KingKenny

Hi,

Apologies if this has come up before, but I think the 'can play in cup matches' loan clause can be improved.

At the moment, you can only effectively say yes or no, but there should be a third option which is.....

'Can play in cup matches once parent club is knocked out of the competition'.

So this would mean if you get knocked out in one of the early rounds of the cup but clubs that you have loaned players to progress, your players can play for them.

In the above scenario I can't see any reason why you would not want them to, as the reason the clause is there is to stop them getting cup tied, but that's no longer important as you've been knocked out! It may also allow you to see how your players perform against higher division teams depending on the luck of the draw.

Blue Lou

Personally I don't see the point in such a clause.

I think that a better clause would be

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Must play in all games he is available for - Yes/No
</UL>

KingKenny

The point is..... the only reason you wouldn't want a player to play in cup matches is so that he doesn't get cup-tied meaning you can't play him yourself. But if you've been knocked out it's no longer an issue whether he's cup-tied or not so you'd want him to play as many games as possible.

Amaroq

GillsMan_Returns, I'd like to see that situation exempted from the clause entirely. If the parent club isn't eligible for the competition, full-stop, then the clause doesn't apply.

KingKenny, I can't remember ever seening the club I'm loaning him to advance further than I have in the same Cup, so I could see that not being a priority for SI.

What about specifying by Cup which Cups you want the player eligible for?

For example, if I'm a Premiership side and sending a player out on loan to the Championship or League One, I often want to say "Eligible for the League Cup, but not the F.A. Cup," figuring that most of the League Cup matches will have been played by January, but my F.A. Cup run will just be starting .. so if I have to recall him in December or January, I want him eligible for the F.A. Cup.

Alternately, you may make a loan-out where you're willing to let the player play in anything except Europe.

KingKenny

You're obviously too good at the game

There have been situations where I've been knocked out of a cup early but have never thought to check to see how clubs I've loaned players to have done, but I would do if the loan clause could be improved.

Good ideas there.

Perhaps there could also be an option where you allow the loan club to ask you, just prior to each round of the cup, whether they can play the player (obviously once you say yes, they are eligible for all future rounds). I'm thinking this could be useful in a couple of situations:

1) They draw a big club (or at least one from a higher level) in one of the rounds, and you may decide to let him play because you want to see how he performs against tougher opposition
2) You reject the requests for him to play in the earlier rounds but it turns out the loan club have a good cup run and get to a quarter or semi final. You then may decide to let him play for the experience and to see how he handles the pressure of a big-match situation

The way I can see it working would be in the transfer offer screen, instead of simply having a tick box for 'can play in cup matches', you'd have a list of all cup competitions the loan club is participating in. Beside each one, is a drop down box which gives you the option to select:

"Can play in matches"
"Request permission to play prior to each round"
"Cannot play in matches"

Amaroq

:thup:

Personally, that sounds just about ideal to me - but I know I micromanage compared to the "average" users. I can imagine some people would be very frustrated to get asked all the time.

On the other hand, the "just let me play" user doesn't ever need to use the "Request permission" option if they don't want to...

I think the key to making this work for everybody would be "Intelligent Defaults".

Okay, how about this for a design?

Transfer Offer Screen

The "Can Play in Cup" matches is instead replaced by a list of all Cup competitions that the loan club is participating in.

Beside each one, there is a drop-down box which gives the user the option to select:

"Can play in matches"
"Request permission to play prior to each round"
"Cannot play in matches"

If the loaning club is not participating in the Cup, the option reads "Can play in matches", and is greyed out; it cannot be changed.

If the user initiated the loan transfer, and the loaning club is participating in the Cup, the option defaults to the option the user selected for the last loan they made. (Initial default: Can play in matches for domestic Cups, Cannot play in matches for Europe)

If an AI club initiated the loan transfer, the AI manager selects the terms.

Offer to Clubs

For the Offer to Clubs screen, the user can select the various Cup competitions in their country.

For Cups the loaning team is not eligible to participate in, the option reads "Can play in matches", and is greyed out.

For options the loaning team is eligible to participate in, the option defaults to the options made the last time the user completed a loan-out or made an "Offer to Clubs". (Initial default: Can play in matches for domestic competitions, Cannot play in matches for Europe)

For example, at the start of the game, a Premiership team making "Offer to Clubs | Loan", would see
F.A. Trophy : Can play in matches
LDV Vans Trophy: Can play in matches
League Cup: Can play in matches
F.A. Cup: Can play in matches
European competition: Cannot play in matches

Request permission e-mail

A "requires response" e-mail with the options:

YES | No | Never for this Competition

The first option essentially converts the loan clause to "Can play in matches" for this Cup.

The second option denies the club permission for this match, but leaves the loan clause at "Request permission prior to each round".

The third option denies the club permission for this match, and converts the loan clause to "Cannot play in matches" for this Cup.

...

How does the timing of that e-mail work?

When do I, as a loaning-in club, send out the request?

When does the loaning-out club reply?

And how does it work in multi-player games?