What is the general consensus on Agents?

Again, I am getting into the FM series again and I am planning on getting FM2011. Though I am reading reviews of the game,and this whole Agent concept seems like it could be really annoying. Does it hurt the fun factor of the game, or does it make it more fun because it becomes more realistic? The reason why it seems like it would be less realistic but what if SI programmed the agents to be stubbornly objective, where as in real life, you could explain to agents certain things and variables to why their player would want to be transfered to my respective team. Do you recommend Fm2010, an older yet still playable game that has no agent system or would you recommend Fm2011, a newer game but with that potentially annoying agent system?

Also, is the new training feature in fm2011 as much as a chore as it sounds?

fm12 agent system is pretty good imo

I like it now the negotiations seem to make sense. I think agents in the game generally act the way I'd imagine they act in real life too. Only minor annoyance is when you're so close to an agreement with a wage (i.e. they're asking for about £25 a week more than you've offered) and then decide the negotiations are going nowhere and leave.

The worst problem with them in FM11 for me was the fact that when you fail to negotiate a deal for a player his agent will hate you and ask for absolutely insane money any time you try to sign one of his clients. For example, I had a 20 year old player who loved my club, was going to be my future captain and really wanted to stay on with the club but the agent asked for wages more than twice as high as my top earner plus insane add on fees - only because he hated me for some reason. So the agent was basically fully acting against the wishes of his client probably only because of one broken down negotiation god knows how long ago.

^^ yea, things like that was what i was worried about. That concept alone makes me want to get fm2010 instead of 2011 however 2011has Dynamic League Reputation which is such an alluring feature that I am surprised that took this long to implement. In fact, I always thought all FM games had that feature anyway.

In fairness, the most annoying aspects of the agent system only become obvious if you play with the top teams alot. In lower leagues you barely notice them since most players don't have them and those that are around are much more sane in their demands. I certainly can't say that agents ruined FM11 for me or anything but there certainly are some issues with them.

Still not decided yet, something else to consider if you are really into developing your teams from the youth up is the tutoring system. It is less restrictive in FM10 where tutors can be any age, and tutor anyone the same age or younger (given the usual requirements of Position, Reputation, Squad Status etc.). Tutors must be over 23 or 24yo in FM11 (except the captain).

A lot of people complained about youths not accepting loans in FM11, I didn't play it so I can't do a direct comparison, but from what I have seen on these forums, it doesn't appear to be as bad in FM10.

Agents in 2012 are a lot better than in 2011. They seem to be generally more reasonable and the ability to lock out parts of a deal works well to avoid those annoying situations where people ask for £1k a week more than you can afford and the deal breaks down. They also seem to have got rid of the annoying bug where agents would ask for stupidy low minimum fee release clauses.

I'd still like to see players involved a little more. The example above of an agent holding you to ransom over a player who loves the club and wants to stay/sign is a good one. I'd like to see players step in every now and then and either sack their agent or overrule him if he's being really unreasonable.

Also, it still amuses me that agents request relegation release clauses even if you're at a huge team that's challenging for the title.

fmcanbefun, you might want to add FM11 to the thread title.

Agents in 2012 are a lot better than in 2011. They seem to be generally more reasonable and the ability to lock out parts of a deal works well to avoid those annoying situations where people ask for £1k a week more than you can afford and the deal breaks down. They also seem to have got rid of the annoying bug where agents would ask for stupidy low minimum fee release clauses.

I'd still like to see players involved a little more. The example above of an agent holding you to ransom over a player who loves the club and wants to stay/sign is a good one. I'd like to see players step in every now and then and either sack their agent or overrule him if he's being really unreasonable.

Also, it still amuses me that agents request relegation release clauses even if you're at a huge team that's challenging for the title.

agents do that in real life tbh. its happened a few times at barnsley.

So I guess the question comes to this for me:

Is Dynamic League Reputation(which shouldve been in past games anyway) significant enough to live with the annoyances of the agent system?

Dynamic League Reputation alone is stopping be from purchasing fm2010 right now, and making me want to get fm2011. However, FM2010 is agent-free.

Erm, why not FM12??

So I guess the question comes to this for me:

Is Dynamic League Reputation(which shouldve been in past games anyway) significant enough to live with the annoyances of the agent system?

Dynamic League Reputation alone is stopping be from purchasing fm2010 right now, and making me want to get fm2011. However, FM2010 is agent-free.

If you ever manage a team outside the top 4 leagues, I'd say the dynamic league rep is an outright blessing. The agents can be a bit of a pain sometimes, but I imagine they would be in real life as well (hell, maybe even more so) and I only had a handful of deals break down because of unrealistic demands with agents that didn't like me (in 40+ seasons).

And I would say FM12 is the best of both worlds in that regard