FM 2009 Press Conferences - Nice addition but...

FM 2009 has seen the welcome (at least from my point of view) introduction of press conferences both pre game and post game for certain fixtures. I'm only in November in the first season on my game but I am finding the use of the conferences slightly inconsistent.

For example, though I have around ten pre-game press conferences so far I have only had two post game press conferences. Shouldn't a post game press conference be after every game at the level I am playing at (Manchester United)? If not after every game then it should at least happen after every televised game, of which I have had six so far.

The other slight criticism I have of the feature is that for one of the biggest fixtures of the season (v Arsenal, match on TV) that there was no pre game or post game press conference. It is surely for the big games that the feature would be at its best to be used?

Other than that, despite the various small problems with the game in terms of text issues, 3D match issues, I am enjoying the game. There is certainly enough potential there to build on it for 2010's release, which i hope includes further additions to the press conference feature.

slightly inconsistent.QUOTE]

boring u mean same questions again and again same answers again and again

slightly inconsistent.QUOTE]

boring u mean same questions again and again same answers again and again

Nope, I mean when you give them is inconsistent.

Yes the questions are repetitive, but that's the same as in real life and the ability to type your own answers livens the feature up - though you should be able to type more characters as well, which would be my other criticism.

There is a known issue about the balancing between pre- and post-match conferences.

This is largely due to the time restraints in making a year long game. This year, with the addition of press conferences, huge amounts of text had to be added to the game and the conference system needed to be coded from scratch, making a very work-heavy module. The text also needs to be translated into several different languages, and as such there are areas of the game that currently do not have questions integrated into the game. This is why sometimes it can feel slightly repetitive in parts, although this does mirror real life conferences which basically involve the same stock questions week after week.

This is an area that will be expanded upon for future versions and will include more features and many more questions.

There is a known issue about the balancing between pre- and post-match conferences.

This is largely due to the time restraints in making a year long game. This year, with the addition of press conferences, huge amounts of text had to be added to the game and the conference system needed to be coded from scratch, making a very work-heavy module. The text also needs to be translated into several different languages, and as such there are areas of the game that currently do not have questions integrated into the game. This is why sometimes it can feel slightly repetitive in parts, although this does mirror real life conferences which basically involve the same stock questions week after week.

This is an area that will be expanded upon for future versions and will include more features and many more questions.

Surely though it should have been a priority to make sure that they appreared for definite for particular fixtures?

Appreciate the reply though.

The conference coding does not work to create them for specific features. What it does is it checks what questions exist that are valid to ask, and depending whether there are enough valid questions it will create the conference. You will find that there are many game 'types' that almost always create questions and these are normally the most important matches: finals, Europe, rivals, vital matches etc.

If there are occasions where you feel there absolutely should be a press conference, upload a save game 2 days before the match for pre-match, or straight after a match for post-match. Post this in the Media/Press Conferences with some rough pointers or questions as to what you would expect to be asked in these situations. This will then be logged into our database will be looked at for next year.

The conference coding does not work to create them for specific features. What it does is it checks what questions exist that are valid to ask, and depending whether there are enough valid questions it will create the conference. You will find that there are many game 'types' that almost always create questions and these are normally the most important matches: finals, Europe, rivals, vital matches etc.

If there are occasions where you feel there absolutely should be a press conference, upload a save game 2 days before the match for pre-match, or straight after a match for post-match. Post this in the Media/Press Conferences with some rough pointers or questions as to what you would expect to be asked in these situations. This will then be logged into our database will be looked at for next year.

I think the example I gave in my opening post is good enough. Man United v Arsenal is without doubt one of the biggest fixtures of the season - for both clubs - and for it to not have a pre or post game press conference was quite staggering. While I understand that the game generates it according to rivalry and in the game Arsenal are not listed as one of the main rivals, surely the game should have been programmed to include rivals and other rivals from the club's database entry in order to use this feature better and ensure that gme's of this magnitude are not left out?

I'm not knocking the feature completely - I'm enjoying it, but just find it frustrating that something as elementary as this has not happened.

the press conferences are a joke. I'm only doing them when joining a new club or when i've just won a cup

I get the impression that based on the repeated questions and boring content, Si spent about 20 minutes thinking of questions we all used to ask ourselves back on CM0102.

i liked the bit where i put a swear word into the text box, and the summary actually noticed and said something along the lines of "he then launched into a stream of expletives and the conference was halted"

jfk eat your heart out

jfk? Is that John F Kennedy?

Skorp - are there ways to add user-generated questions, the way we can edit text commentary and media-mind-games in past versions?

If so, would that increase the likelihood of post-match conferences?

Now in late December and have had the same situation occur with the match against Chelsea where there is no pre gamje or post game press conference. Considering this game was between the two top team's in the division on the game (Chelsea ahea dof me on goal difference only) the lack of media interest is a bit annoying.

If there is anyway that this could be addressed in the next patch then I would implore SI to take the opportunity.

As I requested earlier, if you have a save game 2 days before the match or just after the match where you think a press conference should be but isn't, post in the Press Conference Forum and quickly state what types of questions you would expect to be asked. We will then look at it for you.

slightly inconsistent.QUOTE]

boring u mean same questions again and again same answers again and again

I agree. YAWN! I only go to the big matches jsut send ass man to the rest, but he says some stupid things lol.

As I requested earlier, if you have a save game 2 days before the match or just after the match where you think a press conference should be but isn't, post in the Press Conference Forum and quickly state what types of questions you would expect to be asked. We will then look at it for you.

And as I said earlier, the questions are not the issue here. The fact it is Man Utd against Arsenal and Chelsea, but there are no pre game or post game press conferences taking place must surely mean there is no need for a save game to be submitted. Pure common sense must tell you that something needs looking at here.

As an aside, the game against Chelsea wasn't on TV either, which would not happen in real life and is something that I have mentioned in a separate thread a few minutes ago.

No, a save game IS required.

Like I explained earlier, conferences are not tied to specific matches. The game collates and builds up a number of questions and stores them in order to be retrieved when there are enough to call a conference. Therefore, if you do not upload a save game we cannot tell how many questions are being stored, and we cannot tell which questions that exist in the game that could potentially be asked of you.

There are plenty of questions that are active in the game that could potentially be called for the games you have mentioned. In order to find out why these questions are not being called or stored to call the press conference we will need a save game from you. I always get press conferences called for me for these big rival games, so there is possibly something slightly amiss in your save game.

If you want us to look at this for you, you will have to provide a save game as the dev team simply will not be able to locate the source of the problem without it.

Okay. I will try and remember to do that.

I just naively assumed that with us all playing the same version of the game it would be happening with everybody.

jfk? Is that John F Kennedy?

I thought the same thing!

I thought, since when did he do that? Jackie wouldn't be too pleased...

If a template could be given of questions and answers, couldn't the forum members (a lot has been said about SI's interaction with the forum and how much they listen, solve problems etc.) write up some questions. Then you would hve possibly hundreds of people submitting suggestions ready to be put in, rather than the few you currently have working on it.

No, a save game IS required.

Like I explained earlier, conferences are not tied to specific matches. The game collates and builds up a number of questions and stores them in order to be retrieved when there are enough to call a conference. Therefore, if you do not upload a save game we cannot tell how many questions are being stored, and we cannot tell which questions that exist in the game that could potentially be asked of you.

There are plenty of questions that are active in the game that could potentially be called for the games you have mentioned. In order to find out why these questions are not being called or stored to call the press conference we will need a save game from you. I always get press conferences called for me for these big rival games, so there is possibly something slightly amiss in your save game.

If you want us to look at this for you, you will have to provide a save game as the dev team simply will not be able to locate the source of the problem without it.

I've added a saved game to the ftp folder for the TV AI issue I've mentioned in another threads. Will this be sufficient or do you need the saved game from just before a game where I think there should have been a pre or post game conference? If its the latter then it may take some time as I am past this point now and it could be a while before I play them again?

Do they even have much of an effect ? I got really bored with them after first season and my ass manager handles them now

I've added a saved game to the ftp folder for the TV AI issue I've mentioned in another threads. Will this be sufficient or do you need the saved game from just before a game where I think there should have been a pre or post game conference? If its the latter then it may take some time as I am past this point now and it could be a while before I play them again?

Ideally a game 2 days before the match for pre-match conferences, and immediately after the match for post-match conferences. From there we'll better be able to work out what's going on. Cheers.

i just had it where it asked me the same question 4 times in a row FFS get rid of this ****

i just had it where it asked me the same question 4 times in a row FFS get rid of this ****

That's a journalist pushing for an answer from you. Don't forget there's a Storm Out option you can use if the journalists are getting on your wick.

skorp - I have added a saved game as requested to the ftp server where before a televised FA Cup 5th Round game v Man City there was no pre-game press conference. Hopefully I managed to save it at the right time before the match for you to be able to identify what the potential problem is.

After winning the match 2-0 there was no post match press conference either (though this has not been added as a saved game file as I didn't think it would be necessary as you can probably find this out for yourself from the file I've already added.