Football Manager 2014 - Full Game Feedback/Tilbakemelding 14.1.3

[narcoscatolicos]

Eto'o just scored a Football Manager goal against Schalke.

[kevgaleuk]

2 initially:

In the editor you cannot delete a monetary item in a players history; you delete it and it turns to 0 - I don't think it has an impact into the game just something I noticed that might want to be looked at

I started as Norwich and in my press conference I was asked about "2 seasons of mediocrity" when clearly two mid-table finishes were awesome for Norwich

My only other comment relates to the deteriorating state of player histories. I always edit across the game to try and tidy these up but each release they are getting worse because of the number of mid-season data updates. Examples include the fact that players who moved early this season (Fellani, Ozil etc) have 0's for this season for the other club. I would have thought a basic data rule would exist in this space - either the transfer is added as a future transfer (if the game date precedes the transfer) i.e. those players would move on 31/08 and therefore they would generate some appearances for their former club in the season OR they would start there as of 01/07 and have no history for the current season. Currently it looks like lazy data maintenance (sorry if that sounds overly critical but the game is built on a database and the actual data quality seems to be being forgotten!)

[Golden Boot]

As someone who watches most games on Full, I can't resist pointing something out regarding the precious 'clear cut chances' that are so often pronounced as the be-all and end-all statistic for tactical evaluation. Can anyone guess what all of the following situations have in common?

If you said that FM14's Match Engine doesn't consider any of these to be CCCs, you'd be right. Yes, even that last one. And this just a handful of those I've come across. The ME isn't very good at showing off what's happening under the hood. Or else it's just plain bad at knowing what 'clear cut' is. Or both.

If you said that FM14's Match Engine doesn't consider any of these to be CCCs, you'd be right. Yes, even that last one. And this just a handful of those I've come across. The ME isn't very good at showing off what's happening under the hood. Or else it's just plain bad at knowing what 'clear cut' is. Or both.

If that's true, then there's no escaping the fact that is very, very poor. As I generally watch comprehensive highlights I rely on match analysis statistics to provide me with the information I need. If the ME is genuinely not seeing these goalscoring opportunities as CCCs, then something is seriously wrong with how the game interprets match data - rendering many of the more subjective statistics meaningless.

There are so many issues with this ME, but they have been thoroughly documented here and elsewhere so I won't bang on about them. Just please please don't make me go back to FM12...

[themadsheep2001]

Just to reiterate Neil's opening post:

Any questions, please look on the FAQ - http://www.footballmanager.com/faq/

Any feedback please make constructive and leave in this thread.

Any bugs, please raise them here - http://community.sigames.com/forumdisplay.php/359

Any issues running the game or with crashing, please raise them here - http://community.sigames.com/forumdi...chnical-Issues

And please remember the house rules.

[daylight]

And please remember the house rules.

The newest member buys everyone a drink?

[Blair McCabe]

Why is it when you add a comment in here voicing your opinion about the poor poor game which has been released, it gets deleted. It is valid feedback and SI should take it on board, something they clearly didn't do after last year.

The game, as it is, is a shambles

[daylight]

Why is it when you add a comment in here voicing your opinion about the poor poor game which has been released, it gets deleted. It is valid feedback and SI should take it on board, something they clearly didn't do after last year.

The game, as it is, is a shambles

Maybe because your posts are not constructive in the least.

[Ackter]

Why is it when you add a comment in here voicing your opinion about the poor poor game which has been released, it gets deleted. It is valid feedback and SI should take it on board, something they clearly didn't do after last year.

The game, as it is, is a shambles

It's because of the horrible attitude you used.

Read this:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/370304-Not-Reading-or-Following-House-Rules?p=9157726#post9157726

[Blair McCabe]

Is there any surprise my attitude is horrible towards the game?? Lets look at it:

1. I paid £35 for the game to play on it's release.

2. The game is released with shed loads of issues.

3. I am then asked to be constructive and inform SI of the issues so they can fix them.

The issues shouldn't be there when the game is released and I certainly shouldn't have to pay to test the game for them. As I said, it was exactly the same last year and if SI even remotely listen to any kind of feedback this wouldn't of happened again would it?

[janesy20]

A team second from bottom in the league after 20 odd games has just had near enough 70% possession against me sat in 8th...hmmm.

[Kriss]

There's a demo and there are these forums, you don't need to be unaware of any issues before you buy the game.

[Ackter]

Is there any surprise my attitude is horrible towards the game?? Lets look at it:

1. I paid £35 for the game to play on it's release.

2. The game is released with shed loads of issues.

3. I am then asked to be constructive and inform SI of the issues so they can fix them.

The issues shouldn't be there when the game is released and I certainly shouldn't have to pay to test the game for them. As I said, it was exactly the same last year and if SI even remotely listen to any kind of feedback this wouldn't of happened again would it?

1. The game was available for £25 on release, was available for £23 on pre-order for a short time, and is under £20 in some places now

2. Every game is released with issues, that's the reality of modern day gaming

3. Everyone should be constructive when they provide feedback, especially someone with your posting history

There was also a free demo available for you to try before buying. If you felt that way last year then maybe you should have been a bit more cautious this year? Either way, your attitude is not welcome. Post constructively and within the rules of the forums, or don't post at all.

[Blair McCabe]

So are you saying it's fine to release a bugged game because there is a demo??

I sure hope you don't run a business of any kind

[Blair McCabe]

Ackter get off your high horse, stop talking to me like a school teacher and please stop defending SI's actions

[Ackter]

Then stop posting like a nuisance student.

Thanks.

[wcb231]

Is there any surprise my attitude is horrible towards the game?? Lets look at it:

1. I paid £35 for the game to play on it's release.

2. The game is released with shed loads of issues.

3. I am then asked to be constructive and inform SI of the issues so they can fix them.

The issues shouldn't be there when the game is released and I certainly shouldn't have to pay to test the game for them. As I said, it was exactly the same last year and if SI even remotely listen to any kind of feedback this wouldn't of happened again would it?

I don't know what exactly you're expecting to get out of the game but I am having an absolute blast playing it and haven't run into the majority of the issues you and others scream about. In fact in some cases (penalties, corners, injuries) I see zero issues

[robsfc]

Any update imminent?

Just checking as I may start a long term save tomorrow.

[Blair McCabe]

I don't know what exactly you're expecting to get out of the game but I am having an absolute blast playing it and haven't run into the majority of the issues you and others scream about. In fact in some cases (penalties, corners, injuries) I see zero issues

No, no issues at all

[Ackter]

Any update imminent?

Just checking as I may start a long term save tomorrow.

There is no info yet.

[Ackter]

No, no issues at all

Then have fun buying and playing no games ever again

[Blair McCabe]

Never encountered problems on any other games than this. Oh actuallly there was GTA 5 issues but thats all I know of

[Ackter]

Then you've not been paying any attention.

Every single game you'll have played over the last decade will have been full of bugs, and the vast majority of those games will have been much​ simpler than FM.

[Blair McCabe]

Then you've not been paying any attention.

Every single game you'll have played over the last decade will have been full of bugs, and the vast majority of those games will have been much​ simpler than FM.

Sure they have, that's based on what?

[SRL88]

Ackter get off your high horse, stop talking to me like a school teacher and please stop defending SI's actions

And you wonder why you were infracted!!

[daylight]

Then you've not been paying any attention.

Every single game you'll have played over the last decade will have been full of bugs, and the vast majority of those games will have been much​ simpler than FM.

I would have to disagree there.

I have played quite a few games in the last few years that played very well on release.

I would agree though that they are not as complicated to code as FM.

[Ackter]

I would have to disagree there.

I have played quite a few games in the last few years that played very well on release.

I would agree though that they are not as complicated to code as FM.

Feel free to PM me your favourite games from the recent past and I'll be happy to tell you what was wrong with them

[soldierblue123]

Have you brought players on monthly instalments in previous years? or anything like that? It may be worth reporting this save in the bugs forum, as there may be something unusual going on.

No I never buy players on month installments. I only buy for straight cash... if i can't afford them I don't buy them there is definitely something unusual going on. But I am playing a further season to see what is happening... I haven't bought anyone this season either... and almost 2 million a week... 100 million over the year below my wages allocation ... so if I lose money again I'll upload my game

[daylight]

Feel free to PM me your favourite games from the recent past and I'll be happy to tell you what was wrong with them

Lol

You not liking them is not a reason to say what was wrong with them.

I could name Dishonored, Metro Last Light, BL2, Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite.

All those games released and were very playable on release, I enjoyed every one of them.

As I said earlier though, they are nowhere near as complicated to code as FM is.

Still they hardly released "full of bugs".

[scott MUFC]

Full of bugs? no it isn't that bad.

although my goalkeeper just walked out of the area holding the ball.

nor am i seeing the thing with the vast amount at shots, except at home where i completly dominate, but the AI gets very little, and away from home it is all normal 10-20 shared. not seeing these 40 or 50 a game.

seeing the keepers being beaten near post though, but that happens to both.

[Ackter]

Ok, last off topic post in here, but BL2 means Borderlands 2, yeah?

Having spent over 1000 hours on that game, not only was it very broken on release, but it's still very broken now. Half of Maya's skills still don't work properly for example. Here's some further reading for what they actually have fixed so far, and if you want to see what's still broken, have a read through Bharoo and Gothalion's threads (for starters) on the gearbox forums:

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1080

Anyway, like I said, back to FM now please

[Gerara]

The game is not broken . It only needs a couple of fixes without creating new problems and will be in a very very good shape

[daylight]

I doubt you spent 1000 hours on game you felt was broken.

All the games mentioned are all game of the year contenders for a reason.

On topic FM14 I feel will be great, it just needs the extra time to get there, it is not as 'simple' to code as the other games.

It also does not help that us fans are a rabid bunch that will kill their own mothers* for a working release.

*is only internet talk, that is still cool right?

[cerud]

Just to be sure, this is still a feedback forum for FM14, right?

[Äktsjon Männ]

The difference between FM and something like Borderlands, Tomb Raider or whatever, is that one is a fantasy game where developers have a free reign to design anything to their liking and the other is a sim which has an incredibly slim margin for error because everything happening in the game is going to be compared to a real life precedent. In FM if the full backs' ratings deviate from what we perceive realistic and their performances look a bit weak and out of place then this is a GAMEBREAKING BUG. Now think about what is deemed gamebreaking in a random fantasy game. It's nowhere close to being comparable really.

[wpmk]

Is there any surprise my attitude is horrible towards the game?? Lets look at it:

1. I paid £35 for the game to play on it's release.

2. The game is released with shed loads of issues.

3. I am then asked to be constructive and inform SI of the issues so they can fix them.

The issues shouldn't be there when the game is released and I certainly shouldn't have to pay to test the game for them. As I said, it was exactly the same last year and if SI even remotely listen to any kind of feedback this wouldn't of happened again would it?

I mean this guy does have a point, albeit communicated in a not-so-friendly way. I bought FM14 based on the good times I had with FM12 from the beginning and right now I can't even play it after parting with my money. I enjoy the tactical side the most but the bugs have made the game less rewarding even when winning. I'll be waiting until the next patch comes out. I can why others get impatient though and I think the mods and mega-fans should be more understanding.

That said I love the new direction FM14 is going towards, particularly the team/player instructions. The UI has improved a lot too. I would like more control over instructions though so we can tell players to close down but only in their own half etc. not like sliders, just as an additional shout. Perhaps have set piece instructions saved with the tactics too so it's quicker to set backup formations.

One piece of advice to SI and mods: manage expectations. You're less likely to get irate fans venting their anger. Sometimes people can come across as elitist here.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Also, there are some bugs in games that you only really notice if you've been told about them. Hence this thread's very own snowball effect, best illustrated over the last couple of days with the corner bug. I don't think that issue was even brought up in the first 15-20 pages, but since it was first mentioned, nearly everyone who gives a list of the perceived ills of the game now includes it. Not saying it's not an issue of course, and SI have identified they're working on it, but it's an interesting study in human perception nonetheless.

[balldoktor81]

oh boy, now i know guys how you feel... got my boxed version today and played around 10 matches (length: comprehensive) since then... what a disaster!!! whatever was changed with 14.1.3, i don't know but compared to 14.1.1 it's, i'm lost for words... now i can feel you guys. moral is dropping like never before, avg. goals per game skyrocketed (14.1.1 had an avg. of ca. 3-3,5 goals per game, now 4-5 avg.), it really seems like everything is random now. fullbacks are useless!!! defenders act like zombies i really thought it was a fun game till 14.1.3 happened... from HIT to S..T in 24 hours... but i trust SI-TEAM to turn it around for the better!

[Hit the upright]

Not sure of this every game has bugs argument, that’s not to say they don’t because it’s a fact that they do, however, it’s not much of defence, it’s a bit like going to court for speeding and using the defence that it’s Ok because everybody does it. Now despite the fact that games shouldn’t be released with bugs and it would be better by far if they were not, we all know that this is what happens, so we have a choice to buy or not, we could all vote with our wallets and refuse to buy games for six months from the release date or we can except some frustration and have an active input in putting it right. In terms of this game, yes it’s got some problems and its pretty irritating when you come on a forum and try and be constructive as to what you think is wrong to have somebody infer that it’s not the game it’s your tactics or your lack of knowledge about football, I can’t see how that helps get it right anymore than rants about how rubbish it is and what a rip-off it is. The truth is it isn’t that bad, most of it is very good indeed and it will be brilliant.

Some problems have been about for years now, they are like an old friend, one you don’t like much, like when you buy a player outside the transfer window and you have to wait until the window opens again to conclude the deal, however, despite the fact that you knew when you signed the player that you would have to wait for a while for him to join the club, the press still ask you if it was frustrating that the deal took so long to conclude, why would it be.

[HaydarAli]

I just stumble across a strange and funny penalty bug.

I couldn't resist to share it with you. Go check it here

[Peter G]

Think this has been touched on elsewhere. I have most players with realistic ratings I.e 6.75, 7.10 or 6.40. But I also have some players, not all full backs on ratings such as 5.40 or 6.10. Despite not playing badly. I assume this is something that will be fixed in 14.1.4? Sadly I won't get to play the game again until the weekend or Friday at the earliest as I'll be celebrating my birthday tomorrow but I'm in a good game and eager to continue this "bug" does make it hard so hopefully it'll be gone soon.

[JackInDerBox]

Sorry I have not read the previous 24 pages but the one thing that is bugging me the most about this patch is the absolutely ridiculous transfer fees demanded.

City finished 8th first season and rejected an £80M for Aguero from me,

Milan reject £75M for Balotelli

Juve reject £70M for Pogba

Dortmund reject £60M for Reus

Liverpool reject £80M for Suarez

I could go on but seriously what is the point in having a transfer budget if i can only get in lower quality than I already have?!

Apart from that rest of the game is decent and very much playable imo.

[Dagenham_Dave]

It's all going horribly wrong. Team can't gel, the defence is WOEFUL, and there is simply no cohesion there at all...

That last game, a 4-0 loss at Alfreton could easily have finished 10-0. Some of the football they played was exceptional. I want to be able to do that. I very much have an Isthmian League quality side here. Which in some ways is good, as it looks like that's where they'll be next season. I've still no idea of my best eleven yet either, or more accurately, least worst.

Ah well.

[Viggo Vickers]

Not sure if this is a known issue, but almost every goal I've conceded (variety of tactics and formations used) as been near post, beating the keeper. Probably put it in the 80-90% range, it's rather odd.

[Sarin1]

I am sorry and not looking to get in the face of moderators.

However some of the moderation on here and the comments with it seem a bit off.

To tell someone that is complaining about a game they have paid for not working properly, and reply to them telling them they should have tried the demo before hand.

Is wrong...

He has paid his money, he is entitled to complain, in a reasonable manner of cause.

Telling him he could have got it cheaper, or to play the demo, is just insulting.

If one of the moderators had paid for something, and got the same treatment, say with a phone, or food or whatnot, they would not be happy at all with that response.

I realise you guys feel loyalty to SI and are probably sick of moderating threads where people are unhappy with them, but it does seem pretty heavy handed and insulting.

Hope this does not get deleted or just proves the point.

[jonnyfresh]

is anyone else finding unrealistic demand from players in respect of unused sub / appearance bonus requested by players. i have found that a lot of my middle paid player (on less than 30k per week) are looking for 20-30k appearance bonus and 20k unused sub bonus. this is crazy, has anyone played a long term save with an idea of the bonus paid out after say 5 years. I am playing as man utd and i have had kagawa looking for 40k appearance and 35unused sub wage on top of 140k a week. this seems extreme. Is anyone else coming a cross this issue?

[themadsheep2001]

I am sorry and not looking to get in the face of moderators.

However some of the moderation on here and the comments with it seem a bit off.

To tell someone that is complaining about a game they have paid for not working properly, and reply to them telling them they should have tried the demo before hand.

Is wrong...

He has paid his money, he is entitled to complain, in a reasonable manner of cause.

Telling him he could have got it cheaper, or to play the demo, is just insulting.

If one of the moderators had paid for something, and got the same treatment, say with a phone, or food or whatnot, they would not be happy at all with that response.

I realise you guys feel loyalty to SI and are probably sick of moderating threads where people are unhappy with them, but it does seem pretty heavy handed and insulting.

Hope this does not get deleted or just proves the point.

No its not. It's also nothing to with loyalty, but basic civility and the rules set in place on the forum.

This isnt a rant thread, or a complaints thread. Its a constructive feedback thread. SI made that clear from the start. They actively encourage that. What we wont have is ranting, or jibes, or destructive feedback, and what we wont accept in any way, shape, or form are attacks on SI staff etc. There is zero tolerance on this. The whole issue what that he was entirely unreasonable in his tone in the first place.

The house rules, and Neil's opening post make it very clear. And while constructive feedback is hugely encouraged, and SI are very grateful for all the Pkms, save games and other bits of info sent in (some of it frankly excellent), we wont accept the kind of nonsense we have been seeing late.

[Thomasmc135]

This guy is 16 and hasn't achieved anything in football, so why does he feel that he deserves a raise from £90 p/w to £1300 p/w?

What is the point in valuing him at £65k if they want over £26m for him. How the hell does that make ANY sense? I've edited players to 200CA/PA and seen them leave for £900k (AI to AI), yet this player is nowhere near that level and they want stupid amounts for him.

The transfer system is broken.

Edit: The game doesn't recognise when you've been promoted. By this, I'm referring to players saying 'playing in Division 2' AFTER the season has ended and promotion has been secured.

[Shake Appeal]

After playing ~30 games on Full, these are my issues with the ME as it stands:

1. Ratings in general are a little too tough, or morale too closely and too quickly tracks with the ratings, or both.

While this is fine in principle, too many game systems are linked to the player ratings, and the result is wild morale swings and strange assessments/valuations of players. Couple this with the 'nerfing' of a lot of the player talks on morale, and you're more at the whims of players' moods than ever. And it's particularly cruel to particular positions.

2. Shot selection is poor.

While the shot count is arguably a little too high, the quality of those shots is generally bad. The foremost problem is strikers shooting as soon as they get sight of goal, especially when there is space for them to take the ball into. So they will get free at the top of the box from a through ball and shoot from 20 yards when there is ample space to take the ball to the penalty spot and make the chance more certain. At its worst, I've seen a player on a clear breakaway shoot from the edge of the centre circle with no defenders ahead of him.

Remember when you last saw a striker opt not to shoot at first and instead round the goalkeeper to tuck it in from close distance in FM14? Me neither.

3. The Match Engine favours CCCs, but doesn't know what they are.

It seems like CCCs are more likely to be scored than any other shot, which is obviously right, but how the game assesses whether a chance is 'clear' is suspect, or at least the depiction of it in-game is, which makes it jarring and frustrating for the human user. In particular, when coupled with the poor shot selection above, strikers seem to miss their best opportunities with greater than usual frequency, even as their shots per game and shots on target ratio stay credible. This may be because they aren't, in the game's eyes, actual clear cut chances. But they look that way to the user, so they annoy.

4. Strikers miss chances, strikers rate poorly, strikers suffer overall.

Because strikers are firing in a lot of tame efforts from range rather than being incisive, the game thinks they're doing worse than they are. Combined with point 1., above, they frequently receive lower ratings than they deserve unless they score or assist, even if all their other match stats are fine. And because strikers have a unique extra pressure through game mechanics that hurt their morale for not scoring regularly, they suffer more overall than any other position except full backs at the moment. Check your league's highest average rated players and see how many of them are strikers. Now check how many of them are wide men or wingers. Which brings me to...

5. Attacking wide play is overpowered, because full backs don't know where to be.

This is the most bitched-about aspect of the ME at present, with good reason. Exposed full backs (that is, full backs not supported by defensive midfielders or other wide players tracking back) don't know where to be much of the time. They close down when they should stand off and stand off when they should close down, often dashing back just in time to play a striker onside. Contrary to a lot of what's said here, they seem to have no problem making tackles. What they particularly struggle with is blocking crosses, shepherding players wide, and slowing down attacking runs to allow other players to get back. I don't know whether they lack these things in their in-game toolkit, or whether SI were overzealous in addressing their inflated ratings in earlier versions of the game by making them flatly suck, but yeah, they suck. If your team doesn't have wingers or inside forwards running at corners of the back four, you're playing with a handicap.

Curiously, it seems to be a particular problem for olayers in the DL and DR positions, while WBLs/WBRs and players who play as lone MLs/MRs (e.g. as defensive wingers) struggle less.

As a (related?) aside, it's particularly difficult to unpick a defence head on with a through ball on the ground (which is a shame, because these are among the most beautiful goals in the game when they happen), and players tend to go wide because it's the path of least resistance. This could all just be deceptive because strikers regularly fluff seemingly simple chances in the box, though. Central play seems to be running uphill.

(By the by, wing backs and wingers attacking the box at a diagonal still struggle with making the right decision [as the user sees it] to shoot, cross, or just turn around and pass 30 yards back to midfield. But this has been an occasional issue in the ME for years, and isn't new to FM14.)

6. Set pieces are a mixed bag.

At direct free kicks, players rarely hit a placed shot that curls toward the corners of the goal. Instead they just blaze away, and the result usually flies harmlessly high and wide. At indirect free kicks, the shot is often drilled low and weak into the first defender. Ditto with corners. As many people have noted, these underhit set pieces also result in a disproportionate amount of corners scored at the near post, either from a header, or because the defender at the near post doesn't know what to do when it falls in front of them, and the attacking players are handed an easy tap-in.

7. Goalkeepers spill weak shots, hold powerful ones.

This is almost certainly just a bundle of different animation issues, but it's a disconnect for the human user when top-corner rockets are plucked from the air, while weak striker one-on-ones (see above) are spilled around the box. This may be tied to how the game assesses chances: see above. As an aside, goalkeepers are still really, really bad at handling accidentally over-hit crosses that land on the crossbar.

8. Players still regularly pass it out of play under no pressure, and goalkeeprs now carry the ball out of the box for good measure.

Needs little explanation, but it's particularly egregious among players who've got to the byline and are debating what to do next. I'm not sure whether they're trying to pass it off a defender for a corner, but whatever it is, it's not working. The goalkeeper thing is similarly jarring. If these errors happened once in a blue moon they'd actually make the game feel more realistic (because these things do happen in reality), but their frequency in FM reminds the user that this isn't real football.

...

Just about everything else is the best it's ever been, and when I watch matches on Extended instead of Full, I can honestly say it's the most convincing simulation of football yet.

[kilik]

Then you've not been paying any attention.

Every single game you'll have played over the last decade will have been full of bugs, and the vast majority of those games will have been much​ simpler than FM.

no game has come out and i didnt buy it because i knew it would be broken

this game seems to be.

your not making si workers look good with your comments btw

guess im waiting till 14.4 to buy this game

[lpichette]

After playing ~30 games on Full, these are my issues with the ME as it stands:

1. Ratings in general are a little too tough, or morale too closely and too quickly tracks with the ratings, or both.

While this is fine in principle, too many game systems are linked to the player ratings, and the result is wild morale swings and strange assessments/valuations of players. Couple this with the 'nerfing' of a lot of the player talks on morale, and you're more at the whims of players' moods than ever. And it's particularly cruel to particular positions.

2. Shot selection is poor.

While the shot count is arguably a little too high, the quality of those shots is generally bad. The foremost problem is strikers shooting as soon as they get sight of goal, especially when there is space for them to take the ball into. So they will get free at the top of the box from a through ball and shoot from 20 yards when there is ample space to take the ball to the penalty spot and make the chance more certain. At its worst, I've seen a player on a clear breakaway shoot from the edge of the centre circle with no defenders ahead of him.

Remember when you last saw a striker opt not to shoot at first and instead round the goalkeeper to tuck it in from close distance in FM14? Me neither.

3. The Match Engine favours CCCs, but doesn't know what they are.

It seems like CCCs are more likely to be scored than any other shot, which is obviously right, but how the game assesses whether a chance is 'clear' is suspect, or at least the depiction of it in-game is, which makes it jarring and frustrating for the human user. In particular, when coupled with the poor shot selection above, strikers seem to miss their best opportunities with greater than usual frequency, even as their shots per game and shots on target ratio stay credible. This may be because they aren't, in the game's eyes, actual clear cut chances. But they look that way to the user, so they annoy.

4. Strikers miss chances, strikers rate poorly, strikers suffer overall.

Because strikers are firing in a lot of tame efforts from range rather than being incisive, the game thinks they're doing worse than they are. Combined with point 1., above, they frequently receive lower ratings than they deserve unless they score or assist, even if all their other match stats are fine. And because strikers have a unique extra pressure through game mechanics that hurt their morale for not scoring regularly, they suffer more overall than any other position except full backs at the moment. Check your league's highest average rated players and see how many of them are strikers. Now check how many of them are wide men or wingers. Which brings me to...

5. Attacking wide play is overpowered, because full backs don't know where to be.

This is the most bitched-about aspect of the ME at present, with good reason. Exposed full backs (that is, full backs not supported by defensive midfielders or other wide players tracking back) don't know where to be much of the time. They close down when they should stand off and stand off when they should close down, often dashing back just in time to play a striker onside. Contrary to a lot of what's said here, they seem to have no problem making tackles. What they particularly struggle with is blocking crosses, shepherding players wide, and slowing down attacking runs to allow other players to get back. I don't know whether they lack these things in their in-game toolkit, or whether SI were overzealous in addressing their inflated ratings in earlier versions of the game by making them flatly suck, but yeah, they suck. If your team doesn't have wingers or inside forwards running at corners of the back four, you're playing with a handicap.

Curiously, it seems to be a particular problem for olayers in the DL and DR positions, while WBLs/WBRs and players who play as lone MLs/MRs (e.g. as defensive wingers) struggle less.

As a (related?) aside, it's particularly difficult to unpick a defence head on with a through ball on the ground (which is a shame, because these are among the most beautiful goals in the game when they happen), and players tend to go wide because it's the path of least resistance. This could all just be deceptive because strikers regularly fluff seemingly simple chances in the box, though. Central play seems to be running uphill.

(By the by, wing backs and wingers attacking the box at a diagonal still struggle with making the right decision [as the user sees it] to shoot, cross, or just turn around and pass 30 yards back to midfield. But this has been an occasional issue in the ME for years, and isn't new to FM14.)

6. Set pieces are a mixed bag.

At direct free kicks, players rarely hit a placed shot that curls toward the corners of the goal. Instead they just blaze away, and the result usually flies harmlessly high and wide. At indirect free kicks, the shot is often drilled low and weak into the first defender. Ditto with corners. As many people have noted, these underhit set pieces also result in a disproportionate amount of corners scored at the near post, either from a header, or because the defender at the near post doesn't know what to do when it falls in front of them, and the attacking players are handed an easy tap-in.

7. Goalkeepers spill weak shots, hold powerful ones.

This is almost certainly just a bundle of different animation issues, but it's a disconnect for the human user when top-corner rockets are plucked from the air, while weak striker one-on-ones (see above) are spilled around the box. This may be tied to how the game assesses chances: see above. As an aside, goalkeepers are still really, really bad at handling accidentally over-hit crosses that land on the crossbar.

8. Players still regularly pass it out of play under no pressure, and goalkeeprs now carry the ball out of the box for good measure.

Needs little explanation, but it's particularly egregious among players who've got to the byline and are debating what to do next. I'm not sure whether they're trying to pass it off a defender for a corner, but whatever it is, it's not working. The goalkeeper thing is similarly jarring. If these errors happened once in a blue moon they'd actually make the game feel more realistic (because these things do happen in reality), but their frequency in FM reminds the user that this isn't real football.

...

Just about everything else is the best it's ever been, and when I watch matches on Extended instead of Full, I can honestly say it's the most convincing simulation of football yet.

This is great stuff in my eyes. I have posted a few times about some of these issues without correctly wording my thoughts. My main problems have been with the player rating system its obviously IMO an indirect result of some poor decisions from the players. Some players I think might make these poor decisions sometimes, but the differences in my chelsea save and my morecambe save shouldnt be similair. However, they are far too similair. Taking into account the mental attributes of the players and their hopefull design of the player itself. It feels like to me that these attributes arent accounted for in the actual ME. Im sure this is impossible, but it feels that way. If they in fact are taken into account players like juan mata and eden hazard wouldnt run directly into the defence and lose the ball on a player in the box, or Fernando torres who by the way has imo horrilbe attributes compared to actual play wouldnt take long shots 6 yards wide and high of the goal with a box full of players. Just to me seems like a lack of connection between player attributes (ambition, determination, etc..etc) and actual ME play. Im now done with my thoughts and will wait for the update. I thank all of you for your work. I include all constructive critisism from other FM players.

system, however its not all the rating