Three Superficial Changes That Should Be Put In Place (IMO)

All of this has been mentioned before at some point so I won't go into any great detail but here's three very simple things that I think would make a big difference to fm and should be added to 09.

Testimonials- When there are so many other so called 'minor' features in the game I cannot understand why year in year out that testimonials are not included in football/championship manager. Once a player plays for a club for ten years he should be eligible for a testimonial simple as that, it may seem superficial but everyone i know who has played the game has mentioned that they find it strange that this isnt a feature of the game.

Favoured Personel- Simple one here, we should be able to choose who our favorite people in the game are as we do with our favorite clubs. In one of the old games I had Craig Bellemy (Who I hate) as one of my favorite players...Again, I dont know why this feature isn't in place.

Female gamers- Again this might seem totally pointless to most people, and I'm putting this one forward for a friend of mine, who is a girl and plays the game and hates constantly being referred to as a He in the game. Yes I'm sure it's very unlikely that a woman would be appointed manager of Chelsea or something, but it's probably no more unlikely than me being appointed so again, I dont see why there is no option to choose whether youre a man or a woman at the start of the game.

I will probably get a load of people saying that there are far greater issues with the game that need to be addressed and I agree, but I still feel that these three simple suggestions would add a lot to the experience especially in terms of long games where you go years into the future. I also don't believe they would be all that difficult to implement and wouldn't slow down game play seeing as the testiomonilas would only occur rarely, the favoured personel is chosen by the managers themselves.

All of this has been mentioned before at some point so I won't go into any great detail but here's three very simple things that I think would make a big difference to fm and should be added to 09.

Testimonials- When there are so many other so called 'minor' features in the game I cannot understand why year in year out that testimonials are not included in football/championship manager. Once a player plays for a club for ten years he should be eligible for a testimonial simple as that, it may seem superficial but everyone i know who has played the game has mentioned that they find it strange that this isnt a feature of the game.

Favoured Personel- Simple one here, we should be able to choose who our favorite people in the game are as we do with our favorite clubs. In one of the old games I had Craig Bellemy (Who I hate) as one of my favorite players...Again, I dont know why this feature isn't in place.

Female gamers- Again this might seem totally pointless to most people, and I'm putting this one forward for a friend of mine, who is a girl and plays the game and hates constantly being referred to as a He in the game. Yes I'm sure it's very unlikely that a woman would be appointed manager of Chelsea or something, but it's probably no more unlikely than me being appointed so again, I dont see why there is no option to choose whether youre a man or a woman at the start of the game.

I will probably get a load of people saying that there are far greater issues with the game that need to be addressed and I agree, but I still feel that these three simple suggestions would add a lot to the experience especially in terms of long games where you go years into the future. I also don't believe they would be all that difficult to implement and wouldn't slow down game play seeing as the testiomonilas would only occur rarely, the favoured personel is chosen by the managers themselves.

I agree with the first one, although I'm not sure what the point would be of the second, and the third just seems like an annoying addition for the coding people to make, in order to make the game less realistic.

The testimonials is definitely a thumbs up from me, as we all get attached to players, and it would be a nice way to say thanks in-game.

I think they are good ideas, I've mentioned the second point before..

It would be very easy to implement number 3

Fully agree with all three. The second, I'm not sure how much I'd really use, though it would be nice if it actually happened more.. realistically (not the right word, but its close enuogh) in the game rather than being an option at the start.

well yes most important is the first request, I'd actually be quite dissapointed if fm09 comes out without testimonials. When you can choose the size of the pitch it seems a tad odd that testimonials arnt in the game.

The second is just something that makes sense really that instead of the computer telling me whomy favorite people are that I can decide for myself.

The third might seem like nothing but im sure most girls playing fm would prefer to be referred to as a she rather than he.

oh and regarding the second one about favourite personel, the way I would propose it to be implemented would be to have your own profile editable througout the game so that you could go into favorite team/person and do a search and add the team,person etc that you like.

Female gamers won't be added for the same reason female staff don't exist - translation issues basically.

There was an issue with the game referring to Loraine rodgers (TRFC chairwoman) as a man in FM06 (i think, could be earlier) rather than sort out the issues with female personnel SI just made it so that she was no longer the chairwoman.

So unfortunately it appears to be more work than SI deem warranted for this issue. I'm not going to argue with them, as i'm sure they know best.

Testimonials would be a nice touch and favoured personnel would be great.

To be honest, I can't say I'm really bothered about testimonials. For me, the importance is pretty minimal to non existant. I have a feeling I might be in the vast minority in this belief though.

you cant have a feature where you pick and chose favoured personnel with the current system.

The reason? because if they are favoured personnel it can become easier to sign them, people would exploit this and make potential targets favoured.

it should only be easier to sign a player if you the manager are in the players favoured personnel not vice versa, therfor there would be no exploitation.

First 2 are great

2nd point is good for long-term games.

Women managers... whatever next... votes??

The issue of females in the game has been raised a lot. While I completely agree with the OP, I'll just mention that IIRC, SI explain that it's a big task to write the correct gender-specific terminology given that there are so many language files to plough through.

well then i suppose its understandable to a point. I still maintain that testimonials should be added at the very least and would personally love to see the second point implemented too.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by zoopaloola:

well then i suppose its understandable to a point. I still maintain that testimonials should be added at the very least and would personally love to see the second point implemented too. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In real life, they've all but died out. The original purpose was to give the loyal player a golden handshake to keep him out of the jaws of poverty once his career was over. Hardly necessary in these mercenary days when few stay around more than a couple of years and are hardly short of a few bob when they retire.

well they havnt died out in that they still happen. Yes the purposehas changed with it now being a celebration of a players illustious career at the club (recent examples roy keane and bergkamp) whilst the money now goes to charity.

Testimonials could be a god way of giving a financial boost.

Favoured personnel, I would love to add my own, and build up a good relationship with players/staff.

If we're doing that, how about an option to choose more than one favourite team?

Female managers? Have you missed the controversy over a female commentator?!?!

Being able to select favoured personnel has been something I've wanted in Football Manager games for a long time, of course the feature would have to be reasonable and not result in you adding a player that you have never linked up with or a manager that you are continually at war with but it would be a great addition.

Testimonials - don't care.

Favored personnel - okay with me.

Female gamers - okay with me.

I totally agree with all three.

The favoured player could appear if you continually make positive media comments about a certain player

Have to say i agree with all 3 of those ideas especially the testamonials.

I really want player testimonials

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Female gamers won't be added for the same reason female staff don't exist - translation issues basically. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Female staff are included in FM2008! there aren't lots but they are there.

^^^

yep, Reading have a female physio iirc

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ched:

Female gamers won't be added for the same reason female staff don't exist - translation issues basically.

There was an issue with the game referring to Loraine rodgers (TRFC chairwoman) as a man in FM06 (i think, could be earlier) rather than sort out the issues with female personnel SI just made it so that she was no longer the chairwoman.

So unfortunately it appears to be more work than SI deem warranted for this issue. I'm not going to argue with them, as i'm sure they know best.

Testimonials would be a nice touch and favoured personnel would be great. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You must be joking!! If adding female players is a big issue for the coders this game must be the worst coded game in the history of mankind and they will not be able to add a singel new feature to this game EVER again. I can accept if they just dont give a damn but calling it an issue i just insane and really makes me worried about the future of FM. Even if they made a language patch for every language in the universe this is a very very minor thing to change, and yes i have experience enough to say so.

I disagree with point two, the selecting of favoured/disliked personnell. For me, this should be a perception issue, who fans/media see as your favourites, who nthey think you dislike. Not who we choose to make our friends.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Evvil Noob:

You must be joking!! If adding female players is a big issue for the coders this game must be the worst coded game in the history of mankind and they will not be able to add a singel new feature to this game EVER again. I can accept if they just dont give a damn but calling it an issue i just insane and really makes me worried about the future of FM. Even if they made a language patch for every language in the universe this is a very very minor thing to change, and yes i have experience enough to say so. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And yet somehow you are talking utter nonsense.

Adding female grammar places a huge demand on translation, and therefore on the in-game text.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave C:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Evvil Noob:

You must be joking!! If adding female players is a big issue for the coders this game must be the worst coded game in the history of mankind and they will not be able to add a singel new feature to this game EVER again. I can accept if they just dont give a damn but calling it an issue i just insane and really makes me worried about the future of FM. Even if they made a language patch for every language in the universe this is a very very minor thing to change, and yes i have experience enough to say so. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And yet somehow you are talking utter nonsense.

Adding female grammar places a huge demand on translation, and therefore on the in-game text. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh god...

Well om not going to argue about this because...well i dont really care enough to explain what i meen in a language that is not my own.

Let me just say i am extremely happy that no one misspelled "him" when typing in the ingame text and that every single textbased rpg in the early 90s must have been made by extreme geniuses.

Maybe I am European Football illiterate when it comes to terminology, but what is a testimonial? I live in the US and the only thing that comes to mind would be a jersey retiring ceremony?

So what is a testimonial, because I know you can't be talking about players taking a survey about their team :-p

it's a one-off friendly match for a player who is retiring. usualy against a team you hand pick from the world, or a team you used to play for. a special match. the player then keeps the gate receipts, or like most give it to charity.

unlike English, in many languages a change of gender of the subject can also affect many other words in any sentence. Hence the translation issue. Thta is, its not just a replace all he by she and him by her issue.

However, one option would be to rewrite it all in gender neutral language. "They" and "their" as singular is quite common.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Culled:

unlike English, in many languages a change of gender of the subject can also affect many other words in any sentence. Hence the translation issue. That is, its not just a replace all he by she and him by her issue.

Exactly - Evil Nood, ever heard of the proverb, 'Empty vessels make the most noise'?

However, one option would be to rewrite it all in gender neutral language. "They" and "their" as singular is quite common.

Given that 99.9% of the text would be referring to males, this would make the text quite ugly to most people's eyes/ears/minds. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dirty1982dec:

it's a one-off friendly match for a player who is retiring. usualy against a team you hand pick from the world, or a team you used to play for. a special match. the player then keeps the gate receipts, or like most give it to charity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

They usually have had to be at a club for a long period of time. 10 years min i believe.

Testimonials would be the easiest of these features to implement IMO from my programming knowledge and knowledge of the game. It would be pretty quick and simple so I would support it being included. Female gamers would be the hardest, not from a programming point of view but in terms of language issues but I still think it should be included.

Regarding the female players issue, Spurs have a female Physio, and I'm constantly getting messages along the lines of

Dr Charlotte Cowie has examined Dimitar Berbatov, and he thinks the player will be out for 3/4 weeks