*Official* Football Manager 2023 Early Access Beta Feedback Thread

[feltusen]

Played 3 seasons and not very impressed. Player interactions are boring as before and not really anything new from last game. This aint a new game, this is a patch 

[baris28]

Does these videos really helps new players? 

I like his videos one of your moderators he seems. But does it help AI squad building and AI substitutes? I'm too old for this.. Does AI have some clue about wonder kids or balls over the top above good defenders easy goals for match engine.

[Fabregas_04]

47 minutes ago, Dotsworthy said:

It's only down 4% though, from beta reviews only.

I doubt SI would concern themselves unless it took a drastic plunge.

You're missing the point. They've got no real selling point other than it's meant to be a bit better than the last and given the reviews, it isn't, it's worse.

[kopfan1977]

It's a BETA version.

Does it have Issues? Yes.

Is any game perfect? No

 

This constant criticism of SI is achieving nothing. Let them sort the issues out quietly and to the best of their abilities. And if upon release of the full game it's still suffering with issues then yes the criticism would be justified. Till then, Show some patience and either play FM22 or help SI with constructive views on what is good and what isn't and by also submitting bug reports, screenshots etc of any issue you find.

 

[alian62]

2 hours ago, craiigman said:

See these kind of tweets most years, can someone explain how this information gets back to SI?

The disclaimer when you start the game about ads still imo goes against gdpr as you can’t start the game without inputting a date of birth, but i don’t recall it saying your data is sent to SI?

 

I never put my real DOB into the game . 

[Dagenham_Dave]

24 minutes ago, Fabregas_04 said:

You're missing the point. They've got no real selling point other than it's meant to be a bit better than the last and given the reviews, it isn't, it's worse.

Have a day off mate, the game's not even been released yet. 

[JordanMilly]

5 hours ago, kopfan1977 said:

Not had much chance to play so far due to work.. But what is with the freezing/stuttering during a match?

FM22 runs smooth enough for me but this years edition is just Jittery as heck. Any idea why? 

Very odd, because FM23 has run the smoothest for me, both in and out of the ME, of any version of FM for years for me. 

Might just be a case of checking the suggestions given for stutter some people had in FM22 and trying those out?

[JordanMilly]

2 hours ago, craiigman said:

See these kind of tweets most years, can someone explain how this information gets back to SI?

The disclaimer when you start the game about ads still imo goes against gdpr as you can’t start the game without inputting a date of birth, but i don’t recall it saying your data is sent to SI?

 

Per GDPR, data that cannot identify you as an individual isn't personal data, and so isn't covered.

Given that an individual cannot be purely identified from their date of birth, whether by itself or from gameplay data (such as number of matches played, goals scored, etc), it is likely not to be fall under GDPR.

It's why them collecting gameplay data is fine - you can't be identified from how many matches you've played in-game and how much you've spent on transfers.

[Sunstrikuuu]

1 hour ago, kopfan1977 said:

It's a BETA version.

Does it have Issues? Yes.

Is any game perfect? No

 

This constant criticism of SI is achieving nothing. Let them sort the issues out quietly and to the best of their abilities. And if upon release of the full game it's still suffering with issues then yes the criticism would be justified. Till then, Show some patience and either play FM22 or help SI with constructive views on what is good and what isn't and by also submitting bug reports, screenshots etc of any issue you find.

 

I don't want to hear that it's a beta when it's got the same problems with interactions that FM 22, 21, 20, 19, 18 and 17 all had.  That was my hard line this year -- no changes to the interactions, no purchase.  The interaction feature is game-ruining, and I won't put another penny into the game or the company until it's changed.  A lot of people here have had a lot of patience over the years.

[janrzm]

6 hours ago, kopfan1977 said:

It's a BETA version.

Does it have Issues? Yes.

Is any game perfect? No

 

This constant criticism of SI is achieving nothing. Let them sort the issues out quietly and to the best of their abilities. And if upon release of the full game it's still suffering with issues then yes the criticism would be justified. Till then, Show some patience and either play FM22 or help SI with constructive views on what is good and what isn't and by also submitting bug reports, screenshots etc of any issue you find.

 

It's a beta, I keep reading and hearing that the rationale for releasing it is to have more "testers" of the game than SI can achieve in house.

The notion of asking customers to be silent is a strange one. Constructive criticism will not harm this product I can assure you of that. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by janrzm

[esca]

Can anyone confirm why this year the job is showing "Head Coach"/"Assistant Coach" instead of "Manager"/"Assistant Manager"?

[alian62]

4 hours ago, kopfan1977 said:

It's a BETA version.

Does it have Issues? Yes.

Is any game perfect? No

 

This constant criticism of SI is achieving nothing. Let them sort the issues out quietly and to the best of their abilities. And if upon release of the full game it's still suffering with issues then yes the criticism would be justified. Till then, Show some patience and either play FM22 or help SI with constructive views on what is good and what isn't and by also submitting bug reports, screenshots etc of any issue you find.

 

Im focusing on the good points.  ME is as enjoyable if not better than FM17  , because that was my benchmark .  The 200% rendering makes a difference too . Tactic section is much improved . Better fonts on the UI which seems softer . Processing is quicker again . Fan section is a good introduction which will get better . Im getting more into the media stuff which I use to ignored . I look a lot better now in the manager set up . Believe that takes a lot of doing !!! Constructive criticism is great as it helps to improve the game but all the negative Nancy's out there are just off putting 

Edited October 28, 2022 by prot651

[Mars_Blackmon]

58 minutes ago, esca said:

Can anyone confirm why this year the job is showing "Head Coach"/"Assistant Coach" instead of "Manager"/"Assistant Manager"?

Must be in USA English rather than UK. You have to change the language. Although in the US we call them managers as well lol.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Mars_Blackmon

[esca]

4 minutes ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

Must be in USA English rather than UK. You have to change the language. Although in the US we call them managers as well lol.

Ya, is really weird to use Head Coach instead of Manager, problem solved when I reset all the game setting and select back to language English UK 

[janrzm]

5 hours ago, baris28 said:

Does these videos really helps new players? 

I like his videos one of your moderators he seems. But does it help AI squad building and AI substitutes? I'm too old for this.. Does AI have some clue about wonder kids or balls over the top above good defenders easy goals for match engine.

I'm not totally sure what point you're trying to make because he does videos for all players. In terms of the FM23 ME we are all new players..... 😂

Also, he's a mod not a developer of the game or SI employee so I wouldn't expect to see videos about the AI squad building from him. 👍

Edited October 28, 2022 by janrzm

[woodsy1983]

8 hours ago, janrzm said:

Be very welcome to see an SI response to this. Some saying it's great, then you see this....... Something is amiss. 

Do you not need to assign a scout to actually carry it out?

on my assignments screen it has the scouts listed on the left hand side and you click on each one to give them their focus assignment.

[John Joe O'toole]

9 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Report it then please  Saying that, I'm sure somebody already has 

Yep, I have reported it. It happened on the old FM too.

[Fond Foat]

On 26/10/2022 at 16:31, roykela said:

 

As Dave; I wish there were more injuries. I'm with my second team, leaving training to my assistant and coaches, and i hardly have injuries. Knocks now and then, sure. Injuries are sort of "non-existent"  in my team at the moment.

Yeah. It really is strange to have just 2 or 3 players with any real injuries. I wish the number would be bumped to closer to real life. Again, it would be nice if the user could set the injury rate to High, Standard, or Low like OOTP.

[-Jef-]

1 hour ago, woodsy1983 said:

Do you not need to assign a scout to actually carry it out?

on my assignments screen it has the scouts listed on the left hand side and you click on each one to give them their focus assignment.

I do have assigned scouts. As you can see there are six scouts assigned and there are players in ongoing but never in near matches or recommended. I have raised this issue in bug tracker and waiting for SI staff to reply.

[phnompenhandy]

8 hours ago, baris28 said:

Does these videos really helps new players? 

I like his videos one of your moderators he seems. But does it help AI squad building and AI substitutes? I'm too old for this.. Does AI have some clue about wonder kids or balls over the top above good defenders easy goals for match engine.

I assume you mean new players in the game - newgens. That video is focussing on a specific feature in the ME. In his other videos on FM23 he criticises the poor player development in the beta.

[phnompenhandy]

43 minutes ago, Fond Foat said:

Yeah. It really is strange to have just 2 or 3 players with any real injuries. I wish the number would be bumped to closer to real life. Again, it would be nice if the user could set the injury rate to High, Standard, or Low like OOTP.

SI have long argued, quite reasonably, that a realistic amount of injuries would put a lot of casual players off, especially as it is the norm to over-train players and use tactics (like constant gegenpressing) that would wipe out their teams. If you want more realism, there is a solution. Pop over to the Editors' Hideaway forum and download the extra realism add-ons which include injuries and much else.

[angelo994]

That’s me finished 2 seasons now. I have to say I’ve noticed my GKs making some really crazy mistakes. I play with a sweeper keeper on defend. Has anyone else noticed this? Or is it just part of the package with using a sweeper keeper? 

Edited October 28, 2022 by angelo994

[Womaz]

Please someone share a screenshot of the Regens......I need proof that they have kept the Cartoon like faces 

I hated them in FM22 ,and was hoping it would be addressed in this release.

[fc.cadoni]

1 minute ago, Womaz said:

Please someone share a screenshot of the Regens......I need proof that they have kept the Cartoon like faces 

I hated them in FM22 ,and was hoping it would be addressed in this release.

It called newgens. Regens is FIFA 

[ImDaWeasel]

3 minutes ago, fc.cadoni said:

It called newgens. Regens is FIFA 

Remember the days of both 

[ImDaWeasel]

5 hours ago, janrzm said:

It's a beta, I keep reading and hearing that the rationale for releasing it is to have more "testers" of the game than SI can achieve in house.

The notion of asking customers to be silent is a strange one. Constructive criticism will not harm this product I can assure you of that. 

The only thing they don't say is it's been a 5 year beta 

[Johnny Ace]

5 minutes ago, fc.cadoni said:

It called newgens. Regens is FIFA 

I know zilch about FIFA but back in the Champ Man days, when a player retired, he'd actually "regen". It's a difficult habit to break 

[fc.cadoni]

6 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

I know zilch about FIFA but back in the Champ Man days, when a player retired, he'd actually "regen". It's a difficult habit to break 

I don't like the old habits 

[craiigman]

7 hours ago, JordanMilly said:

Per GDPR, data that cannot identify you as an individual isn't personal data, and so isn't covered.

Given that an individual cannot be purely identified from their date of birth, whether by itself or from gameplay data (such as number of matches played, goals scored, etc), it is likely not to be fall under GDPR.

It's why them collecting gameplay data is fine - you can't be identified from how many matches you've played in-game and how much you've spent on transfers.

However if you were to put in your real date of birth and use your real name as your manager name, that does become information you can be identified by. Especially now as game saves put the manager name in the save name by default, I know you can change it.

I've just looked in settings (on FM22 anyway) and there is a tick box to turn off data collecting. Surely this should be an option for the user to decide and not be on by default, especially as it doesn't actually say what data it is collecting on that screen, or any other than I can find currently. I'm sure it's in the EULA, but it shouldn't be that difficult to find.

[aj6658]

12 hours ago, zachalxnder said:

You've no idea what is going on behind the scenes.

Yeah but i know the output - which is terrible transfer AI, so whats your point? 

Maybe hold Si to a higher standard? 

[aj6658]

8 hours ago, kopfan1977 said:

It's a BETA version.

Does it have Issues? Yes.

Is any game perfect? No

 

This constant criticism of SI is achieving nothing. Let them sort the issues out quietly and to the best of their abilities. And if upon release of the full game it's still suffering with issues then yes the criticism would be justified. Till then, Show some patience and either play FM22 or help SI with constructive views on what is good and what isn't and by also submitting bug reports, screenshots etc of any issue you find.

 

• AI team hoarding older players and not developing youth - never fixed and currently present in this edition 
• Dynamic youth rating - never fixed 
• Passing stats - never fixed
• Genpressing being OP in FM22 - Never fixed 
• Terrible transfer AI - not been fixed for years. I posted about in my save spurs bought DVB for 20m in Jan, selling him for 6m later for a loss. 
• Graphics thats have gotten worse from 17. FIFA manager had better graphics than FM23 10 years ago. 

This "Its a BETA" defence is so asinine. Evidence above of things never fixed. 

Maybe hold SI to a Higher standard?

 

[forameuss]

8 hours ago, Fabregas_04 said:

You're missing the point. They've got no real selling point other than it's meant to be a bit better than the last and given the reviews, it isn't, it's worse.

And it'll likely still sell a very similar number to always.  A 40% review drop likely wouldn't change that, let alone a 4%.

[Bakiano]

Finished my first season with Juventus, so here is a little updated review.

 

1. Recruitment Revamp - NEW Squad Planner & Updated Recruitment Meetings

I rarely used squad depth in FM22 so squad planner is not a big feature for me and to be honest, I didn't it investigated so much into it, maybe there is something useful that I missed it but I am not so intruiged so far for that.

Recruitment meetings are much better than in FM22, there is of course more clicks and interaction, but it can be useful.

2. Match AI & Animations

I played a 4231 formation with two DMC-s, one centre back was on CD defend duty and the other one was a BPD. I conceded a lot of goals, most of them was mistakes from my defenders, so I changed the BPD to CD defend and my defence got much better.

I am using my old laptop for almost a decade for FM and this version is much more smoother for me, even 3D animations are not lagging at all which is a great thing for me, because I only watch replayed goals in 3D.

3. Official UEFA Club Competition Licenses

Good thing but not important to me and to be honest not a big feature at all. The draw is a nice and refreshing thing but I am the kind of manager that used to skip it all teams to see the drawings.

4. Supporter Confidence

Love the idea but I don't know, it is just meh for me now. Looked at it a couple of times and wasn't so impressed, as I really don't care why they are angry that I drew an away game against Empoli for example, even if I already won the title and this was just an "friendly game". 

5. Dynamic Manager Timeline.  

I kinda like it, you can see what you did in your career's save which can remind you of some things you did well but also this is not a big feature for me, it is just like a great small addon.

 

Conclusion: unfortunately for me this is FM22 with updated transfers and player's attributes plus a couple of addons which was described as a features.

 

[fc.cadoni]

40 minutes ago, craiigman said:

However if you were to put in your real date of birth and use your real name as your manager name, that does become information you can be identified by. Especially now as game saves put the manager name in the save name by default, I know you can change it.

I've just looked in settings (on FM22 anyway) and there is a tick box to turn off data collecting. Surely this should be an option for the user to decide and not be on by default, especially as it doesn't actually say what data it is collecting on that screen, or any other than I can find currently. I'm sure it's in the EULA, but it shouldn't be that difficult to find.

Same box is in FM23 as well.

[agent007]

1 hour ago, Womaz said:

Please someone share a screenshot of the Regens......I need proof that they have kept the Cartoon like faces 

I hated them in FM22 ,and was hoping it would be addressed in this release.

its stiill terrible. Black players still wear WIGS. 

Edited October 28, 2022 by agent007

[Raymond85]

30 minuti fa, agent007 ha scritto:

its stiill terrible. Black players still wear WIGS. 

If anything they look even worse. I hope NewGan manager works with this edition too, it’s my only motivation for long term saves

[kopfan1977]

39 minutes ago, aj6658 said:

• AI team hoarding older players and not developing youth - never fixed and currently present in this edition 
• Dynamic youth rating - never fixed 
• Passing stats - never fixed
• Genpressing being OP in FM22 - Never fixed 
• Terrible transfer AI - not been fixed for years. I posted about in my save spurs bought DVB for 20m in Jan, selling him for 6m later for a loss. 
• Graphics thats have gotten worse from 17. FIFA manager had better graphics than FM23 10 years ago. 

This "Its a BETA" defence is so asinine. Evidence above of things never fixed. 

Maybe hold SI to a Higher standard?

 

No one is saying we can't post constructive criticism. No one is saying Don't hold SI to a higher standard.

 

However some of the criticism and constant whining about certain things isn't going to help.

 

I am all for wanting a better product, Wanting things that we would deem broken to be fixed. But it's got to be done the correct way.

 

I am in agreement with the majority of what you said. Squad building by the AI isn't great, their over reliance upon older players in favour of promoting and developing youth is awful. Even when they have spent millions on snatching that wonderkid you've had your eye on for ages from under your nose and then proceed to allow him to rot in their reserves or get sent on loan where he doesn't get the right development. Yes I get you, Same with purchasing players to then sell at a loss a season or 2 later (I can only put some of these losses down to Game time a player receives / Reputation of club, League etc which causes the loss in value)

Dynamic Youth rating is not something I am familiar with, I am assuming this is to do with quality of regens from countries?

Passing stats - TBF I don't pay attention to stats too often so cannot pass judgement.

Gegenpressing is probably the most used system around the world. So many teams now implement a high pressing, high tempo game plan. Yes It may be slightly OP

 

Graphics. Compared to where we were when we used to play the likes of CM01/02 to now. The graphics are great. We are never going to see FIFA style graphics. This is a management simulation, Not a Football simulation. However, I would like to see some effort be put into the Stadiums, Newgen faces as these could be improved upon. If someone who is a non professional graphics designer can produce better looking newgen faces than SI currently produce in the game, then Yes SI can and should do better (Sort of like at the end of The Mandalorian season 1 Where Luke Skywalker showed up. Disney's version of that looked awful compared to the deepfaked version of Luke that someone then did on a way smaller budget).

 

 

But like I said, No one is saying don't post constructive feedback, No one is saying don't hold SI to higher standards. Just make sure it's done in the correct way.

[Sophos]

Is anyone else getting massive changes in form between game sessions?

[themadsheep2001]

Really need to cut out the sniping. Too many people here think their view, or their groups view is the way it should be and have to argue vs someone else's. At the end of the day, as long as it's constructive and respectful, and on the current elements of the game itself, its useful. Anything else is probably not useful and likely to be ignored

[RandomGuy.]

Ive found some clubs making good transfers. 

I had a list of 4 players 4* and above rated shortlisted to sign on a PCA and Aberdeen signed 3 of them.

[Fëanáro Míriel]

The game is what it is not much we can do about that but what i don't understand is how do they get away with 3 patches a year... ME again has issues which is expected, like pressing doesn't seem to work as intended and if that is the case then it is VERY likely we will have to wait until march, which is ridiculous. Back in 19(18?) we had a whole year of wingers shooting from the byline. Why not release patches more frequently ? I don't think there is any other yearly game with so few patches in a season.

[USASoundersFan]

4 hours ago, Fond Foat said:

Yeah. It really is strange to have just 2 or 3 players with any real injuries. I wish the number would be bumped to closer to real life. Again, it would be nice if the user could set the injury rate to High, Standard, or Low like OOTP.

This is one of the aspects of FM that really makes me hesitate to buy a new version. I really wish FM's focus was on being as realistic as possible as having injuries be lower than real life ... it just causes an unrealistic game world. Like you, I also feel that it would be great if FM was like OOTP in that I could set it to a "realistic" injury setting if I want and to actually depend more so on my club's medical professionals and on knowing how to handle a roster with a realistic number and severity of injuries.

And I don't want to use an editor file that just focuses on older players.

I enjoy football much more than baseball, but I find myself playing OOTP more because it provides a more realistic experience as far as injuries and other aspects go.

[Tonton_Zola]

Game needs a totally fresh idea for media or player interactions. Currently no jeopardy or obvious implication to your action.

I would borrow from grand strategy games and create clear, transparently communicated modifiers connected to your response to a question.

So, before games you get max one or two media interactions (quite why you need more I don’t know)

so, build up to cup final. Haaland’s out of form.

”boss, would you agree that your star striker is out of form?”

“yes, he’s out of touch and I have told him so. He needs to buck his ideas up” (50% chance you get “Haaland fired up”, all attacking attributes +0.5 for one game, 50% chance you get “head dropped”, all attacking attributes -0.5 for one game)

”nah, the lad’s okay, he’s getting in the right areas” (50% chance you get “arm around the shoulder” morale improves +1, 50% chance you get “don’t patronise me”, morale declines -1)

All of these modifier chances would vary depending on player personality etc. also, always option just to “spout cliche/no comment” and get no modifier)

This would be so much better!

 

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by Tonton_Zola

[Tonton_Zola]

3 minutes ago, Tonton_Zola said:

Game needs a totally fresh idea for media or player interactions. Currently no jeopardy or obvious implication to your action.

I would borrow from grand strategy games and create clear, transparently communicated modifiers connected to your response to a question.

So, before games you get max one or two media interactions (quite why you need more I don’t know)

so, build up to cup final. Haaland’s out of form.

”boss, would you agree that your star striker is out of form?”

“yes, he’s out of touch and I have told him so. He needs to buck his ideas up” (50% chance you get “Haaland fired up”, all attacking attributes +0.5 for one game, 50% chance you get “head dropped”, all attacking attributes -0.5 for one game)

”nah, the lad’s okay, he’s getting in the right areas” (50% chance you get “arm around the shoulder” morale improves +1, 50% chance you get “don’t patronise me”, morale declines -1)

All of these modifier chances would vary depending on player personality etc. also, always option just to “spout cliche/no comment” and get no modifier)

This would be so much better!

 

 

As an extension of this, as your communication stats improve as manager, the dice roll element falls more and more in your favour. I.e if you are “silver-tongued” a la mourinho, you are more likely to get positive outcomes 

[strippdogg]

12 minutes ago, Tonton_Zola said:

As an extension of this, as your communication stats improve as manager, the dice roll element falls more and more in your favour. I.e if you are “silver-tongued” a la mourinho, you are more likely to get positive outcomes 

There definitely needs to be more ‘chemistry’ involved in the game. 
 

There might be a 4-5 star coach but you couldn’t sign him because it would clash with your personality. 
You could review scouts performance and see how many players you’ve signed/shortlisted from a scout. If none tell him he’s underperforming or fire him. 
many things like this would be immersive. 
 

 

[phnompenhandy]

Right, I've committed myself. For all the faults people are highlighting in the beta, for me the bread & butter of FM is the match engine and realistic tactics. Rashidi at BusttheNet Gaming and now YouTuber RDF have shown me enough to feel the ME has made steps forward, so I've coughed up and am downloading the game now.

[Sky]

3 hours ago, aj6658 said:

• Terrible transfer AI - not been fixed for years. I posted about in my save spurs bought DVB for 20m in Jan, selling him for 6m later for a loss. 

 

Ah yes, clubs taking a punt on a player and selling for a loss never happens in real life.

[RandomGuy.]

43 minutes ago, USASoundersFan said:

This is one of the aspects of FM that really makes me hesitate to buy a new version. I really wish FM's focus was on being as realistic as possible as having injuries be lower than real life ... it just causes an unrealistic game world. Like you, I also feel that it would be great if FM was like OOTP in that I could set it to a "realistic" injury setting if I want and to actually depend more so on my club's medical professionals and on knowing how to handle a roster with a realistic number and severity of injuries.

And I don't want to use an editor file that just focuses on older players.

I enjoy football much more than baseball, but I find myself playing OOTP more because it provides a more realistic experience as far as injuries and other aspects go.

The forum used to be filled with never ending complaints about too many injuries, as realistic football injuries can see half your squad carrying some form of knock all season, so im sure SI toned it back.

It did used to be a complete nightmare and you had to get used to playing half fit players. 

36 minutes ago, Tonton_Zola said:

Game needs a totally fresh idea for media or player interactions. Currently no jeopardy or obvious implication to your action.

I would borrow from grand strategy games and create clear, transparently communicated modifiers connected to your response to a question.

So, before games you get max one or two media interactions (quite why you need more I don’t know)

so, build up to cup final. Haaland’s out of form.

”boss, would you agree that your star striker is out of form?”

“yes, he’s out of touch and I have told him so. He needs to buck his ideas up” (50% chance you get “Haaland fired up”, all attacking attributes +0.5 for one game, 50% chance you get “head dropped”, all attacking attributes -0.5 for one game)

”nah, the lad’s okay, he’s getting in the right areas” (50% chance you get “arm around the shoulder” morale improves +1, 50% chance you get “don’t patronise me”, morale declines -1)

All of these modifier chances would vary depending on player personality etc. also, always option just to “spout cliche/no comment” and get no modifier)

This would be so much better!

 

 

Is that not how it works now, just via morale?

Low morale sees players perform worse.

[Sky]

11 minutes ago, aj6658 said:

Ah yes, how often does it happen in real life where a player is bought and sold in 6 months?  I'll wait 

Thanks for playing sweetie 

Dele Alli, bought in January and binned in six months. 

[Fabregas_04]

40 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Right, I've committed myself. For all the faults people are highlighting in the beta, for me the bread & butter of FM is the match engine and realistic tactics. Rashidi at BusttheNet Gaming and now YouTuber RDF have shown me enough to feel the ME has made steps forward, so I've coughed up and am downloading the game now.

Yes, lots of improvements but brace yourself for the all too common defensive cluster****s that will have you ripping hair out. I really hope they get this sorted for release, or sooner because this ME really feels like there is potential.