Piperita

I am a German bread snob. The very idea made me wince.

I'm just gonna drop in to say 'midnight release'. Why? If I can not go to bed on time, I need some company here <3

It all depends on what you want from a game. I have a small laptop museum at home by now. But my budget laptop (210€ on offer, 300€ normal) from 2012 still runs a lot of modern games well enough on low settings and is still my current go-to machine. I have over 200 hours on CK3 on it for example (although to be fair, 10 are probably just loading a save ^^) and most turn-based games (AOW3, CIV) make no problems at all. Even though that laptop is absolutely out of date and should not be able to run such games. But a tiny bit of patience and some lower settings and it still works for a lot of games. It's been ten year, so at normal cost 30€/year or 2.5€/month. Which is an absolutely fair prize for thousands of hours of entertainment and all the other thigns that can be done on it and for that monthly cost I can expect an upgrade once a decade. Or even two if one has some standards, unlike me ^^ My 11 year old gaming beast (2000€ back then) still runs quite well, even for more intensive games. It is roughly is on par with a current 500-600€ machine (only that those machines have a quarter of the weight and are way quieter). I guess on lower settings and for more casual games I could easily get another five years out of it, probably even eight to ten if I stretched. I don't expect anyone who is more casual to make such purchases for essentially one game but for those there are those budget models. Someone said earlier something like "The specs only say your system can run it, not how well". For more casual gamers 300 bucks can last eternities, only the detail settings suffer towards the end. A look towards used or refurbished gears could add even more years. Why? Modern games that are more than just "look at that graphic!" are programmed really well and get the most out of the hardware. As long as some base requirements are met so that it can run at all, it *will* run. Just not exactly in a way most people would call "fluid". I don't know the stats of FM-players and who plays on old potatoes (said 2012 model isn't even the worst one I used) and I really hope there are preparations made for when the balance shifts. Because I can foresee it going quite quickly someyear in the future.

Right, timezones. My old enemy shows itself again.

Was it 20 where the beta was well-regarded besides the long-shot issue and the full version completely changed everything around?

Update: Definitely early Thursday. My workplace just scheduled an early meeting. If I also get a mail from the postal service that my laptop's shipment will be late, there's no way for it to come any other day. I am just jinxed that way.

I may have misread the cards. I was betting on early Thursday because that would give me around 10 hours of anxiety whether to start the game or wait for my new laptop to arrive. But there are two new options open now: Today, in around an hour. I'll be off early today and would miss the fun. Or Friday around noon because then there's kitchen shopping time with the family. I think I need to lock myself in and miss Fridays for "work reasons" so that that day is out. Maybe I'll even do some legitimate work today and cut myself completely off. Just max all the possible jinxies!

*sits down*

I want him to appear and rickroll us with the announcement. I feed on chaos!

Having spent the last week getting back into the groove, I think I have to make a rather radical statement: It is not the problem what is in the headline features, the current concept of headline features itself is the problem. For me FM22 was a really good iteration. I had my fun and it ran exceptionally well, even smoother than FM21 which already gave my old system a nice boost. But the more I experimented or started to "roleplay" instead of game the system, the more certain flaws became apparent and, at least according to feedback/general reactions, I wasn't the only one who noticed in many respects. All we know shortly before release is a list of new (or "new") features but we know nothing about how the changes from last year were expanded or how some more tiresome aspects were changed. A secondary (or even tertiary) list would have been welcome to communicate all the little or not so little details that may not be big or really new but built upon the past. Keep one list for headliners but make them worth the while and try to give them a "theme" if possible. Focus on new features and additions or really big expansions of older features. The change in defensive play would be one -- Not only is that something big but it comes with some changed TIs but it opens new venues and proper defenses might be an actual counter to the almighty Gegenpress. Fan dynamics either is very big or could be the start of something big. The squad planner is a nice addition and a new feature and in combination with new datasets, it sets a focus on the squad building and -managing aspect of the game. These form a solid base and could believably form the selling points and the "focus"/"motto" of this year. Last year there was buzz about long-term saves. This year could have been "Club identity" -- we are promised options to play "good" defensive football AND have better management tools to shape the squad (planner and agents) AND have a second source of culture next to the board's demand. But instead of a focus and a "philosophy", the focus lies on that infamous watch and the timeline that some people read to just be a graphics update to existing data. Second list could be all the minor features and snippets and what is worth talking about but is not part of the big theme or not one of the "wow"-features. Personally, I favor updates and lists that build upon what we have. Updates in regards to the last year's features and flaws. For a chunkier update it could read something like: "Last year we added team meetings. To better integrate them into the workflow of the game and make them more relevant to the manager, we made the following changes: 1) The manager can better control what topics they need updates about. Topics can be pushed back to the "big" meetings at start/middle/end of the season, disabled entirely, or even be marked "low/high priority". 2) More contextual advise. Especially for player traits and morale, the advisors will state a more succinct and logical reason behind their advise. On that note, they will also now take into account player's positions before recommending new traits -- no more "should run down the center" for your player who almost always plays as winger! 3) Coach personalities. Coaches are more likely to make recommendations that fit into their personal favoured tactics. They are also more likely to make mistakes when their relevant stats are lacking or to guide a player to "golden" options if they are particularly skilled themselves 4) Integration with the Data Hub: Your coaches now read the reports and can give more contextual advise on where you might ned to make improvements or what you can and should focus upon" But it could also be something simple like "Last year we added the Data Hub. For better functionality we added more data points, particularly in regards to X." Show us that the "old" features are not forgotten about and are part of the evolving game and not "just" an attraction for a year that then merely continues to exist in the shadow of new shiny things. I am not saying that this happens; there have been changes in the past and there have been chunks teased here and there but I think this evolution and a signalisation that features keep getting expanded or that the devs are working on less stellar elements of past versions. Another list could be about additions that are a teaser or part of coming bigger changes. Use them and highlight them. We get to see glimpses of larger coming projects and SI gets some early feedback to the general theme. Or we could get incremental development towards a more loose theme. An example for incremental development: I spoke earlier about National Management. Don't make that a really large focus but add parts to the game that affect NM-management more. Player relations, player stories, expectation management, experience mattering, morale fluctuation, a downpour from national success to the leagues and clubs. Most of these elements by themselves could be made into headliners. But for each of these elements there are also some large connectors to national management that really come into play in that part of the game. Highlight them and showcase them as part of the "masterplan international management" -- They are good features themselves but they are also part of something larger! An example for teasers: Fan confidence. Granted, I don't know exactly how it will be implemented but according to Remy it is not fully dynamic. It looks like something that will have an impact and shows us new aspects of the game but is not at its final stage. There could be much more to come but we already get a nice introduction.

I'd have continued my beta-save if I didn't leave the editor checked (it is so easy to ignore when it isn't available for the first hundred hours or so). There were only minor amounts of weirdness in the attributes but it had something I always miss in full releases: Lots of high-level talents in lower leagues. Scouting was actually fun before the flood of newgens because there actually were "hidden gems" whereas the full game considerably toned them down.

I hope there will be no grandmas here. Otherwise I'd feel obligated to spam Subwoolfer and there is only so much of them until someone's workplace says "not safe!"

So does Covid. Just imagine FM to have a similar growth and release schedule. Who needs the beta when there are plenty of Greek letters still to go?

The DLFa can be really cranked up to if he gets ALL the PPM to dribble. Runs Often, Runs Centre, Beats Man Repeatedly. I had a reserve player who had "Plays with back to goal". That really set the (I)Wa and CMa into motion and worked wonders for late arrivals but I have yet to test that with a more proper player. The Important TI were *Much Higher Defensive Line *Offside Trap Against much weaker Teams I also used an aggressive mentality and slightly lower tempo. With the double-IWBs I also distribute to the fullbacks, otherwise I leave it to the GK.

Inside scoop: The beta will be released on Thursday, roughly 8am MEZ. Source: I ordered a new laptop scheduled to arrive that day "between 8am and 10pm". Knowing my luck, the beta will drop early that same day but still within the scheduled time, making me more and more antsy between "play now!" and "Just one more hour!". Thankfully training schedules and views are cloud compatible

Question about player development: Is it possible that players are on a certain "development" path that they can not stray too far from? I spent 5 years (16 to 21) training what I wanted to be my new wingback. His crossing went from 5 to 7 despite constant individual training and lots of "Attacking - Overload" sessions. Meanwhile his other stats skyrocketed. Or my goalkeeper who grew from 12 Reach/Jumping to 20 each and got some nice general goalkeeping attributes despite me training him as a SKd with "Distribution - Short" focus and at least one, mostly two weekly Distribution sessions. I see players aged 21 to 24 mostly incrasing through individual training and only minor increases about everywhere else. Is that like that from the beginning, only masked by the general rapid development? Players have a relatively clear progression and we only fine-tune it in some places?

Roles: 1) CMa: Lots of depth penetration. As dangerous from afar as from inside the box. Can also play some good and dangerous passes AND is aggressive aginst the ball, tackling and pressing quite well. 2) Wa: What else is there to say? One of the most dangerous roles in attack who always overperforms. 3) AMa: A role that is really balanced between goals/assists and adds a bit of everything. Sometimes something solid is all I need. 4) IFs (high Jumping+Heading): IFs are fine. But one with good aerial abilities and movement? Especially when the other side has some aggressive players like Wa or CWBa? Then they really begin to shine and can compete for top scorers, even against more agressive roles in the team and when not the best player all around. No idea why but my youth prospects in this position regularly grew to a JR of about 16 ^^ 5) DLFa: I played this role a lot this year and it is just rock-solid. Due to the combination of attacking mentality and no fixed "Get Further Forwards", it can be tweaked a lot. I used mine with PPMs to drop deeper but dribble a lot and play one-twos. Which is just amazing as the player sets his teammates into motions that are still further forwards but also runs aggressively forwards. A nice and steady dual-threat! Formations: This year I mostly cheesed it with a 4231 but with a small twist: A CMa in the middle. Worked fine, particularly the offensive side with CMa and Wa. But unfortunately, so do almost all 4231-formations. I had a small run with a 4312 and 4321 as well. Was nice for a change and got me plenty of different attacking patterns but was not entirely my kind of football. Weirdly enough no 3ATB-formations this year, despite the WCB-role. However, most fun was the short run with a 4132 I had last week. No idea why I didn't use it more. Probably for my second beta-save this time 'round. I have ideas! Same goes for the good ol' 433 unless I use it this week until I can't stand it anymore.

I am for something new this year: Full game releases next week, Beta early November. Nobody knows how or why but it will be glorious!

For me the pass completion itself isn't the problem. Higher up the pitch or for risky playmakers/aggressive wingers it is absolutely fine. I think the base reason is general number inflation. Players run a lot more in game (I am at about 20 kilometres more per game than the most running intensive teams in the BL). They usually have a lot more touches (the amount of 100+ per game is insane!). They play more passes (naturally with more possession). But the amount of shots/chances is comparable to real life. Thus a player still has about the same amount of "risky" passes forwards but if they fail, they have a lot more "safe" passes added to keep their passing success amazingly high. If the amount of needless "safety passes" were reduced and the general amount of touches/chance were more akin to real life, the completion rates would look better. Right now there is too little general risk and more "padding" in gameplay. If we focus purely on the passing percentages per safe/medium safe/risky pass, it should look about right but the composition between the pass types is biased towards more safe options. Especially because the worse teams in the league play extra safe and with no risk and essentially just wait until quality beats them whereas in real life they more often than not take extra risks to make quick transitions forwards (good ol' hoofball!).

I should try that sometimes. People already tell me that I have the face of their favourite wonderkid so I should be fine :P

The weirdest thing this year must be that "when beta" can almost seamlessly transition into "when winter update" due to the long winter break and potential for early transfers. I hope that this will keep my hype up and not make me wait even longer for my main save to start! Right now I am still "full hype", eternally subbing five players and a promised focus on stats and defensive play alone makes me happy enough, not to mention the joy of being a stats nerd. I think I'm gonna start with Union this year to see if I can replicate that heavy defense with quick transitions. Hopefully without having to answer questions about low possession every single game! As for my main save, I am unsure whether to start my obligatory Wolfsburg file early or to experiment a bit more. The wide centrebacks are still yearning for attention. As are my ideas for what I want to play. Currently I am struggling between a 4132 (one of my favourite formations) and two 4123s. One a bit gamey, one more realistic. As for dates, I am still feeling the 20th. Just enough time for my new laptop to arrive and with another "short" Friday work day enough time to bingeplay the weekend which probably means "set up custom views, training and set pieces".

I remember how much the ME changed between beta and full release in the past years. I don't want to know how much changes it will still go through until it is beta-ready.

The way some people are talking, it feels like the "glorified database update" should become a "glorified graphics pack". While those are nice, I tend to favor actual gameplay. Sure, things could be better but is that all some people care about? -------------------- My theory for the perceived downgrade between 17 and further versions (can't say much myself as I played 17 mostly in 2D) lies in the changes in tactics creation and the plethora of new roles. We got the PFa, MEZ, VOL, CAR, WCB as new roles (I think non-support IWB as well but I am not sure). We got underlaps/overlaps for individual sides and an overhaul of fluidity. Like someone said before, the game does a lot of calculations between scenes and I guess all these additions and changes only added to that. We are six years from the release of 17 and we apparently still have a sizable amount of potato-players. How must it have looked half a dozen years ago? So they prioritised gameplay over graphics (which I whole-heartedly approve of!). We got a better game for it and that I can respect. One day the specs will rise and with it some a lot can come back at once. The code for stadium and pitch generation should still lie around and should not affect too much else. Player modelling probably already has their own team. A lot of stats are already calculated but not really used, like half chances, kinds of CCC, or crosses from open play. There could be a new focus on simultaneous calculations or on events getting more outcomes, be it visual (e.g. dribblings get more "styles" as returned result) or as input (e.g. those "styles" come with their own risk/reward and that affects the result) . I could imagine that these massive changes to game calculation took a lot of resources and that there were a few hardships along the way. I remember quite a few early hickups with the additions! What I have to give to the devs, they did some marvels under the hood after FM20. 21 dramatically increased speeds and 22 gave it another boost. The game really is running well right now and I know from experience that optimising code and creating a usable base for big updates requiring new systems can be messy and bigger than most visible features. With that we can get more from any "upgrade" and maybe not suffer any of the usual side-effects of creating a boatload more calculations.