Constructive criticism and praise for Si

Well as the title suggests, I am going to give some feedback on what I think, whether anyone here will agree with me I do not know but I will give my views anyway

Constructive criticism first...

I have always been a big supporter of Si and ever since I got my first PC in 2001 I have bought every football management game they have made since CM 01/02 and thoughroughly enjoyed them all. My constructive criticism of FM 2009 is this..

When you were testing the game did you not at any point feel the Match Engine had enough faults to make you have second thoughts of releasing the game without making sure they were fixed first? I know it is a tough job being a computer game maker and programmer so don't get me wrong, you have done a much better job than I ever could! Don't you think though that now the full game has been released that there seems to be endless threads where people just keep repeating the same thing? For instance...

"Too many long shots even when I tell my players to rarely go for them"

"Goalkeepers score too many goals from a goal kick or kick out their hands"

"Players sometimes stand next to the ball and watch it for a few seconds then the opposition player runs in, nicks it and scores"

"Too many posts and bars being hit in a match"

"Strikers don't seem to score as many one on ones as they should with attributes like 16 composure and 17 finishing"

"2D match engine on FM 2009 is really laggy even on high end machines"

I'm sure there is more but they seem to be the common ones I have come across when I read this forum every day.

My praise for Si is this..

I think personally you have done a good job in handling what was a farce with the authentication of the game on release day, many mods and people from Sports Interactive were on here trying desperatly to help people out as much as they could, so big thumbs up for that.

I have to say aswell that even though I haven't bought FM 2009, it does look like a good game and you do continue to make improvements year on year for the series, most of them are fan requests too.

I still play FM 2007 because I feel it is the best in the series and in my opinion the Match Engine on that is the best in the series too, so for the achievement on that game alone I have to say it is the best management sim I have ever played.

I have many more views but I think that is enough and I don't want people to start getting bored So all in all, I think all of you at Si have done a great job but maybe my only gripe would be that you released the game maybe too early and should have made a few fixes before you released it. Having said that though, if you had put back the release date then you would have had been inundated with questions and criticism from people, so it seems you are in a no win situation as a computer programmer

Let's be honest, whoever has been in charge of the defensive aspect of the match engine of the last two releases should probably be looking for work currently.

Problem is re release date, that AFAIK (I know a designer for a certain company) More often then not the they dont set the release date...

Often there are fantastic people who sit around in suits all day and get paid a shiz load and say this game must be released here... And as one SI memeber said they are under contractual obligations (The terms made under the SEGA agreement) to release an edition every year... So how wierd would it be to delay this till jan and then stil have to realease 2010 in Nov.... A bit rediculous as far as im concerned..

As much as it would be great to delay, Sometimes they A) Dont have authority too or B) They have no option...

Final word. They are a business. The game Sells. Those people in Suits are there to turn a proft - and out of the job if they dont.

Its like Fast food restraunt. The poor old game developers earn as little as poss and cop the most flack when anything goes wrong... When usually the managers are causing the issues... And in this day of economic downturn they must make a profit...

Problem is re release date, that AFAIK (I know a designer for a certain company) More often then not the they dont set the release date...

Often there are fantastic people who sit around in suits all day and get paid a shiz load and say this game must be released here... And as one SI memeber said they are under contractual obligations (The terms made under the SEGA agreement) to release an edition every year... So how wierd would it be to delay this till jan and then stil have to realease 2010 in Nov.... A bit rediculous as far as im concerned..

As much as it would be great to delay, Sometimes they A) Dont have authority too or B) They have no option...

Final word. They are a business. The game Sells. Those people in Suits are there to turn a proft - and out of the job if they dont.

Its like Fast food restraunt. The poor old game developers earn as little as poss and cop the most flack when anything goes wrong... When usually the managers are causing the issues... And in this day of economic downturn they must make a profit...

Very true.

It does seem a little "rushed"... shame SI can't release the game when they think it is 100% ready and not when Sega do. I for one wouldn't have minded waiting. Maybe Sega should stick to Sonic the Hedgehog in future and leave football management games to the experts.

I just lost 0-3 at home. First goal keeper kicks it to centre forward who first times it from 30 yards, 2nd goal centre forward waltzes through 5 defenders to score from edge of box, 3rd goal similar to first but left back provided 90 yard pin point pass.