Football Manager 2016 16.3.0 Feedback Thread

[themadsheep2001]

Cheers for that. Is it worth putting up a Direct Free Kick thread? I know we can't look back at in game Team Stats season by season but it might be interesting if people could just show how many direct free kick goals they have at the end of their current season. I'd only look purely at the EPL for comparison sake. I'm only looking at this because obviously goals from set pieces can be a great weapon to have but if the game isn't really allowing many to be scored for whatever reason and if there is an issue maybe SI can look at it for next year?

Go for it. What would be good would be people putting up PKMs of the free kicks too. Purely speculating, but it could well be a physics issue at play.

[CityAndColour]

Might be a level thing as well - in my last six seasons in the Conference North and Conference, I've seen one direct free kick in my own matches (either for or against). In my current season through 39 rounds (CN), there has been three direct free kicks scored in total. In the CS there has been nine and in the CN there has been 12, which probably seems a touch more realistic (but still low).

[Tony Wright 747]

I have to say, this leaves a really bad taste in the mouth. It's not unlike the broken add/remove leagues feature on 12. It's an absolute shocker of a bug that has forced me to abandon my LLM save and go back to 15 - a far superior game in every way, and that's saying something.

I will be keeping my money in my pocket until April/May next year, and I'll only consider buying it if it works properly. I doubt I'll be the only one.

I am sure you won't. That has been my stance since FM12 and the only one I have bought is FM14 after the third patch

[jlammi]

Dynamo Berlin, 8 games in Bundesliga. 8-6-2-0 20-7 20p. place 1. Still I think I promoted too soon bc of small Stadium for Bundesliga.

[CityAndColour]

I have to say, this leaves a really bad taste in the mouth. It's not unlike the broken add/remove leagues feature on 12. It's an absolute shocker of a bug that has forced me to abandon my LLM save and go back to 15 - a far superior game in every way, and that's saying something.

I will be keeping my money in my pocket until April/May next year, and I'll only consider buying it if it works properly. I doubt I'll be the only one.

Just to clarify - I am Curzon Ashton in the CN. My stadium is 4000 (500 seated) so meets the requirements for promotion, but if I then get promoted again I'll need 1600 seats installed to meet L2 requirements.

Does this mean once the expansion is completed I'll have a stadium with only 1600 capacity rather than 5600?

[Golden Boot]

Just to clarify - I am Curzon Ashton in the CN. My stadium is 4000 (500 seated) so meets the requirements for promotion, but if I then get promoted again I'll need 1600 seats installed to meet L2 requirements.

Does this mean once the expansion is completed I'll have a stadium with only 1600 capacity rather than 5600?

That is correct. Something to look forward to! What a bug...

Totally broken. I've had to ditch my save because of it. I can't put up with magically shrinking stadia I'm afraid.

How this wasn't picked up during "testing" is beyond me.

[CityAndColour]

Does it always happen or only sometimes? Regardless, it is certainly game-breaking and not something you could leave in until November - I'd be staggered if it was left as is.

Perhaps a free 24 hour trial of the in-game editor or something would be a workaround if it a hotfix isn't an option?

[Golden Boot]

Does it always happen or only sometimes? Regardless, it is certainly game-breaking and not something you could leave in until November - I'd be staggered if it was left as is.

Perhaps a free 24 hour trial of the in-game editor or something would be a workaround if it a hotfix isn't an option?

The trouble is, it happens to AI clubs too. So unless you want be forever in the editor changing stadium capacities to what they should be I suggest ditching 16 and returning to 15. It plays like a dream in comparison.

The ME has gone backwards several steps in 16. It's just so boring and repetitive. Cross tap-in cross tap-in...

[themadsheep2001]

Can we keep the feedback constructive and on the game itself, and certainly not on misinformation about SI. Thanks.

[H2D2]

How is it misinformation about SI, it is a fact that there is no other competition out there putting out a similar game. It is hard to be constructive about this years edition about the game. I am going back to FM15 because I find the play in this years game quite repetitive and boring to watch. I will definitely not buy the next edition of the game until after the final patch (if at all..)

[themadsheep2001]

How is it misinformation about SI, it is a fact that there is no other competition out there putting out a similar game. It is hard to be constructive about this years edition about the game. I am going back to FM15 because I find the play in this years game quite repetitive and boring to watch. I will definitely not buy the next edition of the game until after the final patch (if at all..)

It is however not a fact (or indeed a remotely accurate notion) that it's related to how they treat customers.

The likes of Sussex Hammer are actually trying to find ways to spot potential issues, and raise good feedback on them and it's not on to have it lost under the same people repeating the same relatively unconstructive stuff time and again.

[themadsheep2001]

Might be a level thing as well - in my last six seasons in the Conference North and Conference, I've seen one direct free kick in my own matches (either for or against). In my current season through 39 rounds (CN), there has been three direct free kicks scored in total. In the CS there has been nine and in the CN there has been 12, which probably seems a touch more realistic (but still low).

Could be. I don't think I will be able to find figures that far down but will give it a go.

[KingCanary]

This is the first time I've come to the conclusion that this FM just isn't a very good game. In previous years it's always been a maddeningly addictive, frustrating, flawed but overall enjoyable game. This year with the flaws in the match engine I just can't get into it. I'm not usually one who plays epic 20 season games but in this final patch I'm struggling to even get one season in.

I think as customers we put up with quite a lot- basically spending 6 months being beta testers for a game and to get a finished product with such obvious flaws and issues is a real disappointment.

[Svenc]

As for DFKs, some numbers of the 2011/2012 season: http://enbsports.blogspot.de/2012/08/la-liga-premier-league-direct-free-kick.html

Typically conversion rates are fairly consistent on all levels in the long run, though with direct free kicks, I don't know. Last Bundesliga there were about 30+ goals scored, which was an increase and some attributed that to refs utilizing vanishing spray (realistically, that could have been all down to random chance, or at least a good portion of it -- yes, a season is fairly long, but it's still but a single season, Cronaldo failed to hit one home for ten months or something). Be aware that by purely looking at goals scored you might be looking at purely symptoms rather than causes. I.e. how do the actually numbers of kicks awarded compare? Are shots far too readily put wide and not at all on target, etc. Don't believe PaulC and company don't keep an eye on that, though it's often acknowledged conversion rates were fluctuating due to tweaks made to ball physics oftenly, i.e. it's not as simple as saying: "Okay we know we're a bit on the lowly side here so just adjust that setting here and we're good to go" as obvious such tweaks made to physics influence all kinds of stuff, not merely free kicks. Wasn't it acknowledged it was again on the lowly side as of FM 2016?

As for the frustration in "randomly" crap results vented by Hammer, I tried to PM him about it without response so here goes, he appears to engage into those download dreadfuls with no holding player whatsoever, and the generally aggressive download tactics. If counter attacking sees further improvement or the AI is given some intelligence rather than switching to multiple forwards by "chance" i.e. due to prefered formations in its profile, this frustration will increase.

[endtime]

Yeah, same here, I've been really disappointed with the game, both the match engine and the overall gameplay. Then just to rub it in, a pretty bad bug appears in the final patch and SI say they probably won't fix it. In the previous years, even if the game started out shaky, you could expect the most serious issues to be fixed by the final patch.

[SuperXstyle]

In game, try to change set piece taker, game crashes as soon as I click on the tab. Has to reload and resume. Can't press the tab.

[themadsheep2001]

In game, try to change set piece taker, game crashes as soon as I click on the tab. Has to reload and resume. Can't press the tab.

Can you create a thread here: http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/520-Crashes-Launch-and-Technical-Issues-on-PC

With as much detail as possible (system details, frequency of crash)

Cheers

[Golden Boot]

Can we keep the feedback constructive and on the game itself, and certainly not on misinformation about SI. Thanks.

I think you'll find the magical shrinking stadiums bug is a fact. It has rendered my save utterly useless. How can you build up a lower league club with this bug? This needs to be fixed.

[themadsheep2001]

I think you'll find the magical shrinking stadiums bug is a fact. It has rendered my save utterly useless. How can you build up a lower league club with this bug? This needs to be fixed.

I quite clearly wasn't responding to that, I was talking to H2D2. Please at least read my posts before looking to start an argument. Moving on.

[Welshace]

I think you'll find the magical shrinking stadiums bug is a fact. It has rendered my save utterly useless. How can you build up a lower league club with this bug? This needs to be fixed.

The mod wasn't addressing you or this issue in this case as it happens..

If you have examples of your issue, please do post it in the bug reporting section with a save if possible.. SI will need to reproduce it internally for any chance of getting it fixed.

[themadsheep2001]

Writing "constructive criticism" before going on an unconstructive rant does not make it constructive Valkyrie88.

Suggest you read the house rules, and think how any of that could be remotely ok.

[Welshace]

And can we be clear... this thread is an opportunity for you to give your feedback on the game, no-one is making you give feedback and no-one minds if the feedback you provide is positive or negative, you will find many examples of people talking positively and many examples of people talking negatively about the game, but if they are on this thread, they are constructive and they move the conversation forwards.. what we can't have, are people coming on and just ranting like it's their personal diary.

If you have errors to report we have been harping on several hundred times in this thread that there is a place for that.. it's not here..

This thread is merely your opportunity to provide feedback on how you are getting on with the game.

Constructive... I wonder what several people in this thread think that means... it's really simple.

[Sussex Hammer]

As for DFKs, some numbers of the 2011/2012 season: http://enbsports.blogspot.de/2012/08/la-liga-premier-league-direct-free-kick.html

Typically conversion rates are fairly consistent on all levels in the long run, though with direct free kicks, I don't know. Last Bundesliga there were about 30+ goals scored, which was an increase and some attributed that to refs utilizing vanishing spray (realistically, that could have been all down to random chance, or at least a good portion of it -- yes, a season is fairly long, but it's still but a single season, Cronaldo failed to hit one home for ten months or something). Be aware that by purely looking at goals scored you might be looking at purely symptoms rather than causes. I.e. how do the actually numbers of kicks awarded compare? Are shots far too readily put wide and not at all on target, etc. Don't believe PaulC and company don't keep an eye on that, though it's often acknowledged conversion rates were fluctuating due to tweaks made to ball physics oftenly, i.e. it's not as simple as saying: "Okay we know we're a bit on the lowly side here so just adjust that setting here and we're good to go" as obvious such tweaks made to physics influence all kinds of stuff, not merely free kicks. Wasn't it acknowledged it was again on the lowly side as of FM 2016?

As for the frustration in "randomly" crap results vented by Hammer, I tried to PM him about it without response so here goes, he appears to engage into those download dreadfuls with no holding player whatsoever, and the generally aggressive download tactics. If counter attacking sees further improvement or the AI is given some intelligence rather than switching to multiple forwards by "chance" i.e. due to prefered formations in its profile, this frustration will increase.

Sorry I missed your PM. I have just looked at my PM box and found 5 unread dating back to 2011 so apologies to anyone who I never replied to, I've never actually looked at the notification drop down until today!!

Re - Direct Free Kicks. No real responses on the thread I started as yet so unless we can get people to respond with a few figures I guess we will never know if there is an issue or not. For what it's worth my direct free kicks generally just go high and wide rather than woodwork or saved. In fact I can't remember one off the top of my head that was saved.

Re - The randomly crap results. You are partially right I have tried a few of the download tactics and you are right again some of them don't have a holding midfielder and a high line so yes you can get done on the counter. Having said that I have tinkered about with the odd one as well and tried various things and still get some weird run of losses out of the blue. In fact for me anyway I can't really find a way of getting a defensive midfielder to actually do any defending, but that's probably just me!!! Also I kind of prefer a higher line as the lesser of two evils because when I defend deeper cross after cross just seems to fly in and the goals flow in at my end, again it may just be me!

***BTW A bit of feedback on a quite bizarre transfer situation. Had Carl Jenkinson on loan for 2015/16 season. Qualified for the Champions League and Jenkinson received an England call up (albeit missing out on the Euros squad) and got the Young Player of the Year Award. After going back to Arsenal I looked on his info screen and noticed that West Ham are now listed as one of his favourite Clubs.

Tried to get him back on loan but Arsenal were having none of it so kept putting offers in. They started at a ridiculous 64 million but as close season drew to a close they accepted a bid totalling 12 million. Unfortunately Jenkinson wouldn't even discuss a contract, stating that he wouldn't join because of the rivalry between West Ham and Arsenal, despite spending two seasons at West Ham on loan!!

I now note that Everton have signed him for a paltry 6.75 million as a rotation player!!

So : Young player of the Year, Capped by England, First Team Regular, Two seasons on loan at West Ham a "favoured Club" and Champions League Football all turned down to join Everton who finished 9th the previous season as a rotation player for a paltry fee all because he feels that West Ham and Arsenal have a rivalry!!

Quite bizarre to say the least!!

[Adzke]

I'm having a lot of low bids on my players from other clubs. While I realise that the player's value is subjective, they are always under the player's value.

My team of the year DR with four years left on his contract has just been made the subject of a £5M bid (almost half over 12 months) eventhough his value is listed at £7,25M. While I realise I could just decline the offer (which I did), it just seems a bit odd. He's assigned an asking price of £18M.

EDIT: Another club just made the same bid. Upon trying to negotiate, they declined to improve the offer at all.

[scott MUFC]

getting rather fed up of this now, conceding from stupid set pieces all the time all of a sudden.

dominate game create lots of shots, AI clear everything.. they go down and score from a single set piece, or because they clear something and my midfielders just walk towards the ball, when they could reach it by running.

[Seb Wassell]

Hi all,

Could anyone experiencing issues with stadium expansion please post in the relevant bugs forum. Saves illustrating the issue, preferably before the expansion is kicked off, would be great.

Cheers,

Seb.

[qwerty22]

getting rather fed up of this now, conceding from stupid set pieces all the time all of a sudden.

dominate game create lots of shots, AI clear everything.. they go down and score from a single set piece, or because they clear something and my midfielders just walk towards the ball, when they could reach it by running.

Yup the dreaded deep free kick landing on a free man far post.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I actually just think the "Mark Specific Player" instruction is broken.

[Guest]

I actually just think the "Mark Specific Player" instruction is broken.

I've used it with success, needs to be done with care & on the understanding that in attempting to mark an opposition player out of the game you will also be taking your player out of the game.

The point of specific man-marking is to change the match to 10 v 10 rather than 11 v 11 so you need to have a tactical approach designed around only having 9 outfield players, all too often people do not understand this aspect of specific man-marking.

[HUNT3R]

They're talking about the Set-Piece instruction, Barside.

[Guest]

Didn't think you could mark a specific player at set-pieces, just a player or a tall player.

[HUNT3R]

If it wasn't set-pieces, then the comment about the instruction being broken (since set-pieces were being moaned about) is completely out of place and needs proper explaining.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Sure. Setting wingbacks to mark opposition fullbacks makes zero difference in the defensive positioning of those players, and I frequently see them positioned inside the outer centerbacks in a 5-3-2 system. While I could prove it, I'm actually just completely done with this edition of the game, and with future releases from SI.

[Guest]

You're getting a poor result from that instruction because it is a very poor instruction to give in that context. wide players should never be asked to specifically mark an opponent because the risk of them leaving a huge gap if the opposition player wanders about the pitch is far too high.

There's a reason why specific man-marking is very rarely used irl & when it is it tends to be undertaken by a player who is nominally set to play in a DM position.

[Sunstrikuuu]

You're getting a poor result from that instruction because it is a very poor instruction to give in that context. wide players should never be asked to specifically mark an opponent because the risk of them leaving a huge gap if the opposition player wanders about the pitch is far too high.

There's a reason why specific man-marking is very rarely used irl & when it is it tends to be undertaken by a player who is nominally set to play in a DM position.

I'm not getting a poor result, I'm getting no result. Positioning and behavior is identical to default. And the default is terrible.

[themadsheep2001]

You're getting a poor result from that instruction because it is a very poor instruction to give in that context. wide players should never be asked to specifically mark an opponent because the risk of them leaving a huge gap if the opposition player wanders about the pitch is far too high.

There's a reason why specific man-marking is very rarely used irl & when it is it tends to be undertaken by a player who is nominally set to play in a DM position.

Even then it's often used against a player who isn't looking to vacate the middle. Once he starts drifting its very difficult to follow without leaving gaps, unless you are playing very compact lines, which have issues elsewhere

[Guest]

Sacrificing one of your own players in an attempt to neutralise an opponents key player is always a matter of compromise, for me it's one of the few tactical instructions in FM where the risk/reward balance is spot on, all too often I find that tactical decisions are lacking on the risk side & this is why I feel people have an issue with the specific man-marking instruction, not because it doesn't replicate real life but that we're all used to the rewards being much greater than the risks.

[jimmyt86]

I'm seeing A LOT of goals being scored from crosses. These aren't just in my favour but I'm also conceding a lot. I have had games with Villa, Arsenal and Leamington Spa but this continues to happen. I don't have any specific team instructions, hit early crosses etc, yet 70-80% of the goals I score are from crosses, whilst I no matter if I set CBs up for tight marking or their wide players for closing down always I am conceding quite a lot as well.

Is this common in other peoples games or am I missing something here?

[jimmyt86]

the bug of the search for staff is fixed?

were you getting it constantly reloading the list making you unable to search? Have you had an answer?

[qwerty22]

I'm seeing A LOT of goals being scored from crosses. These aren't just in my favour but I'm also conceding a lot. I have had games with Villa, Arsenal and Leamington Spa but this continues to happen. I don't have any specific team instructions, hit early crosses etc, yet 70-80% of the goals I score are from crosses, whilst I no matter if I set CBs up for tight marking or their wide players for closing down always I am conceding quite a lot as well.

Is this common in other peoples games or am I missing something here?

Yes it's the reason why I don't play anymore.

Identical goals deep cross to a free player far post, Boring.

[Golden Boot]

I'm seeing A LOT of goals being scored from crosses. These aren't just in my favour but I'm also conceding a lot. I have had games with Villa, Arsenal and Leamington Spa but this continues to happen. I don't have any specific team instructions, hit early crosses etc, yet 70-80% of the goals I score are from crosses, whilst I no matter if I set CBs up for tight marking or their wide players for closing down always I am conceding quite a lot as well.

Is this common in other peoples games or am I missing something here?

My advice is to go back to FM15. It's brilliant in comparison.

With the same tactics I'm seeing about 35% of goals coming from crosses, and most coming from passes, which is true to real life. FM15 has the exciting ME of 14, but without the gashnicity and awful bugs. try it. I've got a wicked save going with Grimbergen and I won't be rushing back to 16 I know that.

[qwerty22]

My advice is to go back to FM15. It's brilliant in comparison.

With the same tactics I'm seeing about 35% of goals coming from crosses, and most coming from passes, which is true to real life. FM15 has the exciting ME of 14, but without the gashnicity and awful bugs. try it. I've got a wicked save going with Grimbergen and I won't be rushing back to 16 I know that.

If you can get past the 7-4 scorelines

[Golden Boot]

My last five games: 2-2, 1-0, 1-3, 2-1, 1-0. Nothing wrong there.

It's exciting and entertaining, and the goal variety is superb.

[Snorlax]

Hi all,

Could anyone experiencing issues with stadium expansion please post in the relevant bugs forum. Saves illustrating the issue, preferably before the expansion is kicked off, would be great.

Cheers,

Seb.

Unfortunately I just deleted mine through frustration

But I imagine the problem is in everyones game, if you've played a few seasons, just check out the capacity of the teams who have been promoted, it happens to all teams not just human managed ones

I know it isn't going to be fixed but it is a pretty major bug for LLM, pretty disappointing and was enjoying the game

[Guest]

You can all blame me for that one, as an LLM zealot & the man who had the unenviable privilege of locking the doors to the LLM section this would have been the kind of issue that I'd have quickly picked up on but the real life job got in the way of me completing more than a season on a proper FM16 career save.

[Snorlax]

You can all blame me for that one, as an LLM zealot & the man who had the unenviable privilege of locking the doors to the LLM section this would have been the kind of issue that I'd have quickly picked up on but the real life job got in the way of me completing more than a season on a proper FM16 career save.

Yeah you don't notice any issue until you've played probably 3 seasons

I won promotion in my first season, ground development was delayed in my first season in the National League and I didn't actually notice the issue until towards the end of my 2nd season in the National League (3 seasons in)

I'm still not sure if the issue is only when you add seats onto standing areas or if you actually build a new stand?

[dkouv]

Yeah you don't notice any issue until you've played probably 3 seasons

I won promotion in my first season, ground development was delayed in my first season in the National League and I didn't actually notice the issue until towards the end of my 2nd season in the National League (3 seasons in)

I'm still not sure if the issue is only when you add seats onto standing areas or if you actually build a new stand?

Took me a while to notice too, on my first save I thought it was normal to have capacity reduced after seats are installed; but on the second save when it went from 15000 to 2000 it became obvious something was wrong... For me it seemed to be an issue even when converting like 500 seats on one of the terraces (this is for the 15k stadium).

[Seb Wassell]

Unfortunately I just deleted mine through frustration

But I imagine the problem is in everyones game, if you've played a few seasons, just check out the capacity of the teams who have been promoted, it happens to all teams not just human managed ones

I know it isn't going to be fixed but it is a pretty major bug for LLM, pretty disappointing and was enjoying the game

Unfortunately it was not one that occurred for us here, or myself on my own save (Leamington Spa). I suspect it may be a regrettable case of an issue creeping in very late in the day.

I can only offer my apologies and assurances that we are investigating.

As an aside, are these saves started on 16.3 or continued from 16.2 (or earlier)?

Cheers,

Seb.

[Snorlax]

Unfortunately it was not one that occurred for us here, or myself on my own save (Leamington Spa). I suspect it may be a regrettable case of an issue creeping in very late in the day.

I can only offer my apologies and assurances that we are investigating.

As an aside, are these saves started on 16.3 or continued from 16.2 (or earlier)?

Cheers,

Seb.

Mine was a brand new save after 16.3 came out

[jimmyt86]

Unfortunately it was not one that occurred for us here, or myself on my own save (Leamington Spa). I suspect it may be a regrettable case of an issue creeping in very late in the day.

I can only offer my apologies and assurances that we are investigating.

As an aside, are these saves started on 16.3 or continued from 16.2 (or earlier)?

Cheers,

Seb.

Seb I notice you've got a save with Leamington....I've tried to start one with them as I'm moving to the area in the summer but struggled trying to find a tactic and players that suited that league. Found myself getting very frustrated but it is/was my first attempt at an LLM save.

Out of interest what is the issue with capacities?