Kid-Chaos

Just like everyone i played over a year's worth of football manager 2007, in my opionion the best fm so far apart from maybe cm 03/04 but thats history, so when i heard football manager 2008 was going to be released i was obviously as happy as everyone else, but after playing it since it's come out and installed the beta 2 patch i just feel totally dissapointed.

This honestly feel the games taken 2 steps back and 1 forward as it were, how can after getting fm 2007 spot on this one have so many bugs, and there not even bugs which are hard to notice, how can after having a really good match engine in 07 we now have one which feels like it's gone back to fm 05? how can si not release players just stand around and don't close down. Now i would of accepted this when fm 05 came out because the game had to be coded again and it was sort of a new game for SI so there were bound to be bugs etc i accept that, but now it just feels si have become slightly lazy with this version (i'm sure you did work hard si and sorry to criticse you guys) i feel maybe this is to do with fm Live as well comming out. When i look at each aspect of the game fm 2007 is better so the games not really progressing.

Match Engine
Well i alreadt pointed out the match engine has a clossing down issue which everyone knows about, now people go on about we now need a 3d match engine to take the game to the next step i personalyl feel this could be the worse thing for FM as the 2d engine isnt perfect after like 5 years, Why can't the dug outs also be at the bottom of the pitch, why can't we see rain or snow falling onto the pitch, why can't be maybe even see like banners and billboards round the side of the pitch to make it feel like we're playing in a stadium than a plot of land? Also why is it when commentray says the players are surronding the ref the players never are surrounding the ref, why can't i see my players running to the ref or the linesman? also why can't in rival games we see players all pushing annd squaring up to each other when a nasty challenge is made abit like man utd vs arsenal when ruud missed the peantly for example why can't some small things be put into the match engine to take it to the next step so it don't just feel like i'm buying a updated fm 07, but infact it actually feels like i bought a updated fm 06.

AI
I feel the AI is now too hard or maybe the match engine is just wrong, in fm 07 i had two really good tactics, i use them in this fm and they just seem useless even after giving them like 10 games each i won like 3-4 on each tactic i came here and have tried so many tactics and so many games i dominate like 22 shots 13 on target 52% of possesion and the other team had 6 shots 2 on target and win 1-0 this always seems the case or they score a last min winner, i have tried so many tactics and so many different things and can't string a run of games beyond 5-6 my best was 32 games unbeaten before i patched the game with the beta, but now it's about 5-6 games before i lose, now i can accept losing but it just seems a pattern, 3 wins 1 draw then lose etc and the morale is impossible to manage, my players are never happy when they win but when they lose there all very poor i heard of a possible morale bug but not sure.

Media
yet again probably the biggest thing in football - the media, has not been improved, yeah it's all good we can interact with other people (not that i ever use it cos it actually does nothing) it's all good we can give team talks and this is releastic but why is there always the same 5 things we can say why have the options not been improved since fm 06 and what is the point anyway my players never seem to be listening so why waste my time clicking these things when it actually does nothing? Also why is it after EVERY game theres always a penatly denied and every time i gotta decline to comment, say the ref made a mistake (which does nothing but gets you a touchline ban) or say the ref got it right and after this i feel no satisfaction as the players morale don't improve.
Why is it before the match we get asked about our chances and we can always say the same 5 things, why has media not been taken to another level why do my players ignore my team talks? why does it feel clicking these options honestly means nothing apart from another gimmick? The only cool part of the media done in this fm is the confidence, this is a good idea but some of the points i disagree about like my players still complaining about a player i signed a year ago for example.

Training
Why do i feel training is totally pointless? why has it not changed since cm god knows what, it's always the same, get the best coaches in each aspect get them to 7 star, and just move some sliders around and your players all get better? also what happened to the option of assistant doing training or rest players after training day it just feels i have even less control over training than i did before yet another example of fm going backwards surely there must be something that can make the game to the next level?

Skin
Well the skins hit and miss i've gotten use to it, but i prefer fm 07 as it was clean and easy to navigate, now i got use to fm 08 i can navigate easier i feel fm07 suited the fm games more than all this new white skin we got for fm08, now some people like the skin some don't but as we had a perfect skin for fm07 why couldnt we have a choice of both in fm 08, so we could use fm07's skin if wanted as a alternative skin, we didn't even get 2 skins in this fm, normally we get 2 or 3, if the skin was already coded why not throw it in as well? now i know i can just go download skins from Sortitoutsi, but this is just my 2 cents on the skin thing. Just feel the skins not as good as other fm's.

Sound
Why can't we have some half decent sound like we did back in cm 99/00 why has the game gone backwards, it don't feel like im in a staidum when i play a match i actually turn the sound off thats how poor i feel it is, even on fast mode why can't we have some decent sound? crowds chanted etc.

Transfers
Transfer market in fm2008 is a joke in my opinion, so many players are being sold for millions, james vaughuan got sold for 14 million, if i bid for a player like i bidded 20 mill for micah richards man city wanted 24 so i negotiated at 22mill then they want 27mill then i say 25mill and then they want 31mill, it's impossible to sell players as well, but going back to the transfer market everyone costs so much, like i try to buy nordtveit and arsenal want 22mill for a 17year old when i just offered 7mill, ok maybe some may say releastic as rooney went for 30mill, but there are just so many average players costing so much money, such as james vaughan from everton, or i try to buy tudgay from sheff wed with my leeds team and they want 7mill, the transfer market just comes up with unrelistic prices for eveything and you casn't negotiate in this game without the price just going up. The transfer market was clearly just blanked in this game and another reason why fm08 has not improved.

The Patch
The long awaited patch is out soon i feel.After playing the beta 2 version of the game/patch i just feel the game is not the best fm ever like i expected the game seems so repetitive answering the same things for different games, i feel when the patch is released it won't fix all the issues if this is the beta 2 patch and we hear the patch is out soon and the beta 2 patch don't feel right, then how are they going to fix all the major and minor bugs in such a short time, maybe i'm jumping the gun but i feel when the patch comes out there will still be along of negativity, i think theres alot of coding wrong with the game and si won't be able to put it right in one patch, i don't think si should have to create a patch after fm07 was spot on and should of went to extra lengths to ensure we didn't need a patch but each year the games not tested properly and we all wait for a patch till we can proper get stuck into fm, so meanwhile the game gathers dust.I think si have tried to make the game too smart (e.g having to change tactics every game) it's taken the fun out of the game, and made it difficult or maybe the clossing down bug is why the games hard or the morale bug i'm not sure i just feel the games no fun anymore and has definatly put me off buying fm live or maybe even fm 009 because there both going to need to be patched and the games not going forward.

My views
remember these are just my views on the game i just wanted to say that i feel the games now beginning to go backwards and i won't be buying fm 09 till i've played the demo long and hard and seen what peoples opinions are and if the game needs a patch to fix it as i just find fm08 unenjoyable at the moment i feel si have ignored key issues in the game and i would of made this post longer but actually got bored of typing so just picked out a few i feel i would like to hear what si's response is but we'll see i guess, i want to see if si have any long term plans to make some drastic changes, will media actually be looked at and feel like it means something rather than clicking a option just so i can get to the next screen like why don't i get asked any random questions it's either signings, pre match talk or injuries or a denied peanlty/goal. The only major improvement si have made over the last couple of years was the introduction of the 2D engine, everything else just seems gimmicky to me and pointless and some cool things have been removed the sound from cm99/00 for example, or assitants take control of training etc.

Dar2000

Totally agree with you here I think this is a ridiculos part of the game and i'm dissapointed it hasn't been adressed for FM08 :thdn:

chopper99

While I know there are definitely some problems with the current patched game and I never just blindly defend it I certainly disagree with some of the things you've said here:

Firstly the closing down issue has in the main been fixed by the patch. There have been a fair few discussions on this recently but the main point is that getting closing down to work is not just a case of upping the teams closing down slider and expecting them to just suddenly chase the ball all over the pitch, a lot of other factors count towards how well your closing down works. I, and many others, genuinely have no problem with closing down now.

Secondly, all the other things you've mentioned here are mainly cosmetic issues that may be important to you but to me really aren't what would improve the game. Also the players can be seen surrounding the ref and linesmen when they object to certain decisions, this is something new that was put in for '08.

I personally think the match engine has improved from '07. I too would perhaps like to see some of the cosmetic features you mentioned introduced but these aren't major things and there are many other things I'd like to see improved first.

To be honest this is exactly the same thing that people were complaining about in '07. So you may have had the tactics perfected in '07 but plenty of people found the AI too hard in that game too, so this is not a new 'problem' that's appeared in 08.

Because the match engine has changed some tactics from FM07 will probably not work quite so well in FM08. Which for me is a good thing otherwise what would be the point of bringing out a new game if I could just port my old tactics straight over and not change them in any way. The games not been out long, it takes a little while to get used to what works and what doesn't. Also people were complaining about the shots to goals ratio thing in 07 as well, but just like in 08 there are plenty of us not having this problem so somewhere down the line it's your tactics that are not working properly, not a fault with the game.

What I would have liked to have seen introduced is some sort of feedback so players can get an idea of why things are going wrong (or right). You can get this information already from match stats, action zones etc but it would have been useful if this had been simplified for the people who wanted it by way of assitant manager feedback during o and/or after the game, or some kind of analysis tool that the plaer could use. This is something I am disappointed not to have seen.

Totally agree, the media is boring and repetative.

While I do find the current training system good, it certainly is useful and there is much more to it than as you say 'just getting 7 star coaches and moving some sliders around' I would have liked to have seen it expanded upon. Mainly to incorperate set piece training, so you could come up with and pratice set pieces which you could then see being attempted in the game.

I wasn't keen on the skin at first but it really has grown on me to the point where I now really like it.

I never have the sounds turned on in this game and never will so this makes no difference to me. I can see, however, how it will be annoying for people that do enjoy having the sounds that they've not improved at all.

There are some over-inflated prices but I now find it much easier to off-load my unwanted players. This was the main concern for people in 07 as they couldn't sell hardly any players. This has definitely improved and hopefully the over-inflated prices will be as-well. Before the patch I found that teams negotiated realistically but this seems to have been lost a little in the patch.

All in all I feel the game has been a step forward. Like you I very much enjoyed FM07 and was not looking for any major changes for 08, just tweaks to improve on 07. I certainly don't think the game is a big step backwards, and don't agree with your comments about the match engine and AI difficulty.

Saying that though I haven't really been overwhelmed by any of the new features. But I do think that once the final patch is out it will be an excellent game.

mufc12345

Totally agree with you here I think this is a ridiculos part of the game and i'm dissapointed it hasn't been adressed for FM08 :thdn: </BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree that can be annoying but isnt this just part of the game city obviously want to keep hold of the player and will just keep trying to mess you around till the transfer market closes or if your desperate get 30-40million out of your transfer kitty.

Fred_the_Red

This thread is the truth. I agree on every point made.

Media is crap, engine is crap, team talk does nothing.

I mean I am telling my team to go out there and win the game. Ask the ass man what the team thinks, comes back and says nothing specific was noted.

Like what the hell?? So basically I might as well not have a team talk and just press continue. Team talk does nothing at all.

As for transfers OH MY DAYS. 2million for a player and club wont sell for 8million. Thats 4 times he vaule FFS. Instead you have to bid inthe region of 15.

Game is a shambles.

qwertee

I think the most annoying thing is the post match comments on fouls\red cards. I mean come on, what purpose does the "View Incident" button serve? It's not like I would be able to tell whether there was a foul or not.. And if I say I feel there wasn't a foul I just look like an ar** when the media say that I was unprofessional to say that it wasn't a foul when it obiously was..

mertle

On sound I think si needs to go away from ambient sound effects to me they should be more ground breaking.

What I would like to see is what is on the text should be said like a comentator. Make it a useful addition.

To me this has to be the next progression.

furney89

the media is so boring

i dont think si understand that just addeding new lines of media isnt exciting as they soon become repetative...something more inovative to even give the "effect" its different each time, rather than the same fecking quetions asked EVERY week

Pugs12

I just cant help thinking that this game needs an overhaul. I think too many options in the game have gone stale, media being the worst culprit.

There are just too many things wrong with this game, and im really not convinced that it is going to be possible to fix even a large percentage of them.

Having said everything, the game has improved with the second BETA, but why are we having to wait for a patch to make the game playable, and please lets not kid ourselves in saying it was.

Im sure SI work there butts of trying to deliver a fantastic game, but surely someone needs to hold their hands up at SI or SEGA and say "we messed up, we are sorry for this mess, but we are doing our best to correct our mistake".

dominatX

Yes I do agree with the thread starter. Our favourite FM needs a major overhaul! I've played since the first version and every version had me glued to my PC for months of playing. In less than a week after buying my FM2008, I've already sick of it. I did wanted to go deeper to "challenge" the AI by coming out tactics of my own but I've already did so in FM07.

Its getting too repetitive! Even rivals football management simulation games had better ideas. If SI doesn't do something about it and other rivals gets better, FM will sooner or later be overtaken by them. Till last month, I've NEVER EVER wanted to tried or bother to try other rival games. Last week I've finally break out and tried FM08- Obviously not Si's, man I was so so surprised by the game! Although no where near FM but the looks of it was great and it will get better!


PLEASE DO SOMETHING SI!!!!!!!!! I want my hours and hours of FMing in front of my PC! I WANT TO EAT DRINK SLEEP FM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!