Less clicks - the anti-RSI thread

[Amaroq]

I know this sounds crap but I now have RSI and one of the things I used to spend most time on a PC doing was CM/FM. I agree, there is to much clicking and confirming needed to achieve basic gameplay.

I was going to reply with a PM to jazbo, but I figured I'd touch on it in this thread - not to take us horribly off topic, so please don't reply to this post!

Jazbo, as an RSI sufferer myself, here are the things that I've found:

1. Kinesis keyboards rocks, I recommend their top-of-the-line, which is shaped to your hand with recessed keywells and a much deeper keystroke than we're used to.

2. Dvorak keyboard input is much less painful that Qwerty.

3. A large trackball is a good thing

All three of those have a big learning curve, but they will make a huge difference!

4. Spend a lot on a high-quality chair, as much as you can afford.

5. Laptop on the couch is very very unhealthy, esp. compared to sitting with proper posture, ergonomic chair and desk setup, and a high-end keyboard.

6. A brief massage - forearms, upper shoulder, and neck - 5 to 10 minutes a day does wonders as preventive maintenance. Failing that, a 1-hour massage weekly reduced my pain dramatically also.

7. Visit a physical therapist and learn stretching exercises

8. Get a pair of squeezy balls, or even better, a hand spring device to squeeze, to strengthen your hands and forearms

9. Exercise - weights, cardio, surfing, football, whatever - helps, even though it feels unrelated.

10. Stand up from the computer every one to two hours, even if its just to take a brief walk around your flat. Stretch a bit when you do.

Hope some of that is helpful - both to you and to anybody else reading this thread who may be starting to feel some twinges in their forearms. If you think you're starting to get RSI, you already have it, and you should take steps now before it knocks you off of computers for an extended period!

(There's no need to take it further in this thread - if you're intrigued and want to know more there are plenty of forums and information on the web about ergonomics and RSI recovery / prevention. Google is your friend!)

[rinso]

another suggestion i just thought of for this, only a minor one though... whena youth player's contract is up for renewal, you geta news item, along with two "quick" option buttons - player report, and offer contract. why not add another one to "release from club" other wise youre into his profile, thn contract, then release...

[bigdaddydave]

I know this is going to sound harsh but people should stop being babies and quit whining. I suffer from bad arthritis in my left hand (my mouse hand) and I have zero problems playing the game, yet I cannot write more then a few lines of text with a pen without being in severe pain. I just cannot see how FM can cause RSI, I've been playing since the first CM and I'm fine.

People should do what I do when I need to do any writing for my studies, simply take a break if it hurts. Quit with the blame culture, it's not the fault of FM it's yours. If I was to adopt the same approach I would be blaming the guy whose head shattered 2 knuckles on my hand for my arthritis, the problem is I chose to hit his head so it's my fault. If FM is causing RSI then you really should play less, nobody is forcing you.

[Amaroq]

dave, I don't feel like there's a trend in this thread to "blame" SI for any RSI issues we may be suffering. However, as a developer, I can assure you that good UI design can do wonders towards alleviating RSI in commonly used products, and bad UI design can exacerbate it. As a thread, this is focused on "Identifying common tasks we perform and suggesting ways SI can reduce the number of clicks to perform those common tasks" - and I think that's a good thing.

Fully agree with you about the prevalence of the "victimhood culture" IRL, though, it seems its especially bad here in the States.

[FM1000]

I remember that when assigning 2 scouts to a particular country/region it sometimes happened that I got 1 message which stated both opinions. I just don't remember whether that was back in FM07 or in FM08, since it's been a while since I did that.

It would be nice to see an option to send multiple scouts for a player though, so you can have a few different takes on him. For instance, I have 1 scout who is incredible with Man Management, while having a lousy Judge Ability. The other has a 20 for Judge Ability, but a 3 for MM. Those would make a great team when working together.

Man Management?I thought that Judge Ability and Judge Potential are only stats that are crucial for scouts?

[Pipoli]

Most repetitive click-click situation for me is when there is no Reserves League avaialble for the League I'm in (Italy C1, for example). Asking the assistant to arrange friendlies for reserves doesn't reach the desired result, so the suffering begins.

- Choose date

- choose away (I choose away not to have to adjust money values),

teams on the list are serie A and serie B teams, but I just want my reserves to play serie c2 reserve teams, so:

- 'choose other'

- go to 'world' 'italy' 'c2/c'

- click any team

- click on its reserve

- finally invite for friendly

- confirm (pray that the date I had selected turns green, or I have to do it again)

Then, repeat for every Monday until the end of the calendar (consider scroll-memory problem mentioned above). The further the date, the longer it takes to find the date scrolling further down for EVERY new friendly arranged.

This is in the top of my hate-list for FM interface-wise.

Solution proposed is 'assistant responsible for arranging friendlies' should contain an "advanced" button, which takes you to the conditions.

schedule friends:

every monday between 1st/aug 30/may

home/away/random/round-robin

oponnents: 'main/reserves/u20' from league(s) 'c2/1-c2/2-c2/3'

Thanks all for reading.

[solstar]

Less clicks = more game time on my wireless mouse

[CBrooker]

An option to save individual intstructions to the player rather than the position would be good.

For example say I'm winning 1-0 with 15 minutes to go and want to take Anderson off from MC and replace him with the more defensive Hargreaves. At the moment I have to redo all of the individual instructions, reducing mentality, creative freedom, opposition instructions etc.

Instead, an checkbox to 'save instructions to player' would be helpful as everytime I bring Hargreaves on it would remember his individual instructions. Obviously this would be optional for every position and player as some positions the instructions would remain the same whoever I played there (GK for example).

Not sure I have described that very well, but hopefully you understand what I mean.

[Greg0r]

save the changes you make as a sepearte tactic then, and then just switch to that tactic

[CBrooker]

save the changes you make as a sepearte tactic then, and then just switch to that tactic

That's a good idea, but I'd have to save numerous different tactics with all the possible combinations of substitutions. IMO would be simpler if I could just tick a box so it would remember

[dankrzyz]

Instead, an checkbox to 'save instructions to player' would be helpful as everytime I bring Hargreaves on it would remember his individual instructions.

I think about this every time I sub a player, but you articulated it perfectly. Sometimes every player at a position is not of the same mold, sometimes the game situation dictates a change, and it would be a great relief to make this as easy as possible. In my current save, I have one AMC who is very good at long shots and another who is completely incapable from a distance. One of them has great creativity and the other couldn't conceive an original thought if his life depended on it. Otherwise they are very comparable. When I have one in, I want him to play one way, creatively but without shooting long, but the other is not creative but can shoot effectively from a distance. It would be great to have those tweaks pre-programmed into those players for a quick late-game substitution!

Solution proposed is 'assistant responsible for arranging friendlies' should contain an "advanced" button, which takes you to the conditions.

This "middle ground" would be great... give guidance for your AssMan, but still let him arrange friendlies.

However, as a developer, I can assure you that good UI design can do wonders towards alleviating RSI in commonly used products, and bad UI design can exacerbate it.

This is my favorite thread in the entire SI forum. These "little" usability fixes and shortcuts can make a big improvement in one's enjoyment of the game over the hours and hours and hours that we play FM.

[Elohir]

I know this is going to sound harsh but people should stop being babies and quit whining.

Try a little empathy out sometime, it does wonders for your personality.

I have arthritis in my right hand and if you can click a single button using the same joint hundreds of times without it hurting, you most certainly do not have 'bad arthritis in your hand'. If you had 'bad arthritis in your hand' you'd have trouble using a mouse at all.

Quit with the blame culture, it's not the fault of FM it's yours.

It's my fault I have arthritis? My God! I had no idea! You should write a journal, since you have just debunked all studies since the dawn of science!! Do you have a website? I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Neb]

Cracking ideas!

Does anyone else miss the red news flag in the bottom right corner of the screen? I find at the moment that the news and continue buttons are a bit close together. sometimes I hit the wrong one (I've terrible aim!).

Also, the pointer obscures the inbox when left over the continue button. (I should just use spacebar, I know!) sometimes a wee bit annoying.

[rakhabbit]

dunno if it's here already, but ....

Instead of having 1 seperate screen for each competition played that day, can they be combined somehow ?

Either a single scrollable screen, or a tabbed expandable screen (kinda like Finaces or Search on the main club squad screen)

[Fredric Drum]

Most repetitive click-click situation for me is when there is no Reserves League avaialble for the League I'm in (Italy C1, for example). Asking the assistant to arrange friendlies for reserves doesn't reach the desired result, so the suffering begins.

- Choose date

- choose away (I choose away not to have to adjust money values),

teams on the list are serie A and serie B teams, but I just want my reserves to play serie c2 reserve teams, so:

- 'choose other'

- go to 'world' 'italy' 'c2/c'

- click any team

- click on its reserve

- finally invite for friendly

- confirm (pray that the date I had selected turns green, or I have to do it again)

Then, repeat for every Monday until the end of the calendar (consider scroll-memory problem mentioned above). The further the date, the longer it takes to find the date scrolling further down for EVERY new friendly arranged.

This is in the top of my hate-list for FM interface-wise.

Solution proposed is 'assistant responsible for arranging friendlies' should contain an "advanced" button, which takes you to the conditions.

schedule friends:

every monday between 1st/aug 30/may

home/away/random/round-robin

oponnents: 'main/reserves/u20' from league(s) 'c2/1-c2/2-c2/3'

Thanks all for reading.

I'm going to have to +1 this post.

[Highor]

- Dont know if this is mentioned before, i would like to see a confirm dialog when you click the interresed button in a club to manage. Because if you accidentally click it you're in big trouble with your fans & club.

- Also in FM07, if your contract ends by your club and your a good manager, and you get message like "Chelsea is interresed in [managername], but we're just waiting for his permission" something like that, we must be able to say in the press if you would like to take the job or not. I know this sort of thing does exist already but the press thingy does not come on this type of question. Don't know how to explain it, hope you guys understand it.

sorry for my english