Where to Begin???

[Blocker11]

I've been a avid player of pretty much each version of FM for many years.  But recently i've found it difficult to stick with a long term save.

Previously i've managed many 40+ season LLM saves, but nothing has quite hit the right notes this time.

FM24 i've tried - 

LLM - starting with Llandudno

Journeyman - starting with some Polish side

Starting with my favourite team West Ham.

Starting in the Canadian Premier League with Halifax

Each time i get a 1/2 seasons in and my concentration / love for the save disappears!

Any recommendations for style and setup for a new save as i need a save to stick with!

Thanks

[phnompenhandy]

1 hour ago, Blocker11 said:

I've been a avid player of pretty much each version of FM for many years.  But recently i've found it difficult to stick with a long term save.

Previously i've managed many 40+ season LLM saves, but nothing has quite hit the right notes this time.

FM24 i've tried - 

LLM - starting with Llandudno

Journeyman - starting with some Polish side

Starting with my favourite team West Ham.

Starting in the Canadian Premier League with Halifax

Each time i get a 1/2 seasons in and my concentration / love for the save disappears!

Any recommendations for style and setup for a new save as i need a save to stick with!

Thanks

Might as well copy & paste the last post i just wrote:

Quote

There are lower league down to Tier 7 and down to Tier 10 Welsh dbs with Tier 3 down all amateur. Starting at the bottom there with academy kids only is really hard!

What makes the 'normal' challenges boring for me is the squad building. DoFs and scouts recommend players way above your level who agree to join, while the AI fails to strengthen its squads. But Academy-Only takes away the unfair advantage. But the vanilla Tier 6 English leagues are too high for my tastes and don't turn me on. My last save was a journeyman where I had Scotland to T13, Wales to T7, Rep Ireland to Tier 8 and Northern Ireland to Tier 15. That was a trial-and-error save that soon proved too tough! I've also loaded lower league dbs of Monaco, Vatican City, Greenland, not to mention all the Oceanic atolls. There's no end of super-hard challenges.

In addition, given the reaction to the FM25 delay, YouTube is stuffed with content creators making 'last FM24 challenge' videos. Fill your boots!

[forameuss]

Important to note that the answer might be to not play at all.  There's no shame in a game just falling out of favour with you. It happens. Forcing yourself to try and enjoy something you're not enjoying will probably just push you further into that hole.  Best advice is probably just to take a break, do other things, and then in a few months you'll either get that itch and fall back into it, or you'll just find you've moved on. 

[Hovis Dexter]

Agree with @forameuss … give it a break. I did my usual thing of playing for too many hours when I first got FM24 and got bored with the game. Stopped playing in March and intended to wait for FM25. When that was delayed I’ve carried on with my latest save and am really enjoying it.

[Ataraxia]

First, you should ask yourself what you enjoy most about FM and what you enjoyed most about the saves that you've played over the years. Then, look for a situation that would present a similar challenge or experience for you.

Alternatively, instead of planning for a long-term save, plan for a short-term save. Start unemployed and then take over a struggling, relegation-bound club at mid-season. See if you can help them avoid the drop and secure a safe mid-table finish. Once you finish that season, you're done. That's the end of the save. Or, you can stay at the club if you're enjoying it, or you can resign and do the same thing again at the next mid-season. Or, maybe the next challenge will be taking over a team that was supposed to contend for the title but was mired in mid-table and sacked the manager. Can you rescue their season and come back to win the trophy?

Of course, as was mentioned earlier, you could simply take a break. Spend a few months away from FM. You could even wait until the FM25 release. I've gone through long periods where I've played other sims or gotten much deeper into other hobbies and interests, but I eventually come back to FM. So, that's always an option, and it helps keep the game experience fresh.

Personally, I recently started a save where I intended to follow a similar path from my all-time favorite save, in which I started with a lower-league club outside of the big nations, made it to the top flight, won multiple titles, and won a European trophy. In that same save, I then moved to another club in another country, where the team had just been promoted to the second division, and I did the same thing, leading them to multiple top-flight trophies and a European title.

But, in my new save, after two seasons, it all took an unexpected turn when I was offered a good job in the top flight. So, I saved a couple of backups before I made my decision. Then, I took the job. I'm nearing the end of my first season with that top-flight club, and I've managed to exceed expectations. We're in the running for the title, and we should be in line to see a big increase in our transfer and wage budget for the next season. So, I don't regret taking the job, and it's created a new and unexpected challenge that I'm thoroughly enjoying.

 

Edited October 29, 2024 by Ataraxia

[StewartAHannah]

Anyone who has played the game for the last few years for any length of time (per save) understands your frustrations. Far too many moan about the match engine when what is needed is some time spent on the game engine but I doubt ANYONE at SI plays more than a couple of seasons (at best) before ticking off their test sheets. Why is infrastructure upgrades and improvements taken off the bank balance when it would be done with a mortgage and what about the tax advantages? Just got promoted to the Championship having been promoted 3 consecutive seasons and my transfer budget was 2.1m and wage budget 78k my managers salary is 1.4k 10% of the next best managers wage in the league then they offered me a new contract for 1.4k for 3 years like stuff them. Barnsley offered me a job?? But then no real Premiership team offers any English lower league manager a job so I guess that is realistic?? You have to get a promotion under your belt before that happens?? 

Sorry for rant but examples of why the game is so damn frustrating. 

 

Will FM25 be any better ???? Absolutely NOT cos all SI are doing is migrating the game engine as is across, complete JOKE and who in their right mind would pay to play this game? ps I bought this game for its first 10 years, NEVER AGAIN