Universal database from FM19 onward?

[doucong]

Hey FM lovers

I am thinking will it be possible to have an universal database from FM19 onward?

So currently we can understand the FM games have two components: the Game (engine + interface) and the Database. Currently the Database only work for it corresponding Game (i.e. the 2017 database only work for FM17 but not FM18, there is no official way to play old database in new engine).

It will be great that from FM19 onward the Database is universal to new Game afterwards (FM19/20/21/etc ). Understand one reason database is not universal  is each year we may have minor changes to the database, e.g. new PPM, jump to height reach, etc., but i feel we definitely can develop an algorithm that new Game are backward compatible.

 What good for SI:

- The old Game will not compatible with the new Database, e.g. Game 20 will work with Database 19, but Game 19 with not work Database 20. So people will still need to buy the new Games

- Each new Games come with the free Database for the year and winter update (same as now)

- People can now buy Database for previous season (New income for SI!)

 

Or an even bold idea is have a universal/customized interface (free) + Game engine (sale separately, update every couple of years) + Database (sale separately, update every year). 

How do you guys think?

[forameuss]

There is no benefit to SI for doing this, and I expect it would be against most of the licenses they hold.  Plus from a technical perspective, how are you supposed to code for everything you are going to change in future?  There's no way you can do that 100% reliably.  It'll never happen. 

[Spurs08]

forameuss is absolutely right about licensing. But even if that weren't the case, I can never understand why people suggest that SI release FM only once every two years, or some variation like this (some years only having a DB update, presumably much cheaper). They don't seem to have any issue at all with customer retention, the numbers improve year-on-year and the game is notoriously addictive. It just seems like a sure-fire way to lose lots of money.

[forameuss]

55 minutes ago, Spurs08 said:

forameuss is absolutely right about licensing. But even if that weren't the case, I can never understand why people suggest that SI release FM only once every two years, or some variation like this (some years only having a DB update, presumably much cheaper). They don't seem to have any issue at all with customer retention, the numbers improve year-on-year and the game is notoriously addictive. It just seems like a sure-fire way to lose lots of money.

People struggle to see the bigger picture, or at least just don't want to.  From their perspective, it seems a no brainer.  They don't like buying the game every year as they don't feel like they get value, so they think it follows that them releasing every 2 years will fix that.  From their perspective it might, but there's very, very little upside to doing so from SI's perspective.  At the end of the day, that's the main thing.

And on changing the release cycle and the like, I have yet to see one even slightly convincing argument in favour of it.  Not one.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

It also seems a lot of work (and testing) for a feature that next to nobody will use - I don't think I've ever seen someone want to play this seasons game with last seasons data? (apart from requests for legends database though they mix data from various years rather than just the world from one year) If anything people want to play last seasons game with this seasons data.

This is also a lot more work than you'd think as the database doesn't just cover players but clubs, leagues, managers etc which has knock on affects elsewhere in the game - for example you play FM19 with FM18's database does this mean Stoke for example are a Championship or Prem side in your FM19 game?

[Nobby_McDonald]

You would mention Stoke.