SI: Will you make the game more challenging in an upcoming update?

To me, the greatest part of FM is the feeling of accomplishment when you achieve something in the game (winning a cup, promotion etc), since you know that the achievement is a result of your decisions and judgement as a manager and that you had to do everything right to get to that point.... this version feels like it lacks that aspect of the game which is a huge dissapointment for me... I'm sure a lot of other people agree that the whole point of playing FM is to be challenged and I feel that fm2012 is simply much too easy... I was wondering are there any plans to balance the game out and make it a more realistic difficulty in the upcoming patches? Because if not, I don't see myself playing the game.

The problem is is identifiying why the game seems so much easier this year. Only then can something be done about it.

My suspicion was team talks were way over powered and had too much influence on your team going into a match, however SI have stated this isn't the case at all and its effect is minimal. So I'll go with them on that one since they wrote the code.

The match engine is pretty much identical to 11.3 (which was challenging), so its not that.

AI tactics seem the same as last year too so it can't be that.

There is no doubt this years game is far easier than last years, I don't care what anyone says, it just is. I'm doing nothing at all different to what I did in previous releases but the results are like chalk and cheese. I've started 4 saves with lower to mid-lower league teams and am dominiating the division within 6 month, the last 2 saves I chose relegation candidates and specifically stayed away from buying or loaning players in, kept to the default tactics and training, and still get the same winning results. I'm not a FM genius by any stretch, I've purposly tried to make the game as hard as I can by imposing certain rules everytime I start a new game, but this year no matter what I try, there is no challenge.

I'm at a loss as to why its so easy to get good results this year compared to last years game. It seems to me the less tinkering you do with tactics, TT's, training and transfers - basically just leave it all on default - the better chance you have of having a great season. Surely it should be the other way around?

Personally, I think it's far too easy to manage morale now. Morale has a huge impact on player performance and although team talks may have a minimal effect they can effect morale quite a bit.

I've managed to raise players morale by a good level or so with pre-match team talks. Once morale is high you're almost unstoppable.

(The morale debate was raging in the dying days of FML as well I seem to remember)

Personally, I think it's far too easy to manage morale now. Morale has a huge impact on player performance and although team talks may have a minimal effect they can effect morale quite a bit.

Once morale is high you're almost unstoppable.

This = true (IMO)

I hornestly have no idea why this game seems so much easier than previous, perhaps SI wanted to attract a new player base, perhaps its a bug in morale, perhaps its just the result of this and last years improvements on the game that makes it so easy. There has been a lot of new featues dedicated to giving the manager more control, team meetings, team talks, private chats, contract wage locking, ans so on. All these features makes the game easier to play. It would be great if SI would spend an equal amount of time making the AI better - unfortunetly promoting a new game solely on improved AI is no big seller, listing new features is much more interesting to the masses.

I really dont know, i kinda want to dismiss my last reason, as i have played a few test games, without really using any of the new features, and i still massively overachieve.

Would be nice to hear something official from SI on this, because now it seems like they are pretty much just dismissing that there is a problem. At least knowing weather they will be taking a look at this or not would be nice.

I hornestly have no idea why this game seems so much easier than previous, perhaps SI wanted to attract a new player base, perhaps its a bug in morale, perhaps its just the result of this and last years improvements on the game that makes it so easy. There has been a lot of new featues dedicated to giving the manager more control, team meetings, team talks, private chats, contract wage locking, ans so on. All these features makes the game easier to play. It would be great if SI would spend an equal amount of time making the AI better - unfortunetly promoting a new game solely on improved AI is no big seller, listing new features is much more interesting to the masses.

I really dont know, i kinda want to dismiss my last reason, as i have played a few test games, without really using any of the new features, and i still massively overachieve.

Would be nice to hear something official from SI on this, because now it seems like they are pretty much just dismissing that there is a problem. At least knowing weather they will be taking a look at this or not would be nice.

You could be right. The (human) player gets so many more advantages in terms of what features he has at his disposal, I wonder if the AI gets a fraction of the love. Maybe we're at a point with all the things you mentioned, that the AI simply has no chance. It never did have a chance in the long term (4-5 seasons in), but now it seems its suffering from the moment you kick off your very first season.

However I hope its something as simple as an overpowered morale system, at least that should easily be fixed in a patch (theoretically speaking).

The AI has the exact same tools as us, maybe just not the ability to use them in the same way as we do.

The match engine is pretty much identical to 11.3 (which was challenging), so its not that.

AI tactics seem the same as last year too so it can't be that.

These are the key points, due to there being no changes to the ME there is no need to learn new tactics or struggle for months adapting your style to the new game, if after a year of playing FM11 you had a working tactic then for FM12 you will all things being equal hit the ground running & succeed from day one.

IMHO releasing a new FM without any changes to the ME was a horrible decision, everyone will love or hate the various little features that you have to use between matches but the real reason why we all play this game is that it has always offered the most challenging match experience in this genre & now that aspect of the game has reached its peak.

Hopefully the link with Steam will give SI the chance to see how far they can push the min specs with only a minority of current players requiring a system upgrade, more importantly FM13 must have a whole new ME which thankfully PaulC & his team are working on.

What should SI do if the new ME is not ready to go live next year? Release FM13 which is basically FM11 with more press/player interaction as a full price game or release a half price 2012/13 season update as DLC on Steam?

These are the key points, due to there being no changes to the ME there is no need to learn new tactics or struggle for months adapting your style to the new game, if after a year of playing FM11 you had a working tactic then for FM12 you will all things being equal hit the ground running & succeed from day one.

I understand the point you're making, but with the tactics I used in FM11 I'd still get a decent challenge from the AI. Using the same tactic in FM12 (same ME as 11.3), the results are far better, including long winning streaks. Even using the default 4-4-2's and 5-3-2's etc, results are better on FM12 than they were last year. I really don't think its a tactical or ME problem tbh. I'm leaning toward the overpowered morale thing mentioned above. Once FMRTE for 12.0.3 is released I'm going to put this to the test

These are the key points, due to there being no changes to the ME there is no need to learn new tactics or struggle for months adapting your style to the new game, if after a year of playing FM11 you had a working tactic then for FM12 you will all things being equal hit the ground running & succeed from day one.

IMHO releasing a new FM without any changes to the ME was a horrible decision, everyone will love or hate the various little features that you have to use between matches but the real reason why we all play this game is that it has always offered the most challenging match experience in this genre & now that aspect of the game has reached its peak.

Hopefully the link with Steam will give SI the chance to see how far they can push the min specs with only a minority of current players requiring a system upgrade, more importantly FM13 must have a whole new ME which thankfully PaulC & his team are working on.

What should SI do if the new ME is not ready to go live next year? Release FM13 which is basically FM11 with more press/player interaction as a full price game or release a half price 2012/13 season update as DLC on Steam?

What would have been the alternative? relsease ME changes that were not fully done/tested/completed. Conisidering how the "half baked feel"a lot of people on the forum felt FM11 had, its probably the better decision not.

The only true challenge that the game has to offer is not against the AI but against other people in a link game. This is probably how the people at SI play the game who get enjoyment out of playing. I feel the community doesnt do enough to promote this aspect of the game, there should be official leagues and stuff on a big scale. This is what has made fifa the greatest football game around. There would be no winning the league with Blackburn on that save!

The only true challenge that the game has to offer is not against the AI but against other people in a link game. This is probably how the people at SI play the game who get enjoyment out of playing. I feel the community doesnt do enough to promote this aspect of the game, there should be official leagues and stuff on a big scale. This is what has made fifa the greatest football game around. There would be no winning the league with Blackburn on that save!

Surely I can't be the only one that thinks FIFA is absolutely awful? Don't get me wrong PES is too. I don't think you are correct in what you are saying. I believe the guys at SI very, very rarely play network games if they even play them at all. When would they get the time to do so? Putting together the game and working on updates for the game is very time consuming, I have heard in an interview Miles Jacobsen plays the game at home but you have no way of backing up your points, mate. I personally think you are way off the mark.

Surely I can't be the only one that thinks FIFA is absolutely awful? Don't get me wrong PES is too. I don't think you are correct in what you are saying. I believe the guys at SI very, very rarely play network games.

+1 The biggest part of FM is and always will be "the single player"

Honestly, I don't get some of you FMers these days. One minute the ME is fixed and no matter what you do you will lose the game. The next minute you're saying the game is too easy.

Personally I'm a no hoper at FM and always lose, no matter what team or version. It is fun trying though!

Fully agree something must be done to tweak the game and make it harder. Im with Plymouth, signed free transfers / loan players and after 14games am 2nd in the league and looking good for promotion. This surely shouldn't be the case. The team would take time to gell with 7 new players in it. I played 5 friendies winning only 1 and losing the rest, when the season started I just couldnt stop winning and drawing.