Alright Boyz, Here We Go! The FM2008/WWSM2008 First Impressions Thread

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Critch

Neither Brazil nor Argentina have ever had a foreigner manage their football team (I think), so I guess in the game you'll be unlikely to be hired as their manager if you don't have the right nationality?

true. I wonder if that's modeled in the game though. I know i've managed brazil before, and I don't think that I had brazilian as a 2nd nationality...*shrug* I basically just wanted to do it to improve my pipeline into South American anyways

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

true. I wonder if that's modeled in the game though. I know i've managed brazil before, and I don't think that I had brazilian as a 2nd nationality...*shrug* I basically just wanted to do it to improve my pipeline into South American anyways

Its modelled in the game (oh yea of little faith ) - but not as a 'you won't get the job' at all sort of thing.

Basically if a nation has a large reputation and is successful (goes hand in hand really ) then they'll be more likely to want to have a manager of their own nationality (which is what normally is the case in real-life) - however if they have less than stellar success (ie. England) or are of a smaller reputation (ie. Australia) then there is lesser or no bias against a foreign manager coming in.

So in summary yes you can still get the job - but it'll be somewhat less likely if you have no national tie to a big reputation national side.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Its modelled in the game (oh yea of little faith ) - but not as a 'you won't get the job' at all sort of thing.

Basically if a nation has a large reputation and is successful (goes hand in hand really ) then they'll be more likely to want to have a manager of their own nationality (which is what normally is the case in real-life) - however if they have less than stellar success (ie. England) or are of a smaller reputation (ie. Australia) then there is lesser or no bias against a foreign manager coming in.

So in summary yes you can still get the job - but it'll be somewhat less likely if you have no national tie to a big reputation national side.

probably explains why it usually takes around 10 years for me to get to that point.

oh I have faith Marc.

So, given that...IRL we should be seeing a rash of Sunday-footballers applying to be manager of the English national side, hmm?

[Sweed]

I really do enjoy this game. 2006 was my first version, skipped 2k7 and bought 2k8. Maybe I'm stupid for missing it but I just found something else cool that makes the game easier to play

Always hated setting up my set pieces. Wasn't real good at it to start with and always found myself looking down the assignment column and trying to make sure I had three guys back, only one on each post, one challenging the keeper, etc. Needless to say I'd find myself in match and see I had four back and realize I had miscounted when setting up

This afternoon I'm playing the game and checking my set pieces when it hit me I can sort the assignment column, well duh. With it sorted I can easily see that I have three back etc. and what's more the sort sticks :whoo who: So if I have two guys assigned to forward and move another to forward the column resorts and shows me the three guys assigned forward together.

Just an incredibly deep game with all the little touches added to make it great. Good job SI.

[Izulde]

Bouncing between 10th and 12th place in Conference N/S, still. Lost in the FA Cup 1st round to a League 2 side, but we played them hard.

Just won the FA Trophy 3rd round qualifying, so we're through to 4th round Qualifying.

Overall we're still doing pretty well, though I dread to see what's going to happen at the end of the year, once all my loan players go back to their original clubs.

[Izulde]

dola,

Is there a way you can set your reputation to Obscure when starting as a manager?

Every time I start, no matter what club I take, no matter if I set it to Sunday side for match experience, I always come up Unproven, which is the 3rd from bottom prestige level.

I'd really like to be able to start as Obscure, the very bottom.

[wbatl1]

Originally Posted by Izulde

dola,

Is there a way you can set your reputation to Obscure when starting as a manager?

Every time I start, no matter what club I take, no matter if I set it to Sunday side for match experience, I always come up Unproven, which is the 3rd from bottom prestige level.

I'd really like to be able to start as Obscure, the very bottom.

I think I've heard in the past that it is this way so that you will actually get offered a job if you are unemployed. It is essentially telling the AI directors of boards (at lower teams, though) that you have some reason to be hired.

Marc will probably correct me, but thats what I understood.

[Marc Vaughan]

Unproven just means that you're a total unknown to the world of football and as such many people are holding off judging you for a while (ie. its not so much a reputation as a lack of a bad one).

Obscure on the other hand means pretty much that you're 'known' as a manager by people in the world of football but dismissed as a fairly obscure manager who is unlikely to ever make a huge impact (which is why its rated below Unproven).

If you do badly enough initially then your Unproven will change to Obscure if you really want it

[Toddzilla]

If you *really* want to be an "obscure" manager, take over a team in the English League One or Two, go on holiday for a few years and set the options up so that you can sell players but not purchase them. That way you'll eventually lose all your good players, get stuck with regens, lose most of your games, and get relegated 3 or 4 times. Then you'll be obscure as all get out.

[Passacaglia]

But if you're obscure, won't that mean you have no chance to get hired?

[Flasch186]

the tactics pages frustrate me to no end in that it'll rearrange the players to its own liking. I'll move them, save it, and low and behold it's moved them around. No for the last time when we play altrincham I want Fuller at DR, so I set it, save it, go into the game and 20 minutes in I notice he's back at Mid. So pissed at that, among other things with this team but this has been a gripe of mine ever since I started playing FM. The save system sucks ass when it comes to tactics.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

But if you're obscure, won't that mean you have no chance to get hired?

I had that happen to me in the 2006 version of the game. I coached so badly that no one wanted me. I offered to pay a team to hire me, but no dice.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

the tactics pages frustrate me to no end in that it'll rearrange the players to its own liking. I'll move them, save it, and low and behold it's moved them around. No for the last time when we play altrincham I want Fuller at DR, so I set it, save it, go into the game and 20 minutes in I notice he's back at Mid. So pissed at that, among other things with this team but this has been a gripe of mine ever since I started playing FM. The save system sucks ass when it comes to tactics.

I'm guessing you're editing tactics DURING a match and then finding they reset outside of it?

This is intentional - quite often during a match managers might wildly swing tactics towards the end, either very defensive or very attacking so in game tactics changes are kept 'in game' and discarded at the end of it.

If you save a tactic in a match then once you exit that match reload it you'll get the tactic you 'saved'.

I know it probably feels 'strange' if you're not used to it - but generally people once they understand it get on ok with it and see why we've done it like that.

Hope this helps,

Marc

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I'm guessing you're editing tactics DURING a match and then finding they reset outside of it?

This is intentional - quite often during a match managers might wildly swing tactics towards the end, either very defensive or very attacking so in game tactics changes are kept 'in game' and discarded at the end of it.

If you save a tactic in a match then once you exit that match reload it you'll get the tactic you 'saved'.

I know it probably feels 'strange' if you're not used to it - but generally people once they understand it get on ok with it and see why we've done it like that.

Hope this helps,

Marc

I was confused the first time I played as well. Then I started to actually make adjustments during a game and realized how valuable it was to do it this way. It'd drive me up the wall if my "get everyone behind the ball, time waste, counter attack" strategy had to be reset before every match.

The best thing to do with tactics is to spend about an hour before the start of every season. Create 4 to 5 lineups and the tactics you want for each. Then create situational tactics (down a goal late, down 2 goals at halftime, up a goal late, etc.) Then you can load any of them up at anytime and only have to make minor changes instead of spending a ton of time in game to figure out what to do.

[Izulde]

Thanks for the explanations on Unproven vs Obscure, et. al.

I've got Thurrock up to 1st place in Conference South! We're 8 points ahead of promotion playoffs, but only in 1st by 2 points.

Our biggest game of the season is coming up next... against that 2nd place team.

The board is screaming about the wage budget because I signed a few players to full-time contracts and my financial control is down to 9 because we're $22,000 over budget (that's per year, btw.. I hate per week)

But who cares? We'll sort it out later. The important thing is we're in 1st place!

If we do promote, though, I'm scared to see what's going to happen. About half my best players are all loans.

[Pumpy Tudors]

OK, you guys just about have me ready to pull the trigger on buying this game. I'm remembering my teams from the past few editions of the game, and I'm itching to get started on the current edition.

...at least I hope that's what that itch is...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Izulde

If we do promote, though, I'm scared to see what's going to happen. About half my best players are all loans.

Yes, but you're also going to be able to get better players on loans next year because of the higher league. Also, you're likely to get more money for transfers and salaries.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yes, but you're also going to be able to get better players on loans next year because of the higher league. Also, you're likely to get more money for transfers and salaries.

...and you're also going to get financially walloped at the end of the season while paying out the end-of-year bonuses.

[bulletsponge]

i just survived my first season in the EPL. avoided relegation by only a few points. if it wasnt for Everton going into administration and being docked 9 pts i would have been relegated. but since i survived players are taking me more seriously and im getting more $$, so i can finally bring in some better players

[Izulde]

The good news: We've secured absolute minimum playoff spots and are still in 1st place.

The bad news: Our form is hitting the crapper as we've lost our rhythm thanks to injuries to all 3 of my top strikers at the same frigging time. That seriously pissed me off.

While two of the three are now back in business, we've lost the chemistry and have had two very critical losses. Couple this with an 8 game win streak by Dorchester and we're now just a single point ahead.

I'm thinking we're going to have to get hot again and win out if we want to get the automatic promotion.

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Here is my MLS/USL promotion relagation league swap..

Not as "big" as Toddzillas but it has lots of wife yelling and kids screaming time into it.

If you dont download the DB at least check out the word document to get a flavor for what I have done.


http://hosted.filefront.com/meter99/

[Pumpy Tudors]

I think I want to play the game on my dual core laptop. How does the game run in Vista? Any known issues?

[SackAttack]

I'm noticing that the players that have been stars for me in the last few versions are showing up already on Premiership sides this time.

That's making it harder to bring back sentimental favorites.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I'm guessing you're editing tactics DURING a match and then finding they reset outside of it?

This is intentional - quite often during a match managers might wildly swing tactics towards the end, either very defensive or very attacking so in game tactics changes are kept 'in game' and discarded at the end of it.

If you save a tactic in a match then once you exit that match reload it you'll get the tactic you 'saved'.

I know it probably feels 'strange' if you're not used to it - but generally people once they understand it get on ok with it and see why we've done it like that.

Hope this helps,



Marc

I dont know what to tell you except that Im on pause right now so that I can describe this to you. I started the game, a new team (i got fired again) and setup the team before the game and clicked save. I started the game and all was fine, about the 60 minute mark I sub a player in, all seems fine. 10 minutes later, go to make another sub and my striker is at ML. No reason why and it's frustrating to know end in that it is happening often.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm noticing that the players that have been stars for me in the last few versions are showing up already on Premiership sides this time.

That's making it harder to bring back sentimental favorites.

yes. And when you do and you pay $48.5 million for them, you get accused of the "worst signing of the season" in the next offseason

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

I dont know what to tell you except that Im on pause right now so that I can describe this to you. I started the game, a new team (i got fired again) and setup the team before the game and clicked save. I started the game and all was fine, about the 60 minute mark I sub a player in, all seems fine. 10 minutes later, go to make another sub and my striker is at ML. No reason why and it's frustrating to know end in that it is happening often.

not to be an ass, but are you sure you're subbing them out for the right person?

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

not to be an ass, but are you sure you're subbing them out for the right person?

YES, AAMOF, It just happened again for the second time in the same game!!!! Damnit!



I cannot get Rogers to stay as my FC no matter what, it keeps moving him back during the game WTF! Truly, this system of knowing when stuff works and doesnt has frustrated me through the last iteration of WWSM and this one too. Who is switching them? the asst.?

He's shown as the ML, I didnt know it'd be so small.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

YES, AAMOF, It just happened again for the second time in the same game!!!! Damnit!

okay that's weird then.

[Flasch186]

yeah, and every game its some different random change. this game the MR, is a MC and the Mc is the MR....so I swap them back when I catch it 20 minutes in. But I know it fucks up everything regarding continuity etc. It is a HUGE mistake in the game as it is a different swap every game....I'm on the border of saying its a bug.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH but after I swapped them I just went back in 10 minutes later and that MC--->MR move sent the player to the FC position and the FC to the MR. I didnt even touch the FC at all!!!!!! Im so f'n pissed.

So many lost opportunities for this team during these ERRORS in the GAME.....

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

yeah, and every game its some different random change. this game the MR, is a MC and the Mc is the MR....so I swap them back when I catch it 20 minutes in. But I know it fucks up everything regarding continuity etc. It is a HUGE mistake in the game as it is a different swap every game....I'm on the border of saying its a bug.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH but after I swapped them I just went back in 10 minutes later and that MC--->MR move sent the player to the FC position and the FC to the MR. I didnt even touch the FC at all!!!!!! Im so f'n pissed.

It could well be a bug - but it seems strange that I havent heard of it before now if thats the case (people normally aren't 'shy' of jumping up and down shouting at us if there are visible problems ).

Is there anything you can think of which you might be doing which might be 'unusual' in your playing style? - for instance do you use the assistant manager to select your team?, do you change tactics by loading in a new tactic?, any preference with regards to using the gui for selecting your team (ie. do you do it via. the tactics page instead of the main page?).

(basically if we can work out whats happening then obviously we'll hopefully be able to avoid this problem for you in the future and if required can code things to prevent it in future - but it must be fairly obscure or more people would be shouting I'd expect)

[klayman]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

I cannot get Rogers to stay as my FC no matter what, it keeps moving him back during the game WTF! Truly, this system of knowing when stuff works and doesnt has frustrated me through the last iteration of WWSM and this one too. Who is switching them? the asst.?

Do you have swap positions on in any of the player instructions?

[Flasch186]

.....

okay so I go into half and that MR is at the OTHER MC position, the MC is at MR.

Why? I dont know. Ill swap them.....ill let you know.

[Flasch186]

Originally Posted by klayman

Do you have swap positions on in any of the player instructions?

yes, the 2 MC's and the 2 FC's with eachother though.....Am I misunderstanding what that means?




EDIT-----------------> Those swaps above were ALL jacked up although I havnt touched them in, forever....You probably hit the nail on the head!! If this fixes it Ill owe Marc a pint.




Marc, the asst. coach is only ticked for friendlies and nothing else. How'd you know I was jumping in my living room

[Izulde]

So we beat the team behind us, only to lose and tie, allowing Dorchester to sneak ahead by 1 point.

I'm swearing and cursing because there's only 3 games left in the season.

We edge out 20th placed Maidenhead 1-0 and I'm sweating it out. Maidenhead played us tough both games, as they tied us 1-1 in the first game, but still. Dorchester won again.

Two games left.

Basingstoke is favored to beat us thanks to home advantage, but my hero loan strikers James Walker and Chris Dickson go absolutely bananas as we tear Basingstoke apart 5-2 after taking a 2-1 halftime lead.

Dorchester gets upset!

We're ahead by 2 points!

It all comes down to the last game. Dorchester gets a tough draw in 3rd place Bishop's Stortford. We get a home game against Eastborne Boro. If we tie or win, we win Conference South. If we lose, we need Dorchester to lose or tie to win.

We get the report before the game that Dorchester beat Bishop's Stortford 3-2.

I tell the players before the game to win this one for the fans.

We go up 3-1 at halftime. I tell them how pleased I am and they go out and expand the lead and we win 4-1!!!!!!!!!

I loved how at the end of the game it said on the bottom "Thurrock wins Blue Conference South! The players are ecstatic in their celebration!" or something to that effect.

This feels really, really awesome!

Of course, we're in the red now and all our loan players are going back....

I may do a mini-dynasty where I post a year by year account of Thurrock at each seasons' end.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Is there any way in WWSM08 to export some end of season information that people could use to post in a dynasty or something like that?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Is there any way in WWSM08 to export some end of season information that people could use to post in a dynasty or something like that?

can't you save to html anymore? I used to do that all the time. That HTML is easy to copy/paste with the WYSIWYG editor on vbulletin...

FM

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

OK, you guys just about have me ready to pull the trigger on buying this game. I'm remembering my teams from the past few editions of the game, and I'm itching to get started on the current edition.

...at least I hope that's what that itch is...

Hammer time!!...Hammer time!!...Hammer time!!

See someone remembers your players.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Hammer time!!...Hammer time!!...Hammer time!!

See someone remembers your players.

Fabulous!

[Toddzilla]

ARGH!

Got a new computer today, tried to re-install my DD of WWSM08, but it errors out - "Cannot connect to the database"

I emailed Boonty support, and it says to expect to wait 48 hours.

So I'm down for 2 days at the least.

Boooooooooo

[Toddzilla]

Fuck Boonty support.

I keep getting the same clown responding to my emails, and he's got his head stuck in the sand, not acknowledging what the problem is.

Seems I cannot "generate an email" when I try to manually unlock the game. The application just quits. So, without this super-special generated email, I cannot get my activation code.

They have my name, address, email, proof of purchase, and order ID, so just GIVE ME THE GODDAMNED CODE.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Toddzilla, that sounds terrible, and has pretty much clinched that I won't be getting the digital download. I'll just order it from Amazon eventually.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Toddzilla, that sounds terrible, and has pretty much clinched that I won't be getting the digital download. I'll just order it from Amazon eventually.

Don't get WWSM - make sure to get FM to avoid the support issues that have plagued WWSM owners forever.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Fuck Boonty support.

I keep getting the same clown responding to my emails, and he's got his head stuck in the sand, not acknowledging what the problem is.

Seems I cannot "generate an email" when I try to manually unlock the game. The application just quits. So, without this super-special generated email, I cannot get my activation code.

They have my name, address, email, proof of purchase, and order ID, so just GIVE ME THE GODDAMNED CODE.

Please PM me passing along your email address, 'real name' and the details of the person you have been having problems with - I can pass that along to Marc Duffy who will hopefully be able to sort things out for you (and kick the person in question all things being equal).

[wbatl1]

You know, the more I read Marc and his support (both technical and strategical) on here, the more and more in awe I am of this board. We have it good (but that may be a consequence of our general ability to be more sane than the folks over at the SI board).

Anyway, Marc, thank you very much for your support here, and keep up the good work. This is why I will keep sending you my money!

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Fuck Boonty support.

I keep getting the same clown responding to my emails, and he's got his head stuck in the sand, not acknowledging what the problem is.

Seems I cannot "generate an email" when I try to manually unlock the game. The application just quits. So, without this super-special generated email, I cannot get my activation code.

They have my name, address, email, proof of purchase, and order ID, so just GIVE ME THE GODDAMNED CODE.

My laptop died a few weeks back and I got a new one a couple weeks ago. I was worried something like this might happen but thankfully didn't. Sorry for your problem.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by wbatl1

You know, the more I read Marc and his support (both technical and strategical) on here, the more and more in awe I am of this board. We have it good (but that may be a consequence of our general ability to be more sane than the folks over at the SI board).

Anyway, Marc, thank you very much for your support here, and keep up the good work. This is why I will keep sending you my money!

+1

[SackAttack]

I tell you what, it seems like the Premiership money is crazy compared to the last couple versions. Is that an exchange rate change, or did the money really go way up?

[lighthousekeeper]

motherfucker. down 10 guys to 11 due to a 6th minute red card, i somehow manage to come back against 1st place Boston United from a 2-1 deficit to take 3-2 lead at the 70th minute. i put my Time Wasting setting to MAXIMUM, they score in the 88th minute, then in the 90th minute i witness this: they kick corner that goes behind the net, so my keeper is set to make goal kick. does he wait even 1 second before making the kick?!?! no, he immediately kicks the ball to the opposition, who promptly obtain superhuman speed and go 2-on-1 to score the winning goal. motherfucker.


btw, IRL is there a time limit for how long a keeper can hold on to the ball?

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

motherfucker. down 10 guys to 11 due to a 6th minute red card, i somehow manage to come back against 1st place Boston United from a 2-1 deficit to take 3-2 lead at the 70th minute. i put my Time Wasting setting to MAXIMUM, they score in the 88th minute, then in the 90th minute i witness this: they kick corner that goes behind the net, so my keeper is set to make goal kick. does he wait even 1 second before making the kick?!?! no, he immediately kicks the ball to the opposition, who promptly obtain superhuman speed and go 2-on-1 to score the winning goal. motherfucker.


btw, IRL is there a time limit for how long a keeper can hold on to the ball?

Yes, you can actually get a card for stalling. The ref will basically tell you to hurry it up, if you take to long late in the game you get hit with a card.

The other thing to point out. Refs are a bit strange. If you have 4 minutes of injury time a ref might let it go 4 minutes plus, if there is an attacking run going on. It is pretty crazy how that works.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Just finished up my first season. My board offered me the option to increase my expectations (they wanted to avoid relagation) to increase my available salary. Given that I finished 2nd in my league last year (no promotion as only the top team was promoted), I upped my expectations to 'top half finish'. As a result, my salary doubled from 41K/week to 84K/week. Sweet feature!