Consistent bug through past two versions of the game that needs fixing for 2016

[Dacw]

Hi Guys.

Apologies for posting this here but I have no idea where else to put it...

So over the past two iterations of the game I've focussed solely on getting teams from the lowest leagues to the highest league, no matter what that nation may be. Given this remit (of which I'm not entirely sure how many other people have the patience for) I've come across the same bug first in 2014 and then in 2015. I've raised it twice in the beta/bug forums each time and yet it's not been resolved.

The bug in question revolves around what happens upon promotion and your teams reputation/ability to attract better players not increased the higher up you go. At one point I got North Ferriby to the championship and could not recruit anyone above League 1 standard nor any players better than those I had. (I confess at this point to using genie scout to check CA's which confirmed the problem I suspected.)

I know there are a lot of variables in the game but please, for those of us who play the game from the bottom to the top, make sure this is resolved.

Thankyou.

[Guest]

Small clubs that quickly rise through the divisions will find it difficult to attract better players due to limited finances & succeeding beyond their reputation, often the progress is on the back of a talented manager who then moves to a bigger club as they can attract & afford better players. If the manager stays then the inevitable situation is one that requires the club to firmly establish themselves in the higher division before they can make progress to the next level.

From personal experience as an LLM'er I have found that FM provides a more realistic challenge than in the past.

Is the bug that you cannot get better players or that you have not moved to a better club?

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Your reputation will slowly increase during the year rather than in a big lump at the start of the season, you cannot just expect to attract higher level players purely on the basis of promotion (which is a problem Norwich are facing IRL and they have been promoted to the Prem, I expect there will be several examples of smaller teams in the football league struggling to attact better players after promotion), depending on who you are playing with (clubs have different starting reps) it can take a couple of seasons in the same league to get your reputation to the same level as the other sides and that is assuming you don't get promoted again.

I remember raising the issue around the release of either FM14 or FM15 and someone at SI had a look at the save game and they found there were players I could attract you just had to search for them as they had intentionaly made it a bit harder than previous versions (as it was to easy previously to amass a strong side with a low rep team) and the other issue was I was looking for players above what was reasonable for the club.

Though none of that makes it impossible to have sucess as a smaller or lower league club, if you have a look in the challenges forum there are plenty of player who manage to have sucess with smaller sides, with the best example for English sides being Dafuges Challenge which involves taking a side from below the Conference N/S at the start to winning the Prem and Champions League, whilst I expect the Careers forum will have smilar stories of people having success whilst moving clubs.

There are also various things you can do in the Lower Leagues to attract better players:

- Get a Parent club and loan some of their players, or just use the loan market generally.

- Go for local players (loans and transfers) you have a better chance of attracting players based more local to the club.

- Ignore the CA and go for players with key attributes for the role you want/need.

- Go for released youngsters who can develop and rise through the leagues with you or be sold for a profit.

- If you can increase your facilities they also play a part in your reputation and in attracting players.

[dllu]

The bug in question revolves around what happens upon promotion and your teams reputation/ability to attract better players not increased the higher up you go. At one point I got North Ferriby to the championship and could not recruit anyone above League 1 standard nor any players better than those I had.

That actually seems very realistic to me. Players with a certain level and reputation would be hesitant to join a club like that IRL, and if they did they would probably only sign 1-year deals or at the very least insist on a 0£ relegation release clause.

[forameuss]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. The reason it hasn't been resolved are because it isn't a bug and it's working exactly as it's supposed to. It's interesting you mention people not having the patience to do this kind of save - it looks like you need to be a bit more patient with things. It takes years to build reputation to the levels you're expecting, not just one promotion.

[numbas2]

I've done the LLM'er a lot of times most recently on FM14 and have to agree with the response - it appeared realistic to me, it was tough but felt right.

[VinnyChilds]

While I agree with all the responses here, I do take the OP's point. Let's face it, if you got a lower-rep team up into the Prem or Championship, you'd expect the more mercenary-minded players to sign for those clubs to make a name for themselves (and earn better wages) at that level rather than sign for a higher rep club a division below - i.e. players with low loyalty values. This could be balanced out with them demanding short contracts, and minimum fee and relegation release clauses.

Club rep should also be affected to a degree. Let's say you get to the Prem and your club rep is 3800. The Prem could have a rep range of 5000-10000 and if on promotion to that division your club doesn't have the min rep, it gets bumped up to the minimum. If you're going to be on MOTD every week and beamed around the world, your rep will take an initial boost - just ask Bournemouth. Similarly, if a big rep club gets relegated and their rep is above the max for the Championship, it should drop to that level and take time to repair it.

It's a tough one though. A big part of the fun of getting a non-league team to the upper reaches is having to deal with problems like these. You'd have to be very careful not to make it too easy to steamroller your way up the divisions, which was very easy to do in '12.