Football Manager and LIFE!

[Livelihood13]

Hello all,

Long time FM player here (aged 33 now), obviously FM was my hobby of choice throughout my teenage years, however the older I am getting the more it seems I am reading or thinking more about the game than actually playing it.

I can’t remember the last long-term save I had now, I’ve had brief runs on FM Touch in recent years and always get tempted to play the full game on my laptop, however on the other hand even the thought of the full fat version seems a chore at times. Especially after work!

How has your relationship with FM developed over the years? Do you still play the full fat version, or have you migrated to Console or Touch?

Also how do you manage your time on the game, I understand how streamers or teenagers can enjoy the game for what it is trying to be - but I’m intrigued to see how a typical adult working a full time job, with a family and life manages to play the game. Is there certain play styles or little hacks I’m missing!? As I say, intrigued to hear about your relationships with FM and how they may have changed!

Thanks!

[Jonthedon26]

1 hour ago, Livelihood13 said:

Hello all,

Long time FM player here (aged 33 now), obviously FM was my hobby of choice throughout my teenage years, however the older I am getting the more it seems I am reading or thinking more about the game than actually playing it.

I can’t remember the last long-term save I had now, I’ve had brief runs on FM Touch in recent years and always get tempted to play the full game on my laptop, however on the other hand even the thought of the full fat version seems a chore at times. Especially after work!

How has your relationship with FM developed over the years? Do you still play the full fat version, or have you migrated to Console or Touch?

Also how do you manage your time on the game, I understand how streamers or teenagers can enjoy the game for what it is trying to be - but I’m intrigued to see how a typical adult working a full time job, with a family and life manages to play the game. Is there certain play styles or little hacks I’m missing!? As I say, intrigued to hear about your relationships with FM and how they may have changed!

Thanks!

I am in a similar position to you, fast approaching 40 with a child and I work 3 jobs. For me I have now just accepted that I am not going to be able to get through loads of seasons, and each iteration I aim to get between 5-10 seasons done. I play the full fat version, but outside of initially setting up my tactics, staff, training etc, I can get through a season fairly quickly. I have matches on commentary only, and I have changed the settings so that there are less breaks when processing days. I don't delegate any tasks either, I do them all myself. I could carry on with the saves if I want to get 30 seasons done and just not buy a new version for a few years, but I am quite happy to just get 5-10 seasons done and then move on to the next version. I only every manage my team (Birmingham City) and don't really ever feel inclined to manage anyone else so that helps. 

[XaW]

Well as a father to a small child, and just turned 40, I think my situation is about the same as many others. I do have some advantages that lets me both spend time here on the forum, but also play FM quite a bit. First of all, I have a flexible job (flexible hours and option to work from home a lot) that let me deal with my family life pretty well and that gives me a bit more free time. I also have a wife that likes to play her own games and also appreciate her own time. And we often watch some TV series together after the kid is put to bed as we then have a laptop each with our own games (I play FM of course) while we watch the series. This usually gives me at least an hour or two each evening to enjoy FM if I wish to keep my addiction going strong! Neither of us are very sociable either, and we mostly do stuff with friends or family in the weekends, so it works out well!   

I think being married to someone who understand that FM (and gaming in general) is my way of blowing off steam after a workday is the key for me to actually spend time gaming much at all. I'm not one who likes tinkering with a car or drinking beers with my friends all the time, or anything else like that. FM is my hobby and my wife supports me in my choice of hobby (much cheaper than cars or drinking after all! ), and I know that's not something all partners do.

When my kid gets older I know it will be different, but I still think I'll still have some FM time. When my kid is older, I intend to recruit the next generation to this game after all!

[StephenFMT17]

I’ve hit that 40 year old brick wall too  My main FM playing time comes on the work commute with FM Touch on my iPad or iPhone. It’s not the full fat game nor is it the mobile game. I typically get through 5+ seasons depending on a number of factors. My home time is now largely together time with my fiancée 

[JAwtunes]

Being autistic probably helps me. I only have a few narrow interests (namely FM, football and my 🦎 🦎) so I just do what I enjoy 😁. Socialising just gets in the way of having fun!

My youngest son is 14 now and has been hooked on FM (and CM, I started him there as it's easier for a young kid) for about 4 years now. I think we can all agree that I am the best parent lol.

[Feddo]

I've played FM for almost 30 years now and like yourself dont have the time, nor the will to play long sessions. Every now and then on a long weekend, holiday or when I have a night in an empty house I play 3 or 4 hours. 

My routine these days is a couple of times during the week I play somewhere between 1 and 4 matches. I play FMT20, and am still in my one big save from that version.

I've redone it 3 times though, or am in my third time now. First time, just go and win all. Second time it was an attempt to some kind of all star selection of my favourite players from that save. Now its allmost youth only.

I have tried the full game but my laptop is maxed out on its rams, so its tripping all the time. Will get a better one when fm25 comes around. Because I do miss the new stats, extra subs from the last years. And a bit more in depth with youth development would also be nice.

[Hansaplast]

On 21/08/2024 at 10:31, JAwtunes said:

Being autistic probably helps me. I only have a few narrow interests (namely FM, football and my 🦎 🦎) so I just do what I enjoy 😁. Socialising just gets in the way of having fun!

My youngest son is 14 now and has been hooked on FM (and CM, I started him there as it's easier for a young kid) for about 4 years now. I think we can all agree that I am the best parent lol.

Thanks for being so open.
Myself I was diagnosed 25 years ago with ADHD und recently I've realized that I'm enjoying many autistic traits 

My recurring themes are Football + Football manager, History, motorcycles and mens clothing(Japan).

The order is changing and for a period of time one interest remains dormant, but they always come back.

In the last couple of months my interest in FM has declined and I hope that FM25 brings the joy back.

 

Edited August 24 by Hansaplast

[flogside]

Yep, totally relate to everyone else here. I have had to accept that I probably prefer thinking about FM more than playing it now. Im 40 soon and you just dont have the time nor inclination to play for 8 plus hours on end.  I havnt got into it properly from around 2012-2014 and recently tried 2024 and ended up uninstalling it. Its just far too tedious to play and setup, plus I like the stats and attributes, scouting and finding great players but it felt like all i was doing was clicking in and out of screens and not getting anywhere. Again, this is partly on me but I still harbour fantasies of taking Southend up through the leagues, or building up a Swiss or Austrian smaller club to get into Europe or something similarly as obscure. Just isnt likely to happen now with how life is and how bogged down the game has become. Sad times!

[Spallo]

Had to give my two (or more) cents to this topic.

With 43 years old and five kids I seem to be worse off than the most of long time players or lets call us riper adults 

But I am a freelancer and have the luxury to work when there is the time for it - although I have deadlines and clients, there is a lot of freedom timewise - except for my bunch of kids of course, which are in the age range of 1 to 13. But still I can manage a few hours here and there for our one true love ... 

And I even play long-term-saves, but I never bought FM every year - my last version was 21 und before that even 14 and before that 10 if I am not mistaken. FM24 I had to get for obvious reasons. And so I logged quite a few hours on the different versions, play mostly with ridiculous databases, because I am in no rush to get seasons done. But most importantly - and some maybe get to call me not a good dad for that - FM looks not like an obvious game to younger kids  So it is not that uncommon, that FM is goin through the days in the background, while the kids are storming through the house, doin their stuff, want stuff, argue etc. and here and there I do a few clicks  Obviously my two older ones know what I am doin (but sadly are those new generation of gamers with no attention span whatsoever) and it gets tricky with the matchdays, but just simulating a week in this manner lets me get one or two more matchdays more in a real session ...

I will play FM24 for the next few years, till the new engine-thing gets settled and maybe (just maybe) the match-engine gets an overhaul in the next few years. The latter, if sucessfull, would be an obvious reason to buy the newest one of course. Till then I will definitely have a youth-only challenge with daveincid realism pack and a mostly complete league structure of the whole of europe 

Edited August 27 by Spallo

[Moniola]

35 years old married with kids here. I´ve played for about 25 years, and I´m happy to say that the older I´ve gotten the more I´ve come to play! My one rule has always been that I can´t let FM interfere with everyday life, so wife, kids and work always come first. FM is a way for me to relax and enjoy myself a bit though, so I always make sure to play whenever I don´t have anything else to do; for example when the kids are asleep and my wife watches gilmore girls or whatever 35-year old women watch these days, I play FM.

Me and a friend who lives nearby also meet up for a couple of hours on a set time every other week to play fm. This way my family knows in advance that every other tuesday between 6-9pm I´m playing FM. Same thing here though, this won´t interfere with everyday life since I always make sure we've had dinner and stuff before I head out.

FM is a huge part of my life and I could never live without it, which is why I've always made time for myself to play.

[El Payaso]

Things have changed a lot for me in terms of playing FM. About ten years ago, being single and other fun stuff like that, allowed me to spend days off mainly playing FM. Not full days but maybe 3-4 hours per day. 

Nowadays it's different and I might manage a match or two every now and then. This approach works the best for me as I have the motivation to focus on detail and really manage the matches instead of just see how things pan out for me. 

Nowadays I also have those periods where I might take weeks away from the game after either losing the motivation or just for the sake of it. 

About ten years ago, I also used to play longer term saves, at least 5-6 seasons, but as I think that FM doesn't really work well for career type of gameplay, it actually works better for me when I play 2-3 seasons and pay lot of attention to detail. 

As I usually like to put my full effort on one save, my main hope for FM 2025 is that the game would work better for longer careers and that I would be able to enjoy a save for a bit longer than just one and a half season or so. 

[John Joe O'toole]

I think with age and everything that comes with it can restrict playing time. 
 

I am 34 with 3 kids and I play a lot less than I used to obviously. I normally play a few matches in the morning and after they go to bed so still manage it most days. The full fat version. Probably 1 day a week I won’t play it at all. 

[Smurf]

I work from home, so have the house to myself for most of the day. One laptop for work, one for FM. 
I play most of the day. It's the sort of game you can let run in the background and dip in and out of. 

I've played CM when I was a kid, and then FM me and my brother play all the time. He's since moved to the other side of the globe with his family and we still play and talk about FM to this day.