Your personal rules

I thought it would be fun for us to share our personal rules for playing the game. Rules that we decide to add for our own achievements a sense of realism or perhaps for fun or fulfilling an ideology, rules not enforced by the game but things we restrict ourselves to.

For me: I ban myself from saving and reloading a big match if I lose it. I must play with the first result given.

I wont use a downloaded tactic although I do read up on them and try to reinterpret ideas.

I don't holiday matches, as I find it unrealistic for a manager to take spontaneous holiday from his day job.

I always rest players on the 25th December for a Christmas break.

If a player requests a transfer. I will reject it and then manually put them on the list to show I am boss.

The first rule about personal rules is you dont talk about personal rules.

The first rule about personal rules is you dont talk about personal rules.

Wasn't that from...? Ahh nevermind.

I never reload in any circumstance, and I stopped using downloaded tactics as I feel I'm not having any credit on the team's merits.

If a player requests a transfer. I will reject it and then manually put them on the list to show I am boss.

Even at the expense of having to pay up their loyalty bonus?

If a player wants out he can go but he needs to submit a written request because I'm not paying him a penny more than I need to.

I didn't know it removed the loyalty bonus. Wish there was a thread that stored all these tips.

I thought it would be fun for us to share our personal rules for playing the game. Rules that we decide to add for our own achievements a sense of realism or perhaps for fun or fulfilling an ideology, rules not enforced by the game but things we restrict ourselves to.

For me: I ban myself from saving and reloading a big match if I lose it. I must play with the first result given.

Goes without saying

I wont use a downloaded tactic although I do read up on them and try to reinterpret ideas.

Goes without saying - might as well have someone else play the game for you.

I don't holiday matches, as I find it unrealistic for a manager to take spontaneous holiday from his day job.

I holiday matches if I've already won the league. Honestly, in a 50 year career game and you've the title in March, you'd feel differently.

I always rest players on the 25th December for a Christmas break.

I often of teams/players training on Christmas day. Training is a schedule and can't be broken for love or money.

If a player requests a transfer. I will reject it and then manually put them on the list to show I am boss.

Pretty sure this has no effect, other than ******* off other players who like that player.

I didn't know it removed the loyalty bonus. Wish there was a thread that stored all these tips.

Forum has a search function

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/283255-loyalty-bonus

Forum has a search function

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/283255-loyalty-bonus

That is true, but how would I have known to search for that when loyalty bonus never really occurred to me until I was told?

Rules:

Don't sign anyone over 26 (preferably u24 or 21, but the rule is 26)

Don't sell any stars before 30

Look for a prospect WITHIN the squad before looking for one outside of it. What this means is, I have a huge squad, players on loan, talented u20 players coming up, and I manage a 2nd club as well, that also has a very full squad, with a large % of which are up-and-coming youngsters. So its easy to look at some 18 y.o. midfield prospect and want to sign him, but first I have to look at what 18ish midfield prospects I already have! And most times they put the player more recently scouted to shame.

Dual mandate of: winning titles, developing players. That means I rotate the squad (quite heavily at times) almost religiously. If I lose/draw a game due to having given too many youngsters a go I have to take it on the chin, as no one has forced me to give them a go, it was my decision. The upside is I almost always feel I got something from a game, either the 3 points (maybe 75-77% of games) or at least some crucial experience for a handful of the NextGen.

For my next save, I'm mimicing a cantera policy with San Marino (the club), with the objective that San Marino (the nation) will one day win the World Cup - without me managing it. So that means I basically have to build up Sanmarinese players from scratch, and since I'm the only playable club in San Marino (the nation), I will be doing most of the hard work.

I will of course sign any Sanmarinese players in other clubs, although I'm not expecting too many. Although I could easily aid this by getting as many players to stay on as staff, and then when they find new clubs, they will add to that club's scouting knowledge and perhaps produce more Sanmarinese players.

I'm not sure if I will need to extend the policy to include neighbouring clubs like Rimini and Cesena for time reasons, but I will consider it (and avoid it if necessary).

I might break the policy to sign backup goalkeepers as I have done in previous cantera saves, although I would like to avoid this.

Forum has a search function

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/283255-loyalty-bonus

I'm not sure the final post in that thread is correct. The game definately says in the news items that you have to pay up the loyalty bonus if you reject the transfer request and then sell the player anyway. I have no idea if you actually do pay it out or not as when it has happened to me the bonus is usually so small that it's hard to see on the finance screen.

I thought it would be fun for us to share our personal rules for playing the game. Rules that we decide to add for our own achievements a sense of realism or perhaps for fun or fulfilling an ideology, rules not enforced by the game but things we restrict ourselves to.

Goes without saying - might as well have someone else play the game for you.

IRL tactics are copied all the time. Thats how the game evolves.

IRL tactics are copied all the time. Thats how the game evolves.

I agree with that, but I would argue that's more like watching an AI team in your current save (world) and using that rather than using something from a user playing in a different save (Not your world of football). If that makes sense.

IRL tactics are copied all the time. Thats how the game evolves.

Not exactly true. IRL managers may model their tactics on another managers idea but it won't ever be identical, it's their own interpretation of it. In FM if you download another person's tactic, it's the equivalent of bringing another manager into the dressing room and getting them to spell it out to the team.

I agree with that, but I would argue that's more like watching an AI team in your current save (world) and using that rather than using something from a user playing in a different save (Not your world of football). If that makes sense.

Good point. I wish SI coders would read the tactics forum and code defenses for some of these tactics for AI teams on each patch.

Good point. I wish SI coders would read the tactics forum and code defenses for some of these tactics for AI teams on each patch.

That would be hard work, but it would really make a dynamic world of football. It would stop so called super tactics but that's not the point as much as it would sure the AI can evolve and use some new ideas, the tactics forum is a great place to look if coders wanted ideas.

This thread reminds me of a save on FM where I would only sign English players or youth players that could gain HG status. It was the most enjoyable but most difficult save I have done. It wasn't always easy to find players that could improve the side even if money was available. It has also inspired me to start a new save right now and do the same.