What is the most important development the CM/FM series ever made?

[MattyHartley94]

Hi guys,

Quick poll here, was interested to see what avid players of the game thought the single most important addition of a feature in the CM/FM franchise is.

Vote in the poll!

[santy001]

Bit of an unusual first post, almost like this information is wanted to be used somewhere else!

I look at each on the list there and think they're great things, but I still think FM could have been a success without each of the any individual elements.

[Guest]

There is no one feature that earns the tag of most important development, FM is all about the sum of its parts.

[forameuss]

There is no one feature that earns the tag of most important development, FM is all about the sum of its parts.

And the more important ones aren't listed anyway. It's an odd list that was posted.

[Guest]

2D then 3D views, Add/Remove leagues, Dynamic League Rep, ranged attributes with revamped scouting are all much better additions, IMO of course.

There is also one on the OP's list that AFAIK hasn't even happened while another is an old system that was replaced because it was too simplistic.

Hate to discourage a first time poster but its not a very well researched list to choose from.

[Citizen Sandman]

skinning, kits, faces would be what makes the game a little more personal for me.

[louissiscool]

Match engine is the most important part for me, imagine if it was still just commentary.

[Balacus]

2D match engine.

[Garethjohn79]

Moving on to Games Consoles in the 90's and introducing match graphics.

Prior to that the closest I got to Football Manager games were the ''Play By Mail'' games.

I'm not even sure if it was a CM/FM game that brought me into Football Management games. It was the one with Kevin Keegan on the front and where you could build yourself massive stadiums.

I was a Megadrive then Playstation player the Amiga was a bit nerdy and for me and I had only a very basic knowledge of PC's at the time.

There were a number of competitors around at the time meaning Football Management games had to compete and in turn became accessible to players who weren't interested in watching text and on to a larger market.

Could it be argued that competition for the bigger Console market forced CM/FM to fight harder for the number 1? Because if it hadn't there were a few around who could have taken its share.

Then PC's/Laptops became more affordable, accessible, easier to use and meant SI could return to a Computer based game again.

[Ross Ingersoll]

i would also say 3d graphics. while some old school guys dont like it i think it has drawn some in that otherwise wouldnt have done so otherwise

[bennytee]

Ah, play by mail. Those were the days. I still remember some guy ringing my house to buy a player from me, was hard work trying to explain to my folks what that call to their house was all about as an 11 year old.

[Alexivan]

Match Engine between FM05 and FM12.

Then, downwards between FM13 and FM16.

Let's hope for a reworkd ME very soon (FM18-19).

[Soninho]

Dynamic reputation..! IMO by far the feature that changes and makes a save worth playing!

Graphics and other stuff are cool too but not gamechanging like this. (I still play 2D mode..)

[noikeee]

I think the 2D match engine was a huge breakthrough and wins it for me.

[inacion]

Regens and development of database are important improvements. But the most important is scouting accuracy because will help real managers to identify new players to scout.

[mrw072]

The big thing for me with FM is that you know when each version of the game is released the correct players are going to be in the correct squads (within reason) and the right teams will be in the right leagues. That forms the basis of the game for me.

[rayr27]

Got to be 2d match engine for me. 3d may have added some polish but 2d fundamentally changed the way we play the game. From what I understand it also made a huge difference to SI's understanding of the ME too.