International website hasn`t seen any update since before game release. The info stating the pre-release of the game is at least embarasing. There is no information about updates though on FAQ they state the release of an update every month for october, november and december. The activity on international`s forum is almost dead with less than 10 postings a week. Should we wonder if BF were actually fired by EA? IS Fifa Manager series dieing?
I witness the extinction of a great game, with so huge potential ruined only by developers ego and poor community comunication. EA should have seen this and should have fixed it. Now it could be too late.
Never in game`s history wasn`t such a low support after game release and this makes me believe something more than BF lazyness is happening.
We`ll see if this is the truth!
luni, 10 decembrie 2012
sâmbătă, 24 noiembrie 2012
Why Fifa Manager is not an entertaining exerience
I play Fifa Manager since it was called Total Club Manager. Back then, it was an entertaining experience, adictive enough so easily could blow away your personal life. The reason for that was the very intense 3D play, the triumph or sorrow you paid for a good or bad managing of your club. The 3D simulation - though not as spectacular as it is today - provided instead an accurate representation of your team, players and tactics in that moment, rewarding your exact activity as a manager.
Many hours (and with coming iterations even more) I spent playing this game, yieling at the players inside my monitor as if they were real and I was actually their manager. Childish enough for those who never played TCM but quite a normal experience for those who did play it. It was immersive and fun.
Not the case unfortunately since name changed. Maybe Fifa Manager 07 (as the first Fifa Manager) was a bit like TCM and still preserved some of the pleasant features of TCM games but since year by year something was lost. The very boring games that were 09, 10 and 11, with only "click and hit next" gameplay only managed to raise the frustration due to huge amount of bugs and game`s inconsistencies.
Biggest problem of this game is not the lack of features (wow, in fact we have quite an impresive amount of features) or the bad 3D engine (in fact present engine could simulate quite well the matches). Not even the bugs, big or small are not the real problem this game has. The fact that this game (and please aknowledge, this is a GAME) has no purpose, no rewards to offer, no way to win IT is its biggest flaw. From this, every new feature introduced, every change in its mechanics have a single finality: flawed or bugged feature.
And so we can observe, year after year how the game`s design has in fact no design, how new features don`t interact inside the game, how different "systems" function independent and don`t influence other "systems" so training has no influence on morale, tactics don`t influence the 3D, club facilities don`t influence player development, club finances don`t influence club staff, etc. Well, yes, they do influence each other in fact, in a shallow manner and in an illogical and unintuitive way.
I stated years ago that this game needs a fresh start, a new design, from clear grounds and present features and "systems" should be implemented ONLY on this new design`s rules. Everything should have well thought and balanced effects, everything should have positive and negative sides, "everything" should be impossible to achieve. Choices should matter, should heavily impact the game and the manager should collect his rewards: good or bad.
As things stand now, some of us, who still love this game and believe in it, trick ourselves into thinking "if I do this something should happen". Except it don`t and so we start looking for "reasons" for this. We force ourselves to believe there IS a reason, like "for that thing to happen, something else must be done" and we look "what" that "something else" is. The bad news is there is no "something else". In fact, there is no "something" and this is because the game is not designed in this way. The game is designed (actually is poorly designed) to be "blindly" played. There is no reason in playing the game in a specific way. Game won`t reward you for this. There is no good or bad way to play it (and this in itself is a good point) but the way to play it "click and hit next (and this is the worst point of this game). You`ll win eventually, no matter what. Only way to find this game interesting and fun, to make it challanging is to personally set yourself some objectives. Is as much cheating as "trainers" are but in the different direction. You don`t cheat the game but the game cheats you intead. What is the outcome? I play this game less and less, only to found is even worse than last time.
Do Bright Future really understand that a game must provide in-game satisfaction? I really can`t answer this question but Fifa Manager 13 (as well as previous Fifa Manager titles) proves they don`t and that they probably don`t even care.
Many hours (and with coming iterations even more) I spent playing this game, yieling at the players inside my monitor as if they were real and I was actually their manager. Childish enough for those who never played TCM but quite a normal experience for those who did play it. It was immersive and fun.
Not the case unfortunately since name changed. Maybe Fifa Manager 07 (as the first Fifa Manager) was a bit like TCM and still preserved some of the pleasant features of TCM games but since year by year something was lost. The very boring games that were 09, 10 and 11, with only "click and hit next" gameplay only managed to raise the frustration due to huge amount of bugs and game`s inconsistencies.
Biggest problem of this game is not the lack of features (wow, in fact we have quite an impresive amount of features) or the bad 3D engine (in fact present engine could simulate quite well the matches). Not even the bugs, big or small are not the real problem this game has. The fact that this game (and please aknowledge, this is a GAME) has no purpose, no rewards to offer, no way to win IT is its biggest flaw. From this, every new feature introduced, every change in its mechanics have a single finality: flawed or bugged feature.
And so we can observe, year after year how the game`s design has in fact no design, how new features don`t interact inside the game, how different "systems" function independent and don`t influence other "systems" so training has no influence on morale, tactics don`t influence the 3D, club facilities don`t influence player development, club finances don`t influence club staff, etc. Well, yes, they do influence each other in fact, in a shallow manner and in an illogical and unintuitive way.
I stated years ago that this game needs a fresh start, a new design, from clear grounds and present features and "systems" should be implemented ONLY on this new design`s rules. Everything should have well thought and balanced effects, everything should have positive and negative sides, "everything" should be impossible to achieve. Choices should matter, should heavily impact the game and the manager should collect his rewards: good or bad.
As things stand now, some of us, who still love this game and believe in it, trick ourselves into thinking "if I do this something should happen". Except it don`t and so we start looking for "reasons" for this. We force ourselves to believe there IS a reason, like "for that thing to happen, something else must be done" and we look "what" that "something else" is. The bad news is there is no "something else". In fact, there is no "something" and this is because the game is not designed in this way. The game is designed (actually is poorly designed) to be "blindly" played. There is no reason in playing the game in a specific way. Game won`t reward you for this. There is no good or bad way to play it (and this in itself is a good point) but the way to play it "click and hit next (and this is the worst point of this game). You`ll win eventually, no matter what. Only way to find this game interesting and fun, to make it challanging is to personally set yourself some objectives. Is as much cheating as "trainers" are but in the different direction. You don`t cheat the game but the game cheats you intead. What is the outcome? I play this game less and less, only to found is even worse than last time.
Do Bright Future really understand that a game must provide in-game satisfaction? I really can`t answer this question but Fifa Manager 13 (as well as previous Fifa Manager titles) proves they don`t and that they probably don`t even care.
luni, 5 noiembrie 2012
Open letter to Soeren, Fifa Manager forum`s administrator
Hello,
I`m new to this comunity but quite sorry to say, this forum lives to its reputation: freedom of speech is only partly free.
Now to the subject: yes, I believe this bann commes with no reason: I am not Paul, I`m Sorin. Paul is my friend and he is the one who get me into this game. So for that one, EA owe Paul one more customer. But when Paul was banned, I did my own account, in my own personal name. I believe this is not forbiden, isn`t it?
Now, if you would really like to bann user after user, know this: Our internet connection is from the same source, as we are neighbours. Don`t use that "identical IP" argument as it`s not working. For the argument sake, other possibilities could be that we write from an internet cafe, or from work. And yes, sometimes I even log from Paul`s appartment. Is it forbiden? So, considering all your rules, this account, my account is legit in every way. Please visit my home and I can prove it by offering you a cup of coffee. So, in the name of your set of rules, un-bann my account!
If still, the reasons for my banning are not double account (as it`s not the case) but some oppinions of my own, sometimes harsh in their way, at least be fair, and tell me exactly this. Anyway, this should be a personal conversation so no one could even know, right?
P.S. Now about Paul account, user name paultcm2004 witch advocate seems suddenly I became.
Of all he told me, of all I read, of all I know and we two share pretty much everything about Fifa Manager game, he didn`t broke any of this forum rules. Yes, his critics were extreme and his position towards the developers harsh. But sorry to say, also true. I truly believe all his comments have at least a positive side if not entirely positive. If only devs would show up in this forum, those kind of extreme oppinions would surely be more rare. So, at least for the sake of corectness, send an email to Paul and explain the very reasons for his banning:
eperdos@yahoo.com
Thank you!
miercuri, 24 octombrie 2012
Fifa Manager 13 review
... a game that worth a review is a game that in the first place has some merits. Fifa Manager 13 has at least one merit: it is a new iteration of the title!
Now, I`m a fan of the series. Back to 2002 game it started a long journey were me and the game influenced each other. The very history of this title makes it worthy of a review and on a market full of "interested" reviews, this one I hope to be an honest and helpfull one.
This review is made after playing the demo. If the demo is not accurate enough to provide a realistic feeling of the game, than this can`t be the writer`s fault. But still, be ware...
When I first start a new game, the look and feel of that game is what I`m interested in. Fifa Manager 13 lacks of both. In my educated aesthetic taste, this year Fifa Manager has the worst appearance in 3-4 years. Also the interface slightly went worse. Let me explain:
- there is a feeling of multiple graphical directions. some icons are flashy and all, other are cartoonish while some are way to colored.
- the right side oriented screen is at least disturbing. Playing the game in a 1600x1200 resolution provide all left widgets but hide the right widgets. bottom widgets are totally gone. So, while the main area is already right centered, inside it sometimes the informations are such way displayed that the very area of interest is even extreme right centered. One example is the news screen. Very disturbing!
- the new menu organization although logical, creates dificulties for old players like me.
- the disapearance of the "open all menus" option is unexplainable.
- the text is sometimes just big enough sometimes too small to make for an easy reading (the new menus for example).
- very vivid coloring. Too bad it`s poor taste.
- the FIFA 13 theme (probably imposed by EA) is poorly integrated.
- 3D graphics is even worse than last year, looks like amateurish work and totally un-imersive.
All in all graphically this edition is a dissapointment. And this was game`s strongest point...
But next to the appearings, I`m mainly interested in gameplay. This is a turn based game so to speak. Lots of opportunities are opened to you as a manager. From balancing the budget and developing the club and the team to day by day training, player interactions and tactical options the game seems to provide just enough to sufice any player. While for new commers this could prove right, for experienced players this is most certanly false. Many of these "tasks" didn`t changed since last year`s version. Budget screen is the same for example and ticketing screen suffered only a small change in its appearence.
The biggest problem is that both kind of players will soon get frustrated: newcommers will soon loose track of what they have to do and this is not because the sheer amount of micromanagement but because some of important things are hard to find where are they. Old players will find the same superficial "click that" gameplay that doesn`t challange you in any way. It`s just enough to click it and hit next. There is no win/lose hard decision to take, there is no strategical way of playing this game. All you have to do is birocraticaly click it and move forward. Too bad...
Now, there are quite some new things in it! Oooh, new features. The weak point of Bright Future. Apart of Team Dynamics, that will be discussed later, there are a few interesting additions and some less interesting ones. Next events as a 3rd tab in Calendar screen is an inteligent and sometimes even helpfull thing. The same is valid for the reduction of youth teams from 4 to only 2. But the merchandise system, with lots of items, with new items that you have to search and then launch them on the market... Well this is at least irrelevant to game`s area of interest if not quite stupid. The effort that was put into it would have been better spent into something more meaningfull.
And now about the totally new and so strongly (in Bright Future`s value scale...) marketed Team Dynamics. The idea itself is a briliant one. Practically is a way of simulating player`s reaction to the gameplay. Players wants things, have higher or lower expectations and this should make you, the manager, to react accordingly and not to only click it and hit next as I earlier said. Except it doesn`t work! The system is neither intuitive nor logic. You have to play alot (probably season after season) to discover the effects of your various action over this new Team Dynamic system. And more, it`s very cluttered. It`s hard to keep up with various aspects and how they relate to each other. In short time, you want to give up, but Team Dynamics impact the match result and so, you can`t elude it. This makes it a frustrating feature. Doesn`t offer much and take alot from the fun of playing.
And now to what should be the core part of the game: footballing aspects: training, tactics and team plus the match itself, in 3D, text or instant. Well, from the start, I`ll say I never play text or instat results. So it only remains 3D.
Training:
It`s the same as last year, except it adapted to the new skills. The same un-impacting system as we know it to be in years. It`s rather irrelevant what you train, except maybe for the skill development. But forget about training man-marking intensly, you won`t see this on the pitch. Only 2 things, inter-related, matters when we talk about training: keeping your energy and fitness high. Figure out the right combination of blocks to deliver this and training is a closed matter. You just apply the formula. Even tactics develop quite easy, no matter what you train. So this is the same lame module the community criticize for years.
Tactics:
Nothing changed here as well. Don`t be fulled by the "new" 0-100% sliders. There is no difference for 20 and 30 or for 70 and 80. It still functions in layers and the "free" sliders are only sand in the eye. It`s hard to see the tactics on the pitch. Radical changes in settings could be visible but don`t expect to create a specific style of football, as tactical options in Fifa Manager 13 are rather counter intuitive and unresponsive.
Team and players:
New skills system, taken from FIFA 13 will provide a more dificult task for established players. This could be just ok, if the new system would mean more logical and meaningfull differences between players. It`s not the case. Only speed and acceleration continue to be obvious skills on the pitch. Top class dribblers loose the ball in front of average defenders while average strikers score easily being free between 2 world class defenders that admire the sky. This brings us to the ...
3D:
Well, the 3D mode is better than last year. Except I refer to original 3D gameplay and not community game plays like pinuccio`s "Julia" and many others. Compared to these, Fifa Manager 13 official game play is rubbish. Defence is at best mediocre while build up is merely existant. Wing play is only decorative, as crossing is 99% useless and dribbling works faulty. I never saw a headed cross and I played some 3D matches. Worst part of all is scoring: forget about 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, as clean sheet is almost imposible. It needs a super team versus a kindergarden team to achieve a clean sheet. Even worse, the score average is 4,1 goals / match. So, even if 3D is alot more balanced than last year, is un-playable as scoring is unrealistic, crossing doesn`t work, headers are still absent, skills don`t count, training can`t affect the 3D, tactics are merely visible.
How can you win in this game? Well, training, tactics and skills don`t count. In the end it only comes to: high general level and well managed moral, confidence, atmosphere, so Team Dynamic. It is as hiring a wealthy great psychologist as a football club manager means everything!
The dissapointment this year is even bigger than, I have to admit, expected. The new skill system seemed to promise a new 3D engine. And it didn`t bring it. The old one is so old that only fresh people like pinuccio seems to get someting out of it. Too bad...
This franchise, Fifa Manager, seems to go on the wrong direction. There is nothing at all to keep you hooked, as older versions succesfully did. Bright Future, as they are developing this game, are rather interested in german market that prefer the text mode or the instant results. They lose so the opportunity this game has in its 3D and sooner rather than later SEGA`s game, Football Manager will overcome Fifa Manager on the only part where it stands: 3D... if this didn`t already happend.
My score is 3/10. This is a terrible game, it doesn`t deserve to be published under EA Sports name. It`s price, 49,99 euros on Origin is ridiculous and a 12,99 euros seems a better range for it.
Now, I`m a fan of the series. Back to 2002 game it started a long journey were me and the game influenced each other. The very history of this title makes it worthy of a review and on a market full of "interested" reviews, this one I hope to be an honest and helpfull one.
This review is made after playing the demo. If the demo is not accurate enough to provide a realistic feeling of the game, than this can`t be the writer`s fault. But still, be ware...
When I first start a new game, the look and feel of that game is what I`m interested in. Fifa Manager 13 lacks of both. In my educated aesthetic taste, this year Fifa Manager has the worst appearance in 3-4 years. Also the interface slightly went worse. Let me explain:
- there is a feeling of multiple graphical directions. some icons are flashy and all, other are cartoonish while some are way to colored.
- the right side oriented screen is at least disturbing. Playing the game in a 1600x1200 resolution provide all left widgets but hide the right widgets. bottom widgets are totally gone. So, while the main area is already right centered, inside it sometimes the informations are such way displayed that the very area of interest is even extreme right centered. One example is the news screen. Very disturbing!
- the new menu organization although logical, creates dificulties for old players like me.
- the disapearance of the "open all menus" option is unexplainable.
- the text is sometimes just big enough sometimes too small to make for an easy reading (the new menus for example).
- very vivid coloring. Too bad it`s poor taste.
- the FIFA 13 theme (probably imposed by EA) is poorly integrated.
- 3D graphics is even worse than last year, looks like amateurish work and totally un-imersive.
All in all graphically this edition is a dissapointment. And this was game`s strongest point...
But next to the appearings, I`m mainly interested in gameplay. This is a turn based game so to speak. Lots of opportunities are opened to you as a manager. From balancing the budget and developing the club and the team to day by day training, player interactions and tactical options the game seems to provide just enough to sufice any player. While for new commers this could prove right, for experienced players this is most certanly false. Many of these "tasks" didn`t changed since last year`s version. Budget screen is the same for example and ticketing screen suffered only a small change in its appearence.
The biggest problem is that both kind of players will soon get frustrated: newcommers will soon loose track of what they have to do and this is not because the sheer amount of micromanagement but because some of important things are hard to find where are they. Old players will find the same superficial "click that" gameplay that doesn`t challange you in any way. It`s just enough to click it and hit next. There is no win/lose hard decision to take, there is no strategical way of playing this game. All you have to do is birocraticaly click it and move forward. Too bad...
Now, there are quite some new things in it! Oooh, new features. The weak point of Bright Future. Apart of Team Dynamics, that will be discussed later, there are a few interesting additions and some less interesting ones. Next events as a 3rd tab in Calendar screen is an inteligent and sometimes even helpfull thing. The same is valid for the reduction of youth teams from 4 to only 2. But the merchandise system, with lots of items, with new items that you have to search and then launch them on the market... Well this is at least irrelevant to game`s area of interest if not quite stupid. The effort that was put into it would have been better spent into something more meaningfull.
And now about the totally new and so strongly (in Bright Future`s value scale...) marketed Team Dynamics. The idea itself is a briliant one. Practically is a way of simulating player`s reaction to the gameplay. Players wants things, have higher or lower expectations and this should make you, the manager, to react accordingly and not to only click it and hit next as I earlier said. Except it doesn`t work! The system is neither intuitive nor logic. You have to play alot (probably season after season) to discover the effects of your various action over this new Team Dynamic system. And more, it`s very cluttered. It`s hard to keep up with various aspects and how they relate to each other. In short time, you want to give up, but Team Dynamics impact the match result and so, you can`t elude it. This makes it a frustrating feature. Doesn`t offer much and take alot from the fun of playing.
And now to what should be the core part of the game: footballing aspects: training, tactics and team plus the match itself, in 3D, text or instant. Well, from the start, I`ll say I never play text or instat results. So it only remains 3D.
Training:
It`s the same as last year, except it adapted to the new skills. The same un-impacting system as we know it to be in years. It`s rather irrelevant what you train, except maybe for the skill development. But forget about training man-marking intensly, you won`t see this on the pitch. Only 2 things, inter-related, matters when we talk about training: keeping your energy and fitness high. Figure out the right combination of blocks to deliver this and training is a closed matter. You just apply the formula. Even tactics develop quite easy, no matter what you train. So this is the same lame module the community criticize for years.
Tactics:
Nothing changed here as well. Don`t be fulled by the "new" 0-100% sliders. There is no difference for 20 and 30 or for 70 and 80. It still functions in layers and the "free" sliders are only sand in the eye. It`s hard to see the tactics on the pitch. Radical changes in settings could be visible but don`t expect to create a specific style of football, as tactical options in Fifa Manager 13 are rather counter intuitive and unresponsive.
Team and players:
New skills system, taken from FIFA 13 will provide a more dificult task for established players. This could be just ok, if the new system would mean more logical and meaningfull differences between players. It`s not the case. Only speed and acceleration continue to be obvious skills on the pitch. Top class dribblers loose the ball in front of average defenders while average strikers score easily being free between 2 world class defenders that admire the sky. This brings us to the ...
3D:
Well, the 3D mode is better than last year. Except I refer to original 3D gameplay and not community game plays like pinuccio`s "Julia" and many others. Compared to these, Fifa Manager 13 official game play is rubbish. Defence is at best mediocre while build up is merely existant. Wing play is only decorative, as crossing is 99% useless and dribbling works faulty. I never saw a headed cross and I played some 3D matches. Worst part of all is scoring: forget about 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, as clean sheet is almost imposible. It needs a super team versus a kindergarden team to achieve a clean sheet. Even worse, the score average is 4,1 goals / match. So, even if 3D is alot more balanced than last year, is un-playable as scoring is unrealistic, crossing doesn`t work, headers are still absent, skills don`t count, training can`t affect the 3D, tactics are merely visible.
How can you win in this game? Well, training, tactics and skills don`t count. In the end it only comes to: high general level and well managed moral, confidence, atmosphere, so Team Dynamic. It is as hiring a wealthy great psychologist as a football club manager means everything!
The dissapointment this year is even bigger than, I have to admit, expected. The new skill system seemed to promise a new 3D engine. And it didn`t bring it. The old one is so old that only fresh people like pinuccio seems to get someting out of it. Too bad...
This franchise, Fifa Manager, seems to go on the wrong direction. There is nothing at all to keep you hooked, as older versions succesfully did. Bright Future, as they are developing this game, are rather interested in german market that prefer the text mode or the instant results. They lose so the opportunity this game has in its 3D and sooner rather than later SEGA`s game, Football Manager will overcome Fifa Manager on the only part where it stands: 3D... if this didn`t already happend.
My score is 3/10. This is a terrible game, it doesn`t deserve to be published under EA Sports name. It`s price, 49,99 euros on Origin is ridiculous and a 12,99 euros seems a better range for it.
Abonați-vă la:
Postări (Atom)