Your final rating of the game. scale 1-10

[Kingofpilot]

So I uninstalled fm few min. ago and I want to share with you my rating of the game as well as i want to hear yours. I will play no more since I won everything in the game and i lost interest in it. But also i dont want to continue because the game is still riddled with bugs and ridiculous stuff.

ME - this year´s ME is definitely frustrating. On one hand it has potential but there are so many ******** things going on so I cant really say Iam happy with it, mainly because it took SI some 3 months to make it decent. I hope they will improve most of the things that have been mentioned here so we dont have to vomit next year after playing just one match. If fm 2014 and itś ME wont be significant improvement over 13 than it will be my last fm. Player ratings - Broken. Goalkeepers never have more than 8, at least I havent seen it and I played 12 seasons, and in some games GK´s were amazing but their rating usually was 7.1 at max. DC´s are overrated, they end up with 8 or even 9 almost every single game. It seems the game does not recognize that i player has made a mistake. Huge fail, SI.

Transfer market - Big dissapointment for me. AI is still rather soft when acqiring new players and it will let you poach great players for pennies so you can make hyper-strong squad. AI´s squad building abilities are simply lacking. Another thing that has been huge fail this year are contracts - they are broken, just broken. Players will demand literally millions per week from you only to sign for a relegation team for 15 000 per week. Agents are too greedy and there is no negotiating, there is no way how to push the wage demand down. You offer huge bonuses but the agent wont accept lower wage. It´s simply poor.

Regens/Newgens[/b]. Attributes distribution is bad - this year- majority of generated players have extremely low aggression, bravery, teamwork and creativity.

Press conferences- After 30 minutes they become boring, at least you dont have to attend them.

Interface - Kind of complicated but no problem for me.

Graphics[/b] - I play in 2d because the animations are horrible but no big deal for me, this game is not about visual experience - for me.

Network - I dont play online so cant evaluate.

Miscellaneus - I would like the game to portray crisis so you actually play poor not that just your players start missing 6 CCC per game or completely stop shooting so they can get tackled.

Decrease home advantage - its too strong, ridiculous result happen because of this.

There are things players have been complaining about for years, it would be nice if you finally fixed them.

Please, focus on ME and Transfer market, contracts etc, new features should be introduced when the old ones work properly.

Make Beta next year longer. Those 2 weeks were not enough.

Final rating 6/10 360 hours played

[Darth_Sidius]

ME is terrible and because of this game is unplayable. It's no longer football simulation, looks like silly arcade (booring arcade ). And when you pay 50€ for unplayable game you can't rate game more than 1/10....never going to throw my money on this company again....

Final raiting 1/10

[cjmaitland]

Two harsh reviews there, and one of them from a designer of Fifa Manager by the looks of the review.

9 / 10 - Solid game this year, excellent gameplay, longevity, every save game is different. As with any PC game these days, the ability to customise the game is essential and with a such a huge community the possibilities are endless. 1 point lost due to so many patches for bugs, but otherwise tremendous game which i've recommended to everyone who'll listen.

[Kingofpilot]

I wouldnt say 6/10 is harsh, it´s just slightly above mediocre. I wanted to give 7 but i went for six because of the terrible Christmas update that forced me to play the game for almost two months.

[deltablue]

Maybe 7. I do have a bunch of little things I don't like about it, and it's not my favourite by any means, but nothing that major.

[Dagenham_Dave]

I'd probably say 9/10 for this year, based on the fact I've already racked up over double the amount of game time compared to FM12, which I loved at the time. Went back and played an old save from 12 the other day, and it's remarkable how badly dated the ME looks already.

[tomtuck01]

ME is terrible and because of this game is unplayable. It's no longer football simulation, looks like silly arcade (booring arcade ). And when you pay 50€ for unplayable game you can't rate game more than 1/10....never going to throw my money on this company again....

Final raiting 1/10

Hahahahahahhahaha. Comedy gold.

[Carmi88]

6/10

A step back ME wise from fm12, however the DoF and transfers were better

285 hours played

[QWERTYOP]

I'm not willing to give it a 1-10 rating - I think they're a bit pointless.

My overview though - MUCH tougher than last year. Still many of the same issues that last years version had. Whacky moral fluctuations, silly non-realistic reactions to team talks, and the reputations aspect of the game needs scrapping for something completely different. Communication (with players, staff, or media) while improved, has a LONG way to go. On top of these existing issues which still haven't been fixed, the DoF post, while an excellent idea, kinda feels like it's been thrown in half finished. I wish they'd waited another year and got it right before chucking it in as a shiny new feature.

[OxfordUnitedFC]

ME is terrible and because of this game is unplayable.

Final raiting 1/10

Ridiculous comment.

After the final patch i think the match engine is now better than FM12 although of course there are many improvements that can be made. More animations need to be added but if you're expecting Fifa style graphics then that isn't going to happen. As the OP stated the ratings for goalkeepers and defenders need to be balanced better.

The press conference and player interactions are still incredibly limited and are a chore to do and makes the game less fun. That said i've still played a lot of hours and am still enjoying it.

The tax bug however did stop me playing for a few weeks and because of that i won't be buying FM14 on release day.

I would give the game a 7 out of 10. Probably may have been 8 without the tax bug issue.

As requested below my game time is over 8 days but that's not a great representation as it can be running in the background for hours at a time whilst i'm doing other things. I am however just starting the 7th season.

[Neil Brock]

Don't have a massive problem with this thread but please do post your 'hours played' on your biggest save as well so we can see how long you gave it before giving a review. Thanks.

[joshua-soul]

Fantastic game. Depth of information and quality of screenshots with info are excellent. 8-9 out of ten for me.

Always room for improvement but look how far the game has developed over the last few years.

Fantastic. if it was otherwise I would not play.

[30.Beast]

and the reputations aspect of the game needs scrapping for something completely different.

I would love to see this happen aswell. Not sure what too, but I have this nagging feeling that the over-dependence on reputation is holding the game back.

[stevereay]

At release i'd give it a 4/10. Now after all the updates I'd have to say 7/10.

I've only played 7 seasons offline as I buy the game now to play online with friends we are currently into our 4th online season after waiting for all the patches to comes out.

Still a few match engine glitches and game issues. but overall i think we now have a game that has taken a huge step forward from FM12.

I'd like to see FM14 as a well polish version of FM13 instead of a game with 100's of new features. Lets get a great match engine.

[gogogo golem]

I'm of the belief it's the best FM ever. I don't normally rate things but for me 8/10. Some great changes, I love the UI, the ME (which is the best ever imo, less exploity and generally more realistic) and most of the other features of the game. The things that are keeping it down are the early ME bugs but they were inevitable, the fact a game can never be perfect and some other minor-medium bugs.

[Sussex Hammer]

Hours and hours played for me although just started a new save as I got bored with the last one.

In the words of Mr. Spock, "it's football Jim, but not as we know it!!" Massive disappointment really with the ME which I think should be the core of FM and I actually find very unrealistic, it's odd how people are split on this. That's where all your ideas are meant to come to fruition and for me it fails sadly. It doesn't play like football should play with the endless long shots, poor crossing, poor finishing, poor defending, poor decision making, poor variety of goals, poor marking, poor tracking back, the list sadly is endless with too many in match injuries and red cards also a disaster and it could be so good that's the sad thing for me but unfortunately it plays and feels like a lottery a lot of the time.

Other areas like Staff are pretty hopeless. Forget leaving an Ass Man to take training or you will be working on the same thing all season, Staff intelligence is extremely poor and hopefully one day will be improved.

I still love the game as I always have but to me it's just so random or that's how it feels and I think it's becoming more of a chore these days rather than enjoyment and I'm not sure if I will buy another one, certainly not at release date.

Get the ME and Staff intelligence right and stop the repetitiveness of things like Team talks and Press conferences then there is a fantastic game in there somewhere but at the moment I would say it's a 4/10.

[Piethief100]

522 hours played. What a total ripoff eh? That's 4p an hour.

As for the review, I think 7/10. I love the interface and new features, but the ME has left me frustrated at times.

I'll be pre-ordering FM14 as usual though.

[tadicweb]

For ME 1/10

For the entire game 5/10...

[jbutton]

10/10, in 2025 (Longest i've ever played one save) having the best save i've ever had. Great game in my opinion, one of the best in the series.

Played only 350+ hours because of Uni, FM 12 and 11 have 900 each.

[Royal Flash]

Don't have a massive problem with this thread but please do post your 'hours played' on your biggest save as well so we can see how long you gave it before giving a review. Thanks.

My “game time” says 16 days 19 hours <shocked and slightly horrified face>!!

Does the game take inactivity into account? Only I usually load FM just after hitting “offline mode” for steam after starting my computer. That doesn’t mean I’m playing it. For example, today I’ve had it open pretty much all day but have only actually played in about half an hour.

Anyhow, I’d give the original (post demo) version 5/10 and the current 6/10. I find it playable, if irritating (back passes turning into through balls for enemy strikers too often; defenders running away from balls they can easily clear; midfielders dwelling on the ball so they can be robbed even with passing options and on fast pace; highlights bug on changing tactics and others), while between the December hotfixes and the long-awaiting update a few weeks ago I couldn’t play it at all.

This is evidently a transition version, so I’m confident that FM14 will be brilliant (at least after the first update….), but nevertheless FM13 is perfectly playable, so 6/10 is reasonable.

[daylight]

I would say I have played around 300 hours on this save.

I am in 2023 and have taken Tonbridge into the Premiership.

The game is much much better than it was at release,still a few problems with it though,I will name a few things.

The match divergence is a real pain,I have I think been unlucky with this as it has happened a few times for me,hopefully SI can sort it out but from what I have read it is really difficult for them to do so.

Some of the player information does not make a lot of sense,for instance I had a young player I sent out on loan to AC Milan,now he was only 18 at the time and played 36 games for them,they had a good season and he came back with a good rating.

The following season he is playing for my first team and gets injured and I get a news message going on about his injury and then says he has recently returned from an unsuccessful loan spell at AC Milan.

He returned at the end of last season and has now played for 4 months of the new season so no he has not just returned and also he had a very good loan spell.

This is just 1 example,there have been quite a few messages that make no sense.

The ME is okay now,not great but okay.

Still seeing way to many games where either I batter the opposition and lose or vice versa,I was on a 3 game losing streak having been far the better team in all 3 games,I then play Chelsea and they batter me with 23 shots at goal to my 3 shots and I win that game 1-0,while I concede that this can happen it can not and should not happen with such regularity.

The bug where I pause the game to make a substitution and once I hit play again it shows me a goal with no build up play is quite annoying,no game breaker but very annoying,maybe I am being unlucky again but this has happened to me 5 times this season,it never happened in any previous season,it is almost like it got 'added' in the last patch.

Having said all that I have played around 350 hours of the game so they are doing something right

I will give it a 7 out of 10,not the best in the series for sure but again not the worst(I am looking at you CM4).

The ME needs a lot of work(FM13 wont see it),also some of the annoying little bugs need to be squashed out.

Also I would love SI to fire the prediction guy and get a new 1 in

That guy is beyond useless,He fancies 18th placed Burnley to beat my 7th placed Tonbridge when I am at home,then in the next game he fancies my Tonbridge side to beat 3rd placed Arsenal when I am away from home.

[XaW]

I struggled to get into the game after release, but that was mostly down to me not getting the hang of the match engine. After a month of not playing I got back into it and are now enjoying it immensely. I currently have 5 days and 15 hours into my current save () and counting. Currently doing Gundos challenge and trying to get Wiener SK to win Champions League.

My scores:

At release 5/10

Now 8/10

[FMtillidie]

336 Hours played, and i can safely say i haven't enjoyed a game as much as this one since FM08. i have played the FMC version of the game and its been great, i truly have loved my latest save, think i've had my new laptop since the 13th of Feb and i started this save and its been brilliant, over 14 seasons played.

Like to thank every one of the SI Staff, they deserve some praise after Criticism In most of the posts i've seen this year.

So cheers guys

[Lukejohns12]

8/10 good game but I don't like gameplay.

[ljwjones]

Okay so am into my 9th day(8 days 7 hours) on this save at the moment, and well surly that speaks for itself.

This iteration of the game is incredible. You can play for 5 hours straight and enjoy it, you can play one day in a week and come back a week later and still enjoy it. You can develop the players and see them progress. Yeh those features were present before but something this year just clicks and works.

Of cause there was the problems to begin with, but that's the same every year and in the end due to the huge community of people ehre giving feedback the game improves so thats fine.

i have to give it 9/10 Near perfection for me. But always room to improve on anything.

[30.Beast]

It's amazing to see the diverse opinion on the game. Still, I really hope FM14 is an extremely polished version of this game - I'd still pay for that, even if it didn't come with any new features.

[Katarian]

7/10 I've only played 50 hours and two seasons so far this year. I'll probably play the game more but to be honest I'm already seeing the start of same long term problems that plague FM.

The UI has improved, but there are far too many tabs and sub tabs that makes trying to find some information difficult. When playing matches I wish the game would switch between the overview when there is no highlight and the pitch view when there is a highlight automatically. Loads of other niggles with the UI, but it's long term games why I play FM and it's an area that barely improves every year. Can't see myself paying release day full price for the game anytime soon, but it is still worth purchasing for £15-£20 in Jan/Feb.

[Crispypaul]

8.5/10 - ME looking good (now) considering its fairly new.

1/10 -c'mon that's just silly, its not Rise of the Robots.

[starburst91]

Into my 8th season, the games pretty good, i've been playing since fm08, and for me i'd say this is midwayish in those games. Better than 09 and 10 for me, but I really enjoyed 08,11 and 12, more than I have on this game so far. The layouts still a bit backwards and over-complicated sometimes compared to older iterations. I think defending on the match engine could do some work its not really quite like real life yet, theres always too much space given, this is being said having managed a team that has conceded few goals and according to the game has defenders getting outstanding ratings. Transfers have improved in some ways but still annoying in other ways. Teams seem to hold on to players that they don't need very aggressively. Also a really annoying thing is players can want to leave way to soon. The reason I came on this forum today was to have a whine and a moan about being 2 matches into a season, and a 19 year old who I eased into the squad last season and made 26 appearances in all competitions, has said he wants to leave on loan somewhere for first team football.

But yeh definately think defending could be more intellegent and realistic. Also realised I never see anything like backheels or players letting the ball run for another player, seems like at the minute skillfull player = stepovers. Could do something about that maybe.

6/10

[GeekToLive]

The ME needs to be massively upgraded for me to buy FM14, don't mean for it to sound harsh

I'm not talking about the graphics (I use 2D graphics), but general realism and player logic. I could make a long list of some of the things that are off but I'm sure you've heard it before. Sussex Hammer sums up my feelings a few posts ago :

"In the words of Mr. Spock, "it's football Jim, but not as we know it!!" Massive disappointment really with the ME which I think should be the core of FM and I actually find very unrealistic, it's odd how people are split on this. That's where all your ideas are meant to come to fruition and for me it fails sadly."

Overall, the game gets a 6/10 from me.

As far as hours played, too many for me to admit

[stevie_G_32201]

Match engine was the major issue for me, 6/10.

[mattboy_slim]

Clocked just shy of 400 hours into my Barry Town save - my longest save in any installment of FM and arguably my most enjoyable. There are so many things to love about the game, it is the only game on any platform that I will keep coming back to again and again months after the release date. Must say I've long been puzzled about the criticism of the match engine on these forums, particularly the notion that the game is unplayable(!). The match engine as of the latest patch is easily as good, if not better, than previous FMs. Loving this years UI, it looks sleek and runs like a dream.

There are still niggles with the game, what concerns me is that whilst new features are introduced, some of the older, more core elements of the game are left to stagnate. Press conferences are abysmal and a chore, international management and in particular international media is very poor, and contract/transfer negotiations are often illogical. These issues have been brought up repeatedly with previous iterations of the game yet little seems to be done about them.

Despite those flaws, it's still in my mind one of the best FM's released, so I'd give it an 8.5/10 - an excellent game, with some slight room for improvement.

[davebl2012]

299 hours on single save (not finished yet) but rating 1/10 because I am now having errors with the text on injuries. I have had 2 crash dumps in past 5 hours, never had those prior to latest update (both issues) so I start a thread in the injury one and as usual si shut the thread down as it contained information against a game that does not work fully, that people have paid for and that they will no longer concentrate on to focus on fm14 leaving us with a broken model. I even suggested a subscription model to create continuous revenue streams and update management but clearly releasing broken games is a far better strategy! Sorry to the op but I've criticised now so will probably get your post closed

[tehpig]

2971 Hours played on multiple saves. 6,5 would be a fair score from my point of view.

Cons.

Let's be honest the ME was terrible when FM was released and made even worse by a few updates.Now it's playable but I can't compare it to FM12.

I loved that you can't build a super wonderkid team for 1m total because young super talents are IMPOSSIBLE to be bought dirt cheap, however I

don't like that the game is unfair to human players when it comes to transfers. For example you bid let's say 4-5 mil they say no. cool. AI bids a few months

afterwards 2-3 mil gone. Same thing with player wages.

Pros.

Well except the stuff I mentioned seems better to me. Also i would give it a lower score but SI have been dedicated to patch it up and improve the game as

much as possible. And before anyone says "why release a broken game" that is not always up to the developers, ESPECIALLY for a franchise that is updated yearly

and has a pretty strickt deadline.

EDIT : also I understand that this is a new ME and comparing it to FM12 is kinda unfair, but still having a quality product and experimeting and releasing a "meh" product

afterwards,,,, big step backwards

[Deloma]

11 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes.

My score is a "weak" 6/10. Huge potential but ME screwed it up big time. I've played FM since CM3 and this is actually the first time that ME got me really irritated.

[Phero]

I'm not even playing this for the matches, I'm using all my time scouting and re-training players, trading players for good deals and making money. I only watch highlights in 2D so I couldn't care less about the 3D implementation. STEAM says 700 hours played but a lot of that is from just having the game started in the background.

I wish you could do something with your money such as having co-ownership of a club or similar. I wish coaches and assmen could be developed as with players and I want a lot more variance in how scouts rate a player. They should be able to get it really wrong and perfectly right and be miles apart in their evaluations. Perfect scouts should be almost non existent in the game and very hard to get a hold of. Star rating should be much less set in stone and should mean more. A 3 star striker with the same position and foot preferences as a 5 star striker should average much worse, otherwise whats the point. A 3 star rated PA 20 year old striker should be able to break free of his PA limitations if he got the best treatment possible, had great relationships with his mates and trainers and so forth.

You should be able to let your ass man handle player morale, hold team talks and such. It just feels like a chore you have to do and it's not making the game any more fun at all.

Negotiations should be actual negotiations, with more information as to why or why not we can accept demands. Talks should be able to break down with agents returning later with new offers when they've realized their demands were crazy. You should be able to gently nudge a player to get rid of an agent if he's ruining the player's chances to stay with the club.

Overall it's an impressive and ambitious game, it just feels very unpolished, poorly documented and with a lot of unneeded "features". I'd give it a 6/10

[QWERTYOP]

Don't have a massive problem with this thread but please do post your 'hours played' on your biggest save as well so we can see how long you gave it before giving a review. Thanks.

I've been playing it since the moment it was released on Steam.

[Old Hand]

I'd say it's fantastic. 9/ 10 easy (would be 10 but you've got to believe FM14 will be even better!). Not played more than 3 seasons on a save yet but with the new FMC mode it's sucked me right back in. I do wonder what some of the people giving scores of 1/10 actually want from a game...

[NobleZarkon]

Time:- 16 days, 16 hours, 0 minutes

Score: 9/10

A few annoying bugs but it just gets better and better every year.

[Sussex Hammer]

What would be interesting, and this is an observation and by no way a criticism, is to see which gamers have either played football or managed football at any level and which gamers only have ever watched football live or on the television. The reason why I ask this is because I have managed at a high County Football level fairly successfully and in my younger days also played at a high County Football level (not so successfully!!), and find the game quite illogical on quite a few levels, not all, but quite a few. I see what it's trying to do and a lot of it is extremely close in a lot of areas but I find it quite bizarre at times when reading advice given to some about doing things simple and applying footballing logic when it is absolutely impossible to apply 100% real life footballing logic into FM in the same way that a real life soldier will probably tell you that Black Ops II can't replicate logically how to be a soldier!! Is it footballing logic to ask a winger to "cut inside" all the time?! Is it footballing logic to teach your striker to "drill shots at goal" all the time as a PPM and is it footballing logic being told by a coach that at a certain stage of his career Andy Carroll "is unable to learn how to avoid being offside all the time!"

I just think that football is a game of a different set of circumstances and that players generally do what a certain situation requires and of course it is dependent on technical, physical and mental ability on how successful he is in that particular situation. He certainly doesn't cross from the byline "all the time" because his manager told him to do that before the game and to be fair it is those random decisions and quickness of thought which must be near impossible to implement in the game so I think to be successful at the game requires FM Footballing logic NOT Real life footballing logic because as it has been admitted the ME cannot replicate exactly what players do on a football pitch.

So I am just wondering as to whether if someone plays real life football, manages a real life football team or just watches real life football it possibly may have an effect on their judgement on what their thoughts on how good the game are, if you get my meaning?! For example it's quite possible that the fact that I actually manage and coach in real life may make me a bit more critical than I would be if I didn't.

[wwfan]

I've previously made a living coaching sport at a pretty high level and have been fortunate enough to meet and talk with a number of world class players and coaches. They way they think about the game is absolutely nothing like the way talented amateurs think about the game.

I don't imagine football is any different. Consequently, I think you are probably restricted by your own experience. What works at an amateur level does not necessarily translate to the top levels of the professional game. Your way of looking at things is one way of looking at things, not the only way. FM has to cover multiple interpretations of football and ensure they all work reasonably well. The only way to do that is to research how various managers approach the game, or you'll end up being locked into the "one best way" perspective again.

[Sussex Hammer]

I've previously made a living coaching sport at a pretty high level and have been fortunate enough to meet and talk with a number of world class players and coaches. They way they think about the game is absolutely nothing like the way talented amateurs think about the game.

I don't imagine football is any different. Consequently, I think you are probably restricted by your own experience. What works at an amateur level does not necessarily translate to the top levels of the professional game. Your way of looking at things is one way of looking at things, not the only way. FM has to cover multiple interpretations of football and ensure they all work reasonably well. The only way to do that is to research how various managers approach the game, or you'll end up being locked into the "one best way" perspective again.

Fair point, it's all about opinions and I'm far from saying I am right. I used to coach football for a living as well and yes my own experiences may not be as researched on others approaches as some like yourself but I still don't think that tactical differences are that massive a gulf between levels it's generally the quality of the players that's the "big" difference. Of course I'm not saying that being a great coach or Manager doesn't make a difference but I'm pretty sure I could probably take over at Man United for a few games and leave coaching to the backroom staff, send them out with the tactics I use at amateur level, give them an arm around the shoulder or a kick up the backside and still win a game or two.

All I am saying is that you can't implement everything that a real life player does into what a FM AI player does. For example it's fairly common knowledge that AML and AMR don't track back like real life players would, or that it's pretty impossible (at the moment) to create a Barcelona esque multiple closing down strategy and also if I remember rightly you did say recently that -

"there is an ME bug that makes high CD with forward players less effective. It seems to me that their high mentality results in them getting the wrong side of the ball, knocking onto their not closing down high up the pitch in the manner they should. As a result, high CD midfielders often close down the space the fCs should close down, resulting in the midfield opening up."

and also -

"We had to include man-marking in the TC. I think we got a lot of it wrong. I just use zonal. I recommend people only use zonal and specific."

So whilst these sort of things occur in the ME or there are real life scenarios, tactics, plays and skills that are presently not possible to create in the ME or they do not work as they should then in my opinion the game requires certainly a higher element of FM Footballing logic than pure Real life footballing logic but it is a work in progress.

[Toney]

I'm not going to use a rating system, but leave my impressions:

Preferred Mode: Mostly FMC. I rather put up with FMC's shortcomings than have to deal with the full fat game, specially when even the best assmans SUCK at everything you can have them do (specially team talks, there's a very very big difference in performance when I give them myself). Delegation is an illusion, you're forced to micromanage everything if you want to truly succeed.

Total Played Time:

* Super dribblers still exist (even if they don't score). There's only two well known super dribblers in history, Maradona (vs England @ Mexico 86) and Messi (against Getafe a few years ago).

I'm sure there's lesser known ones, but there's no realistic reason to see this happen in game as often as it happens.

* The difference between playing home and away is WAAAAAY too big.

* Player intelligence is, sometimes, non-existent. Players fail to engage a ball that's right next to them, don't chase balls that are closer to them than they are to opponents, stand still for a few seconds after losing a ball, instead of fighting for it. Sometimes they just kick the ball out instead of trying to force a corner, or attempting a pass. Sometimes they stand still while there's 2 players on them, and when they have easy passing options. Sometimes they just MOVE OUT OF THE WAY of an opponent passing by.

There's many more, I'm sure, as this is just off the top of my head.

* Direct Free Kicks are overpowered. If you got a decent shooter, 95% of your FK end in one of the two following outcomes: Straight up missile goal or with the ball flying above the wall, coming down RIGHT BEHIND IT for a LONE player to break off and head into a goal.

* Corners are too precise, even for top players: Set your taker and best header to near post and watch your goals rack up. My best defender normally has as many goals/assist as my INFs, and is often the second best rated player behind my striker.

* Rating System is broken. It's too biased for goals/assists, and doesn't necessarily process mistakes as well as it should (like a straight up terrible pass that leads to a goal). A player that misses a penalty gets a huge drop of rating, but a GK that stops one doesn't get a bump (penalty stopping isn't just luck). The problem with a broken rating system is that it makes it almost impossible to manage morale/complacency when players that perform terrible all game long but do ONE good action can't even be disciplined, and the other way around, a good player can't always be rewarded without getting complacent. This is one of the biggest issues with the game atm.

* Injuries. It's out of control. Players with high injury proneness (13+) get more injuries in a season than thorough all of their careers. In-Match knocks and injuries (even if they aren't serious, but force your player out) are extremely common. I watch at least 10-15 games a week, and if I see 2 players leave a game due to "knocks", It might be an overstatement. In game, I often get 1 injury/knock every 2 games. It's also imbalanced (maybe due to position simulating?). Players like Puyol, that IRL go from injury to injury are never hurt in game, but Fabregas is hurt every other month. Mind you, I make sure everyone gets rested enough, appropriate fitness training, and high condition before games (95% min). I never, EVER, get a player tired enough to get Jaded except maybe sometimes my striker (which usually happens if one of my two strikers gets a long term injury and the other one has to play most games for weeks).

* AI developement: It's awful. Specially on FMC, it's non-existant, due to lack of U19/U17 teams, which makes for extremely imbalanced game worlds 10 years from the start of the game. It's also impossible to appropriately develop your own younger players (15-16 y/o) unless you throw them into your first team, which is preposterous in itself.

* Transfer AI. Laughable.

* Contracts: It's very random. Sometimes I want to reward one of my players with a raise, yet they don't take a 100% raise, they want more (and they never complained before I offered, so it's not like they were unhappy). Squad Status difference makes for very unrealistic contract pretensions. I can offer someone a contract as "rotation", but if during those same negotiations I change to "first team", they'll ask for double the cash, just due to status change, even when they're happy with half of that under a lower level in the pyramid.

On this same note, if a player that's been in the team for a long time, he doesn't want to renew his contract, and I decide to sell him on his last year, I get **** from the fans. Same for old players that can't even move (think Puyol a few seasons in). That's ridiculous.

* Pre-Season: They are planned by the manager, not the chairman, specially in bigger teams. At least present options. If you can't chose the destination, at least let the manager arrange frendlies (like it was on 13.2)

* FMC needs better documentation.

* FMC needs a deeper training system. It's so stripped down that it makes teams unbalanced. Again, there's no documentation about what happens in the "shadows".

* ME needs options for when in possession and when not (specially for tempo).

* Database needs better research. Much better. Messi with an injury proneness of 10 (before 13.3) when it's been 5 years since his last injury is ridiculous. Some players HAD astronomically high ratings for the few (sometimes non-existent) injuries they've sustained IRL. Some stats are just wrong (Sergio Busquets is massively underpowered in comparison to Javi Martinez, for example, Luka Modric is amazing at long shots, yet he sucks at it in game). You get the idea.

EDIT: I forgot broken offsides. The game catches anything as an offside, even players that do not participate from the play in any way.

I thought it was fixed, but yesterday I got the previously-more-common-but-still-******** corner offside. That's when I take a corner, the ball bounces around, someone scores, but it gets disallowed because the corner taker "was offside" (you know, on the other side of the pitch). It's like you don't even get the rules of the game right. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

Overall, the concept of FM is great, the addition of FMC has been a blessing, but without a proper match engine, you have no game at all.

You need to fix the old problems before you add features. Anything short of a perfect ME is inexcusable if you waste time on other things.

And more testing needs to be done before the game is released. I bought the game on release day, and I've never felt so ripped off by a company in my life.

The state FM13 was in at release is an absolute disrespect towards your loyal customers. I know what a pain the suits at Sega must be when it comes down to their release schedule, but games need to come out when they are done. FM13 was not even close to being done.

It's all the more insulting when we have to wait 5 months for the game to be somewhat passable, and when by that time the game is worth half of what we paid.

Anyway, that's my 2c. This is all off the top of my head. If I think of something else, I'll post again.

[wwfan]

Fair point, it's all about opinions and I'm far from saying I am right. I used to coach football for a living as well and yes my own experiences may not be as researched on others approaches as some like yourself but I still don't think that tactical differences are that massive a gulf between levels it's generally the quality of the players that's the "big" difference. Of course I'm not saying that being a great coach or Manager doesn't make a difference but I'm pretty sure I could probably take over at Man United for a few games and leave coaching to the backroom staff, send them out with the tactics I use at amateur level, give them an arm around the shoulder or a kick up the backside and still win a game or two.

This is where we fundamentally disagree. Top class managers get paid millions for a reason. They need to gain the respect of and control their players, be tactically astute enough to change around matches when the team is having a bad day or Plans A and B are being negated, and keep the media satisfied and off their backs. It's not just about a calming or hard word and a set of half decent tactics. FM is not about simulating park football, but professional football.

All I am saying is that you can't implement everything that a real life player does into what a FM AI player does. For example it's fairly common knowledge that AML and AMR don't track back like real life players would, or that it's pretty impossible (at the moment) to create a Barcelona esque multiple closing down strategy and also if I remember rightly you did say recently that -

"there is an ME bug that makes high CD with forward players less effective. It seems to me that their high mentality results in them getting the wrong side of the ball, knocking onto their not closing down high up the pitch in the manner they should. As a result, high CD midfielders often close down the space the fCs should close down, resulting in the midfield opening up."

and also -

"We had to include man-marking in the TC. I think we got a lot of it wrong. I just use zonal. I recommend people only use zonal and specific."

So whilst these sort of things occur in the ME or there are real life scenarios, tactics, plays and skills that are presently not possible to create in the ME or they do not work as they should then in my opinion the game requires certainly a higher element of FM Footballing logic than pure Real life footballing logic but it is a work in progress.

Absolutely, but that doesn't mean that the strategies don't work at all, just not as well as they could work. I don't think these ME issues stop any properly thought through tactical approach from working. Nor have they since FM07 at least. They do mean you can play to beat the ME not the AI, which is a different thing entirely and has nothing to do with football logic.

[Sussex Hammer]

This is where we fundamentally disagree. Top class managers get paid millions for a reason. They need to gain the respect of and control their players, be tactically astute enough to change around matches when the team is having a bad day or Plans A and B are being negated, and keep the media satisfied and off their backs. It's not just about a calming or hard word and a set of half decent tactics. FM is not about simulating park football, but professional football.

Absolutely, but that doesn't mean that the strategies don't work at all, just not as well as they could work. I don't think these ME issues stop any properly thought through tactical approach from working. Nor have they since FM07 at least. They do mean you can play to beat the ME not the AI, which is a different thing entirely and has nothing to do with football logic.

We probably do disagree on your first paragraph but that's the great thing about debate. Whilst you are absolutely correct about top managers being paid millions for a reason I don't think that proves that amateur managers and coaches couldn't be just as successful and have ideas that are as good as a top manager, it's just that they don't have the players to show their ability as coaches. The problem with present day football is that no matter how good you are at a lower level the chances are you will never get a chance to show it at the top level. Proof is in the pudding with an awful lot of talented coaches and managers in the lower realms of the top four Divisions but the top Clubs seem reluctant to appoint them preferring ex top flight professionals who have just completed their badges or little known foreign coaches rather than someone who has done well at a lower level for years,. It's totally different to say a company where you may toil for years someone notices you and you end up as Managing Director. That doesn't happen in Football, you could win the XXXXXX Saturday League for years, get spotted for a lower League Club and that's as high as you get but it doesn't mean that a Joe Bloggs managing an Eastbourne Rovers or whatever isn't technically a better manager or coach than a Paul Ince or a Steve Bruce who walked into management purely on the back of being successful players. However, we shall agree to disagree but a good debate and that's what the forums are for. Life would be boring if we all agreed!!!!

[roykela]

Without being specific i'll give a 7/10, with 716 hours played.

[Diablito]

8/10 of course it has flaws no game is perfect but the good far outweighs the bad, and I must be addicted 1228 hours and counting !

[Orange2000]

816 hours played and i give 7/10..... for a game itself 10/10 and 4/10 for ME.

about 2000 hours played in fm2012 and 8/10 game itself and 6/10 for ME2012.

So, new ME disappointed me a lot...

[GAZMANGOLF]

42 hours played but none for 2 months.Ive played every FM game and this is the first time Ive stopped playing it.It just didnt grab me and I keep thinking I`ll start another one but always find something else to do ,which never used to happen.

The ME was poor,press conferences,I find pointless.

4/10

[Ryknow]

ME: - Started out quite good, then got terrible and now it's back to quite good with the latest patch. This is what people spend a large amount of their time doing, as it is a football management game, so it has to be ready by launch. This years issues are well documented, and to be honest it reflects badly that a game is released with so many obvious bugs. I appreciate all the work done with the patches, but we shouldn't be the testers.

Having said that, the ME is okay. The frustrating aspect comes down to 'stupid decisions' by players, instead of glaring bugs. The obvious being defenders heading out the ball for a corner, when under no pressure. And, really bad decision making for through balls, despite all the correct mental attributes and tactical instructions set for the individual.

Transfer market: - After spending 3 years in the lower leagues, I got to the Champions League after teams had developed. I was surprised that Man Utd, Chelsea, Real Madrid, are all stronger than their RL version atm. It still is an area that needs worked on, mainly in youth development for AI clubs. Better calculations need to be made for AI teams, instead of based purely on CA.

I don't have much of a problem with transfer fees. Mainly, if a team rates their youth, you need to pay a lot for him.

My issue is with the contracts. This versions contract negotiations are terrible. They are hardly negotiations. For instance, youngsters asking for large wages, even though they want to leave, then joining for a fraction of what they asked you, to a similar rep club/league. I find this is mainly due to agents being too impatient and players/agents not being willing to negotiate certain areas. Negotiations should go longer (be more patient) and if failed, not result in me being disliked by the agent after a few negotiations. It is incredibly easy to be hated by agents when you have a few of their players in your squad. I find it harder to get any agents liking me, unlike last years version.

Player/agent wage demands should not be linked to your wage bill/budget. This needs revised.

Newgens: - Pretty good, besides some mental attributes getting neglected in initial distribution.

Press conferences: - Same old. Boring after a few. Needs addressing.

Interaction: - Manager interaction is limited. I want to be able to play mind games. Also, the press ask me questions yet they pick "I get along with him well" as the headline...

Interface: - Still all over the place and cumbersome. I preferred FM12. Not a deal breaker, as skins can be downloaded.

Graphics - The graphics are fine. Still no manager in match??? Seriously...FIFA13 has it now. Where are the managers?

The animations still need expanded on. Most of the issues could be solved with better animations (eg. People complaining about players holding the ball up. It looks bad atm)

Network - Don't play online, or ever used these features.

Miscellaneous - Balance the ME, with some further tweaks, and work mainly on out of match features for the next FM. Some of these haven't been touched for years and desperately need attention. While the game is about football, the management side (everything out of ME) needs upgraded.

I feel the focus should be interaction. Management is all about relationships. The interaction should be expanded for, journalists, players, coaches and the board, and maybe the fans (fan meetings).

Final rating 6.8/10 290 hours played

Mainly because I feel this game wasn't a great 'upgrade', but still is very enjoyable. I play long term saves, and it can get very tiresome and repetitive after a while.