Football Manager 2018 *Official* Feedback Thread

[Swindon69]

22 minutes ago, Kcinnay said:

Even though the ME had it flaws in 18.1.3, I was quite happy with it. It often felt als a real game of football; realistic results, realistic shot amounts. But since 18.2, it's a shooting gallery. Lots of shots, lots of goals in most of the games. The balance is off. It feels like it's FM 15 all over again. Hope the shot amount will be toned down again in a 18.2.1 update.

Indeed this update seems like a retrograde step.

[dkouv]

First impressions are that UI is much improved, but the ME feels like a big step backwards. What annoyed me most about FM16 were the OP far post crosses. What annoyed me about FM17 was the ease with which you could dominate possession, have lots of shots, and get crappy teams playing beautiful tiki-taka. I know both are tactic related, but it was too easy to fall into those traps, or end up using them if you wanted an effective tactic.

Both of those things were absent in FM18.1. Teams in lower leagues could play hoofball effectively. It was easy to avoid possession based tactics, and the number of shots in games seemed pretty normal (at least relative to chances created). There were still issues with powerful 3ST formations and lots of goals + too much time added on, but these felt pretty minor.

Now I feel like with 18.2 both of those issues from FM16 and FM17 - far post crosses and too many shots - are back. Tbh I think the far post cross thing is quite tactic specific so may not be a big issue, but I found the "lots of shots" problem much more pervasive. A lot of these shots are also pretty good chances, but the keeper / last ditch defence / striker indecision seems to reduce the number of goals (note: this is the case for both me and the AI). I hope that the ME gets brought back closer to the 18.1 version in the next iteration.

[Guest El Payaso]

2 hours ago, Swindon69 said:

Indeed this update seems like a retrograde step.

Well to be fair I would say that there weren't anywhere near enough goals or even chances in previous builds. 

The only complaints I have about this ones are the same: wingers and strikers having too much time to do damage. Also long rangers are woeful and the more creative deeper players still don't seem to provide anything in terms of goals and assists. 

Don't know if it was a glitch or something but in my most recent game I saw my striker dropping all the way to my own penalty areato defend which was enjoyable to see. 

[Swindon69]

6 minutes ago, El Payaso said:

Well to be fair I would say that there weren't anywhere near enough goals or even chances in previous builds. 

The only complaints I have about this ones are the same: wingers and strikers having too much time to do damage. Also long rangers are woeful and the more creative deeper players still don't seem to provide anything in terms of goals and assists. 

Don't know if it was a glitch or something but in my most recent game I saw my striker dropping all the way to my own penalty areato defend which was enjoyable to see. 

I've had yet another game where all 5 goals came from far post crosses and in total 40+ shots between the two teams. And watching a few ai v ai the vast majority of the goals there are scored in the same way.

[Guest El Payaso]

9 minutes ago, Swindon69 said:

I've had yet another game where all 5 goals came from far post crosses and in total 40+ shots between the two teams. And watching a few ai v ai the vast majority of the goals there are scored in the same way.

Okay, I haven't had time to play enough to make an opinion. I think I had in two games two or three CCCs at the far post which all were missed. 

Really liked the first game I played as my centre back was challenging for the first ball all the time but in the second there again was a huge gap between defense and midfield even with a very fluid system. The striker always collected the long ball, gained speed and beat my defense with ease. 

[Kcinnay]

4 hours ago, dkouv said:

First impressions are that UI is much improved, but the ME feels like a big step backwards. What annoyed me most about FM16 were the OP far post crosses. What annoyed me about FM17 was the ease with which you could dominate possession, have lots of shots, and get crappy teams playing beautiful tiki-taka. I know both are tactic related, but it was too easy to fall into those traps, or end up using them if you wanted an effective tactic.

Both of those things were absent in FM18.1. Teams in lower leagues could play hoofball effectively. It was easy to avoid possession based tactics, and the number of shots in games seemed pretty normal (at least relative to chances created). There were still issues with powerful 3ST formations and lots of goals + too much time added on, but these felt pretty minor.

Now I feel like with 18.2 both of those issues from FM16 and FM17 - far post crosses and too many shots - are back. Tbh I think the far post cross thing is quite tactic specific so may not be a big issue, but I found the "lots of shots" problem much more pervasive. A lot of these shots are also pretty good chances, but the keeper / last ditch defence / striker indecision seems to reduce the number of goals (note: this is the case for both me and the AI). I hope that the ME gets brought back closer to the 18.1 version in the next iteration.

Apart from the 'too much time added on' remark (the opposite was a bug in FM16 and FM17, whereas you'd almost always get just 1 or 2 minutes of stoppage time): spot on. I actually don't understand how the ME Team let this ME version pass through. All the 18.2 fixes listed were a welcome adjustment, but the side effects are a huge step back. And El Payaso is right too; the gaps between the lines in the defensive phase are huge.

 

[Swindon69]

I really wish I hadn't had it set to auto update - oh and on mixed deliveries on corners I've not seen one played short. I've seen very few goals scored as a result of a short pass behind the defence for a striker to run on to - how this iteration was ever allowed to lurch out into the public domain is beyond me.

Edited December 17, 2017 by Swindon69

[coccobello]

Is it normal that in 18 games 8 penalties were conceded for my team? I hope it can be fixed for the next update.

[Swindon69]

Hmm getting a few games with 5 mins of stoppage time when there's been no injuries.

[Matt123]

I haven’t played FM18 at all as I was doing my usual and waiting until the 2nd big patch come out as I do with all FM games....but reading this forum I don’t think I even want to start playing if the ME is that bad, last game I played was 16 and tbh i’m more then happy to load that back up unless there’s an update to this patch to fix what everyone has been moaning about for the past 2/3 pages

[Luizinho]

3 hours ago, Matt123 said:

I haven’t played FM18 at all as I was doing my usual and waiting until the 2nd big patch come out as I do with all FM games....but reading this forum I don’t think I even want to start playing if the ME is that bad, last game I played was 16 and tbh i’m more then happy to load that back up unless there’s an update to this patch to fix what everyone has been moaning about for the past 2/3 pages

In exactly the same boat.

I understand that I should download the DEMO and have a look the ME myself, but I did that with FM16 and didn't like what I saw. I prefer to be lazy and look at the feedback...

Is the ME really as unemployable as people are saying or is it them just venting frustration?

[herne79]

1 hour ago, Luizinho said:

Is the ME really as unemployable as people are saying or is it them just venting frustration?

imo no.  That's not to say it's perfect of course - there are some legitimate concerns as there always is.  Of course there are also some just venting as there always is as well.

Probably the best bet is to stop being lazy (your words ) and have a look at the demo.  If you don't like it again then at least you know for sure.

[Swindon69]

39 minutes ago, herne79 said:

imo no.  That's not to say it's perfect of course - there are some legitimate concerns as there always is.  Of course there are also some just venting as there always is as well.

Probably the best bet is to stop being lazy (your words ) and have a look at the demo.  If you don't like it again then at least you know for sure.

There does appear to have been some significant changes - I found I was conceding a lot more from corners and then realised that if you have too many defenders set to zonal marking they stay marking the zone and ignore where the ball is and that I was seeing far more goals from far post crosses.

[jam jameson]

Guys, this may be a true game-killing issue...

https://strikerless.com/2017/12/16/fm18-labs-we-need-to-talk-about-decisions/

 

[Dagenham_Dave]

18 minutes ago, jam jameson said:

Guys, this may be a true game-killing issue...

https://strikerless.com/2017/12/16/fm18-labs-we-need-to-talk-about-decisions/

 

No, it's another example of someone experimenting with unrealistic input and expecting something other than unrealistic output. 

Can people not just, you know, play the game? 

[jam jameson]

14 minuti fa, Dagenham_Dave ha scritto:

No, it's another example of someone experimenting with unrealistic input and expecting something other than unrealistic output. 

Can people not just, you know, play the game? 

Maybe people is interested to understand, rather than just taking SI releases as a dogma; I see that such kind of evidence may be unsettling, but instead of simply downplaying it as the brainchild of some weirdos, having kind of a feedback by SI would be fine. Should be true that the Decision attribute plays against in such a strong way it would be a true problem for the whole game...

[Dagenham_Dave]

2 minutes ago, jam jameson said:

Maybe people is interested to understand, rather than just taking SI releases as a dogma; I see that such kind of evidence may be unsettling, but instead of simply downplaying it as the brainchild of some weirdos, having kind of a feedback by SI would be fine. Should be true that the Decision attribute plays against in such a strong way it would be a true problem for the whole game...

The problem is that people get fixated on single attributes. You hear people every year whining 'my player has 17 finishing and he's missed two clear cut chances, the game's broken'. The way FM's attribute system works is considerably more complicated than that. That's even before you factor in the hidden attributes. Running experiments by changing one attribute to the max/least proves the square root of sod all. 

[jam jameson]

20 minuti fa, Dagenham_Dave ha scritto:

The problem is that people get fixated on single attributes. You hear people every year whining 'my player has 17 finishing and he's missed two clear cut chances, the game's broken'. The way FM's attribute system works is considerably more complicated than that. That's even before you factor in the hidden attributes. Running experiments by changing one attribute to the max/least proves the square root of sod all. 

I see your point and respect your opinion, at the same time I  respect the in depth effort by these guys and I’m keen to understand better whether there’s something broken with the operating of a relevant attribute as Decision is.

[BigRoboCrouch]

1 hour ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

The problem is that people get fixated on single attributes. You hear people every year whining 'my player has 17 finishing and he's missed two clear cut chances, the game's broken'. The way FM's attribute system works is considerably more complicated than that. That's even before you factor in the hidden attributes. Running experiments by changing one attribute to the max/least proves the square root of sod all. 

Do you really know how the attribute system works or are you talking randomly, based on no evidence?

[FrazT]

4 hours ago, jam jameson said:

Guys, this may be a true game-killing issue...

https://strikerless.com/2017/12/16/fm18-labs-we-need-to-talk-about-decisions/

 

This issue has been raised in another thread and has received a response from SI in there, so lets leave any discussion for that thread

[Swindon69]

So far three league games played there's been a penalty in each match for pushing!

[phnompenhandy]

2 hours ago, Swindon69 said:

So far three league games played there's been a penalty in each match for pushing!

I haven't updated the game to 18.2 but I'm seeing this all the time, so it's an old issue. Very annoying!

[limey150781]

It's interesting. I downloaded the patch Saturday afternoon and had a few games, and then played again Sunday. Came on here today expecting people to be upset about the lack of goals but I am seeing the opposite. In the six games I have played since the update I have had two 0-0's, won two games 0-1, won one game 2-0 and lost one game 3-1. 

[Lynch48]

for me all the things that happened after the newest patch it just pure coincidence

 

 

[penza]

still hardly scoring any free kicks (created a player 20's stats everywhere to test) he doesn't score much been waiting for this to be fixed since beta.

[BAD-RELIGION]

I had not chance to play too much, but I saw that now when you loan a player, in the Transfer Tab, you cannot see which Squad status the player will have in the loan club (First Team, Valuable Member, etc). 

Is not a biggy if its only one team proposing loan, but normally when you offer him you get like 30 offers...

I couldn't even go to the actual offer window from that Transfer Tab, I can only accept or reject ... very very annoying  dunno if its a skin issue or a bug

Edited December 18, 2017 by BAD-RELIGION

[Bigpapa42]

So I've already posted this as a bug, but I'm not certain it is. Has anyone had any concerns with the level of sponsorship deals they are getting?

I've been managing in Mexico, where sponsorships make a huge part of a club's income. I've had 2 saves with Lobos, the smallest club in the Mexican top division (Liga MX) in almost every way, including reputation. Did well in the first season, reputation went up, but the new sponsorship deals were pretty small. I was hopeful that after another strong season, the new sponsorship deals heading into the third season would take a good jump. They didn't. I'm getting deals that are about the same size as a mid-level club in the 2nd division, despite the club rep having increased notably. I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this in any other leagues? Where you have done well and increased the club reputation, but sponsorships deals haven't gone up very much at all...?

[ben carter]

A few points post 18.2

• Seeing plenty of long balls where defenders just watch it go past/over them regardless of how deep I play a defensive line.
• Passes that just seem to bounce off a static player
• Shots from pretty decent positions that end up flying toward the corner flag
• A high proportion of crosses that are sliced behind the goal 
• (Only since 18.2) Started conceding way more goals from crosses especially at the back post
• Seen very few direct free kicks scored 
• In my fourth season with Bilbao and I've never had a situation that wasn't sorted by asking a player to resolve it. It works every time regardless of the issue.

Edited December 18, 2017 by ben carter

[KlaaZ]

Apparently, having a huge budget and a lot of money in the bank can make your DoF do some really funky stuff. I let him handle a transfer for me because it looked pretty straightforward and didn't want to negotiate it myself. The player had a 2M buyout clause and was, according to what I knew, going to ask for a weekly salary somewhere in the area of 7.5-12k. Half a year later, I accidentally look at his contract details to see if my DoF maybe negotiated a buyout clause I need to keep in mind and what do I see? He gave him a 98k per week contract... This is a 20 year old, pretty average player in the Belgian first division, who 2.5 times as much as my best player (who I had to pay that much in order to heighten his buyout clause). I mean, that's not really normal behaviour is it?

[priority76]

Just now, KlaaZ said:

Apparently, having a huge budget and a lot of money in the bank can make your DoF do some really funky stuff. I let him handle a transfer for me because it looked pretty straightforward and didn't want to negotiate it myself. The player had a 2M buyout clause and was, according to what I knew, going to ask for a weekly salary somewhere in the area of 7.5-12k. Half a year later, I accidentally look at his contract details to see if my DoF maybe negotiated a buyout clause I need to keep in mind and what do I see? He gave him a 98k per week contract... This is a 20 year old, pretty average player in the Belgian first division, who 2.5 times as much as my best player (who I had to pay that much in order to heighten his buyout clause). I mean, that's not really normal behaviour is it?

I hope you sacked him.

[KlaaZ]

6 minutes ago, priority76 said:

I hope you sacked him.

In hindsight, it wasn't my DoF. I'm not sure who it was, actually. I set him as a transfer target so it's probably someone from the board then?

[Swindon69]

Some interesting defending here.

[Swindon69]

Unrealistic number of shots somewhat?

 

[Guest El Payaso]

14 hours ago, Swindon69 said:

Unrealistic number of shots somewhat?

 

Has been the case in FM for many years and especially last year 4-2-3-1 was creating those kind of numbers all the time. Tottenham even doing that to really big teams. I'm personally finding shot amounts good at the moment in La Liga. Possibly best ever. Might be influenced by the fact that I have changed every manager who normally use 4-2-3-1 to use 4-4-1-1 instead as that is more realistic.

I'm happy with the latest update but am concerned on the fact that midfielders are not involved enough in creating and scoring goals and assists and goals are spread mostly between AMCLRs and STs. Would think that players like Pogba and Dele Alli etc. would get their fair share of those too but they are not doing anything. Haven't seen a single good long ranger from 20-30 yards out or a creative long through ball from playmaker type of players. Not to mention direct free-kicks.

If we take a look at these the game doesn't produce those type of goals. Especially not those that players take when running with the ball and then shooting from 20-25 yards out or players actually scoring from direct free-kicks. Even totally free shots from the edge of the penalty area usually are harmless while in real life players like Hazard and Messi score quite significant part of their goals there and even when they are closed down. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I might cry.

In all of my years playing FM I've never had my form drop off a cliff like this, especially not so suddenly. I've definitely been conceding more since the update, but after tinkering with my tactics I still managed to maintain my excellent form until this unexpected 10-game pile of *****. I went from leading the league to dropping down to 5th, and I'm not sure how to get out of this funk. I played the team last in the league and still only drew 2-2.  I've conceded five own goals during this winless streak, and the old back post cross has become my kryptonite like it's FM 2016 all over again. Every winger, even bang average ones, glide past my fullbacks with ease, and the centre backs have no answer to crosses coming into the box.

 

[Bosey82]

I don’t claim to be any kind of expert. Although I concede I have owned/played Football Manager (Kevin Toms version), CM and all of the versions of this FM series. However reading through the microanalysis of what is ultimately a “game”, do any of you actually just sit back and enjoy it? 

It has to be a monumental task to make a computer game as human as possible. As real life as possible with all of its predictability and unpredictability. I’m not here to criticise anyone but ask that you enjoy the experience. When the first versions of football management type games were launched, and I go back to the 70’s we only dreamt for it be anything like this complex, detailed and graphically appealing. 

Games have come a long, long way and will continue to improve. Have fun! 

[mbabbs]

Overall I am enjoying the game, but there are a few niggling bits.

1: Match day sound is just woeful. Really poor quality stuff from SI.

2: I don't know if I have just never noticed it before, but players seem to be constantly offside.

3: Players kicking it out for a corner when under pressure seems to happen rather too regularly.

4: The prematch meeting seems to be a bit pointless. I just get RSI doing the same thing each time.

 

But overall I like this edition so far (after 1 season as Ipswich in which I won the Championship).

Edited December 19, 2017 by mbabbs

[Sheep]

6 hours ago, Bosey82 said:

I don’t claim to be any kind of expert. Although I concede I have owned/played Football Manager (Kevin Toms version), CM and all of the versions of this FM series. However reading through the microanalysis of what is ultimately a “game”, do any of you actually just sit back and enjoy it? 

It has to be a monumental task to make a computer game as human as possible. As real life as possible with all of its predictability and unpredictability. I’m not here to criticise anyone but ask that you enjoy the experience. When the first versions of football management type games were launched, and I go back to the 70’s we only dreamt for it be anything like this complex, detailed and graphically appealing. 

Games have come a long, long way and will continue to improve. Have fun! 

How to enjoy a football management simulation game? It's more stressful than my actual job.

[bigmattb28]

8 hours ago, Bosey82 said:

I don’t claim to be any kind of expert. Although I concede I have owned/played Football Manager (Kevin Toms version), CM and all of the versions of this FM series. However reading through the microanalysis of what is ultimately a “game”, do any of you actually just sit back and enjoy it? 

It has to be a monumental task to make a computer game as human as possible. As real life as possible with all of its predictability and unpredictability. I’m not here to criticise anyone but ask that you enjoy the experience. When the first versions of football management type games were launched, and I go back to the 70’s we only dreamt for it be anything like this complex, detailed and graphically appealing. 

Games have come a long, long way and will continue to improve. Have fun! 

Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes it pisses me off and puts in a massive arse for the rest of the day. But generally speaking I do enjoy it, I've played every version since 00/01 and am still hooked on it to this day. Although (this is a feedback thread) this year's is so buggy, I can't seem to progress without numerous crash dumps and I haven't got into it as much as previous versions I am still playing (and enjoying!) FM17.

[fm2020.smith]

jesus i would have thought that with the big patch they would have fixed the transfer bugs. why do you keep getting american clubs bidding for players when they cant sign them ? why do you still not get clubs buying players for what they are worth. players value and on long contracts and top top players and then going for less than their value ??

makes no sense as to why this has not been fixed?

also the big clubs just buying average players needs fixing, big clubs like madrid and barca have average teams after a few years 

[forameuss]

1 minute ago, jamessmith010101 said:

jesus i would have thought that with the big patch they would have fixed the transfer bugs. why do you keep getting american clubs bidding for players when they cant sign them ? why do you still not get clubs buying players for what they are worth. players value and on long contracts and top top players and then going for less than their value ??

makes no sense as to why this has not been fixed?

also the big clubs just buying average players needs fixing, big clubs like madrid and barca have average teams after a few years 

Because that's not necessarily a bug.  Far too much importance is placed on transfer value when it's nowhere near as simple as that.

[fm2020.smith]

yeah it is a bug. if its not like the real market its a bug. 

[Deisler26]

LOVE the new offside replays. Brilliant.

[rdbayly]

My personal favourite compilation of dreadful shooting from a player to date:

I'd say the pick of the bunch is the 90 degree hoof aimed at the International Space Station 

400 hours in and after absorbing every single piece of tactical advice I can summon to ensure passing options, smooth transitions, balanced roles and duties; I loath this match engine to its very bones.

[BrHo]

il y a 12 minutes, rdbayly a dit :

My personal favourite compilation of dreadful shooting from a player to date:

I'd say the pick of the bunch is the 90 degree hoof aimed at the International Space Station 

400 hours in and after absorbing every single piece of tactical advice I can summon to ensure passing options, smooth transitions, balanced roles and duties; I loath this match engine to its very bones.

My last match, but I saw also bad ones. As in real life...

[Swindon69]

Seriously far post crossing just seems massively overpowered.

[Crb1986]

Last weekend, I had the chance to start what it would be my long term save. This kind of save, I usually start in December and end in July/August. Unfortunately, after a few hours, it ended in complete disappointment.

Playing this game for almost 20 years, what I love about CM/FM series is the way it takes me out to an imaginary reality: Immersion.

I consider Immersion as the moment where you’re “drowned” into your save, imagining yourself as football manager instructing your players, doing press conference and “seeing” your team playing, amongst other football manager duties.

 

This is a picture of CM 97/98. We only had commentary but I used to imagine all the gameplay in that background picture as commentary would go along. Of course, the game has come a long way in the last 20 years, but I feel that immersion is fading with some features that take reality out of the game.

 

- Intro (SI LOGO): The intro of the game felt immediately wrong. It looks like a video being played on a tv filmed with a cellphone.

- Split View: I understand there are now widgets, but it doesn’t feel the same. I normally use 3Dview with key highlights. When there are no highlights, that 3D panel sits on the right with nothing in it.

- 3D Stadiums: There’s a slight improvement but I can’t understand where the designs were taken from. I have never seen lunch benches or hot dog tents inside professional football stadiums. The lighting is way too bright and sometimes it even hurts my eyes.

- Regens: This is maybe the worst aspect of the game. I just can’t understand how regens were released the way they are. It’s beyond any explanation. We used to have in previous versions, the chance to put automatic regen replacements (pictures) which would take the game into another level of immersion. This should be standard option when the game is launched. Again, the game is moving away from that feeling of “reality”.

- Skins: For years, I have been downloading beautiful skins as a result of the wonderful work of Steklo, CFM, Vitrex, OPZ, etc. It looks like SI hasn’t learn anything from this great skin designers. Each year, the default skins are boring and yet again, moving away from the immersion feeling.

- Manager picture: Another one beyond explanation is the removing of the manager picture for a poor quality 3D manager face. It feels like this is a whim from somebody in charge. I have never seen in any feature request the desire for a 3D manager face. Unrealistic.

- Extra Clicking – I think I can bear with this one, but it is very annoying to have so much extra clicking on pre/after match and in the search/filter players.

I believe the SI statement of direction was making the best football manager simulation possible. I’ve been quite happy seeing SI denying plans of manager personal life (buying cars, houses, etc.) as this is the kind of thing that moves away from that statement of direction. Still, with the aspects mentioned above, Immersion (at least for me) is being taken out. FM 18 is, in my opinion, the worst version of the series so far.

I really hope to see improvements in the future and a better version next year

For now, I’m getting back to FM 17.

Thank you.

[forameuss]

6 hours ago, jamessmith010101 said:

yeah it is a bug. if its not like the real market its a bug. 

How do you work that out?  Once you start the game decisions cease to mirror real life.

But if you're convinced it's a bug, then you've raised it, right?  

[ChelseaSince86]

Goals from crosses do seem a bit too often for my liking but i suspect it is down to my tactics.

 

Only gripe i really had, forgotten which match, but it was like the ball was roughly between penalty spot and 6-yard box (oppo player shot and it hit my defender) and my keeper didn't come off his line to claim it, instead i watched the opposition striker steam in from outside the box, ahead of my CB's and rifle it home.   I think the keepers need to be slightly tweaked in order to come off their line and clean up loose balls more often.   

 

It has only happened once so far, touch wood

[Guest El Payaso]

I think that in previous builds goalkeepers worked better on catching the crosses that they can. Hard to say anything with just using 2D but would think that the keepers would be stronger at preventing those crosses to far post that lead into easy chances. Haven't seen many of goals that the AI scores but I'm definitely having more luck and also conceding more chances from crosses now. And it's a bit frustrating to see a bad penalty area attacker (without the attributes to be a threat through crosses) to be so much better at moving inside the box than CBs and the keepers. Even my Calleri isn't that great penalty area player but he seems to get there at end of the crosses every game. 

Based on my experience all of the AI teams seem to be one trick ponies: a long ball either to a striker or a winger who dribbles past couple of players and either gets a shot or cross in. No variation at all in my games as even Barcelona played like that. The inside forwards (Messi and Dembele) seem to simply stay wide like wingers when they attack and by that it's really hard to create team goals. Well I'm seeing this too from my inverted winger and WM. If players are told to roam, then why don't they come into the middle to provide passing options and create overloads?

The attacking play really looks poor in this FM.