The Realisation for me and why I stopped playing FM

[leovii]

FM on the surface to me always looked compelling the huge amount of depth, statistics, data analysis, micro managing and even some cool 3d effects but in reality it just started to feel like an over polished turd when I played the later versions

I would type this out in the SI forums and did in the past and got banned there for expressing my opinions I was expecting too as well tbh it is ultimately a forum set up to sell the game and promote it (happened years ago)

1. The tactical systems just felt so random on all versions past fm13 how winning 4-0 to a far superior team away from home with such dominance could then be followed up with a 0-3 home loss to a team right at the bottom league you dominate the match statistics see different strikers and attacking players miss about 5 one on ones each and you post about it on the forums only to be told ''it's your tactics''

Yeah I get that football can be random sometimes and you will get surprise results and smash and grab performances from far inferior teams but the way it happens in FM makes no sense to me whatsoever and the FM fanboys will always support the fantasical illusion that the game is near on perfect and constructive criticism of a franchise they love so much is taken personally

What else use to bug me with the tactics is how team reputation effected what tactical systems you could use example trying to replicate a defensive counter strategy with Atletico Madrid would be limited as the match engine would at least need your side to play standard or control mentality say at home to Levante or a Osasuna. So replicating tactics for me felt uninspiring I would seek help on the old forums there from so called tactical guru's trying to help develop certain tactical setups or strategies like an Italian very rigid style with a trequartista and deep lying playmaker but failed and to be fair many people did help me there and even tried tweaking what I created and failed only for the usual robotic defence of the game. Like having lots of specialised roles on a fluid system worked on some match engines when in theory it never should as specialisation of set roles needs a very rigid system in real life football

2. Just all the little exploits of the game like constantly praising or talking to your players makes it overpowered If you have hours of your life to waste you can go around your 100 man squad boosting them all with little chats for morale. The pointless meaningless press conferences that never seem to end and just repeat the same nonsense questions which makes you wanna throw your laptop out the window but all this shit needs to be done to maximise your squad and morale

3. Watching the 3d match engine and seeing very slow players zoom past your 20 acceleration centre back in certain games for no reason and be told by a mod on the forum that it's because the ai player is highly motivated or some nonsense using any excuse to defend the match engine or game dynamics same with seeing a centre back constantly scoring long range shots with 3 long shots or something just before seeing your complete striker miss about 12 one on ones with 19 composure and 20 finishing. Feels far to random to me and made me stop taking the game seriously when depth and realism was suppose to be why we waste hours playing the game in the first place

4. The older FM players seeking a need to chase that old cm feeling in a simulated FM world with over bloated features
They will probably keep playing the FM's for many more years and never come to the realisation that the FM'S can never replace that 'one more game' obsessive feeling that the older cm's had that rapid feeling of non stop games with no clicking in between when going for the title or the way the human brain imagines the commentary only match and how that is fantasized by the cm player. Future FM's could even put hologram players in your front room and instruct player instructions too but it still won't be as enjoyable or fun as seeing that goal flash up on a cm match the hyper reality of Football Manager(s) can never replace or bring back that old feeling of cm's for that reason not matter what type of enhancements or game mechanics they promise.

I guess it's a form of cope for many that the next FM will bring back that feeling that have always had hope that FM touch can replicate that cm effect and addictiveness but it never does or the next FM will suddenly capture there imagination like the old commentary only cm's do but it never will

So out of cope they will always blindly defend the newest versions of FM and see it as ''unprogressive'' going back and playing a 21 year old computer game. Many of these idiots even lie about old versions of CM on threads or abusing people on the SI forums for starting posts like ''i decided to retry cm0102 or cm4 or cm9798'' etc but these will be the same people that would spend 50 quid on a game hardly play it and rather watch a professional streamer 8 hours a day than actually play the game themselves because it is that uninspiring and soulless. Many probably get bored clicking around for 20 mins seeing how much work there is into just setting up a squad, handling training, negotiating long winded transfers and handling the repetitive press conferences the concentration and focus wanders and the realism hits that fantasy of creating a tactical dream or taking Boreham Wood from conference to the Champions League Final no longer feels worth it and so watching a streamer play the game for them keeps that cope alive inside them.

Couple of other reasons - forced to use steam and getting the constant updates, syncs and steam bugs causing game crashes sometimes it takes 10 mins just logging into to steam and loading up a game all this alongside the modern gaming industry as a whole releasing unpolished and even broken games as deadlines and sales need to be met

I wouldn't type this out on the SI Forum at the time as I still played FM then and was active on that forum.
The criticisms of the game was more from a tactical use with the match engine and what was going on the 3D pitch I think I was the only one out of those that would post critical feedback that left the site and stopped playing the game entirely

[Ticampos]

I think old FMs are very good (for me from FM 2005 to 2008 are the best), and maybe better than CM 03-04, because are less slow and have player favorite movements that I like and some new attributes like First Touch, Composure and Concentration and hiddens like Controversy. But in last years they are overcomplicating them. I can have joy playing FM mobile, but only that, I bought FMM 20, and Im playing with Liverpool last days. Even for Touch I dont have patience (I have FM 17 Touch). Altought I use recent fMS databases to build my Real Stats formulas (I have free FM 20 from Epic Store, when they offered). Old games have nostalgy, I like CM 01 02 also because the many different databases, including the original, and its a faster pace game. But Im not an original CM 01 02 player, I only started playing it in 2008 or 2009 (if im not in error), after game turning freeware. I would like to see CM 01 02 with more attributes and visual informations about where the ball is in the moment, besides commentary, without impact in gaming speed, its the only extra depth that I would like.

[leovii]

I think old FMs are very good (for me from FM 2005 to 2008 are the best), and maybe better than CM 03-04, because are less slow and have player favorite movements that I like and some new attributes like First Touch, Composure and Concentration and hiddens like Controversy. But in last years they are overcomplicating them. I can have joy playing FM mobile, but only that, I bought FMM 20, and Im playing with Liverpool last days. Even for Touch I dont have patience (I have FM 17 Touch). Altought I use recent fMS databases to build my Real Stats formulas (I have free FM 20 from Epic Store, when they offered). Old games have nostalgy, I like CM 01 02 also because the many different databases, including the original, and its a faster pace game. But Im not an original CM 01 02 player, I only started playing it in 2008 or 2009 (if im not in error), after game turning freeware. I would like to see CM 01 02 with more attributes and visual informations about where the ball is in the moment, besides commentary, without impact in gaming speed, its the only extra depth that I would like.

I'm pretty much the same as you I would like a few more tactical options for cm0102 the perfect mix for me would of been something between cm0102 and cm0304 but like you say the speed issues of cm0304 killed it for me

The last FM I enjoyed was fm13 after that I became very critical about the franchise

My favourite FM's were 08 and 09 found them challenging and liked fm13 as I had a really good network game on that went on for many seasons with lots of people. On the release of fm14 which felt like a broken release I completely started to dislike it by the time FM16 was released there was already far too many overpowered player roles on every version past that and I still don't think the defensive positioning on the game or behaviour of defenders has ever been fixed or It's even possible to realistically improve it

[BlueAndWhite]

Sadly the only FM versions that SI made that is worth playing is FM07, 11 and 13.

Long live CM (0001 and 0102)

[Theov]

FM2006 hit the sweet spot between CM0102 and being "modern".
Anything after that is really not fun anymore and more like a chore.
So FM06, CM0102 or Super Mario bros

[LordEarendil]

I think it has more to do with the simulation VS casual/fun type of gaming. CM0102 easily falls into the casual category (I mean cmon, wingers-wide play-opposite foot do nothing in CM0102, not to mention a lot of absurd ratings, especially on physical attributes of irrelevant players), and as years progress, FMs become more and more the simulation type of games (theoretically that was the purpose, wasnt it?). However, simulation games are mostly for ppl who have a LOT of time in their hands (as they have to min/max everything to be succesful) and naturally are on the hunt of META gaming (as in comparison, in CM0102 a good tactic/OP tactic can take you a long way), even if the META transforms a game into a chore ("I *have* to do X and Y 100 times, bcz that is what works").
But also, lets be real: Football has changed soooo much those 20 years. Tecnhique, dribbling, flair, imagination have been overruled by pure physical attributes like stamina, acceleration, pace, pressing, in other words, being a machine under the instructions of a technically oriented coach (nowadays even half professional clubs have a gadget on every footballer to measure everything - ergometrics). You really dont have to look anywhere else other than new football regulations only one word suffices to explain everything; substitutions. We went from 2 then to 3 then to 5! Not to mention 1 minute summer breaks for hydration. Check current top managers tactics: Full press (only question is first or second pass) wob, overlap wib. More goals are scored from static play (Set pieces, penalties - also due to VAR, which became a necessity due to the extremely increased speed which modern football is played) because teams and managers know how to counter normal flow game. Check how tiki-taka from ~2010s went to gegenpress in 2020s. Gegenpress relies on the concept that eventually a defender or a midfielder will do a mistake, that will allow a sudden scoring opportunity, because you dont get to *create* a scoring opportunity through a beautifully set up scheme. Check how modern GKs are required to be involved in modern football with their feet or hands - to break that pressure. Check modern footballers bodies. These are not footballers, these are athletes.