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FuddledFox

Why I will be playing FMM18 instead of the PC version


Why I will be playing FMM18 instead of the PC version

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I first played Championship Manager, as it was known back then in around 1997. A mate of mine in the little village we lived in was lucky enough to have a PC and I used to go round and try to play it. I had already played a few football management sims but this one just felt different to all the rest in a way I still can’t explain. Once my Mum and Dad finally got a PC in around 1999 there was no stopping me. I bought CM3 straight away and racked up the hours managing Barcelona to 5 straight Champions League wins, along with fantasy football type saves with my mates. We were playing ultimate team long before EA thought of it. We would all start with a blank squad and the maximum money that you could get in the pre-game editor and build our squads from there. The battles to sign Nesta or Batistuta for our chosen clubs used to be epic! Then you have the wonderkids from that era with Cherno Samba, Tonton Zola Moukoko and my favourite Kennedy Bakircioglu all living strong in my memory.

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Champ Man hero Kennedy Bakircioglu back in the day.

Since then I have owned every version of the PC game that has been released as well as CM quiz on the PS1 if anyone remembers that. Every year I would either go to the shops on the day of release taking a day’s holiday from work if needs be or I would pre order to download it. The amount of time I have put into this game franchise is unbelievable and still continues. Despite having a family of my own now as well as a full time job and all the other grown up responsibilities that come with them I have played 828 hours (that is over a month of last year playing one game) on FM17 although this is down from 1023 hours for FM16. The reason for this drop? FMM17 of course.

Despite devoting a huge chunk of the last 20 years to the PC version this will be the first year I would guess since 2000 that I won’t buy it on the day of release and maybe not at all. So why am I turning my back on the PC version? I have a perfectly decent laptop that can play it albeit not super-fast and I still have as much time as I did last year to devote to the game. So why the change?

To answer that question we need to go back to the 14th April 2017. I’m on holiday with my wife and daughter but unfortunately my daughter is having one of her common migraines. This means bed for her and Mrs F and I stuck in our accommodation with no chance of site seeing. As I was looking to win husband of the year I hadn’t taken my laptop with us but I did have my new Acer tablet so needing a quick fix of FM I decide to download FMM17. Once downloaded I started a game with Liverpool and instantly I’m a kid again. The game play, tactics, quickness you can sign players and get into matches it’s all like the good old days of CM. Like all holiday romances though your soon home and it was back to the laptop but I kept going back to my tablet for more FMM through the summer. Summer turns to autumn and I find myself playing FMM more and more until I realise it’s all I’m playing. If I look on my steam library I haven’t played PC FM since the 3rd of September and do you know what? I really don’t miss it or have any desire to play it.

So why this change over the last 6 months? With the upcoming release of FM18 I have been watching the teaser videos for it on YouTube and to be honest they leave me feeling cold. It’s not that it looks a bad game or the new features look terrible. In fact it looks well thought out and a definite step up from the last couple of games which have been very similar to each other. I think it is simply the fact that I don’t need these features to enjoy the game. Yes they make it more realistic but to be honest I want to sign players, set tactics and win games and trophies. I’m not bothered by who is friends with who or having my data analyst tell me how far the opposition midfielder runs in a game. I know some of these things are in FMM for example players getting upset because you sold the star man or they aren’t playing but that’s OK it’s around the right level and can be dealt with quite easily without spoiling the save and I do want a certain level of realism.

This isn’t to say FMM is perfect. It could be made more realistic in some ways without ruining the quickness of the gameplay and some more player roles wouldn’t hurt either but in general I love it. I can play a season in a couple of evenings instead of a couple of weeks whilst still feeling I am in charge of the team and that the decisions I make have an impact both before and in match. I sometimes read negative comments about FMM from people who play the PC game but then hear them rave about the good old days of CM 01/02 which is considered just about the best in the series. In fact it was released by SI last year as a free download because it was so popular and I have seen a few YouTubers do series with it. To me that doesn’t make sense as in so many ways FMM is CM 01/02 except we can see the game highlights and don’t just need to read the text. This is why I will be buying FMM18 on the 10th November and not FM18.

I would love to hear your reasons for playing FMM. Maybe you’re like me or maybe your just waiting for the day you can get a better laptop or PC so you can play the full fat version.

Thank you for reading.

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Been playing FM/CM since Domark released the first one but PC version takes up too much time and that's time I don't have. I will be joining you buying FMM18

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Great stuff mate! One of the reasons i stopped playing on the PC was the time it took. FMM is perfect for pick up and play and some tinkering. All though i must admit it put my share of hours in testing tactics, notepad on the side and jotting notes down that its almost PC time again :laugh:

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I really enjoyed that mate, a smart and unique article for this time of year. 

I've never owned a PC version of the game and tbh it's never appealed. One thing that's always been thrown at me when I request more depth in FMM is to "go play FM or FMT" but those aren't the experiences I'm after. I play games to finish them and in FMM terms that means finishing a season or the challenge being played and I personally love that boost of playing that final match. I want fast and frantic gameplay with the option for depth when I want it and not when the game decides I need it. 

The time investment of FM just doesn't appeal at all, I couldn't go through a season that slow and deliberate. I don't play FIFA career mode for a similar reason as I feel it takes way too long to progress, especially compared to FMM. 

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56 minutes ago, Blamm FMM said:

Been playing FM/CM since Domark released the first one but PC version takes up too much time and that's time I don't have. I will be joining you buying FMM18

Wow you have been playing longer than me. Welcome to vibe are you the guy who followed me on Twitter today?

47 minutes ago, PriZe said:

Great stuff mate! One of the reasons i stopped playing on the PC was the time it took. FMM is perfect for pick up and play and some tinkering. All though i must admit it put my share of hours in testing tactics, notepad on the side and jotting notes down that its almost PC time again :laugh:

All those notes come in handy when trying a 2kc though. At least the game is quick to play even if your note taking isn't?

27 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I really enjoyed that mate, a smart and unique article for this time of year. 

I've never owned a PC version of the game and tbh it's never appealed. One thing that's always been thrown at me when I request more depth in FMM is to "go play FM or FMT" but those aren't the experiences I'm after. I play games to finish them and in FMM terms that means finishing a season or the challenge being played and I personally love that boost of playing that final match. I want fast and frantic gameplay with the option for depth when I want it and not when the game decides I need it. 

The time investment of FM just doesn't appeal at all, I couldn't go through a season that slow and deliberate. I don't play FIFA career mode for a similar reason as I feel it takes way too long to progress, especially compared to FMM. 

The micro management of the pc game is what slows it down. I know it is a much more realistic but I'm not sure it's what I want from the game any more. The new game just looks even slower as there will be so much to do between games and with perhaps 2 hours a day to play progression will be to slow. 

I tried FMT earlier in the year and hated it. Just felt like FM with bits removed but FMM just feels right.

It would be interesting to speak to someone who played FMM but then went to PC version and how they found it. I do think SI are in danger of losing the next generation of players because FM is so complex and lacks any kind of tutorial.

 

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Stuff like team talks, media and the game randomly giving you player issues to deal with are just things I CBA with. That's just a time sink. IMO FMM should be about the matches, players/transfers and pick up and play gameplay. 

I want tactical depth as IMO that's the point of the game, everything else is filler. I want to spend time on tactics but I want that "click and play" aspect kept, I want to feel like my team is playing how I want them to but I don't want to be mindlessly assessing every opponent and constantly fiddling or hoping I pick the right multiple choice answer to a daft media question. I basically ignore so much of FMM as I can't be doing with it, I never respond to the media unless I'm actively trying to sell the player, if anyone is unhappy they're sold and I never use the player interactions lol. 

I agree that even FMM doesn't give you the tools to really know what you're doing. At times it assumes you know too much or undetstand the game, for example if a tactic isn't working the game gives next to no useable information. I think Vibe showcases this issue well as just look at how many people come here looking for help or for already created tactics. Another example would be the scouts and coaches, so many new players rely on them and trust them without realising how they work or how they can be wrong, it's all misleading and confusing. People assume these things are there to help when in fact you're better off learning the game and trusting your own judgement. This is why the features I want are tactical and statistics based as I want the options to play how I want and to trust my own opinion. 

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Love the personal touch in this article! All them '70s and '80s kids talking abt CM and FM and here i am never touched one of those before. As a student, the struggle is real! Like i dont have the money for the full PC version which is hella expensive and no time for it either. So i just have to stick to the fast and more economical version of FMM!

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I enjoyed the article :) 
I'm curious though... how did winning "husband of the year" go? From my experience, winning at anything is only temporary until the wife finds something else to complain about :P

The last FM I actually enjoyed a long-term save with was FM12. After that, I'm logging in about a thousands hours each year without really playing; I use it for research purposes in order to compile articles for fmscout. 

One trend I see is the switch from the full-fat FM to FM Touch, which makes a lot of sense as the latter takes away the most annoying and exhaustive aspects of the game (e.g. repetitive conferences, players constantly moaning at you) and allows you to focus on tactics and squad building.

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27 minutes ago, Stam said:

I'm curious though... how did winning "husband of the year" go? From my experience, winning at anything is only temporary until the wife finds something else to complain about :P

Went well.....until i download FMM?

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19 hours ago, PriZe said:

notepad on the side and jotting notes down that its almost PC time again :laugh:

Picked up my new notepad today so I'm ready for the new game. Needs decorating to make it more FMM and Vibe looking though.

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Great post! Really enjoyed reading it.

I will be buying FMM18 too, but will probably get FM18 as I have been playing the game since CM93 on the Commodore Amiga! I actually only ditched the Amiga when CM3 came out as a PC only title!

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Just now, tc109 said:

Great post! Really enjoyed reading it.

I will be buying FMM18 too, but will probably get FM18 as I have been playing the game since CM93 on the Commodore Amiga! I actually only ditched the Amiga when CM3 came out as a PC only title!

Thanks. I loved the Amiga but never had CM on it as far as I remember. I might have to start some kind of Amiga memories thread on here.

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Just now, FuddledFox said:

Thanks. I loved the Amiga but never had CM on it as far as I remember. I might have to start some kind of Amiga memories thread on here.

I have an Amiga Emulator on my Android phone (you can buy Amiga Forever ROMS on Google play) and have CM 94/95 running on my phone!! Ah the memories...

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Once again a simply brilliant article dude

I never really got into the PC version, I dabbled a bit when one of my mates bought it but even back then my goal was team building then playing the game.

Had a few lads in my halls at Uni who played for hours on end but I tried but couldn’t sit through watching them play their part then have my go (it took forever)

But FMH (there you go @Ashez) was great when I picked it up with FMH14 being my first foreay into the game and it’s great as it gives me what I need from a management game.  Pick it up and play done no waiting for the Laptop to load then spend 2 hours playing 2 games (who has that kind of time??)

so I’ll be continuing my FMM experience with 18

 

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Fuddled, yeah started following you on Twitter as well/ I want to get more into the community of FMM. Loved playing CM on Amiga and the first one by Domark was far away from today's game. Didn't even have real players.

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This was certainly an interesting read.

The big reason I never played FM is the fact that it was just so overwhelming. I feel like the learning curve in the new games is massive and it's not something you can just pick up and play without investing time in tinkering with every little detail.

I'm also scared that if I actually got into it I wouldn't be able to stop and then bye bye social life haha XD A bit like what I've always been like with the Civilization series. Another game series you should not play because it will literally eat your time without you knowing where it went (though I love it to bits) :/

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Great write up @FuddledFox

For me my love affair started with CM 97/98, the way I got playing was different, in my last year of School, because I was a little 5h1t, I was held in a room called the P.I.R (Pupil Improvement Room) as most teachers did not want me in there classrooom, we had access to the only PC in school, one of the lads brought in CM 97/98 and we were hooked, I managed to convince the teacher to let us play the game as a reward for good behaviour, I convinced her, who was herself a massive Sunderland fan, that CM was a good thing, running the team, thinking of tactics and that undertaking transfers helped our Math skills and we were engaging/using our brains to win virtual football matches.

After that, I got played from CM3 up to FM 2005, after which I stopped playing for a while, going back to play CM 97/98 for a few years.

When FM 12 came out, I started playing again, only because of the advanced editor, the ability to make my own league systems and competitions totally appealed to me, by this point, I could not really get my head round the game, it got a bit complex for my liking, tactics and training being complicated.

I played FM 12 for a few years, till I got a better Laptop in time to play FM 15, again, cause I enjoyed using the advanced editor, creating League Systems and then sharing them, just making totally random and weird competitions was great. I stopped playing FM PC when my now wife was moaning about the amount of time I was spending on my laptop.

As for FMM I first tried it with the 2012 version of FMH, and started seriously playing when I got an unformatted device from CEX which had FMH 13 loaded on it and I have played it ever since, FMM takes me back to the days of CM 97/98, the quickness of the game, being able to finish a season in less than a day, simplified tactics and transfers, and although we are limited as to what we can edit, I still get to enjoy editing the game using the PGE.

I have played every mobile version since 2012 and will be buying FMM18 the moment I see it on Google Play Store.

FMM 17 has probably been my favourite release because my team (Darlington) were included as playable for the first time since we reformed in 2012.

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On 10/20/2017 at 18:01, Ashez said:

I want tactical depth as IMO that's the point of the game, everything else is filler.

Agreed, that is the draw for me too.  Unfortunately the FMM engine and stats are very primitive compared to FM PC which makes full immersion difficult.  I am also a min-maxer at heart and I find it hard to play without notes of player comparisons, which motivation speeches work for them, etc. (typically on google drive) so the game isn't very "mobile" for me since I often play near my PC anyway.

So I'm actually probably going to be going the other way.  I picked up FM17 on PC on a Steam sale for $10 a couple months ago and will be giving the "classic" mode a shot in a few months once I get another season or two out of my El Ejido career.  I've never played FM PC so it may suck and I may hate it, but I need to get it out of my system so I stop putting FM's on my Steam wishlist every year.

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8 hours ago, veerus said:

Agreed, that is the draw for me too.  Unfortunately the FMM engine and stats are very primitive compared to FM PC which makes full immersion difficult.  I am also a min-maxer at heart and I find it hard to play without notes of player comparisons, which motivation speeches work for them, etc. (typically on google drive) so the game isn't very "mobile" for me since I often play near my PC anyway.

So I'm actually probably going to be going the other way.  I picked up FM17 on PC on a Steam sale for $10 a couple months ago and will be giving the "classic" mode a shot in a few months once I get another season or two out of my El Ejido career.  I've never played FM PC so it may suck and I may hate it, but I need to get it out of my system so I stop putting FM's on my Steam wishlist every year.

I tried FM Touch back in the summer as i got it free with FM17. Never enjoyed it myself. It felt like playing a demo version of the pc game where you had limited options and I never found it that much quicker to play.

With that in mind I'm not sure why mobile appeals to me so much because it has less options than touch. 

All I do know is that the open Beta of FM18 is out today or tomorrow and I still have no desire to get it whereas other years I would be excited for its release.

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31 minutes ago, skoch said:

I'm happy to find this; before I found this page I thought the biggest FMM community hung out at https://community.sigames.com/forum/28-football-manager-mobile-general-discussion/

Had no idea editors, databases existed, and this kind of joy for the mobile game - great to see!

Cheers

Welcome to Vibe.

added 0 minutes later
31 minutes ago, skoch said:

I'm happy to find this; before I found this page I thought the biggest FMM community hung out at https://community.sigames.com/forum/28-football-manager-mobile-general-discussion/

Had no idea editors, databases existed, and this kind of joy for the mobile game - great to see!

Cheers

Welcome to Vibe.

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16 minutes ago, FuddledFox said:

Here's one for us golden oldies.

Screenshot_20171101-095621.thumb.png.d0e9554d041311d49206ed87277d383d.png

Ooooooh niceee i was born just a year after!

The ball looks like a remote control or something though, with the left and right arrows

Edited by salohcin
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