Alejandro_FM

The text says a "golden generation", but the grade near the player list says "poor intake". Am I missing something?

To me - it's all about the level of attachment. Are you excited about the prospect of CP? Are there players over there that you'd love to manage (prospects, legends or what not)? Are there prospects at Cadiz whom you'd still like to see grow under your tutelage? All in the narrative, man....

That actually makes a lot of sense. Guess I underestimated just how many players may be transferring between unplayable and playable leagues in one window.

Anyone has any idea? I set up a fairly basic game with 13 leagues from 8 nations (essentially top 8 in Europe). The “original” mode database size was about 30k players, and “real world” mode like 80k players. I thought only the first couple of transfer windows were impacted by the game modes. Any idea why the different databases (one has almost triple the number of players)? Am I missing something in the descriptions of the game modes? (Not complaining btw -- just curious how it impacts long term gameplay)

Good to know. Thanks

CDKeys is not on their "approved digital retailer" list -- which I think is this one https://www.sega.com/sega-approved-partner-list (correct me if I am wrong) ... so does not that mean you won't have beta access? Cheapest I've seen on that list (for a US Activation, in USD) is with DLgamer for 23% off. Has anyone found a better deal? I know Fanatical has 22% off with affiliate links, so that's comparable.

There's something in this particular blog that has not been discussed as much and that is the variability in income. I think many will agree that a primary factor of league strength is the size of their TV deal and how it's distributed among the teams in the division. There are a couple of sentences there that say, verbatim: "... Now, there’s greater fluctuation in the income your club receives, thereby creating more dynamism and intrigue in every career. Indeed, you’ll now see that we’ve included fixed-length TV deals. The news items indicating these show changes in a deal’s value and what percentage effect that has on the competition prize money for the seasons the new agreement covers. " Does that mean that we'll see new TV deals for leagues that could change their fortunes and stature? For example, could Serie A at some point in a save get a massive TV deal and surpass the Premier League? If that's possible, that's massive for long term saves. I am not opining on whether it's realistic, btw, just saying it could make for very interesting future game worlds...

I do agree with your point and I do symphathize with the OP too ... my view is just that there's no real issue with the point spread or league parity... I'd like to see all AI teams, super clubs and smaller clubs pose a bit more of a challenge to us human players, and it does sound like they've made an effort to improve that for FM24.

It does happen in the game, sure. But it's not always the case. I've lost the title plenty of times to teams that had 90+ points in both the EPL and La Liga. My feeling is that while the strength of the "big 6" is more even in FM (as opposed to City's dominance IRL), you can still get quite believable tables and point spreads most seasons in FM. Btw - didn't Leicester win the EPL with 81 points in 2016? A more recent example of the league table in the image below:

Kudos on a great season! Nice to follow along. Your thread overall reminded me of what a whirlwind the EPL is in the game. Seems like in your 9 seasons there have been 4-5 different champions. Hard to imagine that happening in any of the other top leagues. And the competition remains fierce despite your solid transfers and tactical adjustments. All the ingredients for a good long term save...

Sounds like a lot of fun. Is the way you're doing this is placing your hired "managers" (e.g., Bielsa, Seoane) as assistant managers in the game?

I think this is a really critical aspect of catering to a wider audience (which they want to do). Varying levels of micro-management, time spent in the game, should not feel like tradeoffs for the user. They should not be achieved by delegating tasks. They should be different game modes - GM/DoF Mode, Coach Mode, Sandbox Mode (in which you customize what you experience and control perhaps). These modes are important to accommodate different playing styles, and also for role-playing and immersion.

Thank you both. Decided to go with Kolo. We do need someone to score now, so we'll take the plunge. A financial factor that helps is that Spurs are paying 65m (up to 72m) for Daka, so twice as much as Kolo is costing me (and the wages are within 10-20% of each other), so that helps.

In my second season with Leicester. Spurs came in for Patson Daka and I am looking to buy a replacement (as a regular starter, as Vardy already left). I have money to spend, but I don't necessarily want to spend big. I'd like to make a transfer that would be somewhat realistic for a team like us. We will be playing in Europe btw in this coming season. The two available finalists I've landed on -- both of whom fit our tactical style quite well: Randal Kolo Muani from Frankfurt. He's 24, very physical and quick, with excellent dribbling and flair. Frankfurt agreed to 28m upfront (up to 32m with add ons). Will cost 5m/year in wages (25k app fee, 12k goal fee). Sergio Camello from Atletico Madrid. He's 22, a clinical finisher with great movement. Atleti agreed to 12.5m upfront (up to 16m with add ons). Will cost 3.5m/year in wages (18k app fee, 12k goal fee). So overall: Kolo Muani is objectively a better player at this stage. He's quicker, and slightly better on the ball. He's also assessed as "good player for the EPL" by my scouts, whereas Camello is a "useful backup". That being said, Kolo Muani is also twice as expensive to buy, and ~50% more expensive in wages. Now, I am looking for someone to lead the line for ~2 seasons until the 5* prospect I have waiting in the wing can take over, so this is not our "forever" striker. On one hand, that means Kolo Muani makes a lot of sense because he's already ready to start, whereas Camello needs a bit of development. But then again, I am worried that it'll be a bit challenging to flip Kolo Muani in the transfer market later on given the relatively high wages and high transfer fee we pay. What does the brain trust think? Any additional considerations? Who would you have gone with?

Love the Andalusia story, and your thoughtful approach to tactics and training. I did a Cordoba CF save in the region on FM21 which started in the third tier, and lasted 15 seasons into La Liga (1 title).

For similar reasons, I'd also say England or Spain give you the best shot... Completely based on my personal experience, to have a challenge once you've made it to the top a few years in, you kind of need 2 things: (1) The top 2-3 teams have to stay strong and continue to invest and compete for the top talent and (2) other teams in the league need to be play competitively with you and "steal" points. The second condition is what rules out France, as I've found in long term saves that as good as PSG were, I was not dropping points against the rest of the league and was creating a nice cushion at the top of the table regardless of my matches with PSG. In Spain - you might still drop the occasional point to Sociedad on the road, or a random home loss to Valencia, and Real + Barca will be there to capitalize... In my most recent season (2036), I just came second with 98 points to Real with 101.