck goes up and maybe you get a late equalizer that you otherwise would have missed)...although this would probably be the hardest to put into the game.

What do you all think?

Sounds like a gimmick and an unfair advantage over managers who never played - doesn't neccessarily make them worse coaches.

And I don't like "gaining luck" everytime I make a sub.

Sounds like a gimmick and an unfair advantage over managers who never played - doesn't neccessarily make them worse coaches.

Right but in the game you already get a bonus if you start out at International compared to Sunday League. If you wanted to do it LLM style then starting out Sunday League would mean your coaching ability is naturally lower starting out but could always get better if you and your team perform.

Its an interesting idea, but I agree that this sounds a bit gimmicky.

Malky Mackay was a brute of a cntre half and he has got his watford team playing,nice attactive football. On the other hand, Ottmar Hitzfeld was a prolific striker and he has ended up playing rigid, defensive football, thereforeyour allocation on points is based on anythignaccurate.

Right but in the game you already get a bonus if you start out at International compared to Sunday League.

Our manager stats are really just cosmetic. The game judges us on reputation. So if you start a game managing Man Utd with a sunday league reputation it makes no difference really. When applying for jobs the AI clubs look at your reputation, not attributes

Its an interesting idea, but I agree that this sounds a bit gimmicky.

Malky Mackay was a brute of a cntre half and he has got his watford team playing,nice attactive football. On the other hand, Ottmar Hitzfeld was a prolific striker and he has ended up playing rigid, defensive football, thereforeyour allocation on points is based on anythignaccurate.

As I mentioned in the beginning depending on how your team plays your points could change. If you have a young say 17 year old striker and you put his defensive training all the way up and attacking down his skills will change. So it would be the same as that.

Me personally, I love to have a team that can score lots of goals, but I almost always can find really good defenders but I have trouble finding young attackers. I actually had one come through my youth as a wonderkid striker and he amounted to squat and yet I had one defensive midfielder come through as a 2 star rating (I am At. Madrid) and he has gone on to represent Uruguay (he was both Spanish/Uruguayen) 97 times before retiring.

So my stats would be higher in the defensive side as my teams always seem to play well defensively.

Our manager stats are really just cosmetic. The game judges us on reputation. So if you start a game managing Man Utd with a sunday league reputation it makes no difference really. When applying for jobs the AI clubs look at your reputation, not attributes

Is that something that is set in stone? Wouldn't it be more realistic if it were changed even a little to what I mentioned?

And if you could give me one example of a Sunday League rep person actually taking over the likes of Man U IRL, I think it would be a minor miracle.

And if you could give me one example of a Sunday League rep person actually taking over the likes of Man U IRL, I think it would be a minor miracle.

I agree of course, but the game used to be made without the choice of reputation when we start a new game, so no matter who we took over we started as novices.

Having the choice of reputation leaves it to us to select the correct experience level for ourselves if starting unemployed or a realistic reputation for the level of club we choose.

I don't think our stats / attributes should really play any part in this game. I think it's fine the way it is. Realism when it comes to the human manager is impossible - we are winning the Champions League from our bedrooms for gods sake

When we talk about realism in FM it's for the AI, to try and mirror real life as close as possible in squad building, tactics, transfers etc...

I agree of course, but the game used to be made without the choice of reputation when we start a new game, so no matter who we took over we started as novices.

Having the choice of reputation leaves it to us to select the correct experience level for ourselves if starting unemployed or a realistic reputation for the level of club we choose.

I don't think our stats / attributes should really play any part in this game. I think it's fine the way it is. Realism when it comes to the human manager is impossible - we are winning the Champions League from our bedrooms for gods sake

When we talk about realism in FM it's for the AI, to try and mirror real life as close as possible in squad building, tactics, transfers etc...

When I play other RPG's (of which this is surely one) I always build up my character as I go through the game. The manager is the representation of our character and as such we should be able to see how we are doing IMO. If you are playing Lord of the Rings Online for example, your are still in your bedroom (or living room or kitchen) but you are playing in Middle Earth. If you play Grand Theft Auto are you really becoming a thief/gangster/pimp/whatever? My point is all games take you out of reality and into the game world.

I just thought it would be interesting to build up your manager throughout your career. Why is it not possible to make your managerial abilities work for your team? I understand the reputation argument, but thats not what Im talking about. Im talking about your own team being reflected in you and you in your team. Ive always heard "anyone can win with a team full of all-stars, what really sets the good managers apart is winning with a team full of has beens, never weres and nobodies."

When I play other RPG's (of which this is surely one) I always build up my character as I go through the game. The manager is the representation of our character and as such we should be able to see how we are doing IMO.

In sport success is all about what you achieve. You should be judged as a manager on the success of your team. We can see how we are doing by the trophies we have won, promotions gained, how the stature of the club has improved, just like irl.

I think the game represents that excellently, maybe apart from winning promotions not been considered as important as it probably should. We don't want our manager 'characters' to become gimmicky like other games. Having all 20 attributes and not many trophies is not success. This is football, it's a team game and FM is a special game. The buzz people get out of developing young players and seeing them succeed, you don't get that sort of selfishless in other games.

In sport success is all about what you achieve. You should be judged as a manager on the success of your team. We can see how we are doing by the trophies we have won, promotions gained, how the stature of the club has improved, just like irl.

I think the game represents that excellently, maybe apart from winning promotions not been considered as important as it probably should. We don't want our manager 'characters' to become gimmicky like other games. Having all 20 attributes and not many trophies is not success. This is football, it's a team game and FM is a special game. The buzz people get out of developing young players and seeing them succeed, you don't get that sort of selfishless in other games.

I think you misunderstand what I meant. I dont advocate gaining points for every little thing. Like achieving a milestone would give you 1 point to use to better your coach not 10 points every "level up" if you will. I'm not saying everyone should be able to have 20's across the board, but when you look at the AI managers they are skilled in some areas and not in others. I just think that would be good to mimic for our characters. Also I think it would easily be possible to put a cap on the number of points you can gain and spend so while everyone's character would be different none would be 20's all around. Finally I think it would be good if it were required to retire your manager after a certain age, say 75. I mean honestly how many managers stay in the game much after that age?

In sport success is all about what you achieve.

Forgot to reply to this... I played American football through university (Im American) and I was on the Offensive line. Success had nothing to do with what I could achieve but what my team could achieve. If I didn't do my job, the quarterback and runningbacks could not do theirs. While single player stats are nice 1 person cannot win a team game, EVER. Look at Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest NBA player in history, but he would never have been able to achieve all those championships without Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman on his team.

Forgot to reply to this... I played American football through university (Im American) and I was on the Offensive line. Success had nothing to do with what I could achieve but what my team could achieve. If I didn't do my job, the quarterback and runningbacks could not do theirs. While single player stats are nice 1 person cannot win a team game, EVER. Look at Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest NBA player in history, but he would never have been able to achieve all those championships without Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman on his team.

Diego Armando Maradona.

As for the OP's idea, no thanks. For all the reasons already mentioned and more that have been raised every time this is suggested.

I think you misunderstand what I meant. I dont advocate gaining points for every little thing. Like achieving a milestone would give you 1 point to use to better your coach not 10 points every "level up" if you will. I'm not saying everyone should be able to have 20's across the board, but when you look at the AI managers they are skilled in some areas and not in others.

Yeah I understand what your saying, like in Tiger Woods game you get points for winning that you use to build up your attributes like 'power' 'accuracy' etc, but in FM we are managers. Our attributes have no affect on training and rightly so because we can't physically interact with the players so it would be pointless and gimicky in a management sim.

Our job is tactics, transfers, squad building, ensuring we have the best possible backroom staff, managing finances and so on. We can set training schedules but at the end of the day training is down to our coaches. I agree that the points building system is a good feature in some games like TW, but not for a football manager sim.

I just think that would be good to mimic for our characters. Also I think it would easily be possible to put a cap on the number of points you can gain and spend so while everyone's character would be different none would be 20's all around. Finally I think it would be good if it were required to retire your manager after a certain age, say 75. I mean honestly how many managers stay in the game much after that age?

But what skills could the points system apply to? We can't affect training so what else? Tactics, transfers, squad building etc are skills you learn and improve on as you gain experience playing FM. We shouldn't have attributes limiting our abilities in these areas when we start a new game.

The beauty about FM is that it's your game so you can retire when you see fit. If you think it's realistic to retire before 75 then you can. AI managers always retire before 70 so you never have anyone going near 100!

Diego Armando Maradona.

As for the OP's idea, no thanks. For all the reasons already mentioned and more that have been raised every time this is suggested.

I didn't know he played 11 vs 1, pretty amazing when you think about it. Joking aside I know he propelled Argentina to the WC by his ability and his play is what led them to win, but he needed 10 other players out there to win or it would not have happened. Please tell me how well Messi, Ronaldo, and Rooney did in the past WC.

In a word. No.

I think it's time to leave it alone now. Nobody believes it to be a particularly useful aspect, and it won't be implemented.

Yeah I understand what your saying, like in Tiger Woods game you get points for winning that you use to build up your attributes like 'power' 'accuracy' etc, but in FM we are managers. Our attributes have no affect on training and rightly so because we can't physically interact with the players so it would be pointless and gimicky in a management sim.

Our job is tactics, transfers, squad building, ensuring we have the best possible backroom staff, managing finances and so on. We can set training schedules but at the end of the day training is down to our coaches. I agree that the points building system is a good feature in some games like TW, but not for a football manager sim.

But what skills could the points system apply to? We can't affect training so what else? Tactics, transfers, squad building etc are skills you learn and improve on as you gain experience playing FM. We shouldn't have attributes limiting our abilities in these areas when we start a new game.

The beauty about FM is that it's your game so you can retire when you see fit. If you think it's realistic to retire before 75 then you can. AI managers always retire before 70 so you never have anyone going near 100!

Oh I forgot that the manager does nothing but create tactics. IRL managers are out there everyday teaching, facilitating, building chemistry, the list goes on and on. Look at Joe Torre for a manager who has never won with out an all-star baseball squad. His best talent is getting a bunch of high priced Prima-donna's like A-Rod and Jeter and others to play together. Im not sure if you follow baseball but look at Buck Showalter and what he had done in 2 months with the Baltimore Orioles. Perhaps one of the worst teams in baseball history when he came in, he has them playing 100% better and the skies the limit with him managing compared to the two previous empty uniforms that came before him.

I think it's time to leave it alone now. Nobody believes it to be a particularly useful aspect, and it won't be implemented.

Thanks boss for that very insightful comment.

Thanks boss for that very insightful comment.

I'm not the boss.

Nobody has agreed with your idea, and you're being very sarcastic in all of your replies - even though your initial messages asks "What do you all think?"

What do I think? Stop coming up with pathetic gimmicky ideas.

Boys lets not get nasty. Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion and suggest ideas for FM. We all love the game and want it to improve, thats we we are on here.

Takos it was good talking to you and fair play for putting your idea across. I think the overwhelming majority of people would dis-agree with an attributes points system been implemented into FM. But if you want closure i'd suggest adding a poll to this thread too get a definite answer.

Keep putting your ideas across though, it's how we help SI to keep improving the game

I think it's a bit too gimmicky. I want to know that my late sub scoring a winner was a result of my judgement and tactics, not because I have a high luck rating.

Not sure about the idea of being a good footballer makes you a good manager. Most of the top managers weren't world-class players, and some of them didn't even play professionally. Jose Mourinho started out as Bobby Robson's interpreter if I remember correctly, and wasn't Gerard Houllier a school-teacher?

Our manager stats are really just cosmetic. The game judges us on reputation. So if you start a game managing Man Utd with a sunday league reputation it makes no difference really. When applying for jobs the AI clubs look at your reputation, not attributes

This isn't entirely accurate. If you manage Man Utd with a sunday league reputation then you're going it extremely difficult motivating your players until you've proven yourself. If things start going wrong, you'll find yourself sacked a lot more quickly then if you were an ex-international.

You're right that it's about reputation, though.

This isn't entirely accurate. If you manage Man Utd with a sunday league reputation then you're going it extremely difficult motivating your players until you've proven yourself. If things start going wrong, you'll find yourself sacked a lot more quickly then if you were an ex-international.

You're right that it's about reputation, though.

I agree with the sacking point, but don't buy the morale one. Thats one of those FM myths

Boys lets not get nasty. Everyone is entitled to voice their opinion and suggest ideas for FM. We all love the game and want it to improve, thats we we are on here.

Takos it was good talking to you and fair play for putting your idea across. I think the overwhelming majority of people would dis-agree with an attributes points system been implemented into FM. But if you want closure i'd suggest adding a poll to this thread too get a definite answer.

Keep putting your ideas across though, it's how we help SI to keep improving the game

What I don't understand is every player, coach, manager, scout and person in the game outside of the human player has an attribute point system (only we dont control it). If a player picks up an injury usually their points go down and if they come back they may be in a different area. Heck I had a player lose 3 points to pace after breaking his leg but in the following months after returning 2 points went up in heading and 1 went into composure.

It seems people here don't agree to having that put into the human manager which is fine.

I think it's a bit too gimmicky. I want to know that my late sub scoring a winner was a result of my judgement and tactics, not because I have a high luck rating.

Not sure about the idea of being a good footballer makes you a good manager. Most of the top managers weren't world-class players, and some of them didn't even play professionally. Jose Mourinho started out as Bobby Robson's interpreter if I remember correctly, and wasn't Gerard Houllier a school-teacher?

What I said was possibly because of luck based on the managers crunch time (decisions rating). IRL a manager can get a gut feeling that this player might be due for a good game, or he looked different in training this week or heck even he just had a kid and has an emotional high and that could help him in a match.

And I agree lots of top managers in sports weren't world-class players, but they also have to work their way up through the system. You don't walk in off the street and become a manager, it takes years of studying and learning and trail and error.

I'm not the boss.

Nobody has agreed with your idea, and you're being very sarcastic in all of your replies - even though your initial messages asks "What do you all think?"

What do I think? Stop coming up with pathetic gimmicky ideas.

In your original post you stated your opinion. Fine you don't like my idea, but you started insulting me, not the other way around. I did ask for opinions and Ive answered to people who have given theirs. If you don't like my idea say so and leave, no need to keep coming back and saying that you don't like it over and over again.

Im sure you don't care, but I manage baseball here in Japan. I manage at the high school where I teach. Although Im American and teach American style baseball, I still have to do it in Japanese. Therefore I go to seminars and training with other managers in this city and prefecture. We have monthly meetings (Im the only non Japanese manager) and Ive learned and improved by going to seminars and what not. While I disagree quite a lot with Japanese training styles (kids who want to be pitchers are expected to throw well over 200 pitches a day, every day) I still learn and improve.

I agree with the sacking point, but don't buy the morale one. Thats one of those FM myths

Really? Next time you try it, have a look at your assistant's feedback in your first competitive match. I'm pretty confident it will say that some players are struggling to motivate themselves to play for you, or that they can't motivate themselves under a manager of your standing in the game.

Admittedly, I don't know how big an effect that has, but I'm sure it has some.

Really? Next time you try it, have a look at your assistant's feedback in your first competitive match. I'm pretty confident it will say that some players are struggling to motivate themselves to play for you, or that they can't motivate themselves under a manager of your standing in the game.

Admittedly, I don't know how big an effect that has, but I'm sure it has some.

It also used to be the case that once you started the game, a lot of players would have the slight concern 'Worried that the manager doesn't have the ability to take the club to the next level' or something

I'm a huge RPG fan, bit mixing rpg elements into sports is not a good idea.

I'm a huge RPG fan, bit mixing rpg elements into sports is not a good idea.

IMO this is a RPG. You are playing the role of manager of a football club. While you are not out fighting giants or demons you are still playing a role.

Can you tell me what would make it a bad idea in your opinion?

If FM is a RPG then Pizza Tycoon is a RPG cause your manager of a pizza hut.

I like how it is. plain and simple.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

I didn't know he played 11 vs 1, pretty amazing when you think about it. Joking aside I know he propelled Argentina to the WC by his ability and his play is what led them to win, but he needed 10 other players out there to win or it would not have happened. Please tell me how well Messi, Ronaldo, and Rooney did in the past WC.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Ask any respected footballing pundit/journalist and they will assure you that Maradona won the 86 WC single handedly.

As Swarfega pointed out you've got no support and theres no need for your (so called) witty replies.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Ask any respected footballing pundit/journalist and they will assure you that Maradona won the 86 WC single handedly.

As Swarfega pointed out you've got no support and theres no need for your (so called) witty replies.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear when I said Maradona led the team to victory. But it would not have been possible without 10 other players, plain and simple, cut and dry. Earlier you gave your opinion about my idea and you didn't like it. Thats all very well. Why then do you want to argue about Maradona? In a team game, no one man wins it.

Modern example that is not 24 years old, the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers are without their star QB because of a sex crime that ended up being dropped in the off season. He is suspended the first 4 games, and even though he is considered a top 3 QB by "respected pundits/journalists" his team with out him is currently 3-0. Now back on topic if you please.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear when I said Maradona led the team to victory. But it would not have been possible without 10 other players, plain and simple, cut and dry. Earlier you gave your opinion about my idea and you didn't like it. Thats all very well. Why then do you want to argue about Maradona? In a team game, no one man wins it.

Modern example that is not 24 years old, the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers are without their star QB because of a sex crime that ended up being dropped in the off season. He is suspended the first 4 games, and even though he is considered a top 3 QB by "respected pundits/journalists his team with out him is currently 3-0. Now back on topic if you please.

I continued the conversation because you argued my point, it was you that carried it on.

What does american football have to do with this mr back on topic?

Your idea is atrocious no one likes it. I'm out of this hopeless thread. Take care.

If FM is a RPG then Pizza Tycoon is a RPG cause your manager of a pizza hut.

I like how it is. plain and simple.

If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Thanks for the reply. Never suggested it was broken, I just thought it would be an improvement that is all. Or if not an improvement at least something different.

On a different note, your location says Norway. Are you from Norway or just living there? I ask because my Grandfather came from Norway, Bergan area.

Eurgh... the last paragraph of your idea is one of the worst ideas I've ever seen.

As for the rest of it, meh, don't really want to see it in the game. Everything's good as it is.

I continued the conversation because you argued my point, it was you that carried it on.

What does american football have to do with this mr back on topic?

Your idea is atrocious no one likes it. I'm out of this hopeless thread. Take care.

Thanks for talking, I always enjoy tossing ideas around.

American football has nothing to do with this topic, same as Maradona.

Eurgh... the last paragraph of your idea is one of the worst ideas I've ever seen.

As for the rest of it, meh, don't really want to see it in the game. Everything's good as it is.

Thanks for being civil and answering honestly. Thats all I wanted .

That is no problem at all. Maybe there's a bit of scope for a slight RPG element, but I think maybe your idea takes it a bit far.

That is no problem at all. Maybe there's a bit of scope for a slight RPG element, but I think maybe your idea takes it a bit far.

I try and always play the LLM style thats why I felt it was an RPG style game. It appears most people either don't play that way and I suppose most players come into the game and pick their fav team and want to win every game from that point. Thats cool to each his own. I personally don't have a fav team as I didn't start actually watching football until I moved to Japan 5 years ago. From playing this game Id have to say my favorite team is Wealdstone...I don't think The Stones will be challenge for the Champions League anytime soon though.

IMO this is a RPG. You are playing the role of manager of a football club. While you are not out fighting giants or demons you are still playing a role.

I think the main reason people are so against this is that it moves your success away from your actual management (i.e. the decisions you make, right then). For example, from your first post:

"say your team is down late in the match and you make a substitution bringing on a fresh striker and because of your crunch time rating your teams luck goes up and maybe you get a late equalizer that you otherwise would have missed"

Obviously, FM isn't exactly like real-life, but that's generally what it's aiming towards. This is nothing like reality. Managers don't have "crunch time ability" that grants their team more luck when bringing on a sub; they have good (or bad) decision making. The chances of a sub having an important impact on a game should depend entirely on things in the match (i.e. the player's ability, the tactics the teams are using, etc.), i.e. whether or not the manager makes a good decision. Whether or not the manager's chosen their substitutions well in the past shouldn't affect it (other than the knock-on effects on team morale, etc.) - it simply doesn't make sense to go from "this manager has made lots of good decisions in the past" to "so now we'll give the team +5% luck when a change is made".

That kind of mechanic is fine in RPGs, but they're not attempting to be a simulation in the way FM is. In a simulation game like FM, that mechanic just makes no sense (like if Mario Kart blue shells were in Forza 3. It's fine for one game, but would be ridiculous placed in the other).

(I've no idea what playing LLM or not has to do with this.. if anything, shouldn't being an LLM player mean you wouldn't want this, with LLM's focus on realism?)

Just wanted to say that this will take a lot of coding and changing a lot of already coded stuff. It will take lot of time and will probably create a lot of bugs.

Not worth the effort when it adds so little.

Not at all keen on the idea in the way that it is presented but I definitely agree with the general idea of allowing a manager to have more of a background story in the game. It would be nice to be able to specify a position, a level you played at as a player, and a few favourite clubs. I'd also think it was really neat if these selections could have some minor effects in the game, such as impacting upon your profile attributes and possibly influencing the way the press talk to you or talk about you.

So while I don't particularly like the OP's idea in terms of adding points here and there, I quite like the general point of having a managerial history in the game. Perhaps your choices could influence your starting attributes, as suggested by the OP, but they would alter automatically afterwards depending on your achievements or status in the game. I quite like that. The idea of giving my manager a personality and background story which can develop in the game definitely appeals to me. This sort of thing would add a little something to the game in my opinion, even if it was just mainly cosmetic (e.g. simply having an effect on the way you are addressed and talked about by the media).

By the way, my manager would be a former Non-League fullback or maybe a midfield playmaker. Not glamorous as a player but intent on making up for it in his managerial career.

Has there ever been a game where you're not 'playing a role' in some way? In Sonic the Hedgehog you're playing the role of a super-fast blue hedgehog who collects rings. But the term "RPG" is a lot more specific than the literal meaning of the words, and the fact you happen to be playing a role in FM doesn't mean that concepts typical of the "role playing game" genre would improve FM.

I think the main reason people are so against this is that it moves your success away from your actual management (i.e. the decisions you make, right then). For example, from your first post:

"say your team is down late in the match and you make a substitution bringing on a fresh striker and because of your crunch time rating your teams luck goes up and maybe you get a late equalizer that you otherwise would have missed"

Obviously, FM isn't exactly like real-life, but that's generally what it's aiming towards. This is nothing like reality. Managers don't have "crunch time ability" that grants their team more luck when bringing on a sub; they have good (or bad) decision making. The chances of a sub having an important impact on a game should depend entirely on things in the match (i.e. the player's ability, the tactics the teams are using, etc.), i.e. whether or not the manager makes a good decision. Whether or not the manager's chosen their substitutions well in the past shouldn't affect it (other than the knock-on effects on team morale, etc.) - it simply doesn't make sense to go from "this manager has made lots of good decisions in the past" to "so now we'll give the team +5% luck when a change is made".

That kind of mechanic is fine in RPGs, but they're not attempting to be a simulation in the way FM is. In a simulation game like FM, that mechanic just makes no sense (like if Mario Kart blue shells were in Forza 3. It's fine for one game, but would be ridiculous placed in the other).

(I've no idea what playing LLM or not has to do with this.. if anything, shouldn't being an LLM player mean you wouldn't want this, with LLM's focus on realism?)

Maybe my wording is not the best, but what I was going for was you start out as a lower ability manager and working your way up you can make improvements on your stats which effect your team. If your better at attack than defense, usually your team will reflect this.

Now Im going on experience of American football and not Football (as I didn't play). Most managers were a specialist in one area, offense, defense, special teams...down to quarterbacks, defensive backs, etc. But this post was about the manager having a background in an area and thats where your teams bonus would come from. The points you allocate to a specific area will help your team in training. Just like the coaches help in training so does the manager.

Maybe my luck idea was stupid, thats fine. But if thats the worst thing than Im ok with that.

Not at all keen on the idea in the way that it is presented but I definitely agree with the general idea of allowing a manager to have more of a background story in the game. It would be nice to be able to specify a position, a level you played at as a player, and a few favourite clubs. I'd also think it was really neat if these selections could have some minor effects in the game, such as impacting upon your profile attributes and possibly influencing the way the press talk to you or talk about you.

So while I don't particularly like the OP's idea in terms of adding points here and there, I quite like the general point of having a managerial history in the game. Perhaps your choices could influence your starting attributes, as suggested by the OP, but they would alter automatically afterwards depending on your achievements or status in the game. I quite like that. The idea of giving my manager a personality and background story which can develop in the game definitely appeals to me. This sort of thing would add a little something to the game in my opinion, even if it was just mainly cosmetic (e.g. simply having an effect on the way you are addressed and talked about by the media).

By the way, my manager would be a former Non-League fullback or maybe a midfield playmaker. Not glamorous as a player but intent on making up for it in his managerial career.

Thank you for giving me your opinion and saying it in a polite manner. Even if you don't agree with some of my ideas, you said it in a very respectable way. Yes I was going for a history basically. My manager has nothing but a name, a birthday and a previous level. That I find really detracts from the game.

I cannot understand how people can come onto a message board and act snobbish to people who have different opinions or ideas.

Just wanted to say that this will take a lot of coding and changing a lot of already coded stuff. It will take lot of time and will probably create a lot of bugs.

Not worth the effort when it adds so little.

Maybe, I am not a computer expert so I couldn't say. But I wouldn't think it would be that hard to just add basically a number based system for the human manager that is already there for every other person in the game.

I cannot understand how people can come onto a message board and act snobbish to people who have different opinions or ideas.

Don't worry about it. Just ignore them.

Your idea certainly wasn't stupid. I just think you'll find some of it isn't everyone's cup of tea (mainly the idea of adding points etc.) but I think if you look at the general point, it's a good one.

As I say, I think the idea of giving your manager more of a background story is a good one and something I would like to see.

Maybe, I am not a computer expert so I couldn't say. But I wouldn't think it would be that hard to just add basically a number based system for the human manager that is already there for every other person in the game.

Actually no.

BTW cruch time would be a lot easier than "gaining" points system

I do think that our user should have some coaching ability that allows our manager to help with the training, that being said how stats and such can be worked out is beyond me so I am happy with it the way it is. The only thing I could think of would be an option to select manager/head coach if we select manager the game is the same as now. If coach is selected then maybe we could pick a background attacking, defending, man management, tactics, all rounder giving our head coach the same stats as AI coaches and allowing us to help with the training of our team. Although it is probably unnecessary and I doubt many people would use it.

RPG elements and upping manager stats is a poor idea, the game is about realism and over time certain attributes will increase as our manager gets better which is the way it should be not by us choosing to level up certain areas.

Surely some managers are involved directly in the training of players.