BrightLad5

Check out Zealand's many many videos on this, testing and simulating multiple different scenarios and circumstances . Short answer: Nation scouting is best on FM22.

Just have a graphics slider. 2D or very low 3D for the potato laptops, and then we can slide it to the top for higher end graphics, cut away scenes, close ups on replays etc etc. The argument people often make about it "putting off the core audience" who have old laptops is irrelevant if they add this. Most games have some form of slider or check boxes to turn certain graphics on or off. Its not exactly revolutionary stuff

And sell said "scuffed edition" for the same price as the following years alleged "polished version" The power you have when you have a monopoly on the market is incredible

If they cant improve a release from 1 year to 3 years then there are bigger issues. I don't think this is the case. I get there are features 2, 3 often 5 years in the works at any given point. But say they don't release one of these each year and instead release all 3 (one for each year for example) in the hypothetical game release on the 3rd year. Maybe they have 2 BIG features a years currently depending how you look at it... that would be 6 big new things every 3rd year. It would feel so much better as a NEW game

Love all this... but a reminder that the player models are currently on par with a late 90's MMO so maybe we a while off this... The uproar on new graphics this time round feels a lot bigger than normal... hopefully improvements come sooner rather than later!

So as long as they say its a new game instead of a DB update then its ok? Even if the new features are minimal? I'm getting FM23, its pre-ordered and I'm excited to play it. On the most part I do like some of the new features (more so than FM22 new features) but they still aren't sizable and the point still stands that if it is just FM22 + a couple of new things then it'll be a sad day but we'll see. A big new game every 3 years with lots of new features for £50 with 2 mini DB updates each year in between for £10 would still be my preference but that's just me

Reckon if we do get a livestream this week it could be SweetLeftFoot and HollyyPlayys that front it?! Both great FM streamers that have recently got jobs at SI so they would be the perfect people to head up the stream with Miles!

It would be DLC though, a download that is available at the end of each transfer window. They release a winter update patch with the transfers updates already. If you try to distance yourself from the Season by Season nature of football or sports and think about it more as a video game that is releasing updates and DLC onto Epic/Steam for the user to download and use as they please then it doesn't sound that crazy. Loads of games release DLC to to make their game better and keep it exciting whilst they are developing the next game in the series. I get that you can get DB updates for free, but having a fully optimized and supported DB update from SI would be my personal preference in this example. I do disagree, making games accessible to multiple platforms is really important and there is definitely a market for PS5 and Xbox FM. Console gamers may not put in 1000+ hours like a lot of the hardcore PC FMers but they may well put in quite a few seasons and play 50-100 hours (a normal amount for a game) definitely! Also, I'm very interested in anything that increases the graphical side of the game like the manger customisation. Maybe if we do start putting more pressure on improving this side and making it more immersive it will stop being a spread sheet simulator and will move into the 21 century and become a more immersive video game. Look at F1 Manager!

Reminds me of GTA5's horrific online launch... think they managed to recover it though

They make a net profit of around £5 million a year. Most people get the game for say, £32 a year? Id happily pay £10 a year purely for a database update and maybe throw in a new skin. Then they can focus all the time on some sizable new features over the course of 2 or 3 years instead of rushing out a game every year when they may not be capable of doing so... ...we're going to get back to debating Zealand's dreaded subscription model again soon aren't we

Lots of factors determine it. Training the player in the specific position, training sessions that improve tactical familiarity, obviously game time. There is no hard and fast rule or specific time frame. I'm not sure, but I would assume that the level you play at will be a factor too (part time training will take longer, better coaching staff will make it faster etc)

People wont agree with me here, but if you cant add enough sizable changes in time... don't release a NEW game. I'm saying this as someone, like a lot of you, who has been playing and loving this game for over 20 years. NEW being the operative word here. There was a feature released on Manager customisation in the most recent blog. Lovely, that's good, genuinely I like that. However, they mention for example having 6 new hairstyles? So... what, they are just using the 20 existing hairstyles from FM22 again and then just adding in 6 different ones?? That's not what NEW games do. New games create and re-work everything. They use the same base but rework all the graphics and gameplay to improve it for a new game. If their isn't big noticeable changes to the manager customisation this year, then basically they have added 6 hairstyles and a watch and called it a new game when really it is just DLC. If they havent got time to add a working, graphical representation of Set Piece training (which we all hope is on their feature review list), or other BIG new features that the game desperately needs then don't fob us off with BS "features" that aren't good enough to be classed as a new game Rockstar dont release a new GTA every year because if they did the game wouldn't improve... they release DLC and updates over the months/years to keep their games fresh and then they (EVENTUALLY in GTAs case...) release the new game when it is actually ready and NEW! Same can be said for the majority of games. They don't release a new game every year excluding maybe 1 very big FPS gaming franchise. Just because it is a sports game, doesnt mean they have to release a new title every year. Providing an extensive database update yearly at a small cost if we want it, and then every 2/3 years release a NEW game with flashy fancy NEW features when they are ready to be rolled out... this would be better IMO.

Exactly this. If a player is pushing a new contract, and I really don't want to offer him one, and he has over 2 years left on the contract I will just point blank refuse. Don't like going down the promise route with these things. They will have a paddy and probably be upset for a few months but then they will come round and be happy again in time for you to actually want to give him a new contract in a year or so's time. 2 years left on contract is normally the absolute minimum id do this though. 3 years plus left then you have no problems just refusing them

Think the livestream is normally announced on the day, or maybe the day before maximum. We'll likely hear something this Tuesday/Wednesday if they are going to do the Livestream!

Hey we can reverse engine this... so no they haven't announced the live stream yet, but if we can work out the average time between the "Headline Feature" reveal and the Live Stream... we can then work out EXACTLY which date the Beta will be out based off of KillYourIdols expert investigating skills above... Easy

We need to know the collation between "Twitch Stream First Look" day and Beta release day for the last 2/3 cycles... whose got these numbers?!

I've got 1086 in FM22. My Beta save was 3 seasons with AC Milan (target man challenge with Giroud!) Then I moved to a unemployed journeyman on full release, starting in Denmark, dotting about and spending 5/6 seasons there before getting the job at Monaco and spending 4/5 seasons trying to overturn PSG before finally finishing that save with a year at Aston Villa! Most recently I started a Rebuild save with Real Zaragoza in May. I'm about 7 season in to this one, trying to get Zaragoza back up into European football after a fall from grace over the last 20/30 years! Just started my final season before FM23 is out I do play with a lot of attention to detail, and like the challenge of a journeyman, having to re-evaluate the team and "start over" with each new team you manage, but yes I also love a one-club save. I'll turn my hand to any save/challenge tbh!

Maybe I'm in a minority then. I for example love doing all the training, scouting and getting involved with pretty much everything, for example developing youth, tactic building, squad building. It seems you play a much more stripped down style of FM than I do, and in that case I can see why most of the recent features might not resonate with your style of play, so i take what you've said on board!

Agreed. There are 'bigger' features that I hoped would have been done for FM23 like set pieces and International and do feel SI have dropped the ball a bit on these. Also they really need to start moving towards better 3D graphics. They cater maybe too much for the potato laptop players, although this could well be a large portion of their player base so it could limit sales for them? I don't know...

Club vision and Board Confidence Objectives are unavoidable. They are part of the game that you 'use' without actively using. Quick Chats for me are important for moral boosting and developing youth players as well as resolving squad dynamic issues but fair enough if you don't use them. Not using deadline day is a gameplay choice of course but again, it is very useful for offloading players and signing players cheaper than you may have done in the window and it adds a nice feel to the Save. Data hub needs work! But its addition has been useful, hopefully they make it more user friendly in coming games. Majority of these features (and FM23's announced features) add a huge amount of realism/immersion to saves ahead of anything else. It depends maybe on how you choose to play the game. If you don't get too invested in the story of the save then they may not seem big, but most of these add a lot to creating an immersive save IMO, which is where my passion for CM/FM stemmed from, that feeling of immersion.

Also, how many of the following have become just part of your saves now? Could you imagine FM without: Club Vision, Board Confidence objectives, Development Centre, Playing time pathway, Interaction and quick chats, Pre-match staff advice, xG, End of Season Review, Deadline day experience, Data hub, New player roles These are just some of the bigger things that have been brought in since FM20, in the last 3 iterations of the game. I couldn't imagine the game without them. I do think its important to be reflective before we say "its the same game reskinned"

I'm pretty pleased with Headline feature reveals. I can see every feature that has been announced so far, being a part of everyone's saves. Its not like they have brought some things in that you might use, you might not... all 5 new features that they have mentioned so far will become just part and parcel of the game. The scouting revamp (similar to the training revamp of years ago), this will just be how we do scouting from now on. Supporter confidence, if implemented dynamically, will be a great feature for immersion and those long term saves we all love. UEFA Club licenses again will add immersion to your saves, cant have any arguments that this is a good implementation. Manager timeline, again, will help with creating stories and add extra immersion. It would be good to be able to choose what goes on your timeline though! We all want set piece creators, we all want international management revamp. However, in terms of what they have announced, they are good features. I don't think many people could honestly say they would rather the above features NOT be in the game?

I've never NOT left the AI to look after reserve and U18 squads to be honest. Im struggling to see what the main disadvantages would be of letting the Ai control the teams as opposed to not having them do anything. IMO having the reserves just playing friendlies to keep first team fit and the U18s being non-existent would have a much more detrimental effect on a long term save than if you just left them to the AI. Even if the Ai do a "bad job", its better than nothing at all surely.

Not sure on my Beta Save, but my main release long term save will be a Youth Academy challenge. Starting by holidaying a year and taking a newly promoted team in lowest division in England (previously unplayable team) and taking them as high as possible with no signing! Cant wait!

Pretty spot on I think. SI probably know better than most of us where the majourtiy of their sales/player base come from. It would be great to have the option for improved graphics for those of us that are able to handle it on our computers but I do understand why they keep it basic (to a degree) I can only speak for myself, but whenever I see screenshots or videos on social media that people post of their FM saves they normally are filmed on a smart phone and the game is often on a laptop! The typical FM player doesn't seem to be the typical "PC gamer" as such. You'd never see someone post a video of their Apex Legends gameplay record on a smart phone for example No shade intended at all, it just seems to be the way it is! People will play FM on the same laptop for many years, maybe even ONLY playing FM on laptop and maybe do their other casual gaming on console. These are generalisations of course but it does feel this way!