FelixForte

So is it here yet

I always understood roles to be presets of tactical instructions, which have been tested and confirmed to behave in certain ways. I view them more as ‘templates’ or starting points. E.g if you want your fullback to underlap; you may well start with preset IWB and then start tweaking whatever instructions you disagree with. I know there are certain restrictions but I’m usually able to have the players execute what I like within a given role. I think giving users access to a ‘open’ role with no preset instructions and full customization optionscould make sense for the hard core player, but may also lead to players acting in inpredictable or inconsistent ways. As SI mentioned with the introduction of wide center backs, they extensively test any roles (and I presume associated instructions) to check the behaviour of players in that role. An open role may be more exposed to systematic errors in the match engine

Why make small immersion upgrades if we’ll be looking at stick figures once match day comes? We’re all playing this for the game experience, otherwise we’d play FIFA or so. But that doesn’t mean that there is no value in enhancing graphics. By that logic, we could have kept the 2D engine. The game is enormously lagging behind in graphics. It makes up for it in gameplay, but the game would be on a whole another level if we also had decent graphics.

No it's all now announced on a blog where you need to sign up for. Don't bother though, nothing significant.

He showed on stream yesterday that he's already played FM23 for 3 hours. So no graphic increases to be expected

I'm not accusing SI of anything, but companies with a product close to full maturity often try to lengthen the lifecycle by not introducing new features as quickly as they can. Look at the iPhone, which only very recently a 120 refresh rate. Once you have a phone with a screen as sharp as you can perceive, a battery to last you a day and a camera to take a professional picture, there's just not that more meaningful innovation you can do. Therefore, you better bring out the iPhone 14 and 15 before you make the last significant improvements. It could be the same for FM. Once the graphics become crisp, international management and set pieces are fixed, there's not that much more to add. Sure you can keep adding quality of life and immersions changes, but those won't be revolutionary anymore. Just look at FIFA, that game has been 'finished' since FIFA10 and has since moved to a different business model where they for example give the World Cup as a free DLC and monetise through micro (and sometimes not so micro) transactions.

I've just retired my last FM22 save and will now start planning for my FM23 save. RIP to my recent favourite regen, who we'll never get to see grow old. This guy could have easily scored the most goals as a defender ever.

Are you really playing with realism if you're watching reruns of goals and offsides? Managers don't have that luxury!

Wonder if Hertha will still have a sugar daddy!

So what is going to be everyone's beta save? My long-term save will be Academica in the third tier of Portugal, but I don't want to start that until the full game it out. Some ideas: A Brazilian club. Great amount of games to practice with the new match engine, important to do squad planning with hopefully good youngsters, and has a rule that most players should be Brazilian so not too many countries that have to be loaded Napoli. Have been playing amazing this season and would probably really enjoy having players like Kvaratskelia and Osimhen. Feyenoord. My favourite club in real life and have invested heavily in young talent from South America following last season. I could probably finally have a game with them where I'm not forced to sell everyone in the first window

There is a lot of frustration in the community that a lot of features that were asked for are not here. For instance: International management, especially with the World Cup so close to the release of the game Set piece UI, which has been broken for years Better graphic engine, which looks like its from early 2000s. I'm not asking for FIFA like features, but let's not forget that FIFA07 from 15 years ago looked much better in terms of graphics (see below). At this point in time, I imagine it's not even that expensive to make a decent looking game. I think this frustration is only being exacerbated by the blogs and videos. There are features which are quite small (e.g. a timeline which you see once a season or backend fixes to AI management) being announced as if they are massive updates to the game. If SI would have said 'Hey, we're working on some bigger features but they're multi year projects so unfortunately this year updates have been a bit more limited, game will now cost 25 quid', I would have understood and bought the game out of support, because the game is still amazing and we all want it to continue developing. Rather, they act like we're all stupid and that these small immersion tweaks will indeed make the game significantly different from the previous. After the last two years I'm starting to think that as long as SI adds something to the bar on the left (Squad Planner, Analytics), it's sufficient. And yes, the community will be vocal if you don't present significant upgrades but do talk about stuff like: Manager accessoires and scarfs which are not shown in game Badges on kits which are not visible at all because your graphic engine is still using stick figures Relabelling certain tactical instructions Overhauling hairstyles and regen faces, while an initiative from the community called NewGan has already shown that it could be much much better. The issue is not that small features are being announced in a blog post. If there had been significant other overhauls (even if just one of the three mentioned above), everybody would have been pleased with reading about further immersion / quality of life features. But the combination of 1) there not being significant features, 2) SI acting like there are and 3) presenting minute features as meaningful upgrades rightfully sparks frustration.

Thanks both. I actually contacted them and got a full refund within a couple of minutes. Have now bought from Fanatical, which was a few euros more expensive but does have beta access and allowed me to support my favourite content creator. However, if you're from EU and just want the game as cheap as possible, check out here: https://www.allkeyshop.com/blog/buy-football-manager-2023-cd-key-compare-prices/ Do be aware though that you're likely not getting beta access and may have to wait a day or so to get your key.

Fair point!

These shirts are actually allowed in real life. See for instance:

'New suits and coats have been added for male and female managers; should you choose the former, you’ll have the option to go for a more stylish look by adding a scarf' Brilliant, extremely excited now

There’s much more to add. Think about decent graphic engine, set piece UI or international management. I’m not asking for FIFA graphics but aren’t we 15 years beyond stick figures

Let’s be honest, which ‘chunky’ upgrades did we get. I like the squad planner and am sure I’ll use it. But that’s it. Minor upgrades and big fixes do not warrant a full new game. I’ll still play but much more could have been done

Just seen the FMFC update on 6 further updates. Disappointing. Again very minor items such as manager appearance, online modes and MLS. No international management, no graphics engine, no set pieces changes. I love the game and have bought, but was hoping for a bit more. Oh well. Maybe next year

I may have bought the game from a non-approved seller...

I've pre-ordered the game here: https://www.eneba.com/other-football-manager-2023-pc-mac-official-website-key-europe/gaming4life Does anyone know if I get beta access? It says 'We inform you that our PRE-ORDER bonuses may not be included and when included, may differ from the other offers available in the market. You will receive your product key upon the game’s release date. Key has to be activated on official Football Manager site: REDEEM.FOOTBALLMANAGER.COM . Upon activation you will be able to select your platform : Steam, Epic Games or Microsoft store.'

I may have just missed it, but have any features been announced after the headline features? I thought SI communicated that more features would be announced over the following weeks but I haven’t seen further info. Sorry if I’m just impatient and it is in the pipeline

I think a few posters above have misunderstood me. I’m not saying 35 pounds is a fair price for a database update. I’m saying 35 pounds each year is a fair price for being able to play this amazing game (including all developments that have been made over the last 20 years). I know that you could also play a game which is fairly similar by not paying the 35 pounds (i.e by playing FM22), but I think 35 pounds per year is a fair remuneration for the creators of this game. I don’t view the 35 pounds as the amount I pay for the increments in gameplay, but rather as my annual subscription for which I get the latest updates & access to a great game. Yes there’s the option of not buying FM23 if you don’t like the increments, but I believe its a fair annual fee. I suppose it’s also a matter of whether you care if SI is rewarded for creating the game, or if you just want the best deal for yourself. I’m not saying the latter is wrong, but given that I play this game for 1000+ hours per year it’s a small cost for me to support the further development of this game

Don't view it as purchasing an entirely new game, consider it an annual fee you owe to SI for the existence of such an amazing game. Even if there had been no changes to the game except for updating the databases, the game would still be worth your 35 quid annually

Thanks for this, that’s in line with my understanding after some Googling. It turns out that Academica B has one of the lowest reputations in the regional division, so I think they are indeed highly unlikely to be the team to get promoted organically. However, I was wondering if I could bump their reputation, for example by having them win friendlies against much bigger clubs? They’re unfortunately not in a cup, so no competitive matches. Or would it help if I put world class players in there? If not, would their chances of being promoted increase if I change their reputation in the pre-game editor before starting my save? I would not put it to 10k but to a level that makes them competitive, to hopefully have a good chance of getting them promoted within 5 years. I’m just not sure whether their reputation won’t revert back to a lower level after a season or so Edit: another way to go would be to download editor data files that make those regional divisions playable, but I’m not sure if anyone is making league structures below the 4th Portuguese leagues