Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Feedback/Tilbakemelding 14.1.3

[robwesty85]

Trying to figure out how much of this thread has actually been feedback!

Anyway my feedback so far, only 3 games into pre season. I have been a long term fan of the game (CM97/98 was my first taste of SIs work) and have always been decently succesful. No where near as good as some of the guys out there. Anyway FM13 really managed to drag me down and I stopped playing it for well over 6 months but then reading wwfans 12 step guide and cleons excellent articles I actually realised I knew no where near as much as I needed to to succeed at this great game. On to FM14, I had the beta but never played it as I was enjoying my FM13 save too much and I wanted my first 14 save to be a proper one. I know you can carry over beta saves but I just prefer to start fresh once the game is fully released. My impressions of FM14 are that I am extremely impressed.

To say SI have only had a 3D engine implemented since FM09 the work on it in 5 years IMO is staggering. FM14 is now the first version I will not be reverting to 2D for. It looks fantastic, pound for pound it is on par with the FIFAs of this world, please remember I typed pound for pound before that statement. It just looks so fluid and more genuine than ever before. Sure the actual ME has issues but not to sound like im having a dig at SI but most long term fans are used to patching our game and not having something that is 100% straight out the box. TBH that is nigh on impossible anyway. But as a base for FM14 and who know even 15 if they carry on this ME it all looks very promising. Im still having a few issues in pre season friendlies where my Baggies team are passing it about to much in the final third instead of having a shot when they quite clearly have an opening but I am going to experiment with a couple of shouts to fix that. If that doesnt cure it I may have to investigate further. Defending still seems slightly off on the ME but from what I have already read they are working on it, so fingers crossed.

Transfer dealings so far feel very much improved, love the real time suggest terms aspect of transfers.

Talking to the board finally seems to have a bit more of a meaning, being able to leak stuff to the press is great, I can finally leak to the public how tight Jeremy Peace is!!

Training has always been a weak point of my CM/FM gaming career, but from the way it was changed for FM13 and now in FM14 it is more user friendly for me. But I still dont feel confident on the training side of the game and I dont like allowing my Ass Man for example to be in charge of it. I like to control it all.

The UI is fantastic, very clean looking and on my 21" iMac the default skin may be staying as it looks beautiful, maybe until steklo is released.

All in all for me this is the best FM straight out of the box, an extremely good base to move forward and fulfill its potential.

I know theres not exactly much feedback in my post but I wanted to show my appreciation for the effort thats gone into 14, FM13 really disappointed me as I was honestly ready to give up my FM game playing career until I got my desire back and now FM14 has well and truly got me the bug back.

[shirajzl]

I don't buy this argument at all.

Why shouldn't a football management simulator oblige you to pay attention to what the opposition is doing? Isn't that the whole point?

I'm not disputing their intention to force users "to pay attention to what the opposition is doing", it's a step forward in a simulation.

What I do think is they'll eventually lose their customers because of it; the more accurate simulation FM becomes, the less it is a game you can relax with. I've always loved this game because I could sit, enjoy, and fulfil my football fantasies with some effort, but not a huge degree. It didn't use to require that much focus and concentration. I think some elements of simulation could bury the game, and having to adapt to your opponent almost every match is definitely one of those.

That said, milnerpoint, might have a point. New customers, mostly younger generations don't have older iterations to compare with and they'll accept this game as it is and keep it afloat.

[PinkYoshi]

too many goals scored off rebounds off players in the box, too many long range shots from sideline hitting goalposts.

tackling on wingers is non existent

lower league sides still play short passing game like barcelona. short passing game should have no forward momentum in lower league as it has huge drawbacks if you don t make runs. but lower league teams have no such problems with fatigue on short passing, nor off the ball movement for AI teams

[L-Wiz]

ok so i'm really glad that i stick my usual rule of thumb of just simply waiting until around January/February before purchasing the new release each year. We all love FM and we all know that the initial 2-3 months is a real trudge trying to get over the initial teething process of bugs and tweaks etc. and we all know eventually it gets sorted and turns out to be the best realease yet. i can't understand why so many people seem so suprised as nothing is different from any other year. if you just buy the game each January, you will still have 12 months of good game play before buying the next release. each time it will probably be at good playing level with all the bugs fixed. I'm still loving my FM 13 save so why on earth would i quit that to play a game that will cause so much frustration.

i personally think SI do an amazing job with their constant feedback to the forum and defintiely do all they can to get things sorted asap. we are all here to achieve the same goal: get the best game possible.

Think some people need to just be more realistic and accept that the first 2-3 months after realease are going to be a bit rocky.

so for now, i look forward to Jan/Feb time when i can purchase (hopefully) a very strong working FM14

good luck for now.....

[ajw10]

I've noticed something that's probably a bug.

I've turned transfer budgets off for the first window, but I'm seeing lots of clubs try and sign players on a free. Which was fine on previous games, but because of the new system, no one can afford to pay the agents fees. So I'm seeing lots of transfers fall through.

[tomtuck01]

So, I applied for a job and had an interview. Now over three weeks later they've yet to approach me or give the job to someone else. Bug?

[RTHerringbone]

I'm not disputing their intention to force users "to pay attention to what the opposition is doing", it's a step forward in a simulation.

What I do think is they'll eventually lose their customers because of it; the more accurate simulation FM becomes, the less it is a game you can relax with. I've always loved this game because I could sit, enjoy, and fulfil my football fantasies with some effort, but not a huge degree. It didn't use to require that much focus and concentration. I think some elements of simulation could bury the game, and having to adapt to your opponent almost every match is definitely one of those.

It's a Catch 22 situation for SI.

In my opinion, the tactics interface is now far more intuitive than it has ever been before, so the game should be more accessible to people new to FM.

I always used Tactics Creator with no slider tweaks, so for people like me, the shackles are removed and we can voluntarily immerse ourselves in more detail than before. However, if TC users don't want to use Shouts or Player Instructions, then they don't need to, so there's no forced additional effort needed there.

Conversely, I'm seeing a few "old hands" imply that they have lost control or visibility of what they are doing and that the game has been over simplified!

The game has not become more involved at all in my opinion, it just has a slightly different interface that we need to adapt to.

The fundamental concepts remain the same.

[RTHerringbone]

So, I applied for a job and had an interview. Now over three weeks later they've yet to approach me or give the job to someone else. Bug?

Doesn't sound right to me, please log the specific details in this thread:

http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/368-User-Interface

Might need an uploaded save game, the FTP details are here:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/368795

[pigfacemonkeyman]

Indirectly it can affect development slightly via morale for example but the even then the effects from the ratings alone are not that large in the big picture.

I don't suppose you want to tell us exactly what does fill the big picture!

[Spurs44]

Just played a game where my left back had a rating of 5.0 at half time, sub him after 50mins when he dropped to 4.9. The player I bring on finishes with a 5.1 while my right back finishes with a 5.3. Obviously the game is unplayable when the other teams have a masssive advantage because every match I'm playing with nine men. Ive tried wing backs, complete wing backs, fullbacks and limited fullbacks all with different teams in Spain and England. How can this be so bad?! I was more conserved on here yesterday but after playing all yesterday and up till now today I can't play it anymore. This needs to be sorted as it's a complete joke. Every year people have moaned about bugs in the game but personally I've never had anything in the whole series that has stopped me from playing until now.

[webeto]

@RTHerringbone

Are they likely to release incremental updates to the ME?

Or save up all the fixes they can for a few weeks and release a decent size one?

[Kung]

i played a few games yesterday, i noticed that there was an average of 1 penalty and atleast 1 sending off in every game, im playingg in serie a, is it a bug?

[tts0]

You do realise that the match engine is the same one that was used in the last few days of the Beta, yeah? There were no ME changes when it went to the full release.

Of course I do and that's what I'm complaining about. This 14.1/14.1.1/14.1.2 - or whatever it's called - ME is just unacceptable, yet it was - and still is - in the full released game! Previous ME was almos perfect - good amount of blocked and unblocked crosses, variety of the offensive movements, tight defense, yet decent amount of goals, no "super-dribbler" thing at all, ice-skating efect almost dissapeared. There were some bugs like very poor finishing or this whole raitings problem, but comparing

to the present ME it was pure perfection!

And its not like that I'm struggling to win a match after this update or something, cuz I haven't started a decent career yet. I'm just testing and trying to have fun, yet its everything but fun due to this crappy ME which should resemble a real football game, but resembles a chaotic game of egoistic super-dribblers who are impossible to stop; game of crossing and shooting all the time; game of absolutely no defence!

I've been playing these series for over 15, cuz it's one and only enjoyable football manager simulation at the market, yet it's getting worse and worse with almost every update right now. Sad bu true...

[Dingusen]

This is good advice. I don't think your tone was too uptight with Huntelaar19 either.

However, advice to analyse the matches and make adjustments when the ME is in this state is bound to be met with emotional responses, because it is a logical argument which you can back up with experience and facts - against a feeling of frustration that things aren't quite right. They are just feelings because I've been trying to analyze what exactly is wrong, but I don't know where to start! Rather than sit down and watch a full match, stopping every minute to write a work-up on problem areas, I just don't bother firing up the demo, because an update is bound to come soon and change everything - so it's a waste of time.

Instead I played FM13 yesterday, and saw that only nuances separate that ME from as-good-as-it-gets-dom. Those nuances are the over-efficiency of physique-driven direct football (which I exploit), some strange decisions on and off the ball in transition phases, weird behaviour on the ball close to the byline inside the box, lack of precise into-space-passes, lack of non-lofted through balls and my personal bug-bears; extremely high priority of getting throw-ins, overabundance of mindless clearances and backpasses to the keeper.

Fix that and the FM13 ME would have been near-perfect!

Granted, the amount of sliding tackles were extreme in FM13 and I noticed this better once having tried the FM14 demo, but compared to the glacial pace and hibernating intensity of the gameplay in FM14, I'd prefer unrealistic sliding tackles. It is no wonder many users are having problems achieving success, since the lack of aggression is so extreme that it feels natural to compensate by pushing up, hassling, get stuck in and going Attack or Overload in order to at least have your players -appear- to try to play football. This only makes things worse because it opens up space for the opponent to pass in. When I got that confirmed, I went the other route; stand off, Counter/Defend, drop deeper, stay on feet... but didn't notice any difference. Neither off nor on the ball - they opted for route one and dribbling raids anyhow. The latter is extremely efficient because even as the defender (usually the full backs) and the winger directly face each other with literally only the ball between them, the winger do not lose possession of the ball. Having played football and enjoyed dribbling myself in my day, I can hardly describe in clear enough terms how unrealistic and game-breaking that is. It is unrealistic because once you face a defender 90 degrees vs 90 degrees with the ball in the middle between you, there is nothing you can do but lose the ball. It is game-breaking because this literally allows any player to go on dribbling raids where he sort of pushes the defender in front of him like a plow, and it appears a successful sliding tackle is the only way to dispossess him. The physics engine that prevented players from going through each other in FM13 is apparently replaced with one where the ball is non-physical.

This causes a gameplay where the team who has the ball in Extended highlights get to finish the attack, which ends in either a goal, a corner or a bad clearance. Then there's either a new highlight, a new finish or a goal-kick, and if it's a goal-kick the ball pings back in the vast majority of cases. Then cut, and rinse repeat for the other team (or the same team, depending on factors I was unable to determine). It didn't matter who I managed. Lazio, Oxford, Coventry, Chelsea. The stock tactics already loaded when I started the game lead to 20/20 shots, 50/50 possession and good or bad results depending on God knows what... for about three or four matches. From then on the stats changed to 10 for/30 against and 40/60 possession regardless of opposition, with all four teams.

So if the new approach you speak of is "adapt to the opposition every game" I'm out, along with 90% of SI's customers.

Amazingly good post!

[Time_Consumer]

What does all that rationally tell you?

If you let the AI control the team and they win, but they lose when you control it yourself, think about what that's actually saying. Why don't you watch a re-run of one of the games your AM has managed on your behalf? Why don't you look at the changes made, the analysis of the game itself. Instead of blithely blaming the software for your own deficiencies, use it to learn where you're going wrong.

That's my advice anyway.

Jesus Christ. I hate that you can't talk about a "broken" ME without someone pointing out your tactics...

It _doesn't_ matter how good yout tactics are, when the fullbacks don't defend and the strikers don't score and the AMs are not even taking part in the game...

[Butters76]

Very Minor thing not seen mentioned.

Is it just me or is rain sometimes invisible? Rarely it happens I can't see any rain falling in the 3D but players are really muddy after sliders. Maybe it had been raining before the game and stopped just before kickoff? Just looks a bit wierd with a perfect looking grass pitch and players full of mud on their shirts and shorts.

Edit: Oh and they wash the shirts at halftime

[Kriss]

@RTHerringbone

Are they likely to release incremental updates to the ME?

Or save up all the fixes they can for a few weeks and release a decent size one?

Only PaulC can answer that and even he won't be definitive.

[themadsheep2001]

@RTHerringbone

Are they likely to release incremental updates to the ME?

Or save up all the fixes they can for a few weeks and release a decent size one?

It depends on what is easier to create the updates in terms of balance and knock ons, sometimes it can be incremental, sometimes it has to go as one bigger update. Given that two of the issues have been pointed out as a priority by them, my guess is that if they can get it sorted, and it's not something that requires watching out for lots of knock on effects, we might be lucky. This is all guess work though. Only they will know, and even then it will be wait and see.

[Spurs44]

Jesus Christ. I hate that you can't talk about a "broken" ME without someone pointing out your tactics...

It _doesn't_ matter how good yout tactics are, when the fullbacks don't defend and the strikers don't score and the AMs are not even taking part in the game...

I agree, why do people blindly defend something that is broken. We are not complaing because we hate FM. We are complaining because we love it but its broken. Blindly defending it will not lead to a better game. People pointing out whats wrong with it will.

[RTHerringbone]

@RTHerringbone

Are they likely to release incremental updates to the ME?

Or save up all the fixes they can for a few weeks and release a decent size one?

Nobody knows.

A quote from PaulC yesterday(?) suggested that player ratings and an issue with FMC Instant Result are the SI immediate priorities, but whether they are released with additional fixes or in isolation won't be known until it is released.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Jesus Christ. I hate that you can't talk about a "broken" ME without someone pointing out your tactics...

It _doesn't_ matter how good yout tactics are, when the fullbacks don't defend and the strikers don't score and the AMs are not even taking part in the game...

Well, my (and the opposition) fullbacks tackle plenty, and my main striker has scored 11 goals in 11 games to start the season, so that's patently not true.

[themadsheep2001]

I agree, why do people blindly defend something that is broken. We are not complaing because we hate FM. We are complaining because we love it but its broken. Blindly defending it will not lead to a better game. People pointing out whats wrong with it will.

If either of you had read the post he was replying to, you'd realise the he was pointing out the other guy won when the assistant manager ran his team, but lost when he ran it, suggesting there is something his assistant is doing better than him.

[Casual]

After playing half a season with Red Star Belgrade, I gotta say that my usual predictions and opinion of the game at this stage doesn't vary from previous year.

I got no problem with "the rest of the game", though I am dissapointed that we haven't got many big features this year. I always used to say if ME is good than you can release a data update with minor changes for all I care. That would be a sacrifice I'd always be willing to take.

Alas, the now famous ME hasn't become smarter since last year and that is still the biggest issue and burden in my head. Better looking YES, smarter NO. Remembering conversations from last year, when the moderators and ME programmers were reassuring us that many things will be better in 2014 because in 2013 that ME was made from scratch and it takes time to make it better.

One year later, as always, we see a great number of same old ME bugs/problems like bad defending, goalkeeping, unrealistic results and thus unrealistic standings, crazy turnarounds, too many goals, too many shots... Some new bugs have appeared like awful ratings of players who haven't scored or assisted.

Generally these are the things that bring you down a lot when you start to play the game you just bought. You have to wait for the next patch and cross your fingers that these things will be better and that no new bugs will arise because of changes. It's very hard for a lot of people to play the game knowing there are things that they can't do nothing about but affect the outcomes of their matches and seasons.

[Dagenham_Dave]

I agree, why do people blindly defend something that is broken. We are not complaing because we hate FM. We are complaining because we love it but its broken. Blindly defending it will not lead to a better game. People pointing out whats wrong with it will.

It's also annoying being labelled a 'fanboy' when you point out the flaws in the arguments of those who say the game is 'broken'. There has been great feedback on this thread pointing out the things that still need fixed. Feedback pointing out the game is 'broken' or 'unplayable' helps no-one.

I've yet to give my own feedback, but as I said earlier in the thread, I'm waiting until I've done at least half a season with this new save I'm on.

[valehannes]

I don't suppose you want to tell us exactly what does fill the big picture!

Player potential, hidden mental attributes (described in player information/report), age, playing time, coach ratings, club training facilities, happiness with training schedule, strength of opposition in games (maybe).

In relation to bugs and how broken and unplayable they make the game - I enjoy this game very much, even with bugs. When I play other games and encounter bugs, I despair and play on thinking that the game was probably not worth the investment because I know they won't be fixed. With FM I know people are actively working on fixing the bugs, there is an actual conversation with the developers who want and try to make the best game they can and are not actually hindered by their distributor/mother company. I think this gives me and maybe others a sense of entitlement and because the game is so important to us, small faults become huge gamebreakers in the heat of the moment and we lose sight of the bigger picture.

[Time_Consumer]

If either of you had read the post he was replying to, you'd realise the he was pointing out the other guy won when the assistant manager ran his team, but lost when he ran it, suggesting there is something his assistant is doing better than him.

So it must be his tactics, he just isn't good, and you are probably much better. But still: there are gamebreaking issues in the ME atm (and i don't understand people claiming they don't have them - how? i don't get it), for me FM is not just getting good results (i can get them with the current ME), but emulating good football. That's just impossible because of said issues.

And as Spurs44 said: i'm not here to bash the game, i'm a long time fan of the series and enjoyed the game every year. But i'm disappointed, that the core of the whole game is so messed up atm. And it even already has been better one or two beta patches back...

[Fancy Gaffot]

In one matchday (my own game and one between 2 AI teams) I've seen two things I've never seen in many previous Fms - the keeper passing the ball straight to my striker who then scored and an AI keeper handling the ball outside the area and getting straight red. Neat.

[PaulC]

I would say that in terms of the ME the ratings issue deserves a quick update, but the other stuff which is more subjective will take a little more time.

But in general I'd like to think when we have an improved ME build that has had sufficient testing we roll it out. More often than not that will coincide with planned game updates but that isn't 100% set in stone.

[reddevilmark]

Well, my (and the opposition) fullbacks tackle plenty, and my main striker has scored 11 goals in 11 games to start the season, so that's patently not true.

I'm not seeing too many problems either but I always play as a llm , only problems im having with the me is when a tackle is made the player who made the tackle just stands there and admires the ball while the opposition takes it back sometimes and I cant seem to get my AM involved as much as id like him to be but that could be my tactics...Im sure the problems are there but im just not seeing them im really enjoying the game

[Julius Flusfeder]

I have spotted a minor issue, I think. Not sure if anyone else is getting the same, but my board wants me to play attacking football and possession football; currently they're 100% satisfied that we're playing attacking football as required, but the possession confidence seems stuck at "seeing signs of attempting to play possession football but there needs to be improvement". I had the same in the Beta, as well; currently, my side has a mean average of 61% possession. Surely that's enough?

Or does the possession thing just tick upwards more slowly and require more time?

In my Beta save it never went up, despite averaging 60% possession over a season and a half of play.

Related to this, I am wondering when we're going to see team possession as one of the team stats in competitions. It's pretty obvious that the game is recording an average stat, since the media remarks on it and there's the whole team philosophy thing with the board now, but that we the players can't see it is a big shame - if nothing else it would save time when doing match preparation: currently I have to get my damn calculator out if I want to know!

Hey auqakuh, could you upload a save game from when this has occurred? Have a look here if you're not sure how to that.

Probably better if you could post the issue here too - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/364-Interaction-Conversations-Team-Meetings

[themadsheep2001]

I'm not seeing too many problems either but I always play as a llm , only problems im having with the me is when a tackle is made the player who made the tackle just stands there and admires the ball while the opposition takes it back sometimes and I cant seem to get my AM involved as much as id like him to be but that could be my tactics...Im sure the problems are there but im just not seeing them im really enjoying the game

The full backs actually tackle too much, but its what you mentioned in the bold that males them look "underpowered". Defensive players need to be jostling much more, forcing players back, and also making those niggily fouls.

[Rhazmuz]

Is anyone else getting "low" ratings for their central midfielders?

I play as United, and eventhough we dominate most games, and win, all my central midfielders have an average rating below 7.

[milnerpoint]

Well i played another few games last night. Full back ratings are still frustrating me, but ive learned to live with it for the moment. I played 4 competitive games into my second season, yet to score or conceed from a cross which i found extremely strange, but there were a few close calls! The widget has been fixed on the match screen thankfully so now it follows my team and not the home team every time. Again ive not come across the transfer issue, im currently turning down £1.8M bids for a player valued £1.9M whilst its under his value, i think thats acceptable as its a starting off point for negotiating, tough luck for the AI tho im not selling! The good thing is, this bid has come froma prem team, and ive rejected and the player hasnt complained, happy times, ill def have him for another full season.

They are still new, but i really enjoy the new press conferences, ive got a great running battle going with Neil Lennon and its given that side of the game new life. I actually want to get in argument with him, whereas before i would just ignore that side of things completely, although we do still have quite a few of the old questions, but the new ones are brilliant and some of the PC's that go on for 10/15 questions can be great. Ive actually stormed out of my first PC as well for being asked stupid questions.

I really think when the ratings and the crossing thing is sorted i might turn Steam into offline mode as the game will be brilliant for me. Really enjoying watching the ME, and seeing my changes make real differences, wingers look like wingers, inside forwards look as they should and my anchor man barely goes over the half way line, as he should. Dont see enough free kicks yet that cause the keeper issues, and still too few long shots, but i can live with both of those things.

[tomtuck01]

Doesn't sound right to me, please log the specific details in this thread:

http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/368-User-Interface

Might need an uploaded save game, the FTP details are here:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/368795

Aye I have done. Let's see!

[webeto]

Thanks very much Paul, greatly appreciated

[reddevilmark]

The full backs actually tackle too much, but its what you mentioned in the bold that males them look "underpowered". Defensive players need to be jostling much more, forcing players back, and also making those niggily fouls.

totally agree , but im not getting any game breaking issues that others are , ive only had one save ive kept going since the beta started I started with stockport and I got the sack as I couldn't stop goals going in,i then went to rhyl in the welsh premier and ive won the league in the first 2 seasons ive been there

[daylight]

I would say that in terms of the ME the ratings issue deserves a quick update, but the other stuff which is more subjective will take a little more time.

But in general I'd like to think when we have an improved ME build that has had sufficient testing we roll it out. More often than not that will coincide with planned game updates but that isn't 100% set in stone.

Sounds good Paul, I know you hate to set a date for things but as you suggested that the rating deserves a quick update, can we expect that today or tomorrow? Or is it more likely after the weekend?

[Spurs44]

It's also annoying being labelled a 'fanboy' when you point out the flaws in the arguments of those who say the game is 'broken'. There has been great feedback on this thread pointing out the things that still need fixed. Feedback pointing out the game is 'broken' or 'unplayable' helps no-one.

I've yet to give my own feedback, but as I said earlier in the thread, I'm waiting until I've done at least half a season with this new save I'm on.

I apologise, was wound up! But I didn't call you a fan boy...

[Atytse]

I would say that in terms of the ME the ratings issue deserves a quick update, but the other stuff which is more subjective will take a little more time.

But in general I'd like to think when we have an improved ME build that has had sufficient testing we roll it out. More often than not that will coincide with planned game updates but that isn't 100% set in stone.

Hi Paul, thanks for the update and for being as transparent as you could be. In addition to these couple issues identified by you, what's your opinion on the Transfer issue? For me and maybe some others, not being able to attract any bids for decent backup players is what has stopped me from thoroughly enjoying the game. The bug in question has been logged but so are many others so I'm hoping that the Transfer issues will be prioritised if you agree with me.

[HUNT3R]

The full backs actually tackle too much, but its what you mentioned in the bold that males them look "underpowered". Defensive players need to be jostling much more, forcing players back, and also making those niggily fouls.

This.

I watch full games so I see my fullbacks tackle. I think the frustration is that these don't show up in key or even extended highlights. People just see the fullbacks "just standing there", when it was probably the only time he was beaten. If the ME showed the fullback actually making an effort to jostle or attempting to block a cross (even if he doesn't manage to block it), it would be a lot better.

[MyNameIsJohn]

I followed the advice to give the game a go (iro of the transfer offer issue). Brand new game with v1.2, cache cleared. Offers for Lucas in the opening days of £10m (£3m up front) and £12m (£3m up front) despite him being valued at £21m. Early beta I regularly got offers of at least £20m straight off.

Will stop playing now until we get an update. Can productively use the time downloading graphics.

[Dennis_Ajax]

Don't mind if it takes longer to get the ME on a higher level and I understand that this will take time and testing. But any plans to roll out a small patch for the match ratings and transfer bug so the game is some more fun to play?

I don't hate because I want to. But because I love playing this game for over 10 years now. Have faith in you guys that all those things will get fixed but i'm a little dissapointed because the Beta version was great to play

[Dagenham_Dave]

I really love the way your assistant manager now prepares you a list of players willing to come to your club on loan from your parent club. As Stirling boss, I've recently set up Queen of the South as my parent club, and have already snapped up two cracking young players on loan that weren't previously listed as being available for loan. This part of the game has improved dramatically. Superb.

[Kriss]

Don't mind if it takes longer to get the ME on a higher level and I understand that this will take time and testing. But any plans to roll out a small patch for the match ratings and transfer bug so the game is some more fun to play?

If you read up a bit PaulC gives a strong hint, that's the closest you'll get to an answer from the horses mouth

[Bardi Golriz]

Is it just me or is there no way to 'Manage Tactics' - i.e. import/export/save/rename/delete tactics?

It's found in the menu to the right of the familiarity bar for each tactic.

[chinch]

I was having all kinds of problems with the ME/ratings stuff

in the end I decided that basically the game is always about exploiting the ME to get the best out of it...so I'm doen with full backs or wing backs...3CBs and defensive wide midfielders....everything is going fine ...ratings are higher so morale is higher so performances are better so results are better so ratings are higher and so on...it's a cycle of success that is reversed if you play with full backs or wing backs in this ME.

[daylight]

Hi Paul, thanks for the update and for being as transparent as you could be. In addition to these couple issues identified by you, what's your opinion on the Transfer issue? For me and maybe some others, not being able to attract any bids for decent backup players is what has stopped me from thoroughly enjoying the game. The bug in question has been logged but so are many others so I'm hoping that the Transfer issues will be prioritised if you agree with me.

Paul I believe works only on the ME so I doubt he can give details on the transfer bug, I think that is more down Bens street.

[ajw10]

I really hope this player ratings update is released ASAP. It's really affecting the game.

[Dagenham_Dave]

I was having all kinds of problems with the ME/ratings stuff

in the end I decided that basically the game is always about exploiting the ME to get the best out of it...so I'm doen with full backs or wing backs...3CBs and defensive wide midfielders....everything is going fine ...ratings are higher so morale is higher so performances are better so results are better so ratings are higher and so on...it's a cycle of success that is reversed if you play with full backs or wing backs in this ME.

I'm having a storming start to the season using a basic 4-4-2 tactic. My fullback ratings are on the low side, but this hasn't affected their morale at all, as the team is winning. It could all go pear shaped of course, usually does in my saves (!), but the ratings issue doesn't seem to be affecting things my end at the moment. My two regular fullbacks currently have average ratings of 6.39 and 6.58 which is on the low side for a winning team, but I know this will be addressed soon, so it's nothing major.

[Bello di Notte]

i've finally installed dark skin but when i try to change game stuck....