OK. Shall I buy this game after all, or is it going to annoy the hell out of me?

[imp44791]

I've stopped following this franchise with FM '12, after buying every single version since the turn of the century. You know the type.

Before people roll their eyes and tell me "It's Your Tactics" (TM TM TM), let me explain why I dropped it. It's not that I found it difficult to win, I always play LLM and losing is part of the fun there. My problem was that the game was not fun any more. For two reasons, none of which had to do with "winning":

1. Bloat

The last version I genuinely enjoyed was '07, and from that point I increasingly got annoyed with the game being weighed down with terrible repetitive tasks like the purgatorial press module and the excruciating team meetings. I hated the backroom staff talks (aka "NO THANK YOU, I WILL NOT CHANGE THIS CHAP'S SQUAD STATUS!!!"). The team talks: THREE of them every much, with the same set of remarks every time. I particularly hated the "pundit" page just before and after every game, where among the 5-6 clicks you need to finally get to the game you have to read some boring, repetitious drivel like "Team X will have no right to be pleased after this performance". I can roll my eyes to the real Michael Owen spouting cliches on TV, thank you very much, I don't need a game to inflict his platonic ideal on me before every match.

Basically, between the pre match press conference and team talks you have 4 repetitive tasks for every match. Call it 50 matches a season, that's 200 times you have to say "I'm confident as long as we stick to our game plan". Yes, I know that you can send your assman to do the heavy lifting, but with the game (particularly FM '11) being so damn streaky because of morale, a player feels that he should never take that risk. Anyway, add another 100 times a season of seeing electronic Michael Owen telling you that "I honestly expected Grimsby to have won today" and you understand my frustration

2. No immersion

Partly due to the above, and partly due to the repetitiveness of the ME, a lot of the immersion in the game has gone. It also felt like the woodwork was hit too many times (by the AI too), too many 1-on-1s were missed, too many defenders by themselves on the touchline hoofed the ball into the stands ("He's taking no chances there!". I tried hard to combat that, even going back to the top-down dots visualisation of good old 04-05. But it hasn't really worked.

Anyhow, I believe I've given people enough background. Steam have a flash sale today at half price. I'm tempted to take the plunge. Based on the above, should I? Opinions welcome. And yes, I know, "It's My Tactics", don't remind me

[Jimbokav1971]

I would say go for it.

I'm similar to you in many ways. I certainly like a challenge and losing, well you just have to get used to it. I played FM09 and loved it so much that I refused to even look at FM10, FM11 or FM12. My pc blew up and I lost my save-game so I had a little look at FM13 and thought "wow, quite some progression", but then FM14 was coming out so I went straight onto that.

The things that annoy you, (media in particular), also annoy me, but of course we do have the option of just letting our Ass Man deal with all that so it needn't be a worry, (but of course you know that). I guess that's the price you pay of not wanting to do it yourself.

Is it possible that you will be able to compete at the game while letting a rubbish Ass Man loose in the media? Yeah I think so. It obviously puts you at a disadvantage, but it's certainly doable.

The woodwork is still hit too often, (but tell that to Liverpool in real life).

There seems to be the same old issues with 1v1's, (but hasn't there always been?)#

The backroom staff chats are annoying, but you can decide how often you want them, and if you don't want to have them very often then.... well you neednm't be annoyed very often. I don't like them, but occasionally, (very occasionally), they do say something that makes me take notice in a good way.

If you are particularly enjoying a FM12 save at the moment then I would say stay with it. I'm guessing you aren't though or otherwise you wouldn't posting this question and contemplating the deed.

All in all, (and especially considering the price), I would say give it a go. The obvious alternative of course is that you download the demo right now, have a little looksy and then decide before midnight whether to upgrade to the whole game.

I think it's great, (although admittedly I seem to be in the minority on here). The problem with guaging anything with what is said on these forums however is that people who don't encounter any problems have no reason to come and complain, (so maybe that skews things a tad in my opinion).

Anyway, I say give it a go.

[SurferJames]

Only you can make that choice it depends how you enjoy these

Types games, personally it's best one yet.

[Filke]

buy it!, its not better than fm13 but I have faith in next patch. just I don't know why is that -50%, last discount was when deadline was on 31. jan, maybe they plan to release patch soon I hope.

[SurferJames]

I assume patch be towards end of month near march but that is purely myth..but I find it better than fm13 for me it's more

Precise and fluid in me

[crouchaldinho]

I'd suggest caution because the things that you don't like really haven't changed unless you want to convert to the FMC mode. If FM12 was your last version, I'm extremely concerned you'll find the 'bloat' and the ME more frustrating than ever tbh.

Try the demo before buying, for sure.

[Dagenham_Dave]

Football Manager Classic will become your best friend.

[Baptista_8]

Has a few faults but it's still awesome and you'll still be addicted

Could be a lot worse also.

Get it!

[Filke]

Steam store says celebrate transfer window and 50% disc. Celebrate what window?

[podunkboy]

I also recommend you try the demo first, I enjoyed it enough to buy FM14 two months ahead of my regular schedule, and my wife rarely sees anything but the top of my head now.

[tieio]

Read some user reviews on Steam and try the demo for sure. My Steam name is the same as my username here.

[cons]

wait for the next patch and wait a little for reviews. match engine sucks atm.

[imp44791]

Many thanks to everyone who responded, and (for once) not relapsing into the usual "The game SUCKS" - "No, YOU suck at it" Punch & Judy exchanges so typical of the forum. I took the plunge (the price was too good), but will probably hold off until the patch is out before I dive into it.

[gavo01]

I can't say about other versions As FM14 is my first delve into this francise since the Eidos split.

I personally don't have a problem with the ME, maybe cause I play in 2D mode, who knows.

I like the overall layout of the game, it's clear and concise.

I agree the media meetings can become a bit repetitive, but watch a real life one on telly and you'll find the same repetiveness. Again send your Assistant Manager, should you wish.

The boardroom meetings, again, can be repetitive, but as a poster suggested they can have some useful tips hidden away in there.

Overall I'm very pleased with this game and would recommend it, especially at the sale price being offered at the moment.

[rp1966]

Given that you share my hatred of the game's attempts at human interaction I would say get FM14, but play in FMC mode. The ME has its issues at the moment, but once they are ironed out it will be far superior to any pre-FM13 version - in some ways it already is and for those people who don't get obsessive over the bugs that are there, the potential is very clear to see.

[sporadicsmiles]

I would say you should try the demo, see if you like it. There is nothing better than trying before you buy. There is quite a steep learning curve for most people for this game since the way tactics are built has changed significantly. But equally there are some great threads on these forums that can help you out. Hence it will almost certainly annoy you to start with, but if you stick with it you can eventually have success. I am enjoying this version more than I have any previous version of FM because I am having good success on it.

On the ME. There are still a few bugs, which will be patched in the coming weeks (one hopes). There are still some irritating features (and some bad animations that look like bugs) in it. But if you try it, with an open mind, then you can make an informed decision. If you do not like or enjoy it after playing a few games through on the patch (I suggest a few because the first one for most people ends badly), do not buy it. No point having a game you do not enjoy.

[brawla123]

It's very hard to say if you should get it or not. I doubt there's is any game you can play out there that won't annoy you. The game still has all the repetitive things you complained about and probably even more. If you do decide to get it, I suggest you wait until the final patch has been released and then maybe it won't annoy you as much as it could have.

[Guest]

I could have wrote this OP word for word. Its exactly the same for me.

All this stuff they have added to supposedly add realism actually detracts from the realism while things that arent very realistic seems to be neglected or even got gradually worse.. Things I regard more important for immersion like team building, the transfer market, how the players decision making off the pitch like with their attitudes to contracts and transfers and common sense and just acting a bit normal, and managers likewise.

On the pitch, it got less about tactics and players and more about moral, team talks and guessing where sliders go or what cryptic options did that is not really about understanding tactics and being a manager but more about understanding an computer games unrelated game mechanic.

The fun parts didnt seem as fun and the game seem to get overcome with not so fun parts like excessive cryptic multichoice button clicking.

Sometimes I sit there watching the football and then get the urge to play some FM, like just now but then I think about to how the game is and then I decided not to bother..

The last few FM I have not enjoyed much, and I didnt even bother with this one as I assume the direction this game has gone in has just continued.

I'm just not a fan of the direction the game went in, I know this is not a majority opinion and most people think it better now than ever, I'm just glad I'm not alone and someone else feels the same.

[Norfair]

I agree with the OP as well, and all the problems he listed are still in the game. One thing though that I really do think you can leave in the hands of your assman, are press conferences, thank god. I couldnt imagine having to do them for every game, before and after. And I dont see a lot of my players being badly affected by what my assman says (most of them seem to use their no comment lifeline for a lot of questions anyway).

Team talks is repetitive as all hell though, thats for sure. Some team talks are just simply better than others by default. "We owe team X after what happened in the last match" bla bla, always seems to work no matter how many times I use it. And an individual "I have faith" works the same way. There are a few others I have as my go-to comments and once you've played enough games, its easy to see which team talks are "best".

But FM14 is a great game for a more important reason. It's hard! It's a challenge in a way that FM12 (my last FM, skipped 13) never could be. And absolutely a hundred times more rewarding when you feel you start to come to terms with how the ME works. When you realize what you were doing wrong in this game, the sense of accomplishment you get from "cracking the game's code" is unrivalled. In most other FM games there was no code to be cracked to begin with.

If you can just set aside all those grievances that you listed, which I think most ppl can understand, you will find a great game and a great challenge, barring with a few bugs still, but there's one patch left. Greatest FM iteration ever if you ask me.

[Luke159]

I agree this is the best FM, only ever played 12 and 13, but this is far better than those. As for press conferences and team talks, I let my assman do them. After good results I look at who played well and talk to them remarking how well they played, morale though seems to the biggest problem in this game. It seems that morale now really effects the team on a whole which is sad and one thing I would like to be dialled down a little more, other than that though I love FM14 and would never dream of going back to 12 or 13.

[Kojak123]

Just get the demo and try it yourself.