FM2014 Pre-Release Beta *UPDATE* Feedback thread

[Apostolis1978]

Issues with new Patch:

MATCH ENGINE:

1. I held Barcelona with PAOK to a 0-0 away in CL after they had 10 shots and 0!!! on target. They had a 71% possession to 29% mine. This should not happen.

2. Defence seems over the top , low quality teams getting results against illustrious opponents with fast break counter attacks. More CCC to those teams despite the fact that they have like 30% possession. That is IF they finish their 5-6 one on ones with the keeper they seem to be getting in every match.

3. Finishing, Decisions, One on Ones, Shots/headers from inside the 6y box and in the area are abysmal. 9/10 are misses or straight to the OP keepers even for players like Messi, Neymar or players with 16 finishing , 17 composure etc.

4. If a player has the "Shoots from distance" move, even if he can clearly cut inside the box and place a shot with little to no defence, he will still shoot from outside the box. (Miroslav Stoch AML, PAOK, played as an inside forward, 10 shots like this in every match with the Shoot less instruction selected)

5. Full backs, CDs getting a gazzillion of tackles per game which leads to an outlandish rating especially for FBs.

6. Backtracking while defending still an issue.

7. Keepers will still pass to opposition Strikers.

8. FBs play little to no defence when in WB role.

9. I have had players with a clean route to the goal pass or cross the ball to a marked attacker on the other side of the box instead of shooting.

10. AMCs in a Adv. Playmaker Role will rarely if ever play any through balls probably due to the OP defence in this patch.

Transfers:

1. Players that teams would kill to have in their team remain free agents after their contract expires for over 6-8 months because they will NOT reduce their wage demands. (one that comes to mind Anton Putsila AML in my game 10 months as a FA still asking for his previous contract of 1.5 mil/year and Giovinco as well 2.5 mil after 6 months)

More to come.

[TOUGHGUY]

I'm enjoying this version more than the previous two but one thing is really bothering me – the game tells you that option 'X does Y more than default'... except right now we don't know what that default is. It's not even a question of sliders, good riddance, but of at least some basic information given to the player.

Considering how roles and tactical settings have now been pre-set and intertwined and changing them is often no longer a case of 'moving a slider' but a relative/combined change to several settings, I think a great opportunity has been missed – an overview of sorts explicitly showing the effect of changes both large and small when customizing tactics.

Have a clearly defined base value (i.e. default settings or 'all sliders in the middle' to use outdated slider speak), explain what it is ('defensive line halfway between the box and halfway line'...), and then, as the user changes his tactical options, present him with a sort of dynamic overview.

I have this image of an additional tactics screen with, say, red and green arrows with basic descriptions along the lines of '[huge green arrow] players will press [aggressively all over the pitch]' or '[huge red arrow] the team will [drop all the way down to the penalty area]'. Then, when this tactic is saved and edited further, it provides its settings as the new base value – '[small green arrow] players will [push up a couple of steps forward from the box]' and so on and so forth.

I hope I'm being clear enough. That way you would clearly see the differences between various tactical settings. You would have instant feedback as to your changes without any illogical and ridiculous ambiguity. No more wondering 'what exactly does this button do'.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

The thing is £400 a week is not going to be enough to live on if you move away, its unlikely a person would want to move to a new country for part time football, whilst also having to take up a second job to get by, not when they could do it in their own country.

I keep seeing this argument but disagree. Moving from an impoverished Country to England on £1600 p/m (assuming an £800 p/m rental) would represent an improved standard of living and the chance to follow a dream for many. However, how many young men would have the strength of character and the raw footballing ability to do this is more the debatable point for me. On the continent there were instances of clubs boarding players cheaply in overcrowded accommodation, this would indeed result in foreign players relocating for unspectacular wages but as this is both unethical and something the authorities are trying to curb I would not expect it to be encouraged in FM but if you are looking for a realworld reason to justify such circumstances they do exit even if a little tenuous.

[hluraven]

I keep seeing this argument but disagree. Moving from an impoverished Country to England on £1600 p/m (assuming an £800 p/m rental) would represent an improved standard of living and the chance to follow a dream for many. However, how many young men would have the strength of character and the raw footballing ability to do this is more the debatable point for me. On the continent there were instances of clubs boarding players cheaply in overcrowded accommodation, this would indeed result in foreign players relocating for unspectacular wages but as this is both unethical and something the authorities are trying to curb I would not expect it to be encouraged in FM but if you are looking for a realworld reason to justify such circumstances they do exit even if a little tenuous.

Please provide real life examples of players moving to Skrill North/South from another country, purely for the football/wages. I would be utterly amazed if there is even one.

[Sploots]

I just bid £5m for Kurt Zouma. St-Etienne negotiated to £80m... how reasonable. Not the first time this has happened either. I know you can negotiate down but after offering £30m up front (which itself is a ridiculous amount of money for an 18-year-old with 40 league games under his belt) they still wanted £44m.

[forameuss]

I keep seeing this argument but disagree. Moving from an impoverished Country to England on £1600 p/m (assuming an £800 p/m rental) would represent an improved standard of living and the chance to follow a dream for many. However, how many young men would have the strength of character and the raw footballing ability to do this is more the debatable point for me. On the continent there were instances of clubs boarding players cheaply in overcrowded accommodation, this would indeed result in foreign players relocating for unspectacular wages but as this is both unethical and something the authorities are trying to curb I would not expect it to be encouraged in FM but if you are looking for a realworld reason to justify such circumstances they do exit even if a little tenuous.

Got to say I disagree. The bolded part is massively limited. Follow a dream, maybe, but spending half your monthly wage on rent, and not taking into account everything else is pretty short sighted. Then there's the personal aspect, forgetting about money. It just wouldn't happen.

[milnerpoint]

Your also missing the fact that the player would lose 20% of that £1600 a month, and to get a second job would cost even more in tax, so its just not worth while.

There is a good reason so few move for amateur football, its just not financially viable.

[Mendeth]

I just bid £5m for Kurt Zouma. St-Etienne negotiated to £80m... how reasonable. Not the first time this has happened either. I know you can negotiate down but after offering £30m up front (which itself is a ridiculous amount of money for an 18-year-old with 40 league games under his belt) they still wanted £44m.

It's probably a hint that they don't want to sell unless you're willing to spend an extravagant amount of money. It's been that way for a few years now.

[Sploots]

It's probably a hint that they don't want to sell unless you're willing to spend an extravagant amount of money. It's been that way for a few years now.

I can understand that but £80m? It's just not realistic. In real life there is no way they'd turn down £30m up front if it was offered to them right now.

I know it's just paper talk but the rumours around summer were that St-Etienne could consider a bid of around £10m.

[milnerpoint]

I can understand that but £80m? It's just not realistic. In real life there is no way they'd turn down £30m up front if it was offered to them right now.

In real life there is no way they would be offered £30M for an 18 year old with 40 league games under his belt.

[Kriss]

It's probably a hint that they don't want to sell unless you're willing to spend an extravagant amount of money. It's been that way for a few years now.

Yeh it's SI's way of saying the player isn't for sale really.

It's a horribly clumsy way of doing it which I wish they'd change, it should be as irl e.g. your board won't let you offer silly amounts in the first place and/or the players team (or you) should have the option to make a player "not for sale" etc.

[Sploots]

In real life there is no way they would be offered £30M for an 18 year old with 40 league games under his belt.

I wanted to test what ridiculous price I'd have to go up to before they actually agreed.

[Jibby123]

Yeh it's SI's way of saying the player isn't for sale really.

It's a horribly clumsy way of doing it which I wish they'd change, it should be as irl e.g. your board won't let you offer silly amounts in the first place and/or the players team (or you) should have the option to make a player "not for sale" etc.

I'd agree, but I think many versions ago there used to be plenty of complaints when a response from the selling club was "not for sale at any price", as in the crazy forumites (us) would say "Everyone has a price, saying no chance to any offer is unrealistic".

Not sure what the answer is, but it's no biggie for me either way, I guess both are saying the thing.

[milnerpoint]

Yeh it's SI's way of saying the player isn't for sale really.

It's a horribly clumsy way of doing it which I wish they'd change, it should be as irl e.g. your board won't let you offer silly amounts in the first place and/or the players team (or you) should have the option to make a player "not for sale" etc.

As Jibby says, was that not put in place because of the number of "every player has his price" complaints on here? If clubs flat out refused someone who had £200M in the bank they would moan its unrealistic.

Its almost impossible for SI to win at this.

[Shakes]

Really simple complaint about the new skin: move the "Browse" button where it isn't sitting on top of the "Continue" button. Typical scenario: mash the browse button because it's unresponsive, game ends up registering multiple clicks and you hit continue and go straight back into fast forward mode. Ugh.

[Atytse]

Issues with new Patch:

MATCH ENGINE:

1. I held Barcelona with PAOK to a 0-0 away in CL after they had 10 shots and 0!!! on target. They had a 71% possession to 29% mine. This should not happen.

2. Defence seems over the top , low quality teams getting results against illustrious opponents with fast break counter attacks. More CCC to those teams despite the fact that they have like 30% possession. That is IF they finish their 5-6 one on ones with the keeper they seem to be getting in every match.

3. Finishing, Decisions, One on Ones, Shots/headers from inside the 6y box and in the area are abysmal. 9/10 are misses or straight to the OP keepers even for players like Messi, Neymar or players with 16 finishing , 17 composure etc.

4. If a player has the "Shoots from distance" move, even if he can clearly cut inside the box and place a shot with little to no defence, he will still shoot from outside the box. (Miroslav Stoch AML, PAOK, played as an inside forward, 10 shots like this in every match with the Shoot less instruction selected)

5. Full backs, CDs getting a gazzillion of tackles per game which leads to an outlandish rating especially for FBs.

6. Backtracking while defending still an issue.

7. Keepers will still pass to opposition Strikers.

8. FBs play little to no defence when in WB role.

9. I have had players with a clean route to the goal pass or cross the ball to a marked attacker on the other side of the box instead of shooting.

10. AMCs in a Adv. Playmaker Role will rarely if ever play any through balls probably due to the OP defence in this patch.

Transfers:

1. Players that teams would kill to have in their team remain free agents after their contract expires for over 6-8 months because they will NOT reduce their wage demands. (one that comes to mind Anton Putsila AML in my game 10 months as a FA still asking for his previous contract of 1.5 mil/year and Giovinco as well 2.5 mil after 6 months)

More to come.

Great observations! Please do report to the Bugs forum in Match Engine such that SI testers will thoroughly review them. PKD will be super helpful.

[Sploots]

I would agree with that for some players, but for Zouma? He's hardly an indispensable player is he, when £10m is rumoured to be enough to sign him up. That's still a lot of money for an 18-year-old but it doesn't scream 'he's unsellable'

[Neil Brock]

As Jibby says, was that not put in place because of the number of "every player has his price" complaints on here? If clubs flat out refused someone who had £200M in the bank they would moan its unrealistic.

Its almost impossible for SI to win at this.

Yeah pretty much this.

[milnerpoint]

Would you let one of your best young players go for that kind of money?

[Neil Brock]

I would agree with that for some players, but for Zouma? He's hardly an indispensable player is he, when £10m is rumoured to be enough to sign him up. That's still a lot of money for an 18-year-old but it doesn't scream 'he's unsellable'

How would you react if a team bid around £5m for your hottest young prospect and financially you had absolutely no need to sell?

[milnerpoint]

Yeah pretty much this.

For some reason someone trying to sign Messi comes to mind when i think back about this. Im sure there was a big thread on someone have a crazy bid of £200M or something for him rejected and complained that Barca would certainly consider the bid.

[QWERTYOP]

I'm at a loss to understand why people are flagging things like this. Isn't it common sense to understand that if you bid, or make an inquiry about a player, and they come back to you quoting a ridiculous price, it simply means "we ain't selling unless you want to give us stupid money".

[mourinho3373]

I'm really enjoying the game now I don't know what you guys have done with some of the bug fixes but its working good now hopefully the full version will be better.

[PinkYoshi]

how can we update you on something with are not even aware has been uodated. this is the most ******** patch "notes" in history of gaming

i believe this is called bait and switch

[MasterOfSuspense]

The training split percentages show what has been trained in the last 12 months. The team is only focusing on one specific area each training week and the percentages just show what has been trained so far in the past. So that 50% doesn't mean the assistant is currently focusing on TC anymore, just that he had focused on it a lot before.

If you feel that the tactical familiarity is not increasing fast enough, please log this on the bug forums with some examples and a saved game. Please note that tactical familiarity is also effected by transfers in/out so making a lot of transfers during the season can set back the tactical familiarity a bit.

1. OK - no problem then - training pie chart looked a bit more balanced at the end of season

2. 3 transfers in at the start of season - I just think think that the AM should be focusing on what was needed like a mix of tactics and team cohesion (better intelligence needed?) - putting it down to a poor AM TBH

One thing that I did notice was (maybe coincidence) that my BWMs got more red cards at the end of the season (3 in 3 games and 6 in 8 in March) when the fluidity was a lot higher than none when it was low - 5 were straight reds and not even 2 yellows

Default tactics using just the new player roles working a lot better than in previous years - I tend to just set the player role now and not even bother with advanced instructions (playing LL) - I find the intense micro managing and tweaking of individual instructions very time consuming and a bit boring TBH and you can't really tell if they work or not - default is fine for me - I prefer to find a better players and outclass opposition than to constantly tweak instructions (maybe I'm just lazy)

[Be¢kham]

Don't know if this has already been raised but I'm in a Beta game with Portsmouth in my second season now and I've found that defenders, and particularly centre-backs, are ALWAYS getting the high ratings. I don't know if that's a trait of the lower leagues in-game and different to those of you running higher-league games but the top players in terms of average rating are all centre-backs. They're constantly winning player of the month awards and, seemingly regardless of attributes, they're always getting high ratings. I'm not sure that it's affecting the outcome of results hugely but it's a getting a little annoying now. Like I say, might just be a trait of the in-game lower leagues - anyone else noticed it?

[Apostolis1978]

Great observations! Please do report to the Bugs forum in Match Engine such that SI testers will thoroughly review them. PKD will be super helpful.

Hey bud, I have been playing this for 12 years now but I am ashamed to say I have no idea what a PKD is . First time Beta testing and posting so I would appreciate some help.

[ajw10]

Surely SI can win by actually having a realistic market where smaller clubs are willing to sell due to their finances? Just a thought.

There's no way Juventus DEMAND £280m PLUS add ons for Paul Pogba. They wouldn't have done this when they were strong financially, let alone now when they need cash.

[ajw10]

How would you react if a team bid around £5m for your hottest young prospect and financially you had absolutely no need to sell?

Irl St Etienne aren't turning down £30m for a kid CB. And said CB would push harder for a move.

[Sploots]

I'm at a loss to understand why people are flagging things like this. Isn't it common sense to understand that if you bid, or make an inquiry about a player, and they come back to you quoting a ridiculous price, it simply means "we ain't selling unless you want to give us stupid money".

£30m is stupid money and yet they still wanted more, it simply would not happen if that bid was made in real life, therefore I think it's fair to flag it up.

How would you react if a team bid around £5m for your hottest young prospect and financially you had absolutely no need to sell?

I don't think I'd ask for the club to fork up the same amount that was paid for Ronaldo. How would you react if someone offered you £30m for an 18-year-old? I doubt it'd be to ask for £14m more.

[QWERTYOP]

£30m is stupid money and yet they still wanted more, it simply would not happen if that bid was made in real life, therefore I think it's fair to flag it up.

Again, they're saying "we have no wish to sell, unless you want to give us a ridiculous offer. We consider a ridiculous offer to be "X"". Nothing broken there. People just need to understand what's happening.

[milnerpoint]

£30m is stupid money and yet they still wanted more, it simply would not happen if that bid was made in real life, therefore I think it's fair to flag it up.

Again, in real life would anyone offer £30M for him? Its useless citing real life to back up your point if you ignore the reverse of it.

I don't think I'd ask for the club to fork up the same amount that was paid for Ronaldo. How would you react if someone offered you £30m for an 18-year-old? I doubt it'd be to ask for £14m more.

Thats not the question.

Would you sell your top youth prospect for £10M or would you want to try and keep him at your club?

[stevie_G_32201]

Has anyone else noticed your own players getting in each others way at kick off?

[Frank Abbondando]

Transfers so far have been fine for me. Managing Aston Villa so I'm not bidding huge amounts on wonderkids or anything and can't comment on that, but have managed to buy a few players at reasonable prices, namely Etienne Capoue from Spurs for only 3.4m. Thought that was a really good price considering I am playing in the same league as them.

Only issue I have is that there seems to be a lot of good young prospects that aren't being offered new contracts. I've just agreed to sign Carlos Fierro and Dennis Praet on free transfers at the end of the season. Oh I can't sell Benteke for more than 9m?

[milnerpoint]

Transfers so far have been fine for me. Managing Aston Villa so I'm not bidding huge amounts on wonderkids or anything and can't comment on that, but have managed to buy a few players at reasonable prices, namely Etienne Capoue from Spurs for only 3.4m. Thought that was a really good price considering I am playing in the same league as them.

Only issue I have is that there seems to be a lot of good young prospects that aren't being offered new contracts. I've just agreed to sign Carlos Fierro and Dennis Praet on free transfers at the end of the season. Oh I can't sell Benteke for more than 9m?

Why would you want to sell Benteke? Are you offering him out to clubs?

[s6hammer]

Not a bug as such, but has anyone noticed that since the latest update was released, how a number of players star ratings have decreased at the start of the game, compared to what they were prior to the update? Seems strange to me that an update, which I presume has mainly impacted on the match engine, could have such an effect on player ratings.

[Sploots]

Again, in real life would anyone offer £30M for him? Its useless citing real life to back up your point if you ignore the reverse of it.

Thats not the question.

Would you sell your top youth prospect for £10M or would you want to try and keep him at your club?

No, they wouldn't offer £30m, they'd offer less because they know they'd be able to get him for less, a rumoured £20m less, so your argument is just exactly what I'm trying to say.

As for your second question it would depend on a number of factors, such as who the club are (not title contenders), who bid for the player and therefore if he's likely to go to them (Bayern) and what the club think a fair fee would be. Obviously I don't know for sure what they think a fair bid would be. Maybe it wouldn't be £10m, but I think they'd probably negotiate it with a bit more use of their brains rather than just going OH EIGHTY MILL PLZ

[daylight]

Two things for me, one - if a player is good enough to be earning £400p/w, that makes him one of the very best earners in Skrill N/S. A player clearly good enough for a team to offer that would not be unemployed in his own country for long. Second, IRL not only would a player not move to a different country for a part time wage, they generally wouldn't move region. Especially when talking about English lower levels, there are so many teams that anyone who could play at the level would be able to find a local club anyway on the same money. The main motivation for moving away from friends/family will not be to move part time football clubs from one region to another, it will be (other) work and then find a new team, but there aren't really many examples where real life players move region just to change clubs when they could have played more locally for the same money.

Please provide real life examples of players moving to Skrill North/South from another country, purely for the football/wages. I would be utterly amazed if there is even one.

Just for clarification my team is not in the Skrill N/S we are in the Skrill Premiership, also like I said it is not another country, it is the same country just a different nation.

I am fine with it, I would just have thought that players would be willing to move nations in the UK.

[milnerpoint]

As for your second question it would depend on a number of factors, such as who the club are (not title contenders), who bid for the player and therefore if he's likely to go to them (Bayern) and what the club think a fair fee would be. Obviously I don't know for sure what they think a fair bid would be. Maybe it wouldn't be £10m, but I think they'd probably negotiate it with a bit more use of their brains rather than just going OH EIGHTY MILL PLZ

Ok lets make it simple. Roles reversed, your managing the club your trying to buy this player from. Do you accept £10M for someone who clearly is going to be one of the best players the clubs ever had? Or do you go back to the AI demanding a huge sum of money, knowing they will either walk away, or give you a huge pay out?

A simple yes or no will do here.

[valehannes]

Just wanted to mention that I have been seeing a decent amout of freekick goals after the patch. Not always straight shots but mostly freekicks to the box and a tall player heads it in.

[milnerpoint]

Just for clarification my team is not in the Skrill N/S we are in the Skrill Premiership, also like I said it is not another country, it is the same country just a different nation.

I am fine with it, I would just have thought that players would be willing to move nations in the UK.

Can you cite any examples of amateurs moving from Scotland to England, or vice versa, ONLY for footballing reasons?

[Sploots]

Ok lets make it simple. Roles reversed, your managing the club your trying to buy this player from. Do you accept £10M for someone who clearly is going to be one of the best players the clubs ever had? Or do you go back to the AI demanding a huge sum of money, knowing they will either walk away, or give you a huge pay out?

A simple yes or no will do here.

Again it would depend entirely on a number of situations. I would not ask for £80m because I know no one would pay that, and that would risk not only upsetting the player and making him less likely to be happy to stay at the club, but in turn also make his value go down because other clubs will know he's unhappy and therefore expect to get him on a decent fee.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what he is transferred for in real life if he does go, in January or next summer, but I am confident it won't be in the region of £30-80m.

[milnerpoint]

So ill assume since you wont directly answer, that no, you wouldnt sell your top youth prospect for £10M.

In that case, why you would expect the AI to accept it im not sure.

[HUNT3R]

I wanted to test what ridiculous price I'd have to go up to before they actually agreed.

Maybe they're testing you to see what ridiculous price you'll pay

Would you have gone through with the transfer if they accepted 30mil? I don't think so.

[daylight]

Can you cite any examples of amateurs moving from Scotland to England, or vice versa, ONLY for footballing reasons?

I am sure that would take some looking into.

I am just going by what I see in the game, there are a lot of players even in the Scottish Championship first teams that do not earn 400 quid a week, some only half that amount, also let us not forget that a player can live in Scotland and maybe only be a 2 hour drive away from an English amateur club

Like I said I am fine with it, I just think if it was me and I really wanted a career in football and was not getting it in Scotland I would be willing to move to England on 400 quid a week and give it a try, sure I would not be willing to move to another country such as Italy but knowing that I would only be a few hours down the motorway from home then sure I would give it a go.

[Domoboy23]

Happening week in week out. Starting to make the game a bit too unrealistic for me to play.

TNS the top team in the league have scored 49 goals in 12 games.

http://imgur.com/Ibfa4V6

[MasterOfSuspense]

Ok lets make it simple. Roles reversed, your managing the club your trying to buy this player from. Do you accept £10M for someone who clearly is going to be one of the best players the clubs ever had? Or do you go back to the AI demanding a huge sum of money, knowing they will either walk away, or give you a huge pay out?

A simple yes or no will do here.

Fact is you just don't know how good a player will become - would Sporting have sold Ronaldo for £16M if they knew how good he'd become or would they have quoted United £80M to get them to leave it? It's always a gamble IRL

Do AI teams get to see what the PA is for their players?

Developers would probably say no but asking silly money for kids suggests otherwise IMO - it can't just be based on a coaches assessment of their youth players

[MasterOfSuspense]

Happening week in week out. Starting to make the game a bit too unrealistic for me to play.

TNS the top team in the league have scored 49 goals in 12 games.

http://imgur.com/Ibfa4V6

To quote Jeff Stelling a few years back: "They'll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions":D

[milnerpoint]

I am sure that would take some looking into.

I am just going by what I see in the game, there are a lot of players even in the Scottish Championship first teams that do not earn 400 quid a week, some only half that amount, also let us not forget that a player can live in Scotland and maybe only be a 2 hour drive away from an English amateur club

Like I said I am fine with it, I just think if it was me and I really wanted a career in football and was not getting it in Scotland I would be willing to move to England on 400 quid a week and give it a try, sure I would not be willing to move to another country such as Italy but knowing that I would only be a few hours down the motorway from home then sure I would give it a go.

Yeah but those guys are mostly living at home, or near home and do football as a part time hobby ontop of working, your speaking about guys uprooting to play amateur football, a bit different.

Yes it can only be a few hours drive, but again, costs, is it worth the money to go on a 4 hour round trip a few times a week for amateur football?

[Sploots]

So ill assume since you wont directly answer, that no, you wouldnt sell your top youth prospect for £10M.

In that case, why you would expect the AI to accept it im not sure.

I'm not giving you a direct answer because it's not a simple case of 'yes' or 'no'. Football is far more complicated than that and your question was extremely simplified anyway. What if I'm the chairman of Barnet? £10m for my best youth player? Absolutely! The manager of Arsenal? No, of course not. But the manager of St-Etienne? An upper mid-table French side with no chances of winning the league? A club that are protesting against the potential tax changes in France because of the damage it could do to the clubs finances? I'm not so sure, but that's what the papers think would be a likely bid to be accepted.