Dumb and Dumber

I am a bit concerned about the upcoming patch, There are a few minor bugs in the game granted but after reading numerous posts here over the past couple of months I am worried about the game being dumbed down for the VOCAL majority. I have played 3 full seasons now and i play in full match mode all the time.

I have gone through the gaps issue, Strikers not being productive blah blah blah. However into my 4th season now and with these issues solved I am very happy with the way my team is playing, I now feel a real sense of achievement improving my side. I am a man who has played football all my life and thought I knew everything about the game. But I have to say I have learned so much more from this game things I did'nt even know existed and for that I must give much credit to the developers.

Now I am worried that the upcoming patch is going to spoil the experience for me, the answer seems simple don't download the patch and ignore the few minor flaws. So I was just wondering if anyone from the SI can allay my fears of the game being dumbed down. I find it strange that some people on here moan that the game is too complicated and why should they read a few pages to be able to play it, they claim that the fun has gone out of the game and are trying to blackmail SI into making the strikers score 40 goals a season. There seems to be a culture in this country of changing laws for the moronic minority even though the majority of people are responsible and sensible. I have brought many games over the years and have got on with a few and not got on with a few, in that time it has never occured to me to demand that the developers should change or alter the game.

I hope that SI stick to the ethics that have served them so well and have got them to the standing they now enjoy and to remember that the cream rises to the top.

Why will the game be dumbed down

A patch fixes key issues

If you re-read some of the main key bug threads associated with 9.1.0 then install the patch when its out you will be surprised and pleased. There will be very very few strikers scoring 40 goals a season I can asure you

As an aside, I always try to have a positive outlook on life

Si will always listen to suggestions or game improvement. Most of what is in FM these days is as a result of our feedback

In the business of mass market consumer product: majority rules.

Whatever S.I. do I am sure it won't be excessive - they have no track record of dumbing down, in fact quite the opposite.

That said you need to accept that less than 10% of players are going to bother watching whole matches or have the time to burn and the vast majority of people who buy FM and have done so consistently in the past will not continue to tolerate the over nerdification that the series has endured in recent (specific statement there) releases.

S.I. have no choice if they want to retain their fan base - the game needs to lighten up a couple of notches and re-embrace the casual gamer.

Or it will wither ..

Now I am worried that the upcoming patch is going to spoil the experience for me, the answer seems simple don't download the patch and ignore the few minor flaws.

Well this is your own answer them. If you are happy the way it is, leave it. Don't download and install the patch.

interesting read. Although i gotta admit i share your views on the whole 'my strikers dont score', stop whining just because your striker doesnt pull an FM08-esq 40 or 50 goals a season, how often does that happen, especially if you're not managing a big club

Why will the game be dumbed down

There will be very very few strikers scoring 40 goals a season I can asure you

Amen, to that!

But, I'll bet you, there will still be people saying there is a "huge" bug in the game, "coz me $40m ST signed from Paganese Reserves, who I found with some FM Scouting Tool, is only scoring 15 or 16 goals a season....WTF!!"

No dumbing down needed, is , I guess what I'm saying.

Amen, to that!

But, I'll bet you, there will still be people saying there is a "huge" bug in the game, "coz me $40m ST signed from Paganese Reserves, who I found with some FM Scouting Tool, is only scoring 15 or 16 goals a season....WTF!!"

No dumbing down needed, is , I guess what I'm saying.

Agreed then fella

Strikers are officially bugged, hence the complaints (albeit not constructive ones) that are made. There are several threads on it. Given the track record of SI with games and patches there won't be a massive sudden increase in their goal ratio, but there will be tweaks to their effectiveness.

Please also remember that not everybody enjoys the game in the same way that you do, everyone is different.

Please also remember that not everybody enjoys the game in the same way that you do, everyone is different.

Key point there.

the game DOES need dumbing down but only in the sense for you to apply what you WANT in tactical instructions to the game, which is obviously proving to be quite difficult for a high percentage of players, it seems.

Strikers are officially bugged, hence the complaints (albeit not constructive ones) that are made. There are several threads on it. Given the track record of SI with games and patches there won't be a massive sudden increase in their goal ratio, but there will be tweaks to their effectiveness.

Please also remember that not everybody enjoys the game in the same way that you do, everyone is different.

I've found strikers are symptomatic of the game's over-emphasis on 'perfect combination' play. If you don't build a tactic that directly exploits a player's skills, he'll fail epically to make an impact. I play my poacher in a general 442 - he gets 5.5 ratings and never scores a goal. I play counter attack with him on the shoulder of the last defender and bangs in 18 in 22.

S.I. have it 100% right, it just too focussed. In reality, good players can find space and create/score chances in any formation and any system. Average players will struggle ..

As you say, I think it just needs a tweak and agree in the past its always been a case of balancing rather than changing stuff.

The problem with the forum is that when 10 or 20 or even 50 people think there is a bug - like the strikers not scoring - it gives the impression that it IS the majority. People who are happy with the game rarely come on the forums to complain (why would they?) so the silence of millions of happy gamers is taken as agreement.

I agree that if strikers start free scoring it will make the game worse. Main reason being that the ME does not know if it's a human user or AI manager giving the players instructions, so not only will the human user's strikers stop hitting the post twice a game, so will the AI's. It will make EVERYONE's strikers more effective, so people will then complain that their defenders are "*******" or other demeaning names, and of course say that SI are scum, disrepecting their customers, blah blah blah.

No matter what this patch brings it will not please everyone.

I remember 8.0.2 coming out. The vocal ranters were complaining about how Man U could lose 1-0 against FC Plop even though you had 150 shots on goal to their 1 (sorry, guys but it WAS partly down to your tactics), so it was changed and made easier to score, resulting in a need to alter your tactics that had worked fine on 8.0.1.

Personally, I hope some aspects of FM09 are improved, but that SI don't take it too far the other way. Strikers shouldn't hit the post as often, and wingers should cut inside more, and GKs shouldn't have so many assists, and the free role should work better, but these are tweaks to the current ME rather than out and out bugs. The serie C crash - that's a bug. Injuries - an oversight perhaps but not MUCH worse than real life (for me, anyway).

I'm looking forward to it, but am prepared to not "like it" at first. Just hope the forums don't errupt with righteous indignation if it doesn't change everything to each gamer's liking.

the game DOES need dumbing down but only in the sense for you to apply what you WANT in tactical instructions to the game, which is obviously proving to be quite difficult for a high percentage of players, it seems.

Personally, I'd like to see tactics simplified to the level that IRL managers have. IRL managers don't have to fanny about giving different players individual slider-esque tactics, and I'd like it if the instructions we gave were simpler, broader, more vague, and then it comes down to the training and transfers as to how successful you are. For example, if you find your defenders are being torn apart, rather than setting some sliders to make them 8% more defensive, or 23% more narrow on the pitch, or whatever, you either buy some better defenders, or employee a specialist defensive coach to train them.

This seems more realistic and less involved to me.

I hope that SI stick to the ethics that have served them so well and have got them to the standing they now enjoy and to remember that the cream rises to the top.

Is the current complex tactical system what has made FM the game it is though?

I think (but I may be wrong) that the vast majority of people who are followers of the series started out on earlier versions which were much simpler. Would someone who'd never played the game before and started on FM09 as their first managerial game stick with it and try to figure out the trial and error tactics system? I'm not so sure.

We need to get one thing straight, no-one wants the game to be dumbed down. All we want is to have the tools in the game to allow us to utilise whatever tactical interface is give to us and not resort to trial and error. I want to know why things are not working, and in turn want to know why my changes have improved things. Currently, for me anyway, it doesn't feel like that.

There are no radical overhauls in the patch - dunno what gave the impression there would be. Just improvements and fixes.

Also, we don't really need a thread speculating the content of the patch.