[Suggestion] Matchmaking PvP mode with ranked and unranked play as well as global leader boards

[zeeb]

What am I suggesting?

An online matchmaking mode with ELO (or equivalent) ranking where you go against another player searching for a game. Weighted on matching against players of equal ranking.
New players should start at 1000 ELO, to make it simple.

Players should first be able to ban a team (or teams) of their choosing, then select a team they want to play. To simplify who goes first in these picks you can just simulate a coin flip or base it off of the ELO ratings of each player, less goes first.
You could make it so only teams from the top 5 competitions can be chosen; English Premier League, Spanish First Division, Italian Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 Uber Eats. (As long as it remains true)
This should make loading times decent for both players. If you believe the average performance can handle it, feel free to instead include the top 10 competitions, but I think 5 is the absolute minimum and more than 10 unnecessary.

The teams should use the most accurate database that is provided in FM, whichever that is, just to stay as "live" as possible in relation to their squad and staff etc.

Both players are then placed into the pre-match setup and get 5 minutes to make a tactic and choose the roles for their players as well as set pieces etc, then the match starts when either both are ready or automatically when the time runs out.
If a player is AFK and does not select anything, it can default to the tactic the team uses in real life or an empty 4-4-2 for example, whichever you believe is less likely to be abused by players. (To prevent afk ELO farming)
Pre-game team talk should be automatic as to prevent players from wasting time by not selecting an option, same with half time team talks or force a 30 second time limit in events such as this, same goes for events such as injuries or red cards etc.

The match should be played with the Comprehensive setting as to not take too long, but still give enough information so you can tweak the tactic on the fly depending on how it unfolds.

Winner of the match gets ELO points and the loser loses ELO points, on a draw the one with higher ELO should lose points and the one with less ELO should gain points, if they're equal in ELO and draw then no changes should be made.
(This is just an example, I'm sure you will be able to find the best way for this to be applied)

All match results should be saved on each individual player, how many games they've won, lost or draw, as well as the goal results and against who, what team they played and what team the opponent played.
Match recordings doesn't need to be saved by default, it would be nice but not necessary unless you have data storage to spare, players involved in matches should be able to save the games locally though if they want to make compilations, share them or whatever. Auto saving a player's last 5 matches and deleting older ones is another possibility.

 

Why am I suggesting it?

I think a matchmaking mode with ranking and leader boards such as this would be really fun for the player base.

The ranking system and leader boards also provides a way for everyone to know who the current best manager is worldwide in FM.
The unranked version of this is just like what I mentioned above but with no ELO involved, it would be a good platform to practice before you take the step into ranked.

 

Additional advantages?

This could also open the door to FM becoming a competitive title like FIFA.
On the question on how to display it to spectators, you simply never show each player's tactics screen, just the one that shows up when changes are made by a team.
This is both to make spectating enjoyable but also to prevent tactics from being viewed to the public. Players needs the option to keep their tactics private just like in real life.

FM have been stealing FIFA players left and right in recent years and have been growing quite rapidly from what I can tell, I think the time to take this next step is now.
A game mode such as this would not only be fun but provide a foot in the door for FM on the competitive scene. At least in my opinion.

The best thing with FM going competitive is that age does not matter as it does for most competitive games, due to the fact that most games rely on reaction times or quick decisions overall which gets weaker the older you get, but strategic thinking and tactical thinking actually gets better as you age, to a certain point anyway. This in practice means that a 60~ year old could be a competitor in FM tournaments.
Even if that never comes to pass, it's still good to keep that door open, some people just loves to compete and this provides a playground for them to do so when they feel they need to go beyond the AI to challenge themselves further.

If this feature is implemented, I believe it is best highlighted as a primary addition, since you want every player to pay attention to its inclusion to make it become healthy and populated.

Edited October 20, 2023 by zeeb

[Zachary Whyte]

Thank you for the suggestion. We will put this under consideration.