It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I feel fine.

In yesterdays announcement we talked a lot about what gameplay changes we're making to the game. Today we concentrate on showing you what we plan to do with your gameworld and how we came about making some of the key decisions.


Too many gameworlds

As has been widely reported on the forums the amount of subscribers we have in the game is spread far too thinly across too many worlds. Fundamentally, our strategy for gameworld management wasn’t good enough. We saw that people wanted new gameworlds and, because the statistics for new orders and traffic on the website, backed that up, we didn’t foresee the long term effect.

As FML stands, we’ve been churning subscribers from the 34 worlds and we’re now unable to fill them back up because the perception is that people feel like they are not capable of competing in an existing world. This means that our subscriber base is now spread thinly and it continues to thin daily. This then has the snowball effect of more people deciding to leave because of the emptying gameworlds, which only worsens the situation.

During our analysis we evaluated a number of different options as to what we should do.

• Option 1: Keep everything ‘as is’ and attempt to fill up each world.
• Option 2: Keep active gameworlds and close all others.
• Option 3: Don’t close any worlds but encourage people to move to the active worlds.
• Option 4: Reset everything and start again.
• Option 5: Full merge of gameworlds

We came to the decision that the cleanest option, which was made with the best long-term interests of the game, will be to go for a full reset. This would involve the closure of all worlds and the opening of a set of concentrated new worlds. This will happen in March 2010.

We fully accept and understand that many of you will be unhappy with a reset as you’ve invested a lot of time and effort into your team and your community. We did explore Option 5 in a lot of detail (this was many of team’s preferred option) however there were a number of gameplay hurdles such as if we merged, how we would deal with two copies of the same player and how we would deal with the varied economies in both worlds. On a technical level we also had to consider the timescales and challenges involved in merging two or more databases together. Although not impossible, we decided that it would have taken too long to be able to do this.

The reset will involve you losing your skills and stadium. However, you will keep any reward points that you’ve earnt between 1.4 and the reset as well as any shortlists, tactics, views, filters and match plans that you have saved.

We understand what a major decision this is and of its implications but we feel that it’s the right thing to do in order to provide a stable, long term base for the game. As part of this base, we are also in the process of reviewing the price plans with a view to reducing the monthly cost of playing. A further announcement will be made on this before we reset.

We also hope that many people might be more in favour of a reset if we manage to do a few of important things:

Choice

Yesterday we talked about the different flavours of gameworlds that we will be launching after the reset. Once 1.4 arrives, all managers will be given a choice as to which gameworld they’d like to participate in, after the reset,when signing into the game. We’ll advertise in advance of this how many gameworlds there will be and what they will be called but you will be able to control where you go. We will also try to group people logically based on their current gameworld.

Elite gameworlds

As part of this choice we are also looking to introduce an invite-only, elite gameworld. This will be new-gen only and to get an invite you will have to be doing very well in your previous gameworld. You don’t have to take up the invite if you don’t want to, but if you do, you’ll be competing against the very best that Football Manager Live has to offer. Want to see how good a manager you really are? Then this is the place to be.

By being full of the most hardcore, dedicated and active managers, the elite gameworld should remain incredibly active with lots of managers online at any one time and have a buzzing transfer market and community.

Is this something you are interested in being part of? The original elite managers will be chosen depending on how successful your team is at the time of the reset in March, so there is still a lot to play for in the meantime.

Let’s Celebrate

A full reset means that all the gameworlds will start balanced but for us recognising the efforts of managers, especially those who are long term subscribers is vitally important. Many of you will have built up a club with a great history and will want to save a record of the many achievements you have made over the last 12 months. Well that’s where our brand new “celebrating success” features will come in.

Whenever you change gameworld (not just over the reset), you will be able to take a record of how well you have done in your previous home in two ways:

1) Portable Manager Biographies
Every manager already has a biography in their gameworld, which in a few paragraphs, gives an outline of their achievements over the seasons. It will be improved and transferable with you to your new gameworld.

2) Manager Medals
In addition, we’re looking to expand on the current achievements system and create a brand new set of manager achievements in the form of medals. Many of you have been in your gameworld since the start, hopefully some of you feel like you’ve done really well, you’ve probably won a few competitions, been near the top of the rankings and maybe once upon a time you were the game world champion. The manager medals will recognise and reward all your efforts. These medals will again be portable between gameworlds and aim to serve as a reminder, to anyone you come across, that you’ve got an FML history behind you.

2 Free Months

In consideration for the above which we accept are major changes to the game, we would like to offer every single paying subscriber 2 months free. Starting immediately, if you are paying monthly for Football Manager Live, you’ll find that your next payment date will have been delayed by 2 months whereas if you’ve paid up front, you’ll find that 2 months playtime will have been added to your account.

We’ll be online and on the forums all day today and we’ll do our best to answer all the questions you have about these announcements. We’ll also be appearing on next week’s Gameworld One podcast where Jordan and Millie will no doubt be grilling us on the plans and trying to put forward the main concerns from the community. Feel free to send any questions you have to podcast@gameworldone.com.

- Marc Duffy

A lot of the responses are drivel, but fear not I have trawled through the first 17 pages and pulled out the rare gem amongst the crap so that you don't have to.

Devastated

I invested a lot of time in creating my club from nothing to where they are now. I and many others begged SI not to continue opening new Gameworlds because it would create this very situation, this was not something that came out of the blue. We were not doom mongers, we argued politely and intelligently about the long term problems that SI were creating for us. We were ignored and now we are having all our efforts for 13 months trashed.

I appreciate SI may want to reset to simply forget the mistakes of the past, and a chance to start over from scratch; to simply brush previous mistakes under the carpet, however I feel this is taking the easy way out and a complete slap in the face to loyal gamers such as myself that have stuck around despite the problems in good faith that a solution would come.

I enjoyed FML overall, despite it's problems -- I really wanted it to be great, to live up to the potential I saw in it, I saw it as the kind of game I could be subscribed to forever because it is just as easy to play 6 hours a week as it is 6 hours a day; however you've just destroyed my trust in SI to deliver the product, whatever the situation the game faces I should not ever be told "sorry all your effort up 'til this point is being deleted, you must start again". I've played many MMOs, every single one of which has faced a declining population over time (I never played the exception to this rule: WoW, it just doesn't appeal).

Throughout server merges and closures not once has a player had all their efforts through away in this manner in any of those games, sure minor loss is always a part of server merges, but a complete reset is unheard of for me. I do not believe you understand the genre that FML finds itself a part of if you believe this course of action acceptable in any way. Even more so that you will not only rule our previous 12 months efforts for nothing, but now tell us that the next 4 months will also mean nothing. How can I trust you that this will not happen again in another 12 months? Quite simply, I cannot.

Good luck with the future, unless there is a sudden and drastic change of heart, which seems unlikely, I will not be part of it now.

- Durera

I dont know if you will answer this or not but how many of the FML staff have worked on an MMO before?

It just seems to me that Marc's post in which he said that the problem with having too many gameworlds from the start was not foreseen is a no brainer for an mmo experienced player, nevermind a developer.

I believe you have missed one of the biggest reasons people play a subscription based mmo - they have a sense of ownership over their character/team or whatever. That keeps them paying and playing but if you take that away the sense of betrayal is huge and I have a feeling you guys have hugely underestimated the retention rate for your subscribers after this announcement. (I don't mean that as hyperbole but I really do believe you have)

If any of the FML staffers are not familiar with the SWG NGE I would really suggest you google it and take a quick read. It is notorious in the MMO industry as the biggest screw up ever and effectively killed what was a thriving, if underachieving, game. What you guys are doing is very, very similar however to your credit you have been very open and honest about the decesion making process and why this is necessary. If you are interested this would make a good start "Star Wars Galaxies: Anatomy of a PR Disaster" http://blog.tp.org/chip/archives/002076.html

Please don't do this guys. I have never written a complaining or whiney post on here ever before but I write now cos I care.
- bacajow

Originally Posted by Marc Duffy:

I wrote this in the announcement and I stand by this as I feel what we're doing is vital for the games long term appeal. "We understand what a major decision this is and of its implications but we feel that it’s the right thing to do in order to provide a stable, long term base for the game. "

I think we are missing the point here... you have spent so long trying to work out why people leave that you have taken your eye off why people stay. People have stayed in this game because they are in it for the long run... we have invested a lot of time developing our stadiums and our skills. Your first mail focused purely on why people leave!! People will test/sample the game.. if they don't like it then that is life, the game wasn't for them

For me you need to encourage people to move game worlds (new gen) using the existing methods... or migrate people over.

Then close the empty game worlds and re-invent them in the re-gen style... if people want to move from newgen world to regen world then they make the decision to lose skills and stadium.

having a full reset is a really bad idea... FML may never recover... i sincerely hope it does. it is a thoroughly enjoyable game to me even in its current state, everybody has successes but sometimes all people want is to be number 1... in the real world this is not possible, just like in FML THAT is the challenge. FML is for the long term in its current state, it is not a 15 minute arcade game.
- FML General discussion

The honest answer here is that we're in this position for a variety of reasons but certainly as a development studio we take the brunt of blame for where we are right now - we've made some mistakes and we've worked hard looking at everything to try and get ourselves in a position to move forward. This is why I want people to take a step back and try to see the bigger picture. How did we get here and how can we push on? We've done that, it's taken us a long time and it's been a very hard process. I'm not expecting to win many of you over, you've invested a lot of time and effort in the game and we're grateful and we accept how emotive this is for you all.
- Marc Duffy

There is absolutely nothing in a full reset that is of interest to me, no. It does not excite me to start all over again, no.

I beta tested for 4 months before the game went live. I joined Clough at the start and was proud to be part of something I'd looked forward to for a long time. I struggled like others did when stadiums were introduced but got through it to a point where I'm now ranked 38th in my GW and have a lovely 40,000 seater stadium. I was made a Chat Helper, and later on became an organiser. The latter two positions I have resigned from after reading this unbelievable announcement. Why bother putting more effort into a GW which is now effectively dead? Why would it excite me to do it all again? What's to say that a few months down the line when you realise what a huge mistake you made, you won't reset again?

My sub doesn't expire til March, so I'll continue to log in if I've nothing better to do, and will go through the motions of playing the game. But you've killed it, what does it matter if my team get relegated now? What does it matter if my players are injured, why should I spend money on improving my stadium? Better to reset the GWs now and get it done with, give players like me the opportunity to see what life will be like in these new gameworlds before our subs end, as I'm sure many like me will not resub just to start over in March.

As for invites to an elite regen only gameworld for the top teams before the reset happens, well you'll be lucky if there are 50 left in a gameworld to choose from. wp SI gg.
- Stewie's Left Peg

What you seem to not realised is that in a MMO....there will ALWAYS be people ahead of others.

Doing a restart now to "level the playing field" for new users wont do a thing....all it will mean is that the new players starting in say May/June 2010 will be behind the people who restart in March.

To take away the skills we have all got in the past year is pathetic and simply not fair on us (the paying customer) who have supported you and FML from launch.

Remember SI/SEGA...this is a MMO....PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS BE SLIGHTLY AHEAD/BEHIND OTHERS. I wouldnt start playing World of Warcraft and expect everyone to have to start from Level 1.

Doing a restart we all might as well just go and buy FM10 and play that.
- Dynamo

I'm curious. If you go back 12 months to when FML first went live, I remember there was a poll. This poll was designed to determine what kind of strategy most players would implement when FML went live. The result was unmistakable. The vast majority aimed at a slow and patient build up in which they would reap benefits of from over the long haul. I guess in a sense, that kind of summarized your typical FML player as well. It's first now that we start seeing the results of 12 seasons worth of hard work , investments, trial and error in our teams. All that time spend nurturing our youth players that now have matured into players we depend on. All that ground work, and for what? To do it all over again?

I think a lot of those players who now see their long-term plans shattered into pieces feel a bit betrayed. I know I do.

I want to add that I really love the game. But this ugly turn in events have forced me to reconsider what I'll have to do further. I guess I won't reach a decision before re-launch.

BTW: Why are the fantasy GW's restricted to the top teams of the previous GW's?

- Celvin

Originally Posted by durera:

SI need to acknowledge that this is an MMO and people who've played it as such have invested time on the valid assumption that it is an ongoing world. Merges may be a lot more difficult than a complete reset of the game in terms of technical skill and time required, but I have never heard of an MMO shut down a GW and simply tell the players that lived there "Sorry, we screwed up, you need to start again" -- for good reason!

Any changes to the game should always protect the current player base and attempt to bring in new players, not simply throw us out with the bathwater and pretend it was all a bad dream.

I have to say I couldn't agree more.

- Zoah

Originally Posted by Loris:

Few quick questions:
- did you have fun in FML last 12 months or was just a boring work made to start having fun now?
- if you known when FML was launched that it'll be reset 15 months later, would you play anyway those 15 months?

Think 1 minute before answer.

Yes I had fun. But no, I would not have played it, no I would not ave invested all that time into it had I known that in 12 months time I would have to start again, and that all my effort would be deleted because SI refused to listen to those that could clearly see where the proliferation of GWs would lead to an inevitable need to merge/delete.

FML was, and is still, advertised as a MMO. It was the promise of an online, persistent gameworld that I could build a club from nothing in that made me sign up for FML half a decade since I stopped playing FM offline.

SI need to acknowledge that this is an MMO and people who've played it as such have invested time on the valid assumption that it is an ongoing world. Merges may be a lot more difficult than a complete reset of the game in terms of technical skill and time required, but I have never heard of an MMO shut down a GW and simply tell the players that lived there "Sorry, we screwed up, you need to start again" -- for good reason!

Any changes to the game should always protect the current player base and attempt to bring in new players, not simply throw us out with the bathwater and pretend it was all a bad dream.
- Durera

Originally Posted by Marc Duffy:

Manager medals will recognise everything good about your 12 seasons in charge.

I think you are missing the point here Marc, giving everyone a medal for playing for 12 months is nothing like the skills that will be lost. Please dont compare the two.

I dont often post on forums - the last time was when SOE effectively restarted Star Wars Galaxies, however, not even they were so bold as to reset skills. There are some good ideas here, many which will improve the game we know and love. However...

This is an MMO. Working on something over a long period of time is one of the cornerstones of an MMO. Wether that be exploring to gain experience in order to "level-up" or learning something over a period of time in order to be better at something . What you are proposing to do is remove what has been built up over the past 12/24 months, stadiums and skills in particular.

You say that migrating skills and stadiums etc. with the actual account will make things unbalanced. I am sorry but if you have invested your time, energy and money into something then you DESERVE to have that advantage. That is the world of MMO gaming.

Solution? Have "tiered" servers. Based on the amount of time you have been a subscriber. Been playing for a year? Have a number of servers that state that the server is designed for "mature accounts, newbies risk being dis-advantaged."

The proposal you have set out is worse than the SOE new game experience debarcle and I fear it will be the end for a lot of people, just looking down this thread should give you an idea of HOW bad this will be. You should act now to implement something that has been fully discussed and debated by the paying customers that keep you all in jobs.

Sadly, I will also be cancelling my account if this goes ahead, I refuse to give anymore to a dev team that so flagrantly disregard the long time energy, effort and money that has been placed in FML - and no a recognition system is NOT a replacement for 12 months worth of skills learnt (29 days per level 5 coaching skill anyone? Nah, have a medal instead.)

Please re-consider before you sign FML to the MMO scrapheap.....
- Wishdokkta

Yesterday I praised SI for the plans they detailed....

No one seems to be too peeved off about losing their teams because lets face it everyone loses their team at some point and I am sure people would gladly sacrifice their team in exchange for a new and improved GW and most importantly a commuinity.

The skills and stadium loss however need to be thought over, you say it's only the only way to start off fair but lets face it new users coming in 3-4 months after the reset are going to be behind in skills either way so what will you do about that? Restart everyones skills again??

FML is aimed at a paticular niche, the game doesn't appeal to everyone and in my opinion SI should focus more on the people who have been here from the start, people who have never played FML before won't suddenly be interested come the reset and start playing.

FML need a commuinity, without it this game wouldn't exist, all the users here clearly feel passionately about this game as they have invested not only money but a lot of time and energy, you claim you knew there would be reprecussions but lets face it there are guys on here that are the cornerstones of the FML commuinity, those who have decided to leave already WILL NOT be easily replaced, FML WILL NOT suddenly grow in popularity.

The main complaint is regarding the trading of skills and stadiums for imaginary medals, I have never played FML for the achievements and I don't intend to as they really are meaningless, I have never looked at any other managers achievements as they mean nothing, what good is a medal when your rock bottom, people respect current form and status not what you have done in the past.

The retention of all the main skills ( Coaching, Finance, Scouting, Construction, Physio) would be a fair comprimise, and a reasonable compensation for stadiums would please plenty of people.

How would you all feel in SI if you where told that SI was being reset that any projects you'd been working on would be lost, that you would recieve a medal and nothing more for all the work you've done and go back to your minimum wage?

- Eoin =)

Originally Posted by Paul Kiernan:

During our analysis we evaluated a number of different options as to what we should do.

• Option 1: Keep everything ‘as is’ and attempt to fill up each world.
• Option 2: Keep active gameworlds and close all others.
• Option 3: Don’t close any worlds but encourage people to move to the active worlds.
• Option 4: Reset everything and start again.
• Option 5: Full merge of gameworlds

you had 5 options and chose the worst of the 5 i strongly recomend you look @ option 2 again, it would still cause upset and problems but nothing like you are getting now

Agreed ... When I read the options I laughed when I read option 4, as if it was put in as a joke to lighten the mood, option 1 is clearly what has been the plan that failed so badly and options 2,3 and 5 were all viable solutions to the problem of too many GWs for too few subscribers.

But then a few lines later. BAM! The joke is on us it seems.
- Durera

Dear Marc & co.

I'm pleased to announce that I'm utterly gutted and disappointed.

I've just renewed my sub by 12 months, paying the full amount - not via any boxed versions or whatsoever. Because of my love for the game, the fellow managers in Cantona, where I've been from day 1, but ALSO because I wanted to support you with money to keep developing this game.

However, I will not continue once you close the ORIGINAL Gameworld Cantona. I simply cannot justify spending the incredible amount of time I've invested in building my squad, my tactics, my skills ALL OVER AGAIN.

I believe you will lose many managers who've been with this game for a very long time, if not from the beginning.

I urge you to reconsider the decisions made. You should at least keep one or two original Gameworlds, where some of us can and will stay - simply because you will lose the majority of us if you don't. In this situation we are allowed to maintain our skills and everything we've worked so hard for.

I hope you're happy with my money. There will be 8.5 paid months left on my sub once I leave. And honestly, I'd rather lose that money than to comply with the proposed way forward.

I feel you have completely disregarded the opinion of your hardcore fans and made a cold-hearted decision in favour of SI's cash flow.
Fantastic choice. You haven't got to deliver any services to those managers who will no longer log-on after March 1st and will retrieve loads of cash from newly acquired managers from that day.

Just do not forget. There will be an angry mob of ex-managers who used to be your biggest fans out there, who will make their voices heard - and the damage done to the SI and FML-brand will be remarkable.

So the option to keep some of the original Gameworlds for your hardcore fans and managers would not only be a wise decision, it would also work as damage-control, to ensure the longevity of FML. No company can survive when they disregard and disrespect their most loyal and hardcore fans.

Warm regards and I wish you a lot of wisdom,

- Jurgen | Fortuna Retra | Cantona

Dear friends at SI.

I almost understand the resons behind the view now that the only way forward is to restart again. However, that makes my position as a mod untenable and therefore after 20 months please accept this as notice of my intention to resign as a moderator.

I will post my views here at an appropriate time but basically you cocked up big time SI because you NEVER did have a plan either in terms of Development OR Marketing you have followed the beta route of suck it and see and it is for these reasons we find u now having to make the tuff decision to restart. The only reason we went live in the first place was to get income
in to pay for the continued and necessary development.

The best thing you could do now is withdraw the game until you are ready to restart afresh. If you dont then those that occassionally visit and are left will make the remaining mods jobs unbearable and you will find yourselves deactivating accounts for people who are left. Good luck with the NEW FML from March onwards but please if you've learnt one thing from this sorry episode it should be that rather than tinker about with little niceties in the game itself get your vision and plans out up front and clear to everyone or you might just as well pack in and go home.

Thanks for the fun times as the BEST things about my experiences have been the "Community" elements not the intricacies of the game itself and i will miss my online friends immensely. Cheers,

Steve H
Mod in Pearce - ex mod in Saunders
Beta worlds 7 and 23 and various org jobs
But above all - made many friends i will miss

Season 14 UFFA Membership Update

A Really Bad Day at the Office

Casual FA Weekly Cup final defeat
We had the better players, created more chances (16 to 6, 2 clear cut chances to 1) and generally bossed the match, however we succumb to a 1-0 defeat, conceeding a goal to a counter attack.




Light Heavyweight Championship final defeat
This one annoyed my more than FML has managed to annoy me in 12 long months playing the game; my team just didn't turn up for the match. My opponents stats tell it all 9 shots, 6 on target, 4 goals scored -- seriously, what the hell can you do about that? As for the chances that fell to my strikers, well my nan would have had a better chance of scoring the way my players performed in the match.



Super Afternoon League title thrown away
How on earth we lost this match I will never know, 29 shots to 8, 6 clear cut chances to 3, total control of the match, but seemingly destined to conceeding a goal on every counter attack we face today. A win here was the difference between winning the league and fighting for second place.



Casual FA Division 1 title lost*
In the last match of the season, a draw would likely be enough to claim the title, and a win would guarantee it. However, on his debut my new £1.6m left midfielder gets sent off in the 9th minute. Despite playing with a man down for the majority of the match, the team still dominate the play and create 3 clear cut chances to our opponents none. Somehow we still lose 2-1 and the season's efforts are for nothing.

* Lanky Legs XI need just three points from their final two games of the season to seal the title now, so in theory we can still claim the title, but it's not looking likely.



In a way it's good that FML pisses me off so much, it shows that it's succeeded in sucking me into the game, the same way the old Championship Manager games did back in my youth; however I've never felt more disconnected from my team than I do in FML at times like these. It honestly seems that there are times when your team are in a rut and there is nothing you can do about it, if that rut comes at a time when you are playing important games then tough luck, there's no feedback to explain why my team have suddenly stopped performing to their potential, and what's more there's no way for me to affect this.

Season 13 UFFA Membership Update

Where are they now ... Relegation Fodder

Back in season 5 something special was taking place at the Playing Fields; the club's under-21 and under-20 teams went 2 seasons undefeated in a highly competitive SFA league. The club had the number 1 ranked youth team in the world and the future looked bright. Eight seasons on the Cloughite is looking back to the players that started season 5 as part of that "golden generation"...

Joe Lynch
Goalkeeper, 751 senior appearances for the club. Season 3 to present day. Recently re-established himself as the club's #1 goalkeeper after displacing Rene Adler midway through season 12.



Cristian
Right back, 321 senior appearances for the club. Season 4 to present day. Cristian had to bide his time for a regular spot in the first team after the signing of fellow Brazilian Rafina. Originally seen as a utility player able to cover both full back positions, Cristian has continued to progress well into his 20s and is now one of the first names on the team sheet.



Guido Boncompagni
Left back, 1484 senior appearances for the club. Season 1 to present day. A first team regular from the age of 16, "Bonco" has become a club legend and has played more games for the club than any other player.




Alexandre Fernandes
Centre back, 1230 apearances for the club. Season 1 to present day. Alex "Assault" Fernandes learned his trade from compratriate Naldo, and went on to take on the captaincy the club following the sale of Naldo to London Town. Still only 26, Fernandes has recieved bans for assault on fourteen seperate occasions, a fact that is partly responsible for his cult status at the club.




Mariano Gamboa
Centre back, 709 appearances for the club. Season 4 to present day. Fernandes partner in the centre of defense initially found himself deployed in an anchor man role for the club when he progressed to the senior side. Following the departure of Gioda, Gamboa found himself partnering the great Brazilian once more in back 5 that has lasted the test of time.




Enrique Galvan
Defensive midfielder. Season 4 to season 8. The only player of that golden generation to find himself surplus to requirements at the Fodder. Galvan was released after only 22 senior appearances in his four seasons at the club. Enrique is currently in his 4th season at Melchester Forest, but only finds himself on the fringes of the fist team.



Sean Buxton
Central midfielder, 323 senior appearances for the club. Season 4 to present day. Currently first choice in the anchor man role. After graduating from the club's academy, Buxton found himself mostly used as a backup player, however following the departure of Luca Cigarini he found himself thrust into the first team, and it proved to be the making of him as a player. He excelled in a role that few at the club expected him to be able to make his own and is now considered as important a part of the starting XI as anyone else at the club.




Mirko Esposito
Central midfielder, 212 senior appearances for the club. Season 4 to season 9. Mirko was transferred to Firenze for £600k in season 10, after 6 years at the club, he never managed to establish himself in the starting XI, despite his starring role for the academy. After 2 seasons at Firenze Esposito was transferred to Polytech Grenoble for £600k and made 55 appearances for the club last season (season 12).




Edimar Teixeira
Central attacking midfielder, 604 appearances for the club. Season 3 to season 9. "Eddy Tex" was sold to Rapid Pitesti for £5.8m in season 9 much to the chagrin of the club's supporters. Seen as the successor to club legend Caio, many fans questioned why the club would sell one of it's best players even though he was only 22. However the £5.8m transfer fee was just too good to turn down and was part of the club's plans to secure it's long term financial future and ensure that never again will they have to sell a player they want to retain. The signing of Frenchamn Jeremy Menez went some way to appeasing the fans following the loss of Teixeira. Teixeira is still at Rapid Pitesti, having made 606 appearances for the club in the 4 seasons since leaving the Playing Fields.




Fabio Bernardi
Striker, 1103 appearances for the club. Season 1 to present day. Transferred to Phantoms in season 10 for £6.8m. "Berni" was and is a club legend, having lead the forward line for a decade, it was a huge shock to everyone at the club when manager David Parker negotiated a £6.8m deal for the player at the end of season 10. Following the sale the club promised the fans: "This is the last sale we will ever sell a player for financial reasons. The club's financal resources are now sufficient that normal market forces will no longer influence the club's transfer strategy".




Sergey Stepanov
Striker, 712 appearances for the club. Season 4 to present day. Released by London Town after 2 seasons at the club Stepanov has come back from that early setback to prove himself one of the world's top forwards.

Undercover: Judging Potential Revisited

Editors Note: The following is subject to change, v1.4 is still in the early stages of beta testing, nothing is set in stone and beta testers have only recently been given permission to publicly discuss these changes. The changes detailed here are only a small part of what looks likely a major reworking of the way that the youth system works in FML that will extend far beyond the version 1.4.

Judging Potential; you either love it or loath it, and if you fall into the former category then you are a big pansy girl who should stick to playing Barbie Horse Adventures and leave this football management lark to the real men!

After what seems endless seasons watching the transfer market for youth team players spiral ever further out of control -- largely due to the propagation of the Judging Potential skill -- the powers that be have finally commenced a long overdue refactoring of the skill to coincide with the introduction of a formal Youth Academy system.

If you have a JP skill, then you would either need to have them in your squad, or add them to your assessment list, of which there is a limit to how many you can add before it starts taking longer to learn the potential of each player.

Either way their potential will then become apparent over time.

So to decide which free agents to bid on you would either go on their attributes as they are now and take a gamble, or use JP to assess them before bidding.

My hope is that this means more youths actually get signed-up because people take a gamble on more players without instant judging potential narrowing the focus on a smaller group of players and leading to their wages rising.

- Ov Collyer

In terms of bids happening before assessments are completed, I don't mind if this new JP becomes a more reactive system, ie people gamble more on a wider number of players and then chop and change as they assess players.

I think it will make for a more interesting youth market.

- Ov Collyer

As I've said earlier, I don't mind if JP becomes something used mainly after you've signed a player, or to assess players at other clubs who you might want to make a bid for, as opposed to something used in advance on free agents.

It's still a useful tool, but not something that can be used to monopolise the free agent market.

- Ov Collyer

That's right folks, everything the anti-JP-bandwagon has been saying for the past year has been fully taken on board by SI and there is genuine reason for optimism. Now contain your excitement and read on.

Here's summary of the current proposals as I understand them:

• All managers will recieve a skill points refund for the current Judging Potential skill, which they may reinvest in the new version of the skill or in any other skill they choose. A new skill will take it's place, which for the sake of clarity I will call "Assessment" rather than "Judging Potential" to make it clear from this point when I am referring to the old skill and the new skill.

  Yes there would be a refund and the chance to learn it again for fewer points.
  

  - Ov Collyer

• The "Assessment" skill will not grant a manager instant knowledge of the potential of every player on the planet under the age of 25 as the current Judging Potential skill does. Instead it will take a number of days, dependant on the level of your Assessment skill to reach an accuracy comparable to Judging Potential. Currently this ranges from 7 (level 5) to 28 days (level 1).
  
• In addition to your Shortlist each club now has an Assessment List. Adding players to your assessment list begins an assessment process for the player.
  • Whilst under assessment you will gain knowledge of the player's potential, as you continue to assess a player the accuracy of the potential you see for that player will increase up to the maximum accuracy possible for your current level of the Assessment skill.
  • To begin with each club can assess up to 10 players at once.
    
  • You may add more than ten players to your assessment list, however this will slow down the rate at which all assessments progress. Thus if you add 20 players to your assessment list you will complete assessment of all 20 players in the same time that you would have if you had first assessed 10 of them and then assessed the other 10 afterwards. There are advantages to both approaches; with the former, at the halfway stage you will have a rough assessment of all 20 players available, with the latter approach you would have a complete assessment of half the players, but no information at all about the other 10.
• Players in your squad (excluding out on-loan, including in on-loan ) will automatically be assessed without you having to do anything (if you have the Assessment skill obviously).
• At any time you'll be able to see the % of the assessment that is complete, if you stop assessing a player the progress you have made in the assessment is saved.
• You'll start getting a reading when the accuracy reaches 25%, but it'll fluctuate regularly until gradually settling down on a final value as you reach 100% completion on the assessment.
  
• The new Assessment skill is more accurate than Judging Potential:
  • Level 1 is accurate to +/-30 PA
    
  • Level 2 is accurate to +/-25 PA
  • Level 3 is accurate to +/-20 PA
  • Level 4 is accurate to +/-15 PA
  • Level 5 is accurate to +/-10 PA
• Remember, this is the just the beginning; there are many more changes coming to the game that affect the market for under-21 players. As and when the other elements become more defined I will bring you an update.
  

Regarding assessment duration:

I have a question I have JP4 at the moment and to assess a player it will take ten days to get a result of the old JP4.If i was to have JP5 would it still take 10 days to get an assessment of the old JP5 or would it be quicker.

JP5 will take 7 days to complete the assessment - as soon as you have JP5 it'll start increasing the % more quickly on any partially assessed players.

- Ov Collyer

Assessment lists:

If you go above 10 players on your assessment list (excluding any on the list who might be in your squad) then it'll start slowing down. E.g. 20 players would make it take twice as long, 30 players three-times as long etc.

Players loaned-out take twice as long to assess (for the loaning out team), but normal speed for the team who has loaned them in.

You'll get a news item when you reach 25% assessed with a ball-park potential 'reading', and a final one at 100%.

- Ov Collyer

Assessment/Judging Potential accuracy, of course we still don't know exactly how PA maps to the star ratings used in game, which makes this knowledge mostly useless:

Under the old system JP was accurate to within *+/- 10 of a player's PA for JP5, down to an accuracy of +/- 50 of a player's PA for JP1.

The new system is accurate to within +/- 10 at JP5, and +/- 30 at JP1, once fully assessed.

To get more technical, at the start of the assessment it generates two values:

- random final offset (in the range +/- 30) and this is what will be used for the 100% assessed figure
- random rough offset (in the range +/- 40)

At 0% assessed, you see (or you would if we didn't conceal it until 25% assessed) purely the rough offset.

As the assessment continues, it mixes the rough and final offsets according to how much of the assessment has completed until at 100% it's purely the final offset you can see.

All converted to stars of course.

*At least, this is what I thought it was, until I discovered at the start of writing the assessment stuff that it was actually +/- 8 at JP5 going to +/- 43 at JP1 due to, shall we say, a "discrepancy".

- Ov Collyer

Reminder: Everything discussed above is subject to change, v1.4 is still in the early stages of beta testing, nothing is set in stone and beta testers have only recently been given permission to publicly discuss these changes. The changes detailed here are only a small part of what looks likely a major reworking of the way that the youth system works in FML that will extend far beyond the version 1.4.

The CPUFA Challenge

After watching my team be dismantled by level 14 CPU teams I figured I'd set the GW a little challenge ... I've duplicated the 10 team league competition I've just played through, with the exact same 9 CPU teams I played against. The challenge is simple: Finish the league with more points than the other challengers

Who's willing to accept the challenge and battle to prove their team is #1!

By the way; the competitions are non-ranked, entirely against CPU opponents which means (unless I'm mistaken):

• No sticky injuries
• No effect on team morale or form
• No effect on win/lose streaks
• No effect on player ratings

Your opponents are:

1. Clan Na Gael
2. Falls Park
3. Dunham Village Bishops -- Watch out for Yuji Sato -- he's a monster!
4. Northpool Dockers
5. Lea Grange Engineers
6. Sandhaven
7. South Foreham Athletic
8. Lorton Abbot
9. Toneborough Yeomen

The Standings ...

Rank	Club	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1.	Funky Town	18	05	03	10	-08	18
2.	Relegation Fodder	18	03	05	10	-16	14
3.	The Mighty Iron	18	02	07	09	-14	13
4.	Dueling Dragons FC	07	03	01	03	-01	10
5.	Halifax Leafs FC	11	03	00	08	-11	09
6.	Real Manchester United F.C.	13	02	00	11	-17	06
7.	Camembert Harriers	06	01	02	03	-02	05
8.	Ehcoelavon	08	00	03	05	-08	03
9.	Harlow Town FC	04	00	02	02	-03	02
10.	King Krimson FC	06	00	02	04	-06	02
11.	Nottingham Forest 1865	00	00	00	00	00	00
12.	All BiDoNs Fc	01	00	00	01	-01	00

FML Community: Embarrassment of Riches, or Simply an Embarrassment?

BertieBG explains why the new "subscriber discussion" forum has no public access:

The reason we have set the current subscriber forums to private is because it will make us feel more comfortable in talking in detail about updates, your concerns and new features without feeling like we are sending confusing messages to those using the forums to find out more about the game and to find out whether they want to give signing up to the game a go.

*cough* Horseshit *cough* You'd have to be pretty naive to believe that:

I think people understand that persistent world online games are ongoing development projects that will constantly receive updates/patches/whatever-the-developer-labels-them -- it's part of the justification behind the monthly fees afterall, so this shouldn't concern anyone at SI or SEGA really

I don't think that anyone who'd consider playing a game like FML is going to view the fact it receives regular updates, including substantial new function such as the upcoming Academies, in a negative light.
- Durera

MyNameIsJohn was pretty blunt in his take on the changes:

Dress it up how you like but it's pretty obvious that the current subscriber forum has been made private to avoid potential new users being put off by negative posts. Surprised it's taken this long. Not surprised that SEGA/SI can't be honest about it though.
- MyNameIsJohn

In fairness SI responded to the criticism when it would have been very easy to simply ignore it:

It would be a lie to say that this wasn't a consideration, but the reason why we decided down this route was that we strongly felt that new users were potentially intimidated by the forums and wanted to change things to make it so that new people feel more comfortable about getting involved.
- BertieBG

Others raised the point that rather than improving the public perception of the game this move makes it look as if there is a problem:

Ok i think it is a terrible idea just like the person above does, in away you showing/proving that you have something to hide and therefore, you are saying yourself that the game/community has BIG problems.
- mkij

At the end of the day it seems to this cynical old man that the new structure looks like something a marketing dept would dream up without any real understanding of online communities. The General Discussion board is pretty messy and could definitely do with stronger moderation and some structure, however it is by no means any worse than any other gaming message board.

So, are SI ashamed of the community? I guess you can understand why they might be when you see "contributions" like the following:

KEEP YOUR STADIUM - It'll just be half full for a while;
KEEP SOME CASH - probably more than you will ever earn in real life anyway; and,
call your mum, she is concerned that having you as an only child has led to you wasting your life as a miserable selfish cokhaed that couldnt string a sentence together if it was for a chance to lose that virginity that keeps you locked inside all day.

How about some constructive criticism? Or build on it? Or learn to tie knots so you can hurry up and hang yourself?
- oscclever

FML Gameworld Census October 2009

In an attempt to gain some insight into the strenth of the UFFA in relation to rivals the Cloughite have undertaken the following survey, unfortunately many rivals are unwilling to release their figures, perfectly illustrated by an organiser from Blissett:

Sorry and the point of this is? I'm sure SI could give you it if you asked...you won't be getting Blissett's
- Kev `BYFA` ORG

A very helpful attitude I'm sure you'll agree. Make of that what you will.

Note: inactive users = teams assigned to the Casual Inactive Football Association, active users = all other teams assigned to a Football Association.






Gameworlds Surveyed: 9/34
Total Active Population: 3103 managers
Average Active Population: 344 managers/GW

Total Inactive Population: 1003 managers
Average Inactive Population: 111 managers/GW


If you wish to contribute to the project you can do so on the Sports Interactive Forums.

Clough Boring Research Department

Originally written by Tony McDermot

So I got bored and decided to do some boring research, like the Deloitte tables and so on and so forth, comparing the top-flight leagues of all the FAs in Clough and comparing them on a more or less arbitrary basis. And here's the results!

FOOTBALL STYLE:

"The side have been applauded in recent times as a side who truly epitomise the 'beautiful game.' They manage to achieve great success with an open, flamboyant style which has resulted in the side becoming known as a favourite of the neutral supporters."

1. MLFA PREM: 87.5%
2. SFA PREM: 64.7%
3. EFA PREM: 60.0%
4. XEFA PREM: 40.0%
5. CFA PREM: 30.0%

This study seems to indicate that the MLFA is the most beautiful, open and flamboyant of the top-flight leagues, making it not only an international television success but also gaining the praise of the football purists who like to see the game played in an open and technical manner. The SFA Premiership and the EFA Premiership both strive towards this level of technical proficiency, with well over half of the teams in these leagues portraying the 'beautiful game'. The XEFA Premiership can't quite make the same claim, as only 8 of the 20 teams are described as such, while the CFA is clearly the least beautiful of all the leagues, although it is not without its own redeeming qualities.


GOALS PER GAME:
1. SFA PREM: 695 in 455 = 1.53 goal per game
2. EFA PREM: 901 in 627 = 1.44gpg
3. CFA PREM: 918 in 672 = 1.37 gpg
4. XEFA PREM: 1662 in 1230 = 1.35 gpg
5. MLFA PREM: 830 in 668 = 1.29 gpg

In spite of it's open football, the MLFA is also the lowest scoring of the top-flight leagues in Clough. the CFA and XEFA achieved a healthy goals per game ratio, which is interesting mainly because these two leagues ranked as the 'least beautiful' of the five leagues studied. Perhaps their sides, while not necessarily playing beautiful passing games, may in fact play a more direct attacking style of football. The EFA can make it through 1.44 goals per game, but the king of excitement in Clough is the SFA Premiersip, with on average over one and a half goals in every game played.


FOULS PER GAME
1. XEFA PREM: 13819 in 11.23 fpg
2. SFA PREM: 5203 in 455 = 11.44 fpg
3. CFA PREM: 8173 in 672 = 12.16 fpg
4. MLFA PREM: 8120 in 12.2 fpg
5. EFA PREM: 8352 in 627 = 13.32 fpg

The cleanest of the leagues is the XEFA, only committing just over 11 fouls on average per game. The SFA isn't far behind, with slighlty under 11 and a half fouls committed per game, while the CFA and MLFA are almost joined on an average of 12.2 fouls per game. By far and away the dirtiest of all the top-flights in Clough however is the EFA, averaging over a foul per game more than any other Premiership in the Game World. Certainly this is something for EFA teams to improve upon, and may be a contributing factor in their inability to make the top rankings of the goals per game or the beautiful football standings.


Financial State
Very Rich = 5pts
Rich = 4pts
Secure = 3 pts
OK (in credit) = 2pts
OK (in debt) = 1pt

1. CFA PREM: 43/100 = 43%
2. MLFA PREM: 34/80 = 42.5%
3. XEFA PREM: 41/100 = 41%
4. EFA PREM: 39/100 = 39%
5. SFA PREM: 32/85 = 37.6%

Using a percentile ranking system, each of the top divisions in Clough have had their sides assessed according to the above tables, and that has led to the CFA being revealed as having the richest top-flight of the whole game world. Only slightly behind them lies the MLFA Premiership, with the XEFA slightly behind that. The EFA manages a percentile score of 39%, well behind the leading pack, while the SFA has by far the poorest Premiership in the whole of Clough. This poverty does not necessarily have an adverse effect on their goalscoring, but might have a negative long-term effect on the SFA's development.

Season 12 UFFA Membership Update

CFA League Review (Part 2)

Originally written by Garry Pettigrew

Part 2 of the League Round Up.

Casual FA Division Two

-- Title Contenders --
El-Bombers lead the way in what is a very tight league. With only 8 points seperating the top 6 sides and FC Ajaxtreesdown in 6th place have 3 games in hand over the league leaders. It's anyones guess as to who will take the 5 promotion spots.

-- Relegation Battle --
Two sides without a win and both teams are on a point each - New Portsmouth and sonicgroove. TheMightyPenguins also find themselves adrift with only 7 points from 12 games. somerset sabers should have the games in hand to get themselves out of trouble which leaves Muppets Inc. and Longburton Wizards sweating.

-- Worth Mentioning --
El-Bombers currentyl on course for back to back League Titles.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Marco Pérez 14 goals in 16 games (El-Bombers)
Most Assists - Mario Conti 13 assists in 15 games (Lanky Legs XI)
Best Average Rating - Marco Pérez 7.46 over 14 games (El-Bombers)

Casual FA Division Three

-- Title Contenders --
Spartak Nickow have a 4 point lead over 2nd placed Tricky Trees Utd and look assured of a promotion spot. Making up the rest of the top 5 are Whitstable Galaxy, Birchieboys & Ajax Trees. Although Sporting Delft and Cowderys Lillywhites will be pushing hard to steal one of those spots.

-- Relegation Battle --
I TAz Aston Villa, Cowdenbeef Albion, The Wizzards all have something in common - they have each only won 1 game and are certain for the drop. AFC Lions, Third Lanark FC and Foyle Athletic will be fighting it out as - 2 of the three will find themselves joining the aforementioned threesome in going down.

-- Worth Mentioning --
Tricky Trees Utd and Ajax Trees have two of the best defences in the entire FA with only 7 goals conceded so far.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Gabriel Agbonlahor 16 goals in 14 games (Spartak Nickow)
Most Assists - Medy Elito 9 assists in 13 games (PNE_33)
Best Average Rating - Gabriel Agbonlahor 7.59 over 16 games (Spartak Nickow)

Casual FA Division Four

-- Title Contenders --
It looks like Arkham United can start celebrate promotion - with a 6 point lead at the top of the table. Newbury Pirates look likely yo make promotion as well - currently stitting in 2nd place. After that it's tight and only 7 points seperate 3rd from 11th.

-- Relegation Battle --
The Smurfs without a win - look destined for the drop. I Dont Care aren't fareing much better with just the 1 win. The othere 3 will come from O.P.E Apple Raiders, Chester Arrows, Rebel Pom United, Baby D Destroyers or Shepbecks County.

-- Worth Mentioning --
The Smurfs with only 4 goals so far are very weak in attack. With no wins yet this season - it's hard to see where that first win will come from.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Roman Razdelkin 10 goals in 14 games (Morleys Magic Masters)
Most Assists - Saulo Rodrigues 7 assists in 15 games (eltham bears united)
Best Average Rating - George Boyd 7.52 over 12 games (Van Cortlandt Rangers)

Casual FA Division Five

-- Title Contenders --
The Bazmanauts currently lead the way in a very close league. Tels LUFC will be pushing them all the way to th finish line. Just 4 points off the pace but with games in hand are Nirvanas and Manor AFC. Skreemburn Spartans hold the 5th promotion spot for the moment.

-- Relegation Battle --
No relegation here - but Premier 11 courtesy of their -38 GD are the bottom team of the FA.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Philippe Lassalle 10 goals in 9 games (Argentine)
Most Assists - Zeljko Loncarek 5 assists in 9 games (Argentine)
Best Average Rating - Sammir 7.51 over 7 games (Nirvanas)

Thanks for reading - as always feel free to reply with any feedback - good, bad or indifferent

CFA League Review (Part 1)

Heres the first of my promised season reviews - make of it what you will!

Premiership

-- Title Contenders --
Surprisingly Legless Ends FC lead the Casual FA Premier League 3 points ahead of nearest rivals Harlesden Harriers. Alea Iacta Est a side I had previously tipped for relegation find themselves in 3rd place, however they have played more games than anyone else in the league. Paddington Athletic hold the final Gold Cup place for the moment. My tip for the league title Razorshot FC find themselves firmly stuck in mid table - only just qualifying for the Bronze Cup.
-- Relegation Battle --
With only 5 points so far it looks like we will be saying goodbye to Real Garda Claudia. Anothe side that looks destined for the drop at this early stage is Seeteufel Konstanz. It looks to be a bit of a scrap for the other 3 spots and Donkey Rovers, Davos United, Hope Cove Utd and Tycoons Gunners will all be feeling the pressure.

-- Worth Mentioning --
Razorshot FC have won 7 of the last 8 Premier League titles (with 1 runners up spot) - 10th place - surely not good enough
-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Bojan 10 goals in 11 games (Harlesden Harriers)
Most Assists - Lee Phillips 11 assists in 10 games (Legless Ends FC)
Best Average Rating - Bojan 7.71 over 10 games (Harlesden Harriers)

Casual FA Championship

-- Title Contenders --
The Birmingham Bearded Women lead the way just 3 points ahead of Little Badgers. Erdington Villans only 4 points of top place will fancy there chances as they have 2 games in hand on TBBW and 1 game on LB. Making up the top 5 as correctly predicted by me are Balls Of Steel and Ann Arbor Arsenal.

-- Relegation Battle --
At the other end of the table things don't look good for our 2 Swedish sides Windy Forest FC with 5 points and Gothia FC with 6 points - just 1 win each for both so far. Just a couple of points ahead and with the worst goal difference in the league are Basildon Town Y.F.C who have played a couple more games than Windy and Gothia. Se SK and Petworth Panthers make up the rest of the relegation places although eveybody up to PITSIOTA FC in 13th place will be feeling the pressure.

-- Worth Mentioning --
If you want excitement the The Wright Stuff is NOT the team for you - with only 7 goals this season they have the worst attack although they make up for this with the 2nd best defence having only conceded 7 goals - so a goal difference of 0 and only 14 goals in total in the games they have been involved in.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Paulo Henrique 13 goals in 13 games (The Birmingham Bearded Women)
Most Assists - Arnaud Marchal 7 in 11 games (Balls Of Steel)
Best Average Rating - Paulo Henrique 7.71 over 13 games (The Birmingham Bearded Women)

Casual FA Division One

-- Title Contenders --
Old Avenellonians have made a good start to life in Division 1 with a 5 point lead over 2nd placed Throw In The Howell although they have played 2 more games. Belesta SV will also fancy their chances of winning the title - neatly placed in 3rd place. If Sloane Square Rangers can win their game in hand they can go within 4 points of the league leaders. Everybody as far down as Kung Fu Hamsters in 8th place will still be aiming for promotion.

-- Relegation Battle --
Without a win I think it's safe to say Rejects United are going down. Likely to be joining them are Smaley's Rams, Highbury United, Bill Quay Bombers FC and SV Furburger.

-- Worth Mentioning --
If your playing Relegation Fodder it's pretty likely to end up a point each - over half their games have ended in draws this season. However Arkadius United are yet to draw a game with 4 wins and 6 defeats.

-- Top Performers --
Most Goals - Daniel Morales 15 goals in 10 games (Throw In The Howell)
Most Assists - Pablo Alvarado 7 assists in 12 games (Kung Fu Hamsters)
Best Average Rating - Daniel Morales 7.98 over 10 games (Throw In The Howell)

Thats it from me for just now - Hope you enjoyed reading and Part 2 to come some time later today or maybe tomorrow

CFA League Preview (Part 2)

Originally written by Garry Pettigrew

The 2nd part of my preview - apologies in advance if I put the kiss of death on anyone
Casual FA Division Two - again a plethora of new teams. Again a very difficult league to predict - I think it gets harder from here and on! I expect Lanky Legs XI & El-Bombers to battle it out for the title with FC Ajaxtreesdown, Take Me To The Hospital and The K.L.A. making up the top 5. I wouldn't be too surpised to see Paul Inniss's highly expensive youngsters 4ytry make it either.

Who'll go down? Well King Street Rovers avoided the drop last season but unfortunately I don't think they escape this season, Joining them will be Longburton Wizards, Muppets Inc., sonicgroove and Baghdad Bears.

Casual FA Division Three - a league where activity can pay off. My tip for the top is PNE_33 who will be closely followed by Spartak Nickow, skegblade utd, Ajax Trees and Birchieboys. It's a very tight league and one where I fully expect to look foolish at the end of the season .
Anyway going down I think we'll see - I TAz Aston Villa, Third Lanark FC, SELHURST STARS, Foyle Athletic and The Wizzards.

Casual FA Division Four - the 2nd bottom league in the FA. Niko FC narrowly missed out on promotion last season but should manage it this time around. FC Hadouken should have enough about them to secure a promotion spot and I expect Newbury Pirates, Take Your Life 3000 and Rebel Pom United to join them.

Who's for relegation to the bottom tier of a 133 team FA - well sadly I expect the following teams to end there - Van Cortlandt Rangers, Peacemakers United, Arkham United, O.P.E Apple Raiders and Shepbecks County.
Finally Casual FA Division Five - pretty much all newcomers to the GW - so hello Who do I think will get those all important promotion spots - this one is the most difficult to predict . Lee's sunny siders fc restarted and his FML experience should help guide him to the top of the league. I've seen Peter actively asking for advice and I think he has what it takes to guide Saxo Rovers to a promotion spot on his debut season. Clough veteran Tahaa should have enough know how to ensure Argentine get promoted.
I have a good feeling about this one Tels LUFC watch out for him making his way up the leagues. And lastly my final league prediction - The Bazmanauts will be playing Division 4 football next season.

As it such a small leage all Division 5 sides have also been entered into the Casual FA Victory Shield - where I expect to see the 5 aforementioned sides competing for another honour

THE CUPS
Casual Football Association Cup - the Main event a knock out Cup with all FA members participating - expect to see Razorshot FC triumph, Dark Horses - Kung Fu Hamsters

Casual FA Elite Cup - for Premier League and Championship Clubs. Favourites - Little Badgers, Dark Horses - Marsh Factor.

Casual FA Challenge Cup - D1 and D2. Favourites - Relegation Fodder, Dark Horses - Lanky Legs XI.

Casual FA Trophy - D3 to D5. Favourites - Ajax Trees, Dark Horses - AFC Lions.

Thats it folks.

I wish you all the best of luck Have a good season and hopefully you'll hear from me soon with an update on how everyone has started.

CFA League Preview (Part 1)

Originally written by Garry Pettigrew

This is the first of hopefully many CFA round ups. (Anybody who wants to contribute please get in touch with either myself, Dave or Coach)

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that the Casual Football Association now has a new logo - thanks to Craig "Tweej" MacLean I'm sure most of you will agree it definately looks the part. If not feel free to let me know
The CFA has now expanded to 133 teams - with many newcomers from other FAs and some brand new members to Clough. I hope you feel welcome. Teams have been placed as appropriately as possible in the correct league - without disadvantaging existing FA members.
Here's my thoughts on the forthcoming campaign - please take with a pinch of salt. If you disagree feel free to pin it up on your dressing room wall and use it as motivation.

First up the Casual FA Premier League with 4 Gold Cup places up for grabs competition is sure to be fierce - Favourites to retain their crown are Clough stalwarts Razorshot FC, a team that will hope to be hot on their heels are Harlesden Harriers. Which will leave 2 places and I can see several teams fighting it out for these - so pick 2 from:Marsh Factor, Red Arrow FC, Tycoons Gunners & LetsTalkAboutCesc. With 4 Silver Cup places also we'll see another scramble for places with 2 of the above qualifying and 2 from: Kavchester City, Davos United, Werder Preben. Which leaves us with a brand new UFFA competition - the Bronze Cup. 2 from the Premier League will enter this as well as the Championship winners. Which means top 10 in the Premier League qualifies for entry into UFFA competitons. Well I've named 9 sides so I might as well be brave and predict another to give you my top 10 so here it is - Pimpslord.

Now for relegation With 5 teams down I feel it will be quite a battle to beat the drop - as in real life some of last seasons Championship teams may struggle so with that in mind I predict that 5 from these 6 will face the dreaded drop - Seeteufel Konstanz, Papagaios do Rio, Donkey Rovers, Real Garda Claudia, AS Saint Dicky & Alea Iacta Est. Folks I wish you luck and hope you prove me wrong .

Next up the Casual FA Championship a notoriously difficult division to get out of. This season it gets even harder with the addition of Little Badgers, The Birmingham Bearded Women and Erdington Villans whom add on newly promoted from Division 1 - Balls Of Steel as well as Ann Arbor Arsenal, Southsea & Citadel Benfica and we've got 7 very good teams and only 5 promotion places.

Going down I see The Wright Stuff, Petworth Panthers, Basildon Town Y.F.C, Gothia FC, PITSIOTA FC having a hard time and are my pick for the drop.
Casual FA Division One another league with lots of newcomers to the FA. Another tough league to call in terms of the promotion contest. It's too tight for me to call an outright favourite but I see Relegation Fodder & Sloane Square Rangers fighting it out for top spot. Closely followed by Kung Fu Hamsters, Belesta SV, Old Avenellonians who will go up alongside them.

For the chop - Rejects United, Swansea Jacks AFC, Insane S.F., Highbury United and Alrewas Athletic

Thats my predictions for the top 3 Divions Divisions 2-5 will follow and you never know I may even find the time to look at the Youth or Cup competitions.

Like I said at the start please don't take it too seriously - it's just my opinion.

Good luck to everybody this season and don't be afraid to let me know what you think

The Alternative FML Roadmap

I for one was immensely disappointed at the reveal of the Roadmap for FML .. in an alternative world I left university and went to work for Sports Interactive rather than IBM ... here's my alternate-world roadmap:


1. Reward players for "doing stuff".
It could be argued that in FML the benefits of actually logging into your GW on a regular basis are negligable.
- A week well spent during the wage auction period can set your team up for the season ahead and with offline match plans you can set your team up to play exactly as you want them to when you're away.
- New players are being introduced into the gameworlds in a large burst rather than a slow stead stream, as long as you're around for this you can get your youth team in place for the season ahead.

So what are you missing out on if you do not log into FML during the season?
- You can't set a new skill to learn after your current skill has completed.
- You are costing your club money because the cost of maintaining your stadium is not linear, repairing your stadium every day will cost you substantially less over a season then repairing it every other day.

There needs to be more a link between time invested and progression in the game in the same way that any other MMO works. FML is increasingly becoming an online Fantasy Football game, and the way people lose interest over time mirror's what you see in most Fantasy Football games.


2. Fix the transfer system
- In wage auctions establish a link between a players Acquisition Fee and their wage demand. If you bid five times a players wage demand then you should pay 5 times the players Acquisition Fee (+/- bonuses from Transfer Negotiation skill).
- This will reward clubs for developing young players that they cannot spare a senior lock for, as any poacher that attempts to bid high to "steal" their player will now pay a premium.
- Say goodbye to 16 year old regens on £25k/day wages. The AF payable for such players would be in excess of £1m and more than likely closer to £2m.
- The Auction List is rendered unusable due to the high number of over-priced players listed there, although it's someone's right to ask whatever they want for a player, these speculative listings make looking for a signing a chore. Apply a fee to Transfer Auctions with a starting value higher than MV. A fee of 10% of the difference between the player's MV and the auction starting value should be levied against the team.


3. Better structure the Gameworlds
Placing teams in competitions that they can be competitive in regardless of their skill level should be key here. Too many of the current rules prevent that, and actively discourage competition at lower levels in favour of the high-end game:

- Teams moving FA enter at lower tiers regardless of their ability. Ruins the entire season for teams that are genuinely competing at that level.
- Teams exceeding the AI restrictions are relegated a division, this concentrates the inactive managers at the levels where the lesser teams play. How is this fair on the latter? Not only do they lose to the better teams relegated through this route, but most likely they will lose to that team managed by the AI which we all know is even more frustrating that losing to a human opponent. When I was still making my way in the game, I missed out on my first senior honour as I was beaten to a 2nd tier league title by a team relegated from the top-tier due to his AI%, who finished that season with 90% AI also.


4. Fix the AI rights/DND issue
My problem with DND is that it is used by managers to put off matches until this AI rights stage starts in the first place, so rather than 21 days to play our matches against these people we only have 5 so it is any surprise that a lot of these games get to the point where auto-resolve becomes an issue.

Why should AI rights only be awarded 5 days before the match in a 21 day season? If we're in the playtime of a competition then I think AI rights should ALWAYS be up for grabs during the playtime of the competition, and challenges should be able to be issued to anyone online during the playtime regardless of how far off the AI date is.

Everynight everyone gets an e-mail saying: "You currently hold AI rights for the following (official) matches, and your opponent holds the rights for these (official) matches ...". Each match is listed with the opponent, the AI date and the competition which should encourage people who've lost AI rights to try challenge back at the next opportunity.

Seeing as green is used right now as a way of saying "it's time to play this match" more than anything else, why not take advantage of that:
White = Any match out of competition playtimes. DND can block it, AI rights not awardable
Green = Any match during competition playtimes. DND will not block it, AI rights will be awarded.
Orange = Autoresolve approaching (5 days). Used to highlight games that need to be played as a priority (as green is right now).
Red = AI rights awarded, 24 hours til auto-resolve.

Everyone has the right to say "I don't want to play a match right now", but that's why AI rights exist; to reflect the fact that someone else tried to play the game and you turned them down.


5. Improve the way GW history is available
- Bring offical youth honours to club's profile; make the official honours element a tabbed panel that allows you to switch between looking at official senior honours and official youth honours. Obviously official senior honours should be the default viewed, but provide a simple tab that lists the number of wins in both and allows you to easily view official successes at both levels with the click of a button.
- Alter the Gameworld records page to only count official games (and goals). Player's histories have gone the right route only taking into account official stats, hopefully the GW records will follow suit. All the data is there already -- just pull in the top stats from each Domestic & Super FA's record books, which will only count official games.


6. Comparative Filters
Give us the option to add fields from the database to both sides of a filter to make the "don't waste my time" filter a possibility:

Auction Start Price IS LESS THAN 0 OVER Market Value
AND Player Wage IS LESS THAN 5'000 OVER Wage Demand


7. Make AI/Offline Limits in competitions mean something
When teams exceed the AI Limit in competitions there should be consequences, this encourages users to enter competitions that fit their playstyle (offline or online) -- negative effects that impact team's performance on the pitch should be imposed on teams when they are over the AI restrictions for a competition, this rewards those that meet their commitments. It does not penalise casual managers as they will be playing matches in casual competitions with no AI restrictions.

e.g a morale impact "hey, where's our manager these days?


8. Fan Expectations, Interaction & Support Levels
- Bring some fan expectations to the game, in addition to the "fan feedback" we currently get -- it'd be nice if they responded to the progress (or lack thereof) your club was making in a more direct & impactful manner and we had some tools to directly interact with them during major events at the club (transfers in & out, honours won/lost etc) that also had an impact on their support for the team.
- Have fans become jaded with the way the team is playing, perhaps they are unhappy that you have not brought in a big name signing recently despite sitting on a pot of gold?
- Failing to interact with fans in any way does not cost you anything (the club have a press officer who will always choose the neutral option in your absence) you do not have now for free, however interaction with fans can lead to temporary increase in support (attendance + stadium income) or temporary decline. It provides an optional mini-game to play that brings benefits to those that do, but is balanced out by the potential for a loss also.


9. Rivalries
Allow us to enter into a rivalry with other clubs that adds extra emphasis to matches between the teams. Limit this to a maximum of 5 rivalries per club, tie this into Fan Expectations and Support levels, winning a crunch game (official only) against a rival will provide a nice boost to fan support.


10. Academies
Create Academies as an optional season long mini-game. The end result being that at the end of the season you are left with X players on full-time contracts at your club and players that didn't make it.

The key elements of this mini-game:

• individual judgement.
• introduce a balance of risk/reward.
• the more effort you put into your academy the more you get out of it. However if you don't have the time, or are not interested, you can still get benefits, but you're in the hands of the AI.

First things first: Judging Potential does not exist. There is no Potential rating in the game anymore. That was just a bad dream. Now let's move on.
Secondly, "fog of war" returns to FML.

Background
When a new player wants to enter the world of football he has two options:
1) Get an agent and become a free agent, his agent will ensure that he get's the best deal possible.
2) Sign up at a local academy.
There are now two distinct markets for youth players.

It is the start of the season. You recieve the following:
"Academy Director Joe Bloggs has reported that, following regional trials, x players have been signed on an academy contract. As manager it is your responsability to decide whether to offer these players full professional contracts or release them as free agents before their academy deals expire."

1. Academy contracts are always signed at wage demand. Academy contracts are fixed at 4 weeks. If you terminate an academy contract early you do not get back that space until the contract was set to expire. You are stuck with that player for the duration of his contract.
2. Players on Academy contracts are not considered full-time professional players. They are not eligable to play in senior football, at all.
3. The spread of nationalities from your regional trials will be influenced only by the regional scouting skills you have
4. Ability (potential and current) of the players that arrive as a result from regional trials is completely random, and equal for all. This is the starting point for everyone.

General gameplay:
During the season you can choose to invest time scouting new players to bring in to supplement/replace those already at the club, and make decisions about who to keep at your academy and who to release because spaces are restricted. However, if you choose to you can do nothing and simply retain the players that arrive as a result of the local trials.


Assessing (judging) players:
Reminder: JP does not exist.
1. Play youth team matches during the season.
2. Watch their development over the course of a season before you have to make a decision to sign them on a full-time contract or release them into the free agent pool.
3. Get reports from your Academy Director, and the assesment centre throughout the season.


Sample Elements of the Academy
Your Academy requires a financial commitment that will impact your effort elsewhere. The benefits of a good academy are huge, there must be a downside.

1. Ongoing running costs. The hiring of an Academy Director. This man is key to the success of your academy, he is your best way of getting an insight into the potential ability of players at your academy. This cost is an ongoing cost, which over time adds up, but does not restrict even a beginner manager from hiring an above average Director at Day 1 to run their academy.

2. One-off Infrastructure costs.
a. Assessment Centres -- investment here will affect the accuracy of the reports you get from your academy
b. Training facilities -- investment here will provide, to all players on an academy contract (thus their first season in the GW only), an additional boost based on your coaching skills. e.g. the bery best facility will provide a 50% boost to all skills: eg. a level 4 coaching skill provides a 20% + 10% boost and a level 5 coaching skill actually provides a 25+12.5% boost. Each facility provides a boost to a group of related skills. You are limited to the number of facilities you can create, certain facilities exclude other facilites being created, etc etc. There needs to be the potential for a real strategy here rather than "build everything".
c. Housing -- investment here increases the number of players you can have signed on an academy contract at any one time.
d. Regional Academy Presence -- investment here creates a presence for your club in the different regions. Investment here aids with seeing through the "fog of war", providing a boost to the regional scouting skills. e.g. at the very top end you get a 50% boost to the effectiveness of the skill you have learned. Therefore building an academy presence in UK & Ireland will seriously aid you in being first to spot the young talent in that country. Investment here increases the number of scouts you can send to players from this reason at any one time (see "New Scouting System")

New Scouting System
All new players appear in the gameworld with zero visible attributes. Based on your regional scouting skills players attributes will reveal over a period of days for different players for different managers. No two managers will have the same view of the player database, this is where a necessary random element comes in to play.
- Free agent wage auction bids are completely hidden. No more "following the crowd".
No more JP, you have two options for signing a player:
1. Take a punt. Go with your gut feeling on the player. High risk, but a good chance of getting the player before interest from elsewhere.
2. Send a scout to look at the player. Take a day out to send a scout to evaluate the player, this instantly gives you access to all the players' attributes, and you get the equivalent of a JP reading for the player as a bonus. However you have limited scouts who exist per region, so it's a mixture of luck/judgement as to whether you send socuts to watch a rubbish player or a potential star.
Active Scouting You choose the players, you manage the scouts.
Passive Scouting The AI randomly selects player to be scouted for you.
You get a daily report summarising your scouts opinions.

Players signed through wage auctions are signed on professional contracts, not academy contracts.


New academy signups during the season
If the number of players at your club on academy contracts is less than the number that you have at the club currently, you will be offered a random selection of new regens every night to sign on academy contracts, along with your academy directors opinion of the player (his fog of war is 100% clear). If you reject the opportunity he goes to the free agents, otherwise he signs a 4 week academy contract and takes up one of your allocation. Because once you have signed a player on an academy contract that uses up one academy space for 4 weeks you canot simply sign a player and then release him if someone better comes along. This introduces an element of risk/reward -- do you take a chance on the player that looks good and risk not having room for a GREAT player that might come along tomorrow?


11. Skills Trading
Hire another manager to lend his Physio skills to your club for a period of X days. The rates are set in stone based on the level of skill a player has, thus avoiding exploitation.


12. PvE Scenarios
Examples:
- Your team is 3-0 down at half time in the cup final, you pick the team, but the match starts at the beginning of the 2nd half. Can your team capture the spirit of Istanbul to win the trophy?
- Your team is down to 9 men against a 20* opposition with 30 minutes to go, can you set out a tactic to hang on to a 1-0 lead against the strongest team in the AI ranks?

Keep a logbook of all the scenarios in the game, and your progess/records against each one. This could even influence your transfer policy as you look to attack the scenarios where you need a rock solid defence next season even though your current team is more suited to open, attacking football.

Each scenario can be completed in two ways:
1) With a pre-selected AI team that you will manage for that one match. This team is hand picked to be suitable for the challenge. This is considered a success, but the real challenge lies with option 2 ...
2) With your own squad. This is considered a super massive achievement to pull off ...

The scenario logbook records your progress for each scenarion seperately for both the pre-selected team and using your own team.

New scenario's can be added every season to keep the game fresh, and keep the population generally playing similar (ie new) scenarios at a similar time, helping bring a competitive edge to things.


13. UFFA New Member (in an existing GW) Tax Breaks
"Welcome to the UFFA, during your first season the UFFA will pay all agent & signing on fees using the taxes collected from member clubs. You will recieve notification when your tax break expires."

Take the agent and signing on fees out of the equation and the new member has an advantage which they can leverage to gain a foothold in the game, at the same time it's not a poke in the eye to existing members, unlike many other suggestions to make it easier for "newbies".


14. Stadium Customisation, funded by tokens
Re: Token prizes, please let us modify the appearance of our stadium using tokens.
- Add a car park, a tube station
- Roofing (opening/permanent)
- Pretty up the local area
- Choose the design of our stands
All completely cosmetic changes, but allowing us to give our ground some character -- rather than seeing our stadium rendered against a grey background with the same graphics for all, we see it placed on a street map. I could see myself spending a hell of a lot of token points building up this "scene". With enough development effort designing a stadium and it's surrondings can become as central an element in FML as designing your avatar in the more traditional MMOs.