Why do we play this game? Even after all these years...

[BamaToon]

I also used to play real football, but I only ever made it as far as the local high school team. I never really had the desire to play professionally, so after high school, I hung up my boots. Nowadays I fancy myself a coaching legend and try to live out that fantasy through FM.

I'm 34 now and although I'm not married, I too have suffered from an addiction of FM (particularly when I was in my 20's). Now that I am older and have a job, a house, a car, and two dogs to take care of, I find myself lacking the time (and energy) that I once had for marathon gaming sessions.

That being said, I still find myself drawing up new formations while at work and spend a good part of my workday trolling the forums and reading stories of other would-be manager's struggles.

[heathxxx]

This is the true FM addicts dream...

[baker.simon]

This is the true FM addicts dream...

Hmm, no loo roll. Could be an inconvenience

[AB-forever]

Hmm, no loo roll. Could be an inconvenience

If you never move your ass, who needs it?

[Roman Chevalier]

I haven't played the game since CM 4, when ole' granny fiddler was still in nappies at Everton and just breaking out(his stats were amazing), but i'm looking into whether there's any point getting back into it.

Anyway, point being, when i did play the game, which i've done since about 96-98(?), i absolutley was engrossed in it, but never bothered asking why. I suppose it comes down to the fact that we all fantasise about managing football clubs. I do, on a daily basis. I fantasise about the teams i'd manage, giving press conferences and being contraversial or all suave and worldly. I fantasise about slagging a player off in the press Jose-style, or taking training sessions, giving heroic team talks, winning the Champions League with an unlikely team, and, well, just generally operating in the world of football. I suppose FM is the closest i'll ever get to it.

It seems to me that people's dreams have switched. We all used to want to be players, now i'm not so sure. Managing is becoming equally glamorous. FM is becoming both reality and fantasy, and we all need to delve into our fantasy worlds within health and reason, even if it is a geeky football management fantasy world. And not to mention, FM is genuinely exciting and emotional. Conceding a late goal physically causes me to jump and when my players make mistakes i give them hell, even if they are just little dots running around a shabby virtual pitch. If that is sad then so be it, no-one has to know!

[Roman Chevalier]

I started playing this game way back on the Amiga, and I can with totally honesty say that the old CMs are the reason for me doing so very poorly in my GCSEs, imagine giving a 15yr old weeks off school to study when this game is in the house, I mean come on it was never going to happen. But to be honest with you as time has drawn on, im 33 now, I have found it difficult to get into the game, don't get me wrong, I still buy it every year but never play it even 10% of what I used to, and the reason for this is, I never have and I guess I never will get into the game on my own as I used to with friends, there is no real competition on your own there is no one to sit and have a few too many beers with, get an Indian take away every Friday night and play it until you fall asleep drunk sometime on Saturday morning with, the game for me on my own is soulless, it was always the banter the competition between friends, the switching the game back on Saturday afternoon, to find out you had spent £9 million on a 16yr old and sold your best striker to fund the purchase un a drunken haze. That is what I always loved about the game and to be honest that is what I miss most about it, playing on my own just doesn't give me the same fulfilment. I remember one particular game I was AC my pal was Inter, we must have been 15 seasons in and as usual I was 2nd behind him, but I'd just had a 16yr old striker promoted through the ranks, at the age of 17 he went to the World Cup with Italy after only 3 caps prior to that, at the end of the world cup he was the golden boot winner, a 17yr old world cup golden boot winner, I was going to rebuild the mighty AC Milan round at 17yr old striker, the great hope, I swelled with pride at the fact my youth system had produced this gem of a player, then the game crashed and would not reload, gutted is not the word, but I didn't mind, I had a can of lager in my hand and my best pal round laughing at me, nothing more mattered.

I feel sorry for the younger generation who have only known this suave FM series with it's 2d and 3d match interface, give me the text commentary bar across the screen with the 3 bars going up for defence, attack and god I can't even remember what the 3rd one was. It annoys me also when I read about people talking about super keepers, when we had to put up with the no goal keeper syndrome, which, much like Arsenal today, you used to concede with every shot, those were the days, the days when you couldn't hardly buy any foreign player, as the foreign player list contained about 6 pages, most of those were Scottish players and the rest wouldn't join you 98% of the time, Gascoigne on there unattainable, Nii Lampty on there, god even Henry Smith the old Scottish keeper was on there, Jirki Rovio another foreign keeper who once went through the whole season for me and saved every pen he faced. You used to get Bluey's through at the close season and if they were worth £200,000 you knew they would be great. We used to empty the squad out as much as we could, from memory you used to have to have 15 players, but if you got 5 in on loan you could get your squad down to 9 players and get so many Blueys in (as long as you didn't get the all GK's bug with Blueys), the days when the computer used to only generate players who fit in the system you were playing, so if you played with no wide men, the old 1-2-3-1-3 (SW, DC, DC, MC, MC, MC, AMC, FC, FC, FC) with the mids all having a forward arrow, there would be on DL, DR, MR, ML, AR, AL ever reproduced in the game.

Sorry to reminisce so much but I used to love that game.

Amiga that was it! Was trying to remember what computer my mate first introduced me to the game was. I'm only 25 but of course i remember all the text commentary, it was great fun at the time, and actually just as exciting as the new match engines.

[TimHardy]

IMO it's simply the fact that we're all addicted to football, aspire to be managers and FM is the best sim on the market! Tried the CM demo and it didn't impress me, so predictably went crawling back to my long-term Huddersfield save on FM10...

[nine_iron]

It seems that you get certain people who play FPS games because they like the action, people who play RTS/RPG games for the immersion, people who play strategy games because they like the planning... people who play puzzle/point and click games because they like the mental challenge.

I know a person who loves every genre who plays and loves FM (but cant stand the others), I also know many non football fans (including myself, a long time rugby league fan and union player) who loves FM. It encorporates all the aspects of those other genres in bucketloads. It has the tribalism that any club sports fan lives for and it is easy to pick up... Is there a more perfect game for the masses?

[gareth richards]

It is quite simply pure escapism.

I have played since 93 on the Amiga and have spent more time than I can remember playing on the various incarnations I am 31 now tend to find I play in bursts of 3 months on them 3 off now.

I relate to other people who have kids,mortgage etc and I too find time limited to play the game as well as finding the last 3 editions very very hard!

This game got me through some bullying at school and various other low points in my life as when you are playing this nothing else matters.

I have always said that playing the game is fantastic but its the playing the game in your head when you are at work, school etc is why it is so brilliant, thinking about tactics, thinking about your next game or your new signing how many people have done press conferences in their heads!!!???

To finish it is a fantastic product that has brought me hours of true enjoyment, who can beat the feeling of winning a champions league or league title or securing a big signing, or even just having a great team that you dont have to do much tinkering to but you know you have assembled carefully over a period of seasons and is destroying everyone.

There is something very secure and comfortable knowing you have a game of fm going on in your life

[Müller1469564937]

It is quite simply pure escapism.

This.

I got into Football Manager when I was going through a really rough patch in my life and for me, it gave me the opportunity to escape from the troubles I was having at that time. Slowly, I started to forget about what was bothering me because I was so focused on my team. It gave me something to get up for in the morning.The game just engulfed me. I've been playing ever since and I don't think I'll ever stop.

Basically, FM gives me more meaning to a rather meaningless existence.

[The Platypus]

This is the true FM addicts dream...

Heath, how did you post that image, mate? For the life of me I can't do it.

[CaptainPlanet]

20 years of Civilization, 17 years of Football Manager.

RTS and FPS games can suck my balls.

[Roy Race 9]

20 years of Civilization, 17 years of Football Manager.

RTS and FPS games can suck my balls.

footballs I hope:D

[nine_iron]

Well now my 3 main games are Civ4 (good to see another player on here!!), Counterstrike: Source (and various other FPS from steam too) and Football Manager...

BUT until 5 years ago I was mainly a sports gamer;

TW03-TW08 (didnt buy any more golf games from EA cos they stopped us being able to play custom courses on the newer games, I turned to databases on FM instead)

Madden series

Rugby games (both union and league and various other sporting titles (no football games tho, cannot stand them)

I love FM because it has all the aspects of every game genre mixed into one! I started playing it with CM2, missed out all the titles until FM05 and bought every game since!

[baker.simon]

Heath, how did you post that image, mate? For the life of me I can't do it.

Exactly the same as posting a screenshot

How do I Post a Screenshot?

* While in FM, press the 'Prt Sc' button (usually next to F12 on your keyboard).

* Open an image editing program such as Paint and paste the image

* Save the file as a JPEG

* Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket

* Post the direct Url to the image here.

[Sunlock]

The pure love for football obviously, and the fact that you can lead your favorite clubs to results in an imaginary state, and they actually could get on top of everything.... a time to celebrate... theres one winner and 19 sore loosers every damn year

And the computer doesnt answer back, as a girl tend to.

Oh and lets not forget the fact that you can humiliate Real Madrid.

[fabioke]

I'm an Italian living in Belgium and I’m an addict since Saviola and Aimar where the stars at River Plate (still want to believe I discovered them ). I think its all my uncle's fault. He bought CM Italia and became completely hooked.

I was not allowed touching the computer. Being an extreme young football addict (even had my nike ball in my bedroom) this was the ultimate punishment. So I watched the game for many years. Every Wednesday I visited my uncle and we created a passion called Championship manager. At age thirteen I needed a computer for school. And my uncle gave me the best present ever for my birthday CM 99/00.

I learned my CM English and everybody was impressed. So I tricked my family and said it had an educational value to. I would learn English and I would be better in math with all the numbers in the game. The game itself was magical. I will never forget the line "he chips the ball and he ..."

At age 14/15 I was a promising football player playing for a second tier division in Belgium at their youth team. Until I got a car accident (I am fully recovered btw). It turned out to be the best summer of my life. Everybody was on holiday and I was alone in my little CM world with Kallstrom and Kennedy. After my revalidation I was healed physically but mentally my addiction became frightening. I started to act like the guy from the movie “ A Beautiful Mind”. Writing numbers everywhere, comparing players in class, spreading the evangels of CM.

At the end everybody was addicted. I had spread a virus called CM. We where always talking in class about the new hot prospects. Searching for special teams like Rushden and Diamonds. Or like we called it after one season “Little Scandinavia”. When CM 4 came everybody lost their interest.

Didn’t made it into football. Forget about CM and got married. Started my own company and was leading a normal boring life.

Until I rediscovered FM 2006. With FM 2007 almost ruining my marriage. I was a happy addict again. My wife could not understand it. She said you don’t smoke, don’t drink and now you’re a game addict. This sentence always made me mad. Its not a game it’s a simulation. I defended my little dots like Lippi would do with his players.

Now 24 years old, my English declined because of the language pack and I’m managing a team of little children at a local team in real life. And trying to bring the mighty Eendracht Aalst back to the Jupiler league in Belgium at FM. My uncle buys a computer or laptop every year and he rediscovered FM 2007. Always claiming that his son needs a new computer.

Conclusions: FM is the perfect way to escape reality. It allows you to be ambitious and follow your dreams without the consequences.

http://media.strategywiki.org/images/d/d5/Championship_Manager_99-00_cover.png

[nine_iron]

I had the italy/france/germany addon pack for CM2, i loved playing as sampdoria.

I also took Grimsby up a few divisions, had some old brazilians in my squad who were amazing for the leagues I was in!

I miss the sound commentry "short to the near post!!" very limited but it was all played out for real in my mind... the 3D we have now makes me lazy, I dont do that anymore