FM2010 blogs day 17 - news centre and subscriptions

[Miles Jacobson]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opin...cle170255.html

[Abs_UK]

Thank you

[reddevilsrule]

you are getting quicker miles. That means i can read the blogs while at work. big thumbs up

[AmA Deo]

Great feature... I could play several seasons with FM09 (and the other versions) without knowing who won the big Europeans leagues, or even the Champions League when I was a smaller team (then I wouldn't care about the big tournaments).... It's great that we now can decide what we want to know!

[saware]

I hope we're linked to some of the news items, for example, if you were to hear about something happening at your previous club, at a favourite club, or even just within the league and then asked about it in following press conference... say an Arsenal player, had been caught diving we could be shown this information and then asked our views?!

[Heath Matthias]

This feature is FINALLY in here!! THANKS!!!

[Nick Habershon]

I hope we're linked to some of the news items, for example, if you were to hear about something happening at your previous club, at a favourite club, or even just within the league and then asked about it in following press conference... say an Arsenal player, had been caught diving we could be shown this information and then asked our views?!

That sounds like a completely separate module (albeit a nice idea). The News Centre is a configurable news distribution system.

[saware]

That sounds like a completely separate module (albeit a nice idea). The News Centre is a configurable news distribution system.

Oh, I know the idea wasn't essentially related to the subscription system, it was more of a general comment regarding the features revealed in the media blogs. On the other hand, maybe subscribing to news may help you immerse yourself in the game, for example you may congratulate your old team on winning promotion, or your former player winning player of the year etc.

[Ely-matty]

so there will be something like a newspaper's first page that will appear twice a week???

[Nick Habershon]

so there will be something like a newspaper's first page that will appear twice a week???

The screen is more website than newspaper front page. You can go there as often as you like but the game will take you there now and then so you keep up with the news.

[BigBeast]

Love this new feature!

Personally, this is by far the feature that I needed in long-term games to stop me getting isolated from everything else going on. I came against rival teams who had a new manager that I had never even heard of and similarly star players. Good work

[englandmanager]

good feature for them that don't want news and can reduce it

i personally am one of them nosey twits that wants to know what sir alex had for dinner yesterday, so full news for me


thanks miles

[BigBeast]

Can I ask what factors the game took into play when receiving news last year?

Was it just anything to do with your club, your players and shortlisted players, or were there more?

[gianno]

One question... will this affect the processing time and how often the game interrupts? The more news you have, the less days go by when you click continue? and the longer will take to process? thanks!

[englandmanager]

One question... will this affect the processing time and how often the game interrupts? The more news you have, the less days go by when you click continue? and the longer will take to process? thanks!

i'm guessing it goes by your system specs

[baker.simon]

No screenshots Miles? Whats your Twitter? Maybe i can get some "exclusives" off of there

[Nick Habershon]

Can I ask what factors the game took into play when receiving news last year?

Was it just anything to do with your club, your players and shortlisted players, or were there more?

Last year, as this year, your inbox received stuff about anything that relates directly to you; your club, your players and shortlisted players. This is the stuff that is essential to your day-to-day management of the club and we didn't want to change that. Last year however, we used your team's league news screen to show you news that was related to your division. This meant people were missing out on a range of game events that they might have been interested in. Transfers from other leagues, records, awards, jobs etc. League competitions still retain a news screen but it's your choice to go to it and the news centre has replaced it as the go-to place for all news that you have personally requested via the subscriptions.

One question... will this affect the processing time and how often the game interrupts? The more news you have, the less days go by when you click continue? and the longer will take to process? thanks!

Game processing time is not affected. Remember that events are happening in the game all the time - it's only what we choose to send you that you have seen in the past. This year you can choose what comes to you. Nor will it change the amount of days that go by when you click continue beyond a maxium of twice a week.

[Arkim]

Is it possible to subscribe to clubs for future job vacancies? Ex. While managing Team A, could I subscribe to teams B,C,D & E and be notified if the Managerial post becomes available?

Apologies if it has been mentioned in the article.

[Blanchflower1]

Thanks for the link!

[Nick Habershon]

Is it possible to subscribe to clubs for future job vacancies? Ex. While managing Team A, could I subscribe to teams B,C,D & E and be notified if the Managerial post becomes available?

Apologies if it has been mentioned in the article.

Yes. You could subscribe to the clubs you fancied managing, ensure the 'Jobs' news category part of the subscription is ticked and you will be informed of jobs movements that happen to those teams.

[suba]

thx you!

[shakeable]

I hope the news items are in a more logical order this year. Last year was a mess.

[arsenal_2111]

I hope the news items are in a more logical order this year. Last year was a mess.

Last year news items were listed in chronological order weren't they?

[SAFC Adam]

Just a question on how this
will work. Say I add Sunderland to my info news list. Does that mean I'd get all the players info for that team including reserves and u18s etc in the same manner as adding all the players separately?

[shakeable]

Last year news items were listed in chronological order weren't they?

No not on my game at least. Always had to look to the right of the news for the date it was added. It's wasn't in any order i understood anyway.

[Chocapik]

No not on my game at least. Always had to look to the right of the news for the date it was added. It's wasn't in any order i understood anyway.

I hated that too.

[Phil Macklam]

No screenshots Miles? Whats your Twitter? Maybe i can get some "exclusives" off of there

It's milessi and there's no exclusive pics except for the Twittergate scandel.

You get to here the news of blogs etc before they are posted up etc.

[fmobande]

GOOD WORK S.I all the blogs are always 100% g00d i love the media and conference features keep up the good work

[AmA Deo]

Well, I can't wait for the game!!! I just had a dream about the game and it was great!!

[jayahr]

At last a blog which makes me nothing but jubilant

Just cannot wait to see what kind and degree of customization is possible. Miles, care to reveal a bit more? Like, would I be able to subscribe to sackings and takeovers for all English leagues for instance, plus getting transfer and sacking news for the big clubs or those I care about? But everything the same for the rest?

Also I'm curious whether this will be straightforward or a lot of work.

Just one criticism. I suggested that once, but you say you at SI had a cunning idea
Prepare to be sued

edit: Partly been answered already, I just realize. SOrry.

[Wakers]

This idea sucks, to be totally honest.

Why keep it split into two different screens? I don't want two 'news' screens, I just want one!

Its mind boggling that you keep that god awful 'newspaper' idea, especially now that we can choose what news we want to subscribe to! Just send it to the main inbox ffs, it's not hard to get your head around.

[SmurfDude]

If you want to subscribe to dozens of different countries leagues and numerous teams and get notified about jobs, transfers, records and all the rest of it, then it would quickly get tiresome having it all pile up in the inbox. This solution is ideal tbh, providing the actual news screen isn't in some random mess like last year

[Wakers]

Rubbish. Getting news that you actually want to read would not be 'tiresome', because I want to read it.

Allowing us to choose what news gets sent straight to the inbox was a perfect chance to get the news reporting aspect back to the way that it should be, but they've messed it up.

What happened to all the usability studies they were supposed to have done?

"I know, we'll double the amount of menus in the navigation system, and add a second news screen to isolate the player from the gameworld and remove the ability to control highlight speed and match speed seperately. On top of that, we'll make sure that the newspaper screen does not order items in any sort of logical way to make it even more disorientating."

One year later;

"How can we improve that newspaper section? I know, we'll let the user choose which items they want to read, but stick it in the section that no one uses"
"Why not send it to the main inbox?"
"Because its an inbox, no one likes getting lots of messages in their inbox"

ffs.

[jayahr]

I'd MUCH prefer my subscriptions to go into my inbox as well. It would make the navigation somewhat easier and quicker!

Yet, I'll have a look at how it works and looks like before I file criticism in a tone like that.

[Wakers]

I'd MUCH prefer my subscriptions to go into my inbox as well. It would make the navigation somewhat easier and quicker!

Yet, I'll have a look at how it works and looks like before I file criticism in a tone like that.

Sorry, but if you don't criticise with a bit of a tone, no one responds to it or notices it.

[jayahr]

Sorry, but if you don't criticise with a bit of a tone, no one responds to it or notices it.

I would be happier if I didn't believe you are right

I think we agree on the matter. If done well this feature could be a massive improvement, even if just 'hidden' in the other news section.
But it would be even better if the news went to the inbox, or even better, if we could choose where they go.

However I just don't feel like making a strong statement against a feature which I'll supposedly love before having seen it in practise.

[SmurfDude]

And why does no one use the news screen? Because it was full of crap no one wanted to read. Now it'll give you news which you subscribe to

[Wakers]

But why do they have to be separate? There's no reason now you can choose what news you want to read, at all. The old news screen had a lot of news in it that people would want to read so that they felt more involved with the game world, but even at the end of the season the first 5 stories in the list were about players that Chelsea and Man City signed back in August.

If its news you want to read, it should go to your inbox. End of story. It's like subscribing to a newsletter via email, only for them to send you an email with a link in it telling you to read it at a different website. Utterly pointless.

[jayahr]

Thinking about it, you are right.

The second inbox was introduced because the actual inbox was regarded as spammed too much IIRC, so from then on people could choose to go there if they wanted more news. That again led to people missing out on things they wanted. So introduced was the '!' to highlight new stories which made at least me click there more often and miss out on less. Still we didn't get some news we wanted whilst getting many we didn't. Hence the new subscription system, which is great.

But now, as we have full power over what we do and do not want to read, the need for a second inbox has gone indeed as we can decide what to get and what not. The only real pro of keeping that second inbox which I can see now would be, that it might enable us to distinguish between first and second class news items if we could customize (as suggested) into which inbox a certain kind of news item should go. Then again I would love keeping both of them, otherwise I see no use for the newspaper staying.

[SmurfDude]

That's a really bad analogy and it doesn't work. You can actually set it up so that it automatically takes you to the news screen at user-defined intervals, so you don't even need to click on the news button.

This way your inbox deals with news directly linked with you and your club, and every other piece of news, no matter how much you want to receive, is displayed somewhere else in multiple boxes so you don't have to click through a load of items in your inbox.

Maybe they should add a box to the subscription screen to let you have specific news put in to your inbox, but this system isn't as bad as you're making out and I think it mostly comes down to you not being bothered to click on an extra news screen, which as I'e said you don't even need to do.

Directed at Wakers btw

[jayahr]

you don't even need to lick on the news button.

Maybe they should add a box to the subscription screen to let you have specific news put in to your inbox, but this system isn't as bad as you're making out and I think it mostly comes down to you not being bothered to click on an extra news screen, which as I'e said you don't even need to do.

Directed at Wakers btw

But I LOVE licking buttons

The latter is more or less what I would love to see as well
I'm all in favour of the new system, just thinking of how to improve it even more (yet, admittedly without knowing it in detail).

edit: you fixed it too soon

[SmurfDude]

edit: you fixed it too soon

I always seem to proof read AFTER I've posted

[jayahr]

No worries, so do I. I actually happen to edit out typos sometimes 3 or 4 times for one post (re-reading and then editing one by one instead re-reading all the way through the post first instead)

[eaglealan64]

I'm interested to see how this works - but really big news e.g. your biggest rivals sack your Manager - shouldn't be tucked away on another screen. Perhaps it should be an option to decide which subscriptions also get posted to your inbox? That way people retain control.

[phnompenhandy]

I'm interested to see how this works - but really big news e.g. your biggest rivals sack your Manager - shouldn't be tucked away on another screen. Perhaps it should be an option to decide which subscriptions also get posted to your inbox? That way people retain control.

You will be taken to your news screen twice a week if you don't click on it, so at most you'd get information 3 days late. That should still give time to respond to a major event like that.

[Luckz]

This idea sucks, to be totally honest.

Why keep it split into two different screens? I don't want two 'news' screens, I just want one!

Its mind boggling that you keep that god awful 'newspaper' idea, especially now that we can choose what news we want to subscribe to! Just send it to the main inbox ffs, it's not hard to get your head around.

I'd MUCH prefer my subscriptions to go into my inbox as well. It would make the navigation somewhat easier and quicker!

Yet, I'll have a look at how it works and looks like before I file criticism in a tone like that.

This.
Since I still play 07 regularly, I regularly see the direct comparison. This feature with the old one-inbox-for-everything would be best. I mean FM had inbox filters since forever for a reason. The only thing you then need is to increase the stored messages in that inbox massively - in FM07 with a huge lot of shortlisted players, I tend to get 3x as many news items on July 1st as the inbox can take, meaning I don't get to read (!) 2/3 of them.

[Vane]

I'm one of those who likes to follow the entire world scene which is why I only seem to manage to play out one match an hour. It will be good to easily keep track of news of teams you once managed or interesting teams like the Real Madrid Galacticos and the new Man City. Good stuff!

[Ackter]

Ok a question about the placement of the news screen icon on the title bar.

In previous versions it's been towards the right hand side of the screen - in FM10 can it be placed right next to your inbox icon? Would make it far more obvious when news has arrived and will help transition people between the old and new systems (which most people playing the last game haven't done).

[Ben7]

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