Junkhead

The stars aren't the only context, I think was the point @Wavelberry was making. As well as current attributes, the scouts will often say what level they believe the player will reach. So if you're in League 2 and have a choice between 2x 5 Star potential players, one report might say "Has the potential to be a decent League One Winger", whereas the other might say "Could become a leading Premier League player". Both could play at a higher level and are better than what you have, but one is clearly higher potential than the other. Also, in my experience, it DOES matter which scouts you have. The better scouts get things right more often, and give you more detail within their reports.

5 mins a week is about right - which is fine for me. As we've said, it can be a personal thing. I'd rather a living, breathing world with loads of variance - the time is a sacrifice I'm willing to make. This may be why I'm still on FM22 though....

It's genuinely fine - only takes a few minutes to get through a week. I'm playing in Brazil too so hundreds of games a year 😂

https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/laptops/matebook-16/buy/ FM22 this is btw, didn't get 23 so not sure what the speed difference is but I imagine if anything it's optimized further. Always played with loads of leagues so this might not be ok speed wise for some people, but I am fine with it. Would sacrifice a tiny bit of speed for an immersive, active game world any day

Obviously doesn't show all the leagues - 100 playable.

I ask because I had this 3-4 versions back with a graphics driver causing problems - NVidia GeForce too. Crashed my whole computer on either saving or starting the game. Ended up having to do a full reinstall.

Have you by any chance recently updated your graphics drivers?

Thought I would check in & see how everyone is getting on Not been about recently as decided not to buy FM23 which makes me feel really disconnected on the boards. I haven't stopped playing though, loving my FM22 game at Manaus in Brazil. They are easily the best team in their State Competition which means I'm basically able to use that as a prolonged series of friendlies to properly prepare for the league season. This seems to have given me a real advantage in the league - having just avoided relegation in the first season, I managed to win Serie C in season 2 and am now preparing for the clubs first ever season in the second tier. I've not done my usual trick of constantly restarting the game having replaced my trusty desktop with a laptop. I didn't have the space to leave the desktop set up so every time I fancied a quick game, I was having to move the monitor sometimes halfway across the room & bring a small table in from elsewhere. So I rarely bothered. Now though, I'm able to just boot up and play a quick match - staying involved in my game has made a massive difference. Hope everyone is well & enjoying their games!

Just wanted to thank @kevhamster& @Smurfagain for all the advice they give on this thread. Santa bought me a Huawei Matebook 16 and it is absolutely flying on my FM22 save with 100 countries and 220 odd leagues active. Can't recommend it enough.

No, I think you misunderstand me - you're 100% right with your post re. where we are currently at, and that FM isn't in a position to do what I suggested. And of course I appreciate that literally infinite possibilities and instructions - as you rightly say - is very unlikely. But surely what I have suggested - IE a representation of an actual football match, and as close as possible to accurate attributes across all leagues is what SI are ultimately aiming for as they consider the game a simulation. And, if the game was more realistic (in pretty much every way), then it would also be harder, which is what the majority seem to want. So, if what we are seeing in FM23 is teams that are at opposite ends of multiple leagues when compared to real life, and certain tactics dominating (which they don't in real life) then we are further away from the realism that SI are aiming for and from the difficulty level we all want. If we focus on the limitations which are currently there and accept them as permanent then there is little point discussing the difficulty level because nothing will change.

This is the point though isn't it? The AI versions of real managers should set up like their real life counterparts, and initially achieve similar results. If manager and player attributes were accurate and tactics worked as well as they should compared to real life, playing with the first transfer window off should result in a league table by 1st Jan that is very similar to the table IRL (obviously accounting for injuries, luck & chance, refereeing decisions, etc, which would likely balance out over that 15-20 games anyway). It is at this point when we can safely say that everything is closer to real life and realistic. I've not got FM23, but if Ebbsfleet are bottom (top irl) and Concord are top (21st irl) in the first season, with no transfers, happening across multiple saves and set ups, then either there is a problem with attributes or the way the match engine works. In my opinion of course.

Update - Cobh save on FM22 properly up and running. Bottom of the league after six games with a single point. Told you, @phnompenhandy

I had this issue with the FM20 beta after updating my Nvidia graphics drivers. It wasn't FM itself breaking things, however loading FM caused it to break (if that makes sense). It was the actual driver at fault. Ended up having to do a full windows reinstall. Installed the graphics driver prior to the one that had caused the problems and no issues in the 2 years since.

Re. Your first point, it's all relative. Most DOFs at low levels are useless, but the point is that the majority do have at least some reputation within the game, even if their attributes are poor. My point is that I don't think the user should be able to change entire backroom structures at clubs the second they walk in. Coaching staff, yes. But DOFs, HOYD, even recruitment and medical teams, no. Maybe, with the example I gave, this is another way in which starting rep could be implemented. If I, with Sunday League experience arrive at Southport, they aren't going to get rid of a club legend just because I say so. However, if I had international experience - say Wayne Rooney decided to apply for the job IRL- then existing structures I would think would be very flexible. For me this is something that should change with experience, and add extra layers of challenge to the game.

That's a decent idea - didn't think of that. Thanks! I've put a suggestion in the feature requests area, hopefully it's something they will consider in the future.

Within responsibilities section, we have the option to have DOF, HOYD or Technical director hire staff. I would like to see this expanded. I want to appoint a Head Physio who runs the Physiotherapy team, hiring/firing/contracts etc. Same with Chief Scouts, Performance Coaches etc. Like heads of department. If I have a season with too many injuries, I might then sack my head physio and replace him, and then it would be up to him to identify where the physiotherapy team is going wrong. A manager would not have a clue what the issue was within a physiotherapy team and, as in game, would be going in blind.

1- DOF appointments should work exactly like affiliate clubs. There is no way that an inexperienced Sunday League level manager goes into a club and starts uprooting long tenured DOFs. When the user has built up a successful reputation, he should be given either the option to install who he wants or, even better, given options. In the meantime, the board should always be in charge of hiring/firing the DOF. 2- Over time the user builds certain attributes or traits and favourite formations. The influence of the DOF should be considerably higher, impacting job appointments - IE long tenured DOF has control possession favoured approach, yours is long ball. The two do not align, which should decrease the chances of you getting the job. If you do, the DOF should be on your case to change things, particularly if you have a difficult start. 3- Better logic around retaining managers as DOFs at the start of the game. If the user chooses a starting club with a popular or successful Manager in place, the option to "retain as DOF" shouldn't be there - it should be mandatory. Case in point - Southport, manager Liam Watson. Multiple spells at the club, down as favoured personnel, and irl is on the board of directors. When choosing Southport at the start, the board would be looking to retain Liam Watson (particularly as he is on the board himself ) and he would hold much more influence than the current model allows.

DOF is above the manager in a club hierarchy irl though. This isn't really represented well in game. One of the first things I do at a new club for realism is switch hire/fire of DOF to the chairman or MD in responsibilities. Should be one of those things that you can only control yourself after a long period of time at the club, like picking an affiliate. Liam Watson is also on the board at Southport. They would 100% retain him in some capacity.

Not sure of the answer, but I misread the title as "Football Manager Cosplay" so here I am

You have been polite - I think something has been lost in translation here

I am afraid I'm not quite sure what you are asking here. If I've read it right, you're asking if I mind if you make requests of SI that could change the LLM play style rules. I don't mind, and even if I did, tough! The game belongs to everyone.

Each club has their own budget, each club has their own reputation and each town and city an attraction value that dictates the chances of a player moving to the club. It's already there. I do think ai squad building could be improved at all levels, but I think the big question here is - how many of the other 20-22 clubs in your division- semi pro or amateur - have signed a team full of premier league drop outs? I suspect the answer is none. I would even wager that none of the other clubs have signed a SINGLE free transfer direct from a prem academy. If that's the case, then the answer is self regulation.

Cheers @Brother Ben, knew you would be able to filter a spreadsheet somewhere or what have you - @rristola, think the budgets of these amateur clubs in the vanilla game will give a far more realistic view of where the game is re. amateur teams rather than editor enabled leagues. Understand what you are saying about a blanket rule for lower league teams, and I am not sure how things are in Finland, but in the UK there can be massive differences in the size and financial capabilities of clubs at lower levels. Teams like Rushden, Salford, Gretna etc spring to mind as relatively recent examples of clubs who had insane budgets compared to the rest of their divisions, so a fair rule limiting most clubs would unfairly restrict them and be unrealistic. The size difference of clubs at National League (level 5) in England is huge - Wrexham, Notts County and Oldham are absolutely massive clubs compared to Altrincham and Maidenhead. I think the issue you are talking about is likely that concessions are made to accommodate the user. I bet not a single other club in level 8 offered a contract to a premier League drop out in your save, and even if they did, no one else had 9 of them in their first 11. Not that you've done anything wrong, but what I'm saying is that I don't think limiting entire leagues is the way to go, rather decreasing the likelihood of a premier League drop out signing for a human controlled level 8 club.

In my experience, the budgets and transfer options of teams at the lowest "official" level, IE. The conference north/south are about right. I suspect that the issue you mention with level 8/9 will be that they are additional leagues so there is no officially supported reality to mirror. It might be interesting too look at a couple of teams in the vanilla database who start as amateur though, if there are any. I don't know if there are (there used to be queen's park, but not anymore) - @Brother Ben may have come across some.

Thank you for the confirmation here guys, was letting my low opinion of UEFA drive my logic without actually looking into it. Is the new format in FM22?