Match Engine Update 13.1.3 - quick overview. ME feedback here please.

[Fancy Gaffot]

4 seasons played, my players are yet to score a long range shot... Against me only one was scored, an insane strike from 40 yards by a player with long shots stat 11.

[taylorsmen]

Any way to stop players dribbling on the byline and attempting to score ? is it because i have them to cross from the byline maybe ?

[stevereay]

Firstly the match engine is much improved so congrats on that.

Downsides

1. Still way to many goals from crosses to the far post. Fullbacks are far to easy to beat and very poor at marking their man.

2. Players cutting in at the byline still try to shoot at the near post instead of looking for the patch.

[Al_Pacino]

Looking for the patch?

[Vladel]

Every so often after a match, the milestones mention it being a players career debut (these are usually players that have been playing for me for a number of years).

[Al_Pacino]

Wow, do you have a pkm of that game ? you should probably send this as a bug because it shouldnt be possible to miss that, unless doing it on purpose

I've seen them missed from closer (in real life), but that's still no excuse. I would've headbutted my monitor if that was my player missing from there.

[trai12]

Waiting for a new patch, seriously i can't play the game anymore. Well done SI.

[mal9ball]

My steam has not downloaded the update and nothing I do seems to suggest it is downloading it. What should I do?

[marcuscicero]

Cut through all the rhetoric, the point is this:

Customers should be able to play on a polished and playable ME from the first day of release.

Not 3 months after the release.

[MacZidane]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

[germaani]

Cut through all the rhetoric, the point is this:

Customers should be able to play on a polished and playable ME from the first day of release.

Not 3 months after the release.

True but at least we got FM 12 (Or earlier ones) which are playable. Shame that I can't copy FM 13 db back to 12.

[germaani]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

Seriously WTF man? Most of the writers have been pointing out what is wrong in ME but you are defending it anyway you can. I know that those people want this ME to be the best so far in FM/CM series and that's why they are here. If everybody were like you we would be playing a lot of worse FM. It isn't wrong to be critical.

[Herbert Fandel]

Seriously WTF man? Most of the writers have been pointing out what is wrong in ME but you are defending it anyway you can. I know that those people want this ME to be the best so far in FM/CM series and that's why they are here. If everybody were like you we would be playing a lot of worse FM. It isn't wrong to be critical.

Although it is my opinion he does go slightly overboard, and indeed I consider the match engine to still be a long way from perfect, I am keen to point out that he isn't saying not to criticise it. He is just pointing out that it is false to say it is unplayable. This is evidenced by the fact we are all playing it...

[OxfordUnitedFC]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

True, it doesn't help when every minor problem is said to make the game unplayable. It means when serious issues/bugs do occur they don't get highlighted enough because its just another in a long line of 'unplayable' bugs.

[Stewart91]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

There have been flaws in the ME since beta.

With each update they seem to have eliminated certain flaws but creating new imperfections at the sametime.

[marcuscicero]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

The ME has been playable since the game was released. False

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you. I found it unplayable, and sorry, it isn't just me. It is the majority of people on this thread. That says more about the ME, not the players. Get your logic straight.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening. Sure thing, for people who've been waiting days and nights for the 2013 release, it goes beyond the matter of melodrama. The only melodrama here is a kid who doesn't realise that the more he writes, the less he is actually saying.

Everyone agree with me? Thought so.

[Herbert Fandel]

The ME has been playable since the game was released. False

Why cant you understand that, even though MacZidane is perhaps overly defensive, when you write total nonsense like this you make it harder for the developers to listen to the views of anybody. The ME has been functional since release, it has always worked, it has always been playable.

Everyone agree with me? Thought so.

There is a different thread with a poll in it. I think you will see that actually most people don't agree with you.

[Widzew]

is it just me or does the AI always score within the last 10 minutes of play to equalize it if were up 1-0. Anyone have tactical advice on the matter?

[CCFC 4 EVA]

The ME has been playable since the game was released.

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening.

Yeah, you're talking absolute nonsense here.

Football Manager is my favourite game of all time and it's really the only computer game I play. Up until now (FM13), I've always felt that I was good at it, but wow I just find it to be far too frustrating, buggy and unenjoyable to actually play, meaning I'm going back to FM12.

Most of the criticism on here is constructive and well written, and that should be condonable.

[Monkey_Pill]

The amount of shots in games has reduced dramatically since the patch for me, before I was getting quite often one side with 20+ shots and the other 15+. Now it's normally 10 v 6 or something similar

[wwfan]

Yeah, you're talking absolute nonsense here.

Football Manager is my favourite game of all time and it's really the only computer game I play. Up until now (FM13), I've always felt that I was good at it, but wow I just find it to be far too frustrating, buggy and unenjoyable to actually play, meaning I'm going back to FM12.

Most of the criticism on here is constructive and well written, and that should be condonable.

Out of interest, is it frustrating and enjoyable because you can't win or because it is bugged? Or can't you win because of the bugs? Either way, what bugs are the core ones for you?

[daylight]

Man this forum needs to be updated a bit,I put someone on ignore and still have to read his dribble when someone quotes his post.

[Sharpy07]

The ME has been playable since the game was released. False

If you've ever found it unplayable, then IMO, it says more about you. I found it unplayable, and sorry, it isn't just me. It is the majority of people on this thread. That says more about the ME, not the players. Get your logic straight.

The amount of melodrama on here is frightening. Sure thing, for people who've been waiting days and nights for the 2013 release, it goes beyond the matter of melodrama. The only melodrama here is a kid who doesn't realise that the more he writes, the less he is actually saying.

Everyone agree with me? Thought so.

53,278 Steam Users at the moment think otherwise........oh sorry 53,279 (forgot me)!!

[germaani]

Out of interest, is it frustrating and enjoyable because you can't win or because it is bugged? Or can't you win because of the bugs? Either way, what bugs are the core ones for you?

Although I'm not CCFC 4 EVA I still answer. For me it's same as for he. I love this game and I don't really play another games and I also decided to go back FM 12.

The problem isn't that I can't win but the way I win. It isn't enjoyable (Not exploitting AI). The ME is simply too random and bugged. I know that it is new and I'm sure it has potential to be best ME ever but at the moment it isn't enjoyable.

[wwfan]

Although I'm not CCFC 4 EVA I still answer. For me it's same as for he. I love this game and I don't really play another games and I also decided to go back FM 12.

The problem isn't that I can't win but the way I win. It isn't enjoyable (Not exploitting AI). The ME is simply too random and bugged. I know that it is new and I'm sure it has potential to be best ME ever but at the moment it isn't enjoyable.

That doesn't mean anything to me. I don't find it random. I'm getting almost exactly the result spread I expect to get. I generally struggle against the best teams in the division, have tight matches against the mid-table teams and beat the worst teams (although of course do experience the odd shock result in and against my favour).

Hence, I don't think it is random at all. It certainly has some bugs, some annoying, some less so, but none that make the ME random in any way. So, I ask again, are you really not enjoying it because you can't work out how to do well or do we just have a different sensitivity to bugs?

[MacZidane]

Have a look at the thread wardog's just started and come back and tell me this game's unplayable.

Tsk, kids.

[CCFC 4 EVA]

Out of interest, is it frustrating and enjoyable because you can't win or because it is bugged? Or can't you win because of the bugs? Either way, what bugs are the core ones for you?

Because it's bugged. Even when I win I'm still not satisfied because of what I encounter in the match engine.

Players seem to have a lack of control when they have the ball, and their movements are so erratic. It's like they skate around the pitch, even on 2D classic mode (which I've resorted to because I just can't stand 3D.

Centre backs seem to have no positional awareness and seem to watch through balls go right past them. Tackling is also an issue. Both of these apply to even world class centre backs.

Goalkeepers still make too many mistakes.

I thought the ME in FM12 was brilliant, and I just find it disappointing that it's been changed so radically.

[Leander]

The top Bundesliga player's behaviour. Perfect decision, perfect timing, and perfect accuracy

[video=youtube;c-yCflM0ePQ]

[Charco]

How can you figure out what you are doing wrong when your team consistantly dominate possession and consistantly create more CCCs yet still fail to win against comparable or worse teams? If the information available to the user points to your tactics working and you still fail to win on a regular basis, what logical changes can be made to tactics to improve results? Any changes made will be illogical and in hope. If they succeed it will be blind luck.

[sirgiorgio]

Out of interest, is it frustrating and UNenjoyable because you can't win or because it is bugged? Or can't you win because of the bugs? Either way, what bugs are the core ones for you?

This is an interesting question, I want to answer, too

1) Most of the bugs are gone for good. Great job!

2) Some things remained, unfortunately (I think this thread is full of examples), but nothing as dreadful as the lack of closing down/defensive line dropping too deep from the previous patch

3) Small teams outplaying stronger sides. This is really "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", IMO

4) My player just missed an open goal. It can happen, ok, but why? I don't know, sometimes it just happens. Mmh, not convinced, but ok. Still, I'm infuriated, I want to tell him exactly what I think of him; let's see, individual team talk, aggressive... "I'm not happy with your performance"?! What is that? I've seen nuns and priests being more aggressive! And what's his reaction?! He is stressed, poor thing, I feel sorry for him. NOT. He should apologize to me and the team for being an idiot! You wanted realism? That's realism!

5) Body language and rating: I need to make a substitution. This one, he seems nervous, no, now he's composed, wait, nervous again, no, motivated now... Well, let's take a look at the ratings: ah-ah, 6.1. Ok, you're off, but now, 6.8? What happened?

To sum up: lack of control and lack of realism (and some bugs) produce a certain sense of "randomness". It feels like some parts of the game progressed while others didn't: "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", at the moment.

Man this forum needs to be updated a bit,I put someone on ignore and still have to read his dribble when someone quotes his post.

Same here.

(I think we're referring to the same user)

[MacZidane]

The top Bundesliga player's behaviour. Perfect decision, perfect timing, and perfect accuracy

[video=youtube;c-yCflM0ePQ]

That happens quite a lot in real life. Just a breakdown in communication. The guy on the ball obviously thought the attacker was going to run into that space, but he didn't, and it's turned into a wasted pass.

Move along, nothing to see here.

[Stewart91]

That happens quite a lot in real life. Just a breakdown in communication. The guy on the ball obviously thought the attacker was going to run into that space, but he didn't, and it's turned into a wasted pass.

Move along, nothing to see here.

How about you move along, Leander feels it is an issue.

In you're copious amounts of posts you say nothing.

[Al_Pacino]

"You've previously seen your team hit the woodwork an inordinate number of times in a match and remarkably, it happened again today. Did you ever feel that the result was going to turn out badly as a result?"

Getting SICK AND TIRED of this particular anomaly. It's happening at least twice a match, often several more times than that. Just ludicrous.

[Kriss]

This is an interesting question, I want to answer, too

1) Most of the bugs are gone for good. Great job!

2) Some things remained, unfortunately (I think this thread is full of examples), but nothing as dreadful as the lack of closing down/defensive line dropping too deep from the previous patch

3) Small teams outplaying stronger sides. This is really "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", IMO

4) My player just missed an open goal. It can happen, ok, but why? I don't know, sometimes it just happens. Mmh, not convinced, but ok. Still, I'm infuriated, I want to tell him exactly what I think of him; let's see, individual team talk, aggressive... "I'm not happy with your performance"?! What is that? I've seen nuns and priests being more aggressive! And what's his reaction?! He is stressed, poor thing, I feel sorry for him. NOT. He should apologize to me and the team for being an idiot! You wanted realism? That's realism!

5) Body language and rating: I need to make a substitution. This one, he seems nervous, no, now he's composed, wait, nervous again, no, motivated now... Well, let's take a look at the ratings: ah-ah, 6.1. Ok, you're off, but now, 6.8? What happened?

To sum up: lack of control and lack of realism (and some bugs) produce a certain sense of "randomness". It feels like some parts of the game progressed while others didn't: "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", at the moment.

Same here.

(I think we're referring to the same user)

Nice to see some properly constructive criticism, worth a hundred of the OMGZ! posts I'm tempted to delete.

Sorry about the forum software, blame VBulletin for that.

[Leander]

That happens quite a lot in real life. Just a breakdown in communication. The guy on the ball obviously thought the attacker was going to run into that space, but he didn't, and it's turned into a wasted pass.

Move along, nothing to see here.

This guy is technically one of the best players in Bundesliga. Also has decent mental stats (decisions, anticipation, creativity) - this is my 5th season, so he is even better, than he is at the start of the game. And even if Doumbia was Agbonlahor, he wouldn't be able to get to that ball. It's just stupid decision, from a player, who was told to play killer balls rarely by his manager.

[MacZidane]

This guy is technically one of the best players in Bundesliga. Also has decent mental stats (decisions, anticipation, creativity) - this is my 5th season, so he is even better, than he is at the start of the game. And even if Doumbia was Agbonlahor, he wouldn't be able to get to that ball. It's just stupid decision, from a player, who was told to play killer balls rarely by his manager.

Yeah, but the point I'm making is that things like that can still happen. For example, Xavi's horrendous error which led to Tony Watt's winner for Celtic in the Champions League game recently. If that had happened in this game, people would be falling over themselves to criticise the ME.

If what you posted happens on a regular basis with that player then yeah, I'd probably say there's a bit of an issue there somewhere. If it was a one off, then it's not really anything drastic.

IMO of course, before more of the haters jump on board.

[themadsheep2001]

Nice to see some properly constructive criticism, worth a hundred of the OMGZ! posts I'm tempted to delete.

Sorry about the forum software, blame VBulletin for that.

Honestly, I think you should delete them, along with the mirroring "there is nothing wrong at all" blanket statements, as it drowns out the genuinely useful feedback like sirgiorgio's post.

Anyway, CB's are still very slow to react to through balls from out wide. Players still too slow to anticipate clearances.

Those struggling with Full backs not marking, I've found OIs do an excellent job in taking out dangerous wingers. Last iteration I dont think I ever touched them, but this time they are a vaulable extra tool.

[wwfan]

This is an interesting question, I want to answer, too

1) Most of the bugs are gone for good. Great job!

2) Some things remained, unfortunately (I think this thread is full of examples), but nothing as dreadful as the lack of closing down/defensive line dropping too deep from the previous patch

3) Small teams outplaying stronger sides. This is really "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", IMO

4) My player just missed an open goal. It can happen, ok, but why? I don't know, sometimes it just happens. Mmh, not convinced, but ok. Still, I'm infuriated, I want to tell him exactly what I think of him; let's see, individual team talk, aggressive... "I'm not happy with your performance"?! What is that? I've seen nuns and priests being more aggressive! And what's his reaction?! He is stressed, poor thing, I feel sorry for him. NOT. He should apologize to me and the team for being an idiot! You wanted realism? That's realism!

5) Body language and rating: I need to make a substitution. This one, he seems nervous, no, now he's composed, wait, nervous again, no, motivated now... Well, let's take a look at the ratings: ah-ah, 6.1. Ok, you're off, but now, 6.8? What happened?

To sum up: lack of control and lack of realism (and some bugs) produce a certain sense of "randomness". It feels like some parts of the game progressed while others didn't: "frustrating" and "unenjoyable", at the moment.

Same here.

(I think we're referring to the same user)

Worth replying to:

1: Glad you think so. We agree.

2: Also on the same page.

3: There was an issue in the release ME that contributed to that. although it was never that serious. Now it's fixed, then it shouldn't be a problem. If it is only happening to your team, then it is something you are / aren't doing.

4: Silly mistakes happen. I'd be very wary of criticising heavily for a missed chance or two. Fair enough for a bad performance over 90 minutes, but not because of a couple of scuffed shots.

5: There seems to be a quick reaction to near misses or cards, which makes players look anxious or nervous for a minute or so, which is probably the cause of this. Would agree about the massive rating jumps for doing one thing right, but also the massive ratings slump for doing one thing badly.

[Kriss]

Most of the criticism on here is constructive and well written, and that should be condonable.

It is condonable, in fact it's the only criticism we really want to see, i.e. facts which will help SI iron out the bugs and improve the ME performance overall.

[asdpoo]

Sooo... I don't know what to think. Defending is awful.

[video=youtube;x86qwlR5pF4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x86qwlR5pF4

[MattyOlav]

Ι am sorry to say but it seems that there are much bigger problems and issues to the ME than anticipated.

The ME was dreadfull to begin with and the patch did improve things a little, but only a little. It acts more like a placebo therapy than a real cure.

-The ball physics, that, well, defy basic physics laws.

-The cross in the far post which 8/10 times results in a goal and an embarassing slip of the goalkeeper. (It seems as there is no grass there, only ice and the goalie, just slips and fells).

-The defence (four men defence/three men defence doesnt matter) although improved still has a lot to learn about, well, defending. I live for the moment that one of my wing backs, will put some pressure in the opposing winger (and yes i tried everything regarding tactics/shouts/you name it) instead of just looking at him,or i should say, admire him.

-I also love the way that, when in attack and around the opposing team's box, my team(s) are playing an endless (or so it seems) one-two passing game, usually resulting in a shot so misplaced that puts S.Ramos penalty kick in shame. No one, regardless of his skills, seems to be able to pick the lonely guy on the far left/right of the attack.

There are probably more, but that is all i remember for now.

Please fix it, sometimes its not only unrealistic, is ridiculous, pure an simple.

Please bring back the FM12 ME back, even if it is on a non-save compatible patch. Pretty please, with sugar on top.

Every goal is the same for me... 70% are from crosses, 10% from GK error, and the rest 20% from through balls..... The worst ME in years.

Totally agree! I was going to write the same. In te first 10 minutes the IA always makes a single cross, and the defenders are watching like stupids how the opossite scores. Absolute no reaction! That **** me off!

I was always a great fan and player of FM series, since Football Manager 2003 (2003 and 2005 were the best in my opinion), but really this year i'm thinking in FIFA Manager...

Another thing, what the hell happens to the trainings?? This is so unrealistic, also the match prep.

I think SI tried to make the game more realistic than ever, but now all the emotion and happines is lost, it's too hard to success, excesive confusion in tactics! Just make a simple engine. Less options and vars = simpler and more funny game.

Cut through all the rhetoric, the point is this:

Customers should be able to play on a polished and playable ME from the first day of release.

Not 3 months after the release.

Yes, i feel scammed. As an almost system engineer, i know that is a must. You cannot sell a game without the proper testing.

SI staff could say "is not the same 1000 SI testers than Millions users testing", but this year the bugs are very visible. In one day playing you can figure all the problemas that all users are complaining, especially the unconsitency between games (wins against top teams, and then losing all the easy games), gk big mistakes (kicking the ball directly to rivals, then shot, then goal), ridicously goals from crosses (because the defenders are useless, blind, and ********), and a lot more!

That's my opinion.

[MacZidane]

Having just finished a whole season, I'd like to offer my thoughts (to the six people who don't have me on ignore )

All in all, I think the game is exceptionally good. It's probably the best version of the game I've played since the 01/02 game (which as most officianados know will never be beaten!). Most of the faults from the previous ME seems to have been ironed out, and graphical glitches and strange passages of play are at a minimum - in my game anyway - and I still love the fact that decisions I make seem to have a real tangible difference on proceedings, something I've not encountered as much in previous versions.

My main gripe with the recent update is what I touched on earlier regarding my Coventry save. Having got myself into a good position over the first half of the season with a solid 4-3-1-2 formation, when the update happened, this formation overnight became pretty useless. Pasted 4-1 at home by Scunthorpe and Bournemouth had me scratching my head as to what was going wrong. I eventually changed to a more rigid 4-4-1-1 formation, and managed to get back into the playoffs after a good run to the end of the seaon (lost in the playoff semi after an utter disaster of a 2nd leg, but that's football). Now, the main point here is my lack of genuine wide players was conducive to me having a narrow formation in the first place, yet when I changed, it worked better even though my players weren't as suitable.

In my pre-season meeting with my AM just there, he gives his opinion on the best formation for the players I have at the moment. Guess what? It's 4-3-1-2 :confused:

There are still some instances where defenders will simply stand and let players run past them onto through balls, but I'm not totally convinced it's as much of a 'bug' as people make out, as you see the same thing every week IRL. I haven't played a save as a top, top side yet, and I suppose that could be deemed as unrealistic at that level iif it happens just as often.

I do believe that most of the 'head scratching' things some of your players do are deliberately put in by the developers to keep the game from looking like two teams of robots playing who never make mistakes. I've noticed a lot less goalkeeper errors since the update, but as Mignolet showed today, they do happen, and at the top level too.

The game's difficulty is pitched just right this year, I feel. I've always sucked at the game - apart from the 93/94 game curiously, where I led York to Champions League glory, the one and only time I've won a European trophy - and previous versions have all felt like struggling to find an elusive tactic to beat the game, rather than use your own management skills. This year is better in that regard. I guess why that's such a disparity in this version of people finding it too easy/too hard. Which is also why I was a bit disappointed with the reaction of the update to my tactics, but I digress.

Finally, about the only other thing that annoys me, and it's not ME related really, is players rejecting your contract offers despite bursting the bank with incentives and wages, only for them to sign for someone else a couple of days later for a contract you could easily have afforded. In fairness, this has been an issue in the last few FM's and I'm surprised it hasn't been sorted by now, but hey ho.

Overall, a great game, and it's a tad laughable that some class it as 'unplayable'. Congrats SI, good work.

[Kriss]

Having just finished a whole season, I'd like to offer my thoughts (to the six people who don't have me on ignore )

All in all, I think the game is exceptionally good. It's probably the best version of the game I've played since the 01/02 game (which as most officianados know will never be beaten!). Most of the faults from the previous ME seems to have been ironed out, and graphical glitches and strange passages of play are at a minimum - in my game anyway - and I still love the fact that decisions I make seem to have a real tangible difference on proceedings, something I've not encountered as much in previous versions.

My main gripe with the recent update is what I touched on earlier regarding my Coventry save. Having got myself into a good position over the first half of the season with a solid 4-3-1-2 formation, when the update happened, this formation overnight became pretty useless. Pasted 4-1 at home by Scunthorpe and Bournemouth had me scratching my head as to what was going wrong. I eventually changed to a more rigid 4-4-1-1 formation, and managed to get back into the playoffs after a good run to the end of the seaon (lost in the playoff semi after an utter disaster of a 2nd leg, but that's football). Now, the main point here is my lack of genuine wide players was conducive to me having a narrow formation in the first place, yet when I changed, it worked better even though my players weren't as suitable.

In my pre-season meeting with my AM just there, he gives his opinion on the best formation for the players I have at the moment. Guess what? It's 4-3-1-2

There are still some instances where defenders will simply stand and let players run past them onto through balls, but I'm not totally convinced it's as much of a 'bug' as people make out, as you see the same thing every week IRL. I haven't played a save as a top, top side yet, and I suppose that could be deemed as unrealistic at that level iif it happens just as often.

I do believe that most of the 'head scratching' things some of your players do are deliberately put in by the developers to keep the game from looking like two teams of robots playing who never make mistakes. I've noticed a lot less goalkeeper errors since the update, but as Mignolet showed today, they do happen, and at the top level too.

The game's difficulty is pitched just right this year, I feel. I've always sucked at the game - apart from the 93/94 game curiously, where I led York to Champions League glory, the one and only time I've won a European trophy - and previous versions have all felt like struggling to find an elusive tactic to beat the game, rather than use your own management skills. This year is better in that regard. I guess why that's such a disparity in this version of people finding it too easy/too hard. Which is also why I was a bit disappointed with the reaction of the update to my tactics, but I digress.

Finally, about the only other thing that annoys me, and it's not ME related really, is players rejecting your contract offers despite bursting the bank with incentives and wages, only for them to sign for someone else a couple of days later for a contract you could easily have afforded. In fairness, this has been an issue in the last few FM's and I'm surprised it hasn't been sorted by now, but hey ho.

Overall, a great game, and it's a tad laughable that some class it as 'unplayable'. Congrats SI, good work.

Can we take it that's your final analysis then?

[MacZidane]

You try yer best, and you still get cheek. You people

[Vladel]

Having just finished a whole season, I'd like to offer my thoughts (to the six people who don't have me on ignore )

All in all, I think the game is exceptionally good. It's probably the best version of the game I've played since the 01/02 game (which as most officianados know will never be beaten!). Most of the faults from the previous ME seems to have been ironed out, and graphical glitches and strange passages of play are at a minimum - in my game anyway - and I still love the fact that decisions I make seem to have a real tangible difference on proceedings, something I've not encountered as much in previous versions.

My main gripe with the recent update is what I touched on earlier regarding my Coventry save. Having got myself into a good position over the first half of the season with a solid 4-3-1-2 formation, when the update happened, this formation overnight became pretty useless. Pasted 4-1 at home by Scunthorpe and Bournemouth had me scratching my head as to what was going wrong. I eventually changed to a more rigid 4-4-1-1 formation, and managed to get back into the playoffs after a good run to the end of the seaon (lost in the playoff semi after an utter disaster of a 2nd leg, but that's football). Now, the main point here is my lack of genuine wide players was conducive to me having a narrow formation in the first place, yet when I changed, it worked better even though my players weren't as suitable.

In my pre-season meeting with my AM just there, he gives his opinion on the best formation for the players I have at the moment. Guess what? It's 4-3-1-2 :confused:

There are still some instances where defenders will simply stand and let players run past them onto through balls, but I'm not totally convinced it's as much of a 'bug' as people make out, as you see the same thing every week IRL. I haven't played a save as a top, top side yet, and I suppose that could be deemed as unrealistic at that level iif it happens just as often.

I do believe that most of the 'head scratching' things some of your players do are deliberately put in by the developers to keep the game from looking like two teams of robots playing who never make mistakes. I've noticed a lot less goalkeeper errors since the update, but as Mignolet showed today, they do happen, and at the top level too.

The game's difficulty is pitched just right this year, I feel. I've always sucked at the game - apart from the 93/94 game curiously, where I led York to Champions League glory, the one and only time I've won a European trophy - and previous versions have all felt like struggling to find an elusive tactic to beat the game, rather than use your own management skills. This year is better in that regard. I guess why that's such a disparity in this version of people finding it too easy/too hard. Which is also why I was a bit disappointed with the reaction of the update to my tactics, but I digress.

Finally, about the only other thing that annoys me, and it's not ME related really, is players rejecting your contract offers despite bursting the bank with incentives and wages, only for them to sign for someone else a couple of days later for a contract you could easily have afforded. In fairness, this has been an issue in the last few FM's and I'm surprised it hasn't been sorted by now, but hey ho.

Overall, a great game, and it's a tad laughable that some class it as 'unplayable'. Congrats SI, good work.

I agree with you for the most part and would like to remind people of just what a huge overhaul the game has had this year and the progress SI have made in improving it has been very impressive. IF folk want to complain about games not being ready or being unplayable, they should have tried the latest F1 game when it was released! Car crash (pun intended).

[Guest]

Thats the thing that I dont like about the ME.. Its always the same every year. You make a tactic, it works, they change the ME and it doesnt work anymore. So you change it to suit, they change the ME again, and its rendered completely useless.. How can that be? How can your tactic take you from winning every game to losing every game just by downloadinga patch?

You are suppose to design your tactic to beat the opposition and play the style of football you want, but what you really have to do is design a tactic that beats the ME or works well for the ME.. which obviously real managers dont have to worry about.

Even reading somes of the fixes like, increase amount of shots, decreased amount of crosses, or whatever.. Shouldnt it be your tactics that decide some of these 'fixes' not the ME. It kind of feels like the ME pretty much decideds it for you. I always felt my tactics were pretty much ignored as it was the ME that decided most of what happens..

[Al_Pacino]

Just played Fulham...

Chris Baird took a free kick from about 40 yards out. Was flying harmlessly well wide for a goal kick, yet Reina inexplicably moved across and tried to catch it, and deflected it into his own net. Hilarious.

[sirgiorgio]

Worth replying to:

3: There was an issue in the release ME that contributed to that. although it was never that serious. Now it's fixed, then it shouldn't be a problem. If it is only happening to your team, then it is something you are / aren't doing.

4: Silly mistakes happen. I'd be very wary of criticising heavily for a missed chance or two. Fair enough for a bad performance over 90 minutes, but not because of a couple of scuffed shots.

5: There seems to be a quick reaction to near misses or cards, which makes players look anxious or nervous for a minute or so, which is probably the cause of this. Would agree about the massive rating jumps for doing one thing right, but also the massive ratings slump for doing one thing badly.

3. I don't think I am the only one. I think Kriss mentioned that too in another thread. And it happens with every team and every tactic I use, it's hard to believe "it's my tactic" (and also the Celtic 9 - Milan 0 screenshot AI vs AI seems to agree with me)... I think a couple of users explained it already, but I'll try again: I play a friendly match against a bunch of sunday-league footballers. They can give all they got, and my boys might be extremely bored and self-complacent. But still, my players are better, they know how to beat those amateurs even if I am the most stupid manager ever.

4. Silly managers "happen", too. (And silly bugs, maybe...) I can do many stupid things in FM. And sometimes missing a chance is just as bad (if not worse) as a bad performance over 90 minutes. Maicosuel (Udinese) was punished for two months just because he missed a penalty.

5. And no change at all for doing very bad things, like a red card in the first half.

[Kriss]

Thats the thing that I dont like about the ME.. Its always the same every year. You make a tactic, it works, they change the ME and it doesnt work anymore. So you change it to suit, they change the ME again, and its rendered completely useless.. How can that be? How can your tactic take you from winning every game to losing every game just by downloadinga patch?

You are suppose to design your tactic to beat the opposition and play the style of football you want, but what you really have to do is design a tactic that beats the ME or works well for the ME.. which obviously real managers dont have to worry about.

I've always found that if I act in FM like I think a real manager would it works out okay, FM allows you to obsess over things no real manager would and too many people make the mistake (imo) of doing just that.

For instance, if I pay millions for a winger I assume he knows how to play on the wing, so I give him a role and leave him to it.

I don't give him loads of individual instructions because I shouldn't need to, it works for me.

[MattyOlav]

Thats the thing that I dont like about the ME.. Its always the same every year. You make a tactic, it works, they change the ME and it doesnt work anymore. So you change it to suit, they change the ME again, and its rendered completely useless.. How can that be? How can your tactic take you from winning every game to losing every game just by downloadinga patch?

You are suppose to design your tactic to beat the opposition and play the style of football you want, but what you really have to do is design a tactic that beats the ME or works well for the ME.. which obviously real managers dont have to worry about.

Even reading somes of the fixes like, increase amount of shots, decreased amount of crosses, or whatever.. Shouldnt it be your tactics that decide some of these 'fixes' not the ME. It kind of feels like the ME pretty much decideds it for you. I always felt my tactics were pretty much ignored as it was the ME that decided most of what happens..

Totally agree!!!!!

I hope somebody from SI reads your comment! They must print it and paste in every programmer and designer office!