Grr, if I had known that it was a dual boxed/DD patch, I would've ordered the download tonight. Ah, well. I'm going bowling tonight anyway. I'll just have to play the game when I get home tomorrow.

Don't let go of the remote, Pumpy!

Is the game available via Digital Download yet? If so, where can I dl it from?

It is available for DD, through SI Games's website.

Okay, those weren't official so, y'know, if you download and use them, I will be forced to notify Dan Wassen and call you a pirate.

Just a warning, is all.

Eep! Not Wii bowling! :)

I wouldn't get too excited yet. There are 2 big bugs that have come up since the patch that have me thinking about waiting to starting a serious game until the next patch.

Players being dropped from team when contract extension is offered in last year of contract.

http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...2/m/4142004972

Paying double transfer fee for players

http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...2/m/8002076972

:(

So I guess I should just re-install with 7.0, huh? Is there a way I can roll-back w/o doing that?

I guess I also should have mentioned that there is a post over at the SI board that acknowledges the "player dropped after contract offer bug" and the word is that they hope to have a patch early next week. However, no mention is made about the double transfer fee issue.

I remain hopeful that it won't take another month and some change to get these issues fixed.

But I am VERY bummed that I can't spend the weekend getting into the game in ernest like I had planned yesterday.

Whoops, well, now that these other two bugs have been mentioned, I guess I'll just do something else this weekend.

Here's a workaround until they get the first one fixed. I usually offer what they want anyway, so this one isn't affecting me at all.

Workaround
In short if you offer the player exactly what he wants and accepts then this bug will not occur.

In response to offering a lower weekly wage than he is currently on, I would advise against this until the new patch is out.

http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...1/m/8492066972

Judging from some of the comments from SI, it looks like the "double transfer fee" thing may be related to people using a crack on the game. It's mentioned in the same thread that MikeVick7 just referenced. If this is indeed true, I won't mind starting a career this weekend. :D

Yeah, I noticed that one of the SI guys isn't admitting that the double transfer thing is a bug yet.

FWIW I've been playing the patched game most of today, with a new game, and it seems OK - haven't paid double for anyone, haven't had any problems with the contract renewal (even tried to use it to avoid paying compensation to some staff but to no avail!), Rooney's ban has gone and there are managers whose jobs are on the line, all of which have been reported elsewhere.

I have been generally (actually scratch the word generally from this sentence) disappointed with FM since the change from CM, but the patched version of 07 seems to be a return to form.

From my experience, dive in.

It looks like there are people having this error using the CD.

I have decided not to install the patch until SI release a fix as I don't want to risk any of my saved games.

so i can't sign more than 1 non-EU player per year in Italy and send them to feeder clubs? that's frustrating (although probably accurate)

Anybody know if "View Only" keeps players available for transfers, but just doesn't allow you to actually hold jobs in that nation?

I'm curious whether setting up a league with two playable leagues and several 'view only' leagues would increase my scouts' ability to actually find new players.

from what I understand, celecting a league as "view only" doesn't retain more players. You need to retain the country to make more players available in that country.

Also, I'm not sure I remember if you could pick one country with some playable leagues and some view only leagues within the same country. Always thought the playability was something you assigned to a country, not to specific league within a country. But I may remember wrong on that one...

FM

*laughs* 2011-12 Champions League has hit the Semi-Final stage.

Newcastle-Chelsea
Arsenal-ManYoo

Yes, the four English teams in the draw all made it to the semifinal stage

Two of the teams left in the FA Cup are amongst those four

ManYoo-Charlton
Everton-Chelsea

and with 5-6 games to play, here's the EPL Standings

Chelsea (33) 68 Points
Arsenal (32) 68 Points
ManYoo (32) 65 Points
Newcastle (33) 65 Points.

Think the top four are dominating this year?

I bet at least one of those teams didn't even win their own conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's too bad. I really had high hopes for this game, but it's obviously broken beyond all hope. :D

I always cringe when all 4 english teams make the semis in the Champions League, cause it happens...a lot.

Hooooleee shit.

In the ManYoo-Arsenal CL Semifinal, Arsenal were the much better team in the first leg, and won 2-0. So for the 2nd leg at Old Trafford, ManYoo were pretty much doomed.

A) They had to win 2-0 to force Extra Time/Penalties
B) Win by three clear goals or more to advance

Anything else would not be enough, and considering we (*) were playing the best goalie in the game (Igor Akinfeev, who Arsenal bought for 26.5 Million Pounds this year), that would be a tall task.

We got a first half goal from Wayne Rooney, but it was still 2-1 on aggregate entering the 2nd half, and we would need THREE goals if Arsenal scored again.

Minute 51: Rooney hits a 30 yard chip over the backpedaling Akinfeev to tie things up!

Minute 62: Lukas Podolski in a scramble in front of the net, knocks in a rebound! 3-2, Man Yoo! (of course, this still meant that if Arsenal scored, they would lead on the away goal)

Minute 88: Arsenal keep pressing, and on a counter attack/break by ManYoo, Marc-Andre Kruska scores to make it 4-0 on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, and we're through to the final!

Holy shit.. I was literally dancing in front of the computer screen.

(*) Yes, I'm the Evil Guy in charge of Man Yoo, but I didn't start there, I moved there last year after 4 1/2 seasons in charge of Tottenham, and I'm not sure they're not still burning me in effigy there :D

Foz was telling me he thinks it happens when some of the other leagues are non-playable...that the English teams end up building up more talented squads than do sides in leagues that end up with no real result, and so that's why the English teams are more frequently successful.

Wonder how true that is.

it's not the case in my game, I have something like 50 or so nations and 105 or so leagues (yeah, it runs slow, but I have the net to pass the time)

Ended up winning the CL, which is a good way to finish that save game as I install the patch, and time to start playing MLS :)

I think there definitely is some truth in this. That's why I keep some of the major leagues playing, at least in the backround, like Italy, Germany and Spain just so that they just don't sit there.

Seriously, how the fark can a team be considered the best in Europe when they weren't even the best in their own country? This is a travesty, I tells ya!

Didnt liverpool win the CL last year and finished like 8th in the EPL? They had to create a special rule to allow liverpool into the CL to defend since they didnt qualify for it this year with their leauge ranking in EPL when the won the CL

I don't remember where they finished, but they didn't finish in the Top 4, which is required to play in the CL. That was really a different scenario. I'm just making fun of people who say you have to win your conference in order to win the nation. And I'm not trying to get into an argument about it or anything (because I honestly don't care) -- just having a little fun.

Yeah on my old PC I was pretty much just limited to English teams and loading all players from the 4 other "home" nations and English teams completely dominated.

Thankfully now on my new PC I can play with 10 leagues and I haven't seen the same domination from the English clubs so far at least.

Hey now, they only came in 5th in the league (one outside the qualification spot) two years ago. And yeah, they were given special exemption into last year's tournament to defend ... although they had to start at the earliest qualification rounds.

Going to share a story here, even if it's WSM 06. So I'm in my first season at Vauxhall Motors. We started off in the top half, but have since fallen to 18th. We play a 3-5-2, with my D-line split wide, so I just have one centre back and two fullbacks, then two DMs to help fill in the holes in the middle. Then one MC, my wingers moved up to the AML and AMR spots, and two strikers. Our offense is great, tied for first in goals scored (21 in 13 games), but our defence is crap -- giving up more goals than anyone else in the league by far (26 in 13 games).

Anyway, we're playing minnows Chertsey in the early stages of the FA Trophy. We're up 1-0 in the 89th minute, when my left fullback gets a red card. No big deal, we can hold out for 5 more minutes or so, right? No. They score pretty much immediately. No big deal, we'll just play them at home. However, that guy was my only left defender! So I modify my line, and put everyone in as centre backs. The result? A 1-1 draw, in which we were up a man for probably 100 minutes or so. We lose on penalties 5-3, but that's okay -- we should really focus more on getting promoted, right? Or maybe avoiding relegation.

Anyway, our next match is against Kettering. Our left fullback is back, but our left winger is out -- and again, that's our only left winger! So I switch to a 3-4-3. I move my right winger to a third striker, move my MC up to AMC, move one of my DMs up to MC, bring in another MC to replace my injured winger, then keep one DM in the middle, so my 4 middies are in kind of a narrow diamond formation. Since I don't have two DMs to fill in those gaps in my D-Line, I bring my left defender in to play centre back -- this is really the only guy playing out of position now. It's a home game, but I'm basically just crossing my fingers and hoping we don't get burned too badly. The result? Kettering gets on the board, first then the rest of the scoring is ours -- all 8 goals! Even after sending our striker, Tom Rooney (who rocks, by the way), off for a standing ovation and having a right fullback play forward after the 86th minute, we still put up another goal! Anyway, after the 8-1 victory, our offense is by far the best now, and our 27 goals allowed is only two more than the next worst team. Oh, and we move up the charts, to 17th! Huzzah! Anyway, I've got a bit of a condundrum. That winger was one of my 2 or 3 best players, but we managed to really dominate by focusing our passing through the middle. Any ideas?

I started my first WWSM 07 career last night. Now I have the task of learning my team again. It's always a bit of a chore to get started. Once I'm rolling, I'm fine, but the initial setup of my team always makes me groan a little bit. :)

Is this game really on $24.99 on amazon? And are all patches out for the WWSM as well, or should I go to gamestop and get FM? Also, how will it run on a laptop that is 1.5 ghz (not dual core), with 1.5 gigs of ram?

It'll run fine, I've been going with 16 leagues from 10 countries on a 1.6ghz (not dual core) and 1gig of ram and it's nice and quick.

Wow.......din't realize the price was that reduced. Last version I bought was $50 i believe.

Just had my first red card rescinded on appeal. I love the asst. manager advice on that subject. It's hard to tell from the game highlight whether or not you should appeal.

Why wouldn't you always appeal? I never understood that.

I think it reduces your future chances if the FA thinks you are a crybaby.

Is there a penalty if you appeal and fail?

yes, you could get a touchline ban (ie it takes longer to do tactic changes/substitutions, since you're up in the crowd) for excessive appealing, plus the refs take a dimmer view against your teams.

Also, if you want to complain about a ref's decision in public, MAKE SURE you get it right before complaining, the FA can fine your team for bringing the game into direpute if you spend too much time slamming the refs in public.

how accurate is the AI? 1-1 tie, a goal late was taken away bc they said I was offsides. I know the offsides rule and he was clearly not OFFSIDES. I bitch and moan in a postgame and they touchlined me and said that it appeared that the ref got the call right. I'm like WTF.

Edit: But what I thought was cool, the guy who got the goal taken away was like in his personal tab that something like he liked that I fought for his goal or something or he thought I was right.

Sounds pretty accurate to me. How often does a league admit when their officials mess up?

good point, but dont ban me, geez.

I've wondered about offsides, too. I thought I knew the rule, but I see offsides calls where the guy doesn't look offsides at all -- sometimes it happens when a guy is making a run around midfield, and it's not even a counter attack or anything -- there are TONS of guys in front of him. Am I missing something or does anyone else see this?

I think it's hard to tell with the size of the dots relative to the size of the pitch. So two guys that look even, may not be because the circle is bigger than the actual player size, if you follow me. It makes it hard to tell, I almost never complain about bad offides calls.

I know, managers just can't say anything now without getting into trouble ;)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...wn/6140922.stm

Newell faces inquiry on 'sexism'

It is bad enough with the incapable referees and linesmen we have but if you start bringing in women, you have big problems Mike Newell Luton manager Mike Newell could be in trouble with the Football Association after launching a scathing attack on women officials. Newell was furious that assistant referee Amy Rayner failed to award his side a penalty in the 3-2 loss to QPR. He said: "She shouldn't be here. I know that sounds sexist but I am sexist. This is not park football, so what are women doing here?" The FA has confirmed it will be examining Newell's remarks. A spokesman said: "All we can say at the moment is that we will be investigating when we have discovered what was said." Newell was incensed that Rayner and referee Andy D'Urso failed to award his side a spot-kick when QPR defender Marcus Bignot tangled with Carlos Edwards in the penalty box. "It is tokenism - for the politically-correct idiots," said Newell. "We have a problem in this country with political correctness and bringing women into the game is not the way to improve refereeing and officialdom. "It is absolutely beyond belief. When do we reach a stage when all officials are women because then we are in trouble? English football needs more Amy Rayners. Referees' chief Neale Barry "It is bad enough with the incapable referees and linesmen we have but if you start bringing in women, you have big problems."

I think the game gets the offsides call wrong A LOT. It almost happens every game. One of my guys will get a pass and there sometimes will be 2-3 defenders between him and the goal and the player that the pass goes to will just be standing still. It's very weird.

What's the status with the patch? Do those bugs still exist? Is there a fix shortly on the way? Has Pumpy started his career? I don't think I'll start my career until Pumpy does.

I need answers.