under review Mexican Expansion League

[DW19]

I have been enjoying playing the Mexican Expansion League (MEL). It is a slightly obscure league that I previously knew little about. I have been finding success managing Cancun, which is particularly appealing while it is winter here in Canada. We have won the league a number of times and sprung a suprise win in the Mexican Cup once. I have a few observations to share:

- The board of directors of Cancun seem to only care about our placement in the league phase of the Apertura and Clausura. The way things work is that there is a tournament following the league phase that determines the winner. I have consistently won the tournament, but if I have not finished first in the league phase beforehand the directors are unsatisfied with the season. Maybe they are just a tough crowd, but I think the game mechanics are not putting enough weight on tournaments.

- After winning the Apertura or Clausura, the message displayed in your inbox highlights your finish during the league portion of the competition and does not mention the teams that you defeated in the tournament portion. 

- In my fifth season, I have encountered a bug where the league table is displayed as blank despite the fact that I am 4 matches into the season. I submitted my save game for analysis.

One thing that I am wondering is what will happen after my sixth season. According to Wikipedia, when the MEL was set up the agreement that got the teams back on a firm footing financially included no promotion/relegation between the MEL and the Mexican Primera Division for six seasons. Does promotion re-start after that? I am looking forward to finding out (as long as no other bugs crop up and scupper the game.)

Thanks for including this interesting league in the game. It has been a lot of fun to explore.

[Louie Silvani]

Hi @DW19, thanks for the feedback - it's much appreciated!

Do you have a save you could send us regarding the board confidence issue?

Is your second point about the graphic in the news item you get when you win the Apertura/Clausura?

And on your third point, I've spotted that same issue. As a workaround, when you view the league table if you select 'stage' you should be able to view the opening stage table.

[gtstarter93]

On 05/02/2021 at 14:43, DW19 said:

I have been enjoying playing the Mexican Expansion League (MEL). It is a slightly obscure league that I previously knew little about. I have been finding success managing Cancun, which is particularly appealing while it is winter here in Canada. We have won the league a number of times and sprung a suprise win in the Mexican Cup once. I have a few observations to share:

- The board of directors of Cancun seem to only care about our placement in the league phase of the Apertura and Clausura. The way things work is that there is a tournament following the league phase that determines the winner. I have consistently won the tournament, but if I have not finished first in the league phase beforehand the directors are unsatisfied with the season. Maybe they are just a tough crowd, but I think the game mechanics are not putting enough weight on tournaments.

- After winning the Apertura or Clausura, the message displayed in your inbox highlights your finish during the league portion of the competition and does not mention the teams that you defeated in the tournament portion. 

- In my fifth season, I have encountered a bug where the league table is displayed as blank despite the fact that I am 4 matches into the season. I submitted my save game for analysis.

One thing that I am wondering is what will happen after my sixth season. According to Wikipedia, when the MEL was set up the agreement that got the teams back on a firm footing financially included no promotion/relegation between the MEL and the Mexican Primera Division for six seasons. Does promotion re-start after that? I am looking forward to finding out (as long as no other bugs crop up and scupper the game.)

Thanks for including this interesting league in the game. It has been a lot of fun to explore.

Mexican Expansion League 24/25 season allows for a spot at the Mexican First Division for the 25/26 season. Anything else that you find about this league, please let us know, thank you!

[DW19]

Thanks for the replies Louie and gtstarter.

Louie, yes it is the graphic in the news item. Since the Apertura/Clausura winner is determined in the post season tournament it makes more sense to me for the news item to say who you defeated in the final or which teams you beat in the tournament.

Thanks for the tip about the league table. I think what I am seeing is the Clausura table being displayed during the Apertura season. What you suggested works. Along the same lines, another quirk that sometimes happens is when you are playing the post-season tournament and you are at the screen that shows "today's fixture" it shows the fixtures from the last week of the league season instead of the upcoming post-season fixtures. 

Unfortunately, I am far enough into my career that my team is generally at the top of the league. If I start a new campaign and I see the board confidence phenomen again I will send in a save.

Thanks for the info gtstarter. I look forward to battling for promotion and hopefully going up. My club has made some long runs in the Mexican Cup (winning once), so I am looking forward to mixing it up with the top division clubs.

[gtstarter93]

I hope in the upcoming months is announced that teams from the Expansion League are able to get promoted soon. At this moment it has been very entertaining in real life within a highly complex system, so I'm thankful for the issues you have been posting.

[DW19]

One more question related to the MEL. I often end the season with more points than I expect. How does the bonus point system work? It is not described in the league rules screen. Here is an example, where I would expect to have 39 points rather than 45. 

[DW19]

A bit more supporting information. Here is the message I get for winning the Apertura. I defeated UdeG in the tournament final. If I had finished the league portion of the Apertura in another position (that is what would be shown)

[DW19]

Another minor quirk with respect to board confidence. I finished first in the league won the post season tournament, but as can be seen here they are not 100% satisfied with my league finish:

[James Akintayo]

Regarding the points system, the Mexican expansion league awards an extra point for an away win for the first seven away games only.

[Louie Silvani]

On 18/02/2021 at 17:07, DW19 said:

A bit more supporting information. Here is the message I get for winning the Apertura. I defeated UdeG in the tournament final. If I had finished the league portion of the Apertura in another position (that is what would be shown)

Do you have a save with this news item? 

[DW19]

On 22/02/2021 at 04:58, Louie Silvani said:

Do you have a save with this news item? 

Hi Louie,

I submitted  a save with the report issue feature. I don't know how hard it will be for you to find. Here is the reference: AC37FE69-46F5-437E-B63E-221D66C8F26D

[Louie Silvani]

19 hours ago, DW19 said:

Hi Louie,

I submitted  a save with the report issue feature. I don't know how hard it will be for you to find. Here is the reference: AC37FE69-46F5-437E-B63E-221D66C8F26D

thanks got the save! Will raise this with our team.

 

 

[DW19]

Hi Louie,

One more thing I have noticed in my Mexico career. My team has been promoted to the Primera Division and as you can see below we are doing well. My board's expectations for this season were a mid-table finish. Despite that they are only satisfied with the team's league performance. I know there it takes them some time to form an opinion on the team's play, but this seems a little bit excessive. You can find this save game with reference: 1FD9E7FD-27DA-48ED-98F9-906937C61CAE

[Louie Silvani]

Thanks, I will take a look!

[Louie Silvani]

Have raised this issue with our team

[DW19]

5 hours ago, Louie Silvani said:

Have raised this issue with our team

Thanks Louie! I am certainly enjoying this career in Mexico.

To follow up on my last comment, I finished the Apertura season in first and then lost in the semi-finals. My board were not very impressed by that, but my job status is still stable, so we will see how things go in the Clausura and the Mexican Cup.

[DW19]

Part way through the Clausura season, I am in first and my board is even less happy with my league position than they were in the first half of the season. I submitted the save game for further study: 7F4EB2DB-3361-4459-A244-3623B25FA12C

[Louie Silvani]

Thanks again, I will add that to the issue I raised

[DW19]

One more thing. I don't know if this is an issue in other leagues, but I have seen it from the start in the MEL and Primera Division. Looks like the equivalent of a coding typo. See below, first option:

[James Akintayo]

 

On 08/03/2021 at 22:01, DW19 said:

One more thing. I don't know if this is an issue in other leagues, but I have seen it from the start in the MEL and Primera Division. Looks like the equivalent of a coding typo. See below, first option:

Can you send us a save game for this issue.

[DW19]

6 hours ago, James Akintayo said:

 

Can you send us a save game for this issue.

Next time it happens I will submit "Report Issue" on it.

[DW19]

Here is a screenshot that I think relates to why the board is a bit harsh about the league position. I just completed the season and as can be seen my home screen is showing the standings of the Apertura and Clausura added together. I submitted an Issue Report for this: C0C6D298-6AFF-4D44-BE16-4EE38376896B

[DW19]

Here is another issue that happened a bit earlier in the season that I think is related. I was in first position in the Clausura but when the upcoming fixtures were shown, my club is listed as being in second position (which I guess we are if you were to add the Apertura and Clausura results together)

[Louie Silvani]

On 11/03/2021 at 17:11, DW19 said:

Here is another issue that happened a bit earlier in the season that I think is related. I was in first position in the Clausura but when the upcoming fixtures were shown, my club is listed as being in second position (which I guess we are if you were to add the Apertura and Clausura results together)

Thanks for raising this, this has been logged with our team!

[DW19]

Out of curiosity, I have won the North American Champions League. If I continue to do that will I eventually get invited to the World Club Championship/Club World Cup?

[Louie Silvani]

Hi @DW19   you should - is that not the case in your save?

[DW19]

12 hours ago, Louie Silvani said:

Hi @DW19   you should - is that not the case in your save?

It hasn't happened yet, but I don't know if the tournament happens every year.

[ElliottMS]

I came here to report exactly the same issues as DW19. I started midway through a season as Alebrijes de Oaxaca, won the Closing Stage by some margin, was only two points off top overall (only noticed that on the message saying I won the league, showed the overall standings - can't see any other way of viewing that).

Yet the board are quite unhappy, with competitions rating being in the red.

I can see you've logged it but thought it would be useful to throw it in there.

I've also uploaded my save to OwnCloud, it is called "ElliottMS Mex Exp Lge Board Confidence bug.fms"

Edited April 6, 2021 by ElliottMS
missed some words

[ElliottMS]

On 01/04/2021 at 18:05, DW19 said:

Out of curiosity, I have won the North American Champions League. If I continue to do that will I eventually get invited to the World Club Championship/Club World Cup?

Question to you @DW19. Did you get any job offers during your time in the Expansion League? After topping the league multiple times you would surely be hot property. Of course you may have made a career choice to stick with your club, but just wondering if these bugs may have affected your perceived employability?

Edited April 7, 2021 by ElliottMS

[DW19]

8 hours ago, ElliottMS said:

Question to you @DW19. Did you get any job offers during your time in the Expansion League? After topping the league multiple times you would surely be hot property. Of course you may have made a career choice to stick with your club, but just wondering if these bugs may have affected your perceived employability?

Excellent question. I wondered that, too, as I was going along. My experience was the following. It took quite a while for my reputation to rise due to the low level of the league where my team was playing. If I am remembering correctly, my reputation increased from "Local" to "Regional" after I won the MEL a couple of times. While still in the MEL, I managed to win the Mexican Cup. The second time that I did that my reputation rose to "National". When I had a "National" reputation, one of the other clubs in the MEL offered me a manager position which I turned down. I also got prometed to the Primera Division around the same time, so I am not 100% sure if it was the Cup win or promotion that affected my reputation. Since I have been in the Primera Division, I have had one job offer from another Primera Division club (after winning the league). I have also qualified for and won the North American Champions League. After doing that the first time, my reputation rose to "Continental" and I subsequently got two job offers from teams in Argentina (one of the other leagues I have active). I am waiting to see if I get into the Club World Cup and if I were to win that if my reputation would increase to "World Class". I have La Liga (Spain) active in my game, but have never received any expression of interest from any of their clubs.

[ElliottMS]

1 hour ago, DW19 said:

Excellent question. I wondered that, too, as I was going along. My experience was the following. It took quite a while for my reputation to rise due to the low level of the league where my team was playing. If I am remembering correctly, my reputation increased from "Local" to "Regional" after I won the MEL a couple of times. While still in the MEL, I managed to win the Mexican Cup. The second time that I did that my reputation rose to "National". When I had a "National" reputation, one of the other clubs in the MEL offered me a manager position which I turned down. I also got prometed to the Primera Division around the same time, so I am not 100% sure if it was the Cup win or promotion that affected my reputation. Since I have been in the Primera Division, I have had one job offer from another Primera Division club (after winning the league). I have also qualified for and won the North American Champions League. After doing that the first time, my reputation rose to "Continental" and I subsequently got two job offers from teams in Argentina (one of the other leagues I have active). I am waiting to see if I get into the Club World Cup and if I were to win that if my reputation would increase to "World Class". I have La Liga (Spain) active in my game, but have never received any expression of interest from any of their clubs.

Thanks @DW19. It would seem to me that your reputation hasn't been accurate in determining whether a First Division team would offer you a job, which seems to have been likely based on you dominating the league below. Means my hopes of a journeyman save are a bit low.

Might be tempted to sack it in after the next season is over (assuming I win the league again), and try jobs in Canada, US or Argentina -the other leagues I loaded.

Edited April 7, 2021 by ElliottMS

[DW19]

21 hours ago, ElliottMS said:

Thanks @DW19. It would seem to me that your reputation hasn't been accurate in determining whether a First Division team would offer you a job, which seems to have been likely based on you dominating the league below. Means my hopes of a journeyman save are a bit low.

Might be tempted to sack it in after the next season is over (assuming I win the league again), and try jobs in Canada, US or Argentina -the other leagues I loaded.

Tough call. You might be better off moving on, unless you are willing to invest a number of seasons in the MEL and eventually get promoted to the Primera Division.

FYI, I am in 2028-29 at this point. I started this season by winning the Champions Trophy and have just now been offered the job to coach the Mexican National Team. I haven't managed a national team in this version of the game, so I am going to give it a shot.

[LeftCoastScott]

Here I thought I had discovered something cool by playing in the MEL, then I get on here to find it's the most popular thread. Ah well.

Anyhow, an issue I've noticed: teams are getting promoted to the MEL each season from the (non-playable) third tier, but none are relegated for the first five years, so the league grows by a team each year. I'm no expert on Mexican football, but from Wikipedia I don't think this should happen - this article says that instead of relegation, the bottom three teams pay a fine.

As well, each team in MEL is supposed to receive cash each year (I believe from a similar but larger set of fines charged to the bottom three Liga MX teams). Dunno if it's feasible to add that to the mobile game, but if it is it'd give the league a unique little bonus to compensate for five years of no promotion.

[ElliottMS]

On 08/04/2021 at 15:43, DW19 said:

Tough call. You might be better off moving on, unless you are willing to invest a number of seasons in the MEL and eventually get promoted to the Primera Division.

FYI, I am in 2028-29 at this point. I started this season by winning the Champions Trophy and have just now been offered the job to coach the Mexican National Team. I haven't managed a national team in this version of the game, so I am going to give it a shot.

I sorta just take the approach of once I've done everything I can with a team to move on. If promotion is not a possibility then that might be the excuse, although I suppose there is the cup. Got knocked out by Pumas in the quarter finals this time around.

[DW19]

On 10/04/2021 at 12:16, ElliottMS said:

I sorta just take the approach of once I've done everything I can with a team to move on. If promotion is not a possibility then that might be the excuse, although I suppose there is the cup. Got knocked out by Pumas in the quarter finals this time around.

Promotion is a possibility eventually. You just have to hang on for a few seasons before it can happen.

[ElliottMS]

On 13/04/2021 at 17:26, DW19 said:

Promotion is a possibility eventually. You just have to hang on for a few seasons before it can happen.

My manager is impatient - but he may have to just wait!

[gtstarter93]

On 17/02/2021 at 13:02, DW19 said:

One more question related to the MEL. I often end the season with more points than I expect. How does the bonus point system work? It is not described in the league rules screen. Here is an example, where I would expect to have 39 points rather than 45. 

You get an additional point for every away win you get. The mobile version doesn't mention this rule but it is applied.

[gtstarter93]

On 08/04/2021 at 20:34, LeftCoastScott said:

Here I thought I had discovered something cool by playing in the MEL, then I get on here to find it's the most popular thread. Ah well.

Anyhow, an issue I've noticed: teams are getting promoted to the MEL each season from the (non-playable) third tier, but none are relegated for the first five years, so the league grows by a team each year. I'm no expert on Mexican football, but from Wikipedia I don't think this should happen - this article says that instead of relegation, the bottom three teams pay a fine.

As well, each team in MEL is supposed to receive cash each year (I believe from a similar but larger set of fines charged to the bottom three Liga MX teams). Dunno if it's feasible to add that to the mobile game, but if it is it'd give the league a unique little bonus to compensate for five years of no promotion.

It is expected that the Mexican Expansion League will have more teams in the upcoming seasons. A few years ago, when this tier was named Mexican Promotion League, it had 18 teams for a while.