Totally unrealistic match situations

[cainy1982]

Wow!! the list of errors in game on FM18 is frankly embarrassing, the 2 glaringly biggest errors are shooting & free kicks.

I have never in my life seen such an array of terrible shooting, even players with the highest shooting attributes in the game are awful at hitting the target. In the grand scheme of things in real life the majority of off target shots cross the by-line within the parameter of the six yard box (this is a 6 yard either side of the goal posts room for error), there is certainly an extremely limited number of shots that are closer to the corner flag than the goal but in FM it is vice versa!!, you have to go along way to see a shot go 18 yards wide in real life!.

My other point on the biggest in game errors are free kicks and the pointless nature of them in FM18, I am currently on my 6th season of my current save and have yet to see a free kick scored (either for or against), it is infact extremely rare they even hit the target. Again even the players with the highest free kick taking attributes are woeful at taking them.

These are areas of FM that must be improved as it renders the game an embarrassment.

[JordanMilly]

1 hour ago, cainy1982 said:

Wow!! the list of errors in game on FM18 is frankly embarrassing, the 2 glaringly biggest errors are shooting & free kicks.

I have never in my life seen such an array of terrible shooting, even players with the highest shooting attributes in the game are awful at hitting the target. In the grand scheme of things in real life the majority of off target shots cross the by-line within the parameter of the six yard box (this is a 6 yard either side of the goal posts room for error), there is certainly an extremely limited number of shots that are closer to the corner flag than the goal but in FM it is vice versa!!, you have to go along way to see a shot go 18 yards wide in real life!.

My other point on the biggest in game errors are free kicks and the pointless nature of them in FM18, I am currently on my 6th season of my current save and have yet to see a free kick scored (either for or against), it is infact extremely rare they even hit the target. Again even the players with the highest free kick taking attributes are woeful at taking them.

These are areas of FM that must be improved as it renders the game an embarrassment.

Remember that direct free kick goals aren't actually all that common. For example, in the Premier League 2012/13 season, out of 577 direct free kicks, only 33 were scored, a conversion rate of 5.7% (http://www.optasportspro.com/about/optapro-blog/posts/2013/augmenting-free-kick-data-for-more-meaningful-results/). That's perhaps a couple of free kick goals for a team per season at best, so the likelihood of a given team not scoring free kicks, especially unless they have a specialist free kick taker, isn't all that surprising. 

Hell, we're 27/28 games into this season, and only 11 free kicks have been scored, scored by 8 teams, leaving 12 that haven't scored any at all (https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/att_freekick_goal), and only 27 free kick goals across 13 teams in 16/17.

So when you see between 20-30 free kick goals across the entire league in a season, and your team aren't scoring any, it's actually not all that unusual.

[sporadicsmiles]

So you want your strikers to score every single shot they have? Or hit every single one on target? You feel that would be more realistic? If so, that is completely nonsensical. There are times in real life, and in FM, where you strikers cannot score for love nor money. That is part of football. Just like there are times when every shot you have goes in. If you are seeing your players consistently shoot from stupid positions, then you are doing something wrong. For instance, there are no good passing options open. I mostly see players shooting "randomly" when I come up against an ultra defensive side and there is just no room in and around the box to make passes to people in better positions. In that case, you need to work out how to create space. You are never going to remove shooting off target though, this happens way, way more in football than good shots and goals.

In FM17 I would regularly score 5-10 free kicks a season, since one of my midfielders had insanely good long shots and free kick attributes. He got the team out of a hole a number of times. At the moment, I get one or two per year, because I lack such a player. I do not concede that many, but I can recall a few of them going in on FM18. Free kick goals are rare, and that is why we remember them. I bet if you go look at the number of free kicks that are direct shots at goal, and the number of goals in real life, the percentage of those that result in goals is really tiny. 

[cainy1982]

4 hours ago, sporadicsmiles said:

So you want your strikers to score every single shot they have? Or hit every single one on target? You feel that would be more realistic? If so, that is completely nonsensical. There are times in real life, and in FM, where you strikers cannot score for love nor money. That is part of football. Just like there are times when every shot you have goes in. If you are seeing your players consistently shoot from stupid positions, then you are doing something wrong. For instance, there are no good passing options open. I mostly see players shooting "randomly" when I come up against an ultra defensive side and there is just no room in and around the box to make passes to people in better positions. In that case, you need to work out how to create space. You are never going to remove shooting off target though, this happens way, way more in football than good shots and goals.

In FM17 I would regularly score 5-10 free kicks a season, since one of my midfielders had insanely good long shots and free kick attributes. He got the team out of a hole a number of times. At the moment, I get one or two per year, because I lack such a player. I do not concede that many, but I can recall a few of them going in on FM18. Free kick goals are rare, and that is why we remember them. I bet if you go look at the number of free kicks that are direct shots at goal, and the number of goals in real life, the percentage of those that result in goals is really tiny. 

Haaaaahaaaaa you actually interpret my comment as "I want every shot to go in" and that I want to remove shooting off target!!, you never think I am making a general point of terrible shooting both for and against my team, yeah your right I want every shot to go in for and against and let every game finish 20-20 haaahaaa!!, people that just accept any old rubbish and go down with a whimper frustrate the hell out of me. Just watch todays games for example, how many shots will go wide but within the frame of the 6 yard box and how many nearly hit the corner flag!

[cainy1982]

16 hours ago, JordanMillward_1 said:

Remember that direct free kick goals aren't actually all that common. For example, in the Premier League 2012/13 season, out of 577 direct free kicks, only 33 were scored, a conversion rate of 5.7% (http://www.optasportspro.com/about/optapro-blog/posts/2013/augmenting-free-kick-data-for-more-meaningful-results/). That's perhaps a couple of free kick goals for a team per season at best, so the likelihood of a given team not scoring free kicks, especially unless they have a specialist free kick taker, isn't all that surprising. 

Hell, we're 27/28 games into this season, and only 11 free kicks have been scored, scored by 8 teams, leaving 12 that haven't scored any at all (https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/att_freekick_goal), and only 27 free kick goals across 13 teams in 16/17.

So when you see between 20-30 free kick goals across the entire league in a season, and your team aren't scoring any, it's actually not all that unusual.

This isn't anything specific to my team, so in my 6 seasons managing 3 different clubs (1 Premier League, 1 Championship and 1 La Liga) you think it's just "unlucky" or "coincidence" that not a single team across 3 different leagues (2 seasons per team) have managed to score a direct free kick (for or against)!!, I do wonder what people read on these forums as everyone seems to be of the opinion that comments are complaints that your own team don't do things yet my comments are about improving the game (for and against my team)

[JordanMilly]

1 hour ago, cainy1982 said:

This isn't anything specific to my team, so in my 6 seasons managing 3 different clubs (1 Premier League, 1 Championship and 1 La Liga) you think it's just "unlucky" or "coincidence" that not a single team across 3 different leagues (2 seasons per team) have managed to score a direct free kick (for or against)!!, I do wonder what people read on these forums as everyone seems to be of the opinion that comments are complaints that your own team don't do things yet my comments are about improving the game (for and against my team)

You seem to be reading a lot into my comment that wasn't there. I was just highlighting that there are several Premier League teams that go years never scoring a free kick, same with many other teams across the world, so some of the "lack" of free kick goals is actually just a belief that such goals are more common than they actually are.

I agree, however, that the shots should at least be a lot closer to the goal than some of them are, as you don't tend to see many free kicks fly about 20 yards clear of the goal in real life, and perhaps there could be a better distribution of goals scored, but from my experiences with the game, the number of free kicks being scored seem to be fairly close to the real-life levels.

[rdbayly]

I completely support the original post. There are hundreds of indescribably bad attempts from distance and inside the box both for and against. In my opinion there is something in the ME code this year that is producing anomalous shots. It's been enough for me to stop playing and go back to FM17; a superior game in almost every department.

You can even use this in your favour as an underdog. As Wolves I've pulled off some outrageous results away at City, Utd and Chelsea just by playing counter and packing the box - allowing them to shoot from distance; safe in the knowledge this poses my team no threat.

In FM17, I had issues with long shots which I felt could be reduced with tactical tweaks. I've not found this to be the case in FM18. I've a fairly good grasp of the TC and ME in terms of how to exploit space, create overloads and ensure my players have passing options in the final third. All the advice I've read and tested appears to make little or no difference. For me there is a huge disconnect between player attributes and the way they behave on the pitch.

This year's release is one of the most disappointing games I have ever played. 

[McGiz10]

This game has been broke for years and the developers have inadvertently admitted this by releasing the in-game editor - "It's broke, you fix it"

The long shot issue is a joke and they blame us for it. "It's you're tactics" Yeah, cause I keep tell them all to keep whacking it from 35 yards and aim for the corner flag. If only they could pass it back and keep possession like I tell them to.

I accept the press conferences are supposed to be annoying and boring however, the timing of questions are really strange.

In the tunnel before a game - "X player has been placed on the transfer list not by your club or your opponent, what do you think of that"  - I couldn't give 2 sh**s, I have a game to play 

The best one, you've just won 6 - 1. First question "What do you think of the 1 goal they scored?" I couldn't give 2 sh**s,  I have just won 6-1. 

They really need to stop focusing on pointless 3D graphics, for a game that doesn't really need big graphics, bring back the 2D view and start focusing on the important things.

Anyone else noticed the early kick off time on a Saturday afternoon in the Premier League? The game has been out for nearly 5 months now, plus the development time and they haven't noticed.

Might be a small thing but if they can't get the basics right, what hope do we have?

[zigaliro]

I agree, the long shots in this game are really bad. Even some close range shots go literally to corner flag.

[XaW]

2 hours ago, McGiz10 said:

This game has been broke for years and the developers have inadvertently admitted this by releasing the in-game editor - "It's broke, you fix it"

The long shot issue is a joke and they blame us for it. "It's you're tactics" Yeah, cause I keep tell them all to keep whacking it from 35 yards and aim for the corner flag. If only they could pass it back and keep possession like I tell them to.

I accept the press conferences are supposed to be annoying and boring however, the timing of questions are really strange.

In the tunnel before a game - "X player has been placed on the transfer list not by your club or your opponent, what do you think of that"  - I couldn't give 2 sh**s, I have a game to play 

The best one, you've just won 6 - 1. First question "What do you think of the 1 goal they scored?" I couldn't give 2 sh**s,  I have just won 6-1. 

They really need to stop focusing on pointless 3D graphics, for a game that doesn't really need big graphics, bring back the 2D view and start focusing on the important things.

Anyone else noticed the early kick off time on a Saturday afternoon in the Premier League? The game has been out for nearly 5 months now, plus the development time and they haven't noticed.

Might be a small thing but if they can't get the basics right, what hope do we have?

The game certainly isn't broke. It very much playable, albeit there are some areas that are lacking and should be improved in my opinion.

The long shot issue is indeed down to tactical flaws. If a player don't have any passing options because of your faulty tactics what other options does he have than hail mary-ing it in the general direction of the goal? I don't have any issues with shots from bad angles or from way out, and I keep possession to around 60% every game. Also only lost one game this season:

Yeah, tactics are so hard in this game....

Tunnel interviews and press in general is one the repetitive aspects of the game, and I agree it could do with a revamp. To get questions more into context and relevancy.

The 3D is a big thing for some people, and many will disagree strongly with this. I use 2D myself, so I wouldn't mind much.

What's the issue early kick offs? I've had 12:45 once or twice, but that happens in real life as well.

If you dislike the game so much, why do you keep playing it? I agree certain aspects needs to be improved, but from the tone of your post and by calling it "broken" you portray it as unplayable. And for me that is far from true.

[DiasV]

43 minutes ago, XaW said:

I agree certain aspects needs to be improved, but from the tone of your post and by calling it "broken" you portray it as unplayable. And for me that is far from true.

Funny that you dont call the game broken and at the same time shows up a bragging pictures of your results that shows that the game is broken. The serie of wins that you have made is unrealistic as long as you are in such a strong league as the EPL and just play the same system over and over. City this year is the only team that has been close to do it, and the fact that you easliy can make tactics that exploits the match engine and win like 24 out of 25 matches against good opposition shows that the match engine is broken. You might find it fun, and thats fine, I also enjoy playing the game - but there is huge flaws in the match engine and the mistakes done by players in game is such huge that I can easily agree to those saying that the game is broken. 

[XaW]

8 hours ago, DiasV said:

Funny that you dont call the game broken and at the same time shows up a bragging pictures of your results that shows that the game is broken. The serie of wins that you have made is unrealistic as long as you are in such a strong league as the EPL and just play the same system over and over. City this year is the only team that has been close to do it, and the fact that you easliy can make tactics that exploits the match engine and win like 24 out of 25 matches against good opposition shows that the match engine is broken. You might find it fun, and thats fine, I also enjoy playing the game - but there is huge flaws in the match engine and the mistakes done by players in game is such huge that I can easily agree to those saying that the game is broken. 

I don't consider the game broken at all. This exact tactic is based on almost the exact same I had in FM17. I've even made a thread about it in the tactics section. This was done trying to emulate Klopp (at least a the beginning) and tailor the tactic to get the best from the players. If you take a look at the thread I dare you to find anything that's exploiting the ME. Is is the 4-5-1 with wingers? Or perhaps the Regista DM? I don't use any 3 striker exploit, nor balls over the top against a poor defense. I've done this by tailoring the tactic to suit the players and then started bringing in even more suitable players to improve it. Is this a magical plug and play? Not at all, I tried it in the lower leagues and it totally failed because it wasn't suited for the players I had there. So, go ahead, name the exploit I'm using that only works on that specific game and squad.

My biggest problem with FM is the lack of AI "smartness" regarding tactics and squad building/management. The further into a game you get the easier it becomes, mainly because the AI aren't good enough to build squads. As a user in that regard it's often much easier to spot holes in the squad and try to fill it. In the game I posted the screenshot from I've switched out a lot of the original Liverpool squad and replaced them with much better players, and I've made a profit doing so. It's way to easy to exploit the AI in transfers. I switched out Karius and Mignolet with Dunnarumma and Rajkovic with little net spend. I sold Lovren and bought Dier without using money. I got in Dolberg and Asensio for Mane and Milner. All those without using much money. This is why I can win the matches I did in the screenshot.

I also think the ME have issues, I would be surprised if you find anyone (including SI) who thinks it's as perfect as it can be. The problem is that some user complain about the ME when the reason for the weirdness they experience is their own fault. I can agree the game should give better feedback to explain this, but when user come in here to vent and refuse to acknowledge that it can be solved I can't really sympathize. After all it's a computer program, so crap input from the user = crap output. It's like complaining that your car isn't running when you refuse to start it in any other gear than the 5th...

I really enjoy playing FM, after all, I've played different version since the early 90's, and I think the game keeps progressing in the right direction every year. I do have gripes and issues with the game, but calling it broken or "an embarrassment" or similar things is just plain wrong. Is the game bug free and perfect? Far from it, but whining about thing that are under your control and refusing to try to understand it is not a suitable way of getting it improved. If anyone experiences issues with the game I would advise to go to the bugs section and report it following the guidelines to let SI investigate. However, if you feel the game is not good enough and haven't been for years, then I would advise you to find another game or hobby that enrage you less. 

[mbabbs]

19 hours ago, zigaliro said:

I agree, the long shots in this game are really bad. Even some close range shots go literally to corner flag.

I have had a few go out for a throw.

Sadly the bugs forum suggests its 'under review', so I doubt it'll be fixed in this version.

 

My other pet peeve is the tendency for a player to head or pass it backwards instead of two yards into the net. Seems to be some odd decision making.

[Johnleegriffin]

Players aim for the keeper. Really annoying. 

[edgar_thomas590]

So you want your strikers to score every single shot they have? Or hit every single one on target? You feel that would be more realistic? If so, that is completely nonsensical. There are times in real life, and in FM, where you strikers cannot score for love nor money. That is part of football. Just like there are times when every shot you have goes in. If you are seeing your players consistently shoot from stupid positions, then you are doing something wrong. For instance, there are no good passing options open. I mostly see players shooting "randomly" when I come up against an ultra defensive side and there is just no room in and around the box to make passes to people in better positions. In that case, you need to work out how to create space. You are never going to remove shooting off target though, this happens way, way more in football than good shots and goals.

In FM17 I would regularly score 5-10 free kicks a season, since one of my midfielders had insanely good long shots and free kick attributes. He got the team out of a hole a number of times. At the moment, I get one or two per year, because I lack such a player. I do not concede that many, but I can recall a few of them going in on FM18. Free kick goals are rare, and that is why we remember them. I bet if you go look at the number of free kicks that are direct shots at goal, and the number of goals in real life

[HUNT3R]

8 minutes ago, edgar_thomas590 said:

So you want your strikers to score every single shot they have? Or hit every single one on target? You feel that would be more realistic? If so, that is completely nonsensical. There are times in real life, and in FM, where you strikers cannot score for love nor money. That is part of football. Just like there are times when every shot you have goes in. If you are seeing your players consistently shoot from stupid positions, then you are doing something wrong. For instance, there are no good passing options open. I mostly see players shooting "randomly" when I come up against an ultra defensive side and there is just no room in and around the box to make passes to people in better positions. In that case, you need to work out how to create space. You are never going to remove shooting off target though, this happens way, way more in football than good shots and goals.

In FM17 I would regularly score 5-10 free kicks a season, since one of my midfielders had insanely good long shots and free kick attributes. He got the team out of a hole a number of times. At the moment, I get one or two per year, because I lack such a player. I do not concede that many, but I can recall a few of them going in on FM18. Free kick goals are rare, and that is why we remember them. I bet if you go look at the number of free kicks that are direct shots at goal, and the number of goals in real life

I'm re-posting what SI posted elsewhere:

"As stated in this thread previously, we are very happy with the overall balance of the ME. The stats of: goals per game, shots per match, shots on target, shots off target, shots taken from inside the area, shots taken from outside the area, shots converted from these positions, goals scored by players of specific positions etc... are very well balanced and close to real life stats. "

Now, it's quite obvious that some of the missed shots are too wide, making it look very odd. It's not a simple fix though, as there will be knock-ons everywhere else.

[Geordieboy52]

Could this be more a problem with the graphical 3D representation that the game itself.  Loads of times I see a shot go crazy wide but the commentary says it was a good effort...

[rdbayly]

11 hours ago, HUNT3R said:

The stats of: goals per game, shots per match, shots on target, shots off target, shots taken from inside the area, shots taken from outside the area, shots converted from these positions, goals scored by players of specific positions etc... are very well balanced and close to real life stats

Herein lies the problem. I don't question the statistical integrity of match outcomes; but the manner in which the action plays out is aesthetically dire. The central footballing mechanics are clunky, robotic and repetitive. Pathetically inaccurate shots from distance have totally undermined this year's release.