Player Ratings

[Hummingbird Saltalamacchia]

I’m enjoying this years mobile version but I am still finding it very very hard. My players ratings keep dropping which is getting annoying, for example I have a player called Hanks (no, not that Hanks lol) who was rated 5 stars and now he has dropped down to 2 stars, I have other players also who’s rating drops, anyone else frustrated with this? You bring in new players to add to your squad with the sole purpose of having a strong team only for certain players in your squad dropping down to two stars and making your team weaker. I’ve just brought in a player rated 5 stars on a free to give me a little extra bit of quality and now I have certain players who’s rating have dropped significantly. Can anyone explain this to me? I’m already thinking of deleting the game if things don’t improve as no matter who I choose I always struggle which I didn’t in 2019. Many thanks.

[passenger58]

3 hours ago, Hummingbird Saltalamacchia said:

I’m enjoying this years mobile version but I am still finding it very very hard. My players ratings keep dropping which is getting annoying, for example I have a player called Hanks (no, not that Hanks lol) who was rated 5 stars and now he has dropped down to 2 stars, I have other players also who’s rating drops, anyone else frustrated with this? You bring in new players to add to your squad with the sole purpose of having a strong team only for certain players in your squad dropping down to two stars and making your team weaker. I’ve just brought in a player rated 5 stars on a free to give me a little extra bit of quality and now I have certain players who’s rating have dropped significantly. Can anyone explain this to me? I’m already thinking of deleting the game if things don’t improve as no matter who I choose I always struggle which I didn’t in 2019. Many thanks.

I've raised this in the past. I think the changes in star rating is too heavy-handed and take place over too short a space of time. A 4-star player will drop to 2.5 in the space of a few average games. 

As far as I know there haven't been any changes to how it works in this year's version. I've kinda learned to live with it now but you're not the only one having who gets frustrated by it.

[Hummingbird Saltalamacchia]

31 minutes ago, passenger58 said:

I've raised this in the past. I think the changes in star rating is too heavy-handed and take place over too short a space of time. A 4-star player will drop to 2.5 in the space of a few average games. 

As far as I know there haven't been any changes to how it works in this year's version. I've kinda learned to live with it now but you're not the only one having who gets frustrated by it.

Many thanks for that passenger58 👍🏻. This and the difficulty of this years game is putting me off of playing more, I think I’ll go back to Soccer Manager 20 and Soccer Boss. I agree with you 100% and you are spot on when you said the changes in star rating is too heavy handed and take place over too short a space of time. I’m all for players declining rapidly when they age but for players age 21/22 etc to decline after a couple of games is rather really bizarre, my player Hanks had a five star rating with a five star potential ability but then all of a sudden he has a two star potential ability lol, strange. I’m not sure about you? But I’ve had a lot players decline and maybe this can be looked into.

It’s reassuring that there are others who get frustrated by this. I guess there ain’t much we can do about it. Are you finding the game hard at all on a slightly different note? And thanks again.

[Neb]

My understanding is that the star rating is influenced by reputation rather than pure ability. The ability of your players is their attributes, the star rating is how the game views them, which includes recent performances.

So I usually take them with a pinch of salt anyway. 

I agree that they change a bit too frequently tho.

[passenger58]

I know I keep banging on about this so I thought I'd present some evidence. 

To demonstrate this scenario I started a game as West Brom and went on holiday for 2 months. 

Below are the star ratings for my key players just before the first game of the season and again exactly two months later. 

Note that in the space of 8 weeks (and 10 games) almost every player has dropped by at least a star. In some cases, even more - see Karlan Grant who has dropped from 3 stars to 1.5 stars (which let's face it, you'd never choose to play a 1.5 star player in the PL if you didn't have to). 

As you'd expect, West Brom's results haven't been good and they are currently 3rd from bottom in the league. But they are probably playing at about the level you would expect for a newly promoted team. In fact the board expectation is for them to 'battle bravely against relegation'. So should their star ratings have dropped as dramatically as they have? I don't think so personally. 

Like I've said previously, I think these ratings fluctuate too quickly and dramatically, and for better or worse, they hold a lot of weight in this game, when it comes to picking your team or making potential signings. 

I'm happy to provide other examples if needed, but it'd be good to open a discussion on this as (who knows) Hummingbird and I may be the only ones who are really bothered by it. 

Edited January 20, 2021 by passenger58
Typo

[Neb]

1 star = significantly below league average 

3stars = about league average

5 stars = significantly above league average

 

My understanding is that it is just player reputation, rather than ability. Its how the other clubs/managers/scouts see your players. A player that has no reputation but might be world class (ie a regen) could go from 1 star to 5 stars very quickly. Equally a couple of poor performances could make people think he's out of his depth at that level.

I think it does change a bit too quickly, but it doesn't really affect gameplay

 

 

[Joshuayeoh]

 

3 hours ago, Neb said:

1 star = significantly below league average 

3stars = about league average

5 stars = significantly above league average

 

My understanding is that it is just player reputation, rather than ability. Its how the other clubs/managers/scouts see your players. A player that has no reputation but might be world class (ie a regen) could go from 1 star to 5 stars very quickly. Equally a couple of poor performances could make people think he's out of his depth at that level.

I think it does change a bit too quickly, but it doesn't really affect gameplay

 

 

I'd like to add that player stars are also influenced by overall team rating. For example a 3 starred player in City/Liverpool might be a 4 and a half starred player in a team battling relegation.

One thing I've learned from having played this game for a while is to check player stats as well. Some players with high stars might not necessarily deliver if ratings are based off reputation over ability.

If that makes any sense at all

 

[Marc Vaughan]

5 hours ago, Neb said:

1 star = significantly below league average 

..

Just to clarify this side of things. 

A players 'star' rating is given in relation to your CLUB reputation and not the league you're in.

1* - Nowhere near good enough for your team

3* - Solid Squad Player

5* - Key Player

Thus a 3* player at Manchester City may well be a 5* player at Brighton and so forth.

The values for these are subjective based on your assistant managers (or coach, or tea lady if you have neither) view of the squad. These will naturally change depending on a players form and such, especially when a player is young.

Thus a 16 year old wonder kid might break into the Manchester United first team with 3* current rating and 4* potential rating .. he scores in his two matches, he's then viewed as a potential 'Rooney' and his potential rises to 5* as people get carried away .. then he doesn't score for 5 matches and his potential drops down  to 4* again and his current rating declines to 2.5* as people start questioning if he's good enough to be in the squad.

Established players will have far more static ratings as they've been seen more and are thus more trusted (but there will be some variance especially if they're dropped for a prolonged period etc.).

PS - The reason these are done by club and not league is simply that otherwise some clubs would just have 5* players across the board (ie. Celtic and Rangers in Scotland) which wouldn't be helpful.

[Neb]

Thanks for clearing that up, it makes sense it's club rep rather than league rep!

[corinthiano]

@Marc Vaughan - my understanding is that the star rating is heavily influenced by their form in the last 5 matches, would that be a correct assumption? I say that because I noticed that the big drop in star rating at the beginning of the season happens after a player has made their 5th appearance.

If that's the case maybe it might make sense to base it on the last 10 vs 5 appearances? That way you have less volatility on the star rating but still base it on how the player has been performing.

[Marc Vaughan]

20 minutes ago, corinthiano said:

@Marc Vaughan - my understanding is that the star rating is heavily influenced by their form in the last 5 matches, would that be a correct assumption? I say that because I noticed that the big drop in star rating at the beginning of the season happens after a player has made their 5th appearance.

If that's the case maybe it might make sense to base it on the last 10 vs 5 appearances? That way you have less volatility on the star rating but still base it on how the player has been performing.

There are a number of factors - but you're correct that form is one of them, at the moment its across 5 appearances because that is what is displayed for a players form tbh ... I'll have a think about what you've suggested .. 

[corinthiano]

Thanks Marc! Another option is too decrease the influence this has on the star rating a bit? I half expect players to have huge drops in star ratings after their 5th appearance at the start of the season, it does tend to correct itself later on in the season but does make start of the season a bit disjointed if you are OCD about selecting your team based on star rating

 

[Marc Vaughan]

6 minutes ago, corinthiano said:

Thanks Marc! Another option is too decrease the influence this has on the star rating a bit? I half expect players to have huge drops in star ratings after their 5th appearance at the start of the season, it does tend to correct itself later on in the season but does make start of the season a bit disjointed if you are OCD about selecting your team based on star rating

 

I'll have a think about that - but you are aware that picking purely by star rating is akin to letting someone else pick your team for you ... ask any of the last 'x' England managers tell you how well allowing the tabloid press to pick their squads has worked for them

(if they didn't use such methods surely Lamptey would be getting a call up by now? ... not at all biased me )

[corinthiano]

Oh yes I do and am fully aware of the limitations that brings. That's part of playing the game quickly for me - I rely fully on coaches and scouts and don't spend much time (or at all) on player search and looking over attributes in great detail. I find that I still do well enough as long as I get my tactics right (and pay attention to personalities in this version )