An Open Letter to the Football Manager Community from FM Britain; and SI's response
- Thread starter Mike.
- Start date
- Replies 48
- Views 14K
We are going downhill apparently in may parts
:S What's that meant to say? (Assuming there's a typo..)
What does SIAS stand for btw?
he means many parts, a tongue in cheek swipe at those who have been complaining
---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
SI Affiliates Scheme
I'm guessing...
http://www.thedugout.net/
http://www.sortitoutsi.net/
http://loswonderkids.com/
Probably a few other as well.
A gaming commuity should have content for everyone, once you start to charge for content, it will enevitably (sp) exclude some members, which is not fair on this who cant pay, for whatever reason (financial or moral) I think a community should be built upon people willing to share their knowledge freely, rather that for financial gain! a community (like FM community) based on money will never work!
Essentially u play agame to have fun, and u certainly do not want to pay money to buy guides and stuff for the game u like to play, its rather unfair on loads of people and people should share their knowledge freely if only to help others
I actually disagree. If you know alot about the game and spent hours making a guide you might want to sell it. I know I would, and with thousands of downloads, they make enough money to keep the site going. If SI told you to should share it with the world for free, and pay back your money you wouldn't like that would you.
I agree that it's their game and they can do what they want, but it's their guide they spent hours writing.
SI offered money to all the sites who signed up to the affiliate scheme, this money was offered on the condition that all content remained free, to keep the community free, fair and open. So FM Britain had the opportunity to make their guides and get paid for it by SI, they declined as they felt they could make more from selling it, something SI disagreed with as they then became a business, not a fansite.
FM Britain are totally out of line imo, they have been emailing every member of the FM community whos address they can find, only presenting their side of this article without SI's response, pathetic.
Yeah, it may have turned into a buisness, but FM-Base has premium, they didn't have that and they sold their guides.
Could they sell the externally and still rake in the cash.
Also FM-Base should make some guides for FM11, if SI pay us ^^)
Could they sell the externally and still rake in the cash.
Also FM-Base should make some guides for FM11, if SI pay us ^^)
FM base does have premium members, but you still recieve all the advice and help for free, regardless of whether or noy you have paid! If people like the site, and are in the position to donate and become premium, they can do, but are not obliged to in order to recieve communal help.
Yeah the premium on here is completely different, it's just a donation with a few nice benefits on the site to say thankyou, the actual help and advice is still free, as you say.
I have a different opinion as compared to most people who have posted here.
First, this concept of 'everything should be free in a community'' is wrong and too idealistic IMO. Anybody who has read the Tactical Theorems and the accompanying two booklets can see the amount of work that goes in it. It is not less than a thesis. There is a difference between writing 100 2-page articles and a 200 page book on a single topic while also maitaining quality. Unfortunately, the 'I will never pay' crowd doesn't seem to understand the difference. If paying for A by some people keeps B free for everyone, I see nothing wrong with it, seeing as how B has very helpful to a lot of people. There are many stickies and other highly linked threads here which directly copy stuff from B and FMB have not objected, have they? It is a shame that people are so easily piling upon those guys as if they were a bunch of ungrateful and greedy a$$holes who only want money.
Secondly, SI are within their rights to deny FMB the special privileges that they reserve for the fan sites, if they percieve FMB to be a business. FMB should not make too much of a fuss about it.
Plus, FMB have also put the SI's response on their website, contrary to some posts here:
http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/2010/09/13/football-manager-community-open-letter/#siresponse
First, this concept of 'everything should be free in a community'' is wrong and too idealistic IMO. Anybody who has read the Tactical Theorems and the accompanying two booklets can see the amount of work that goes in it. It is not less than a thesis. There is a difference between writing 100 2-page articles and a 200 page book on a single topic while also maitaining quality. Unfortunately, the 'I will never pay' crowd doesn't seem to understand the difference. If paying for A by some people keeps B free for everyone, I see nothing wrong with it, seeing as how B has very helpful to a lot of people. There are many stickies and other highly linked threads here which directly copy stuff from B and FMB have not objected, have they? It is a shame that people are so easily piling upon those guys as if they were a bunch of ungrateful and greedy a$$holes who only want money.
Secondly, SI are within their rights to deny FMB the special privileges that they reserve for the fan sites, if they percieve FMB to be a business. FMB should not make too much of a fuss about it.
Plus, FMB have also put the SI's response on their website, contrary to some posts here:
http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/2010/09/13/football-manager-community-open-letter/#siresponse
Last edited:
Sounds like someone is a member of FMB?
The simple fact is this, FMB are making guides based on there views and opinions of tactics and the game in general. Charging others for material based on the opinion of a few consumers of the game is wrong on it’s own. If the guide was made by ex pro’s or someone with a footballing background or even someone from SI towers, it would be slightly better.
Like SI say, the minute FMB started selling the guides they became a business and why should SI stand by and watch others make money off their product?
Sending out emails to every subscriber qq’ing about mistreatment to then send the reply out a day or two later just sums it up for me.
I agree that they should be allowed to charge for their guides if they wish, but they seem to be acting like dicks about it. No offence to FM-B because what they've done is impressive. They knew the consequences of charging for the guide before releasing it, and they're acting like they've been treated unfairly.
If they want to examine different models, they should look no further than the World of Warcraft Addon community. Blizzard state that every addon has to be free, so to counter this some of the more labour intensive addons (such as the Auctioneer Suite) ask for donations. I linked to a FAQ writer in a previous post who does more quality work than the FM-B team and he does it all for free while maintaining an excellent standard.
The best step for FMB to take in my opinion would be a pay what you want model to let the consumer decide on the price whether that be nothing or £20.
I guess we will just have to disagree with the first point. I feel that if someone thinks that his/her time and effort in making an in-depth guide requires some compensation in order to keep other such guides etc coming and free, they are entitled to do so. I probably won't buy it, but I will surely enjoy the free stuff that comes along. Those who wish to buy the priced guide or just want to support the author can do so. I don't see how someone being an ex-footballer etc makes it more right, though it does increase its credibility.
And as I said previously, I agree with you about SI not being wrong. FMB should not make a fuss about it and IMO they should not have sent out the email.
My gripe is that some people here are painting these guys as greedy a$$holes and that is wrong.
PS: I don't know if I am an FMB member or not. I don't think I have ever posted there, but I did get the email.
I don't think I can disagree with that. And the suggestion about 'pay what you want' model is an interesting one. If only the FM-B guys could have come to a reasonable accommodations. They don't hold the cards in this scenario.
Last edited:
I have just checked my emails and also have been forwarded on the above from the opening post.
I have never joined FM-Britain so I would like to know how they have got hold of my email address to send me the above information?
I have never joined FM-Britain so I would like to know how they have got hold of my email address to send me the above information?