Here is what I need to know.....

[TheSimeon]

Let's be honest, shall we?

Almost everyone on these forums in is some stage of the denial - grieving - acceptance process regarding this years Match Engine. To be clear, this I do not simply hate the ME, nor is this some nerd rage rant about how SI has stolen my money and molested my family.

The previous 2008 - 2012-ish ME had gone as far as it could go, and the new ME has made a few drastic changes, most obviously the collision checker and the first touch/trapping mechanic. The result, at it's best, looks dramatically more like real football than anything in the FM series so far.

But lord knows it isn't at it's best for very long. The primary complaints about comedy defending aren't even my primary concern. But the list of other glaring problems is a bit troubling. A few examples that everyone has seen:

Goalkeeper distribution: This one is scary because the latest patch notes actually said that this had been addressed. Obviously, when a goalkeeper with a mentality set to 1, no creative freedom, passing distance set to 1 and a defender distribute setting still hoofs the ball 60-70 yards downfield 9 out of ten times, something is wrong. What is troubling is that this should have been an easy one to solve. Remember when keepers used to throw the ball to a fullback? Yeah, not so much these days.....

"Off the Ball" responses to balls in the air: A defender boots the ball upfield, and as the ball falls gracefully to earth, one of our midfielders takes a step toward it, then turns and sprints at top speed away from where the ball was going to land, allowing it to bounce several time before reversing direction and sprinting frantically back toward to loose ball. The only way you haven't seen this happen is if you are watching your matches on "key moments only".

Back to the goal/defender passing bug: This happens in two different scenario's, but is actually just one problem. SI must have tired of the eyes in the back of the head phenomenon, and restricted a players passing only to others they could realistically see. This ME, if a player is facing away from someone, they no longer instantly spin and fire off a pinpoint pass. Which should be good, but unfortunately players now demonstrate NO awareness of what is going on behind them. The result: Strikers who receive the ball with their back to the goal now immediately pass the ball backwards, rather than turning to face. I have seen a player standing less than 2 yards from the net control a pass, only to be facing the wrong way, and boot the ball back to midfield rather than simply turning and taking a shot from 1 foot (hilariously, it was Ibrahimovic, making this the least realistic pass in history). At the other end, we have all noticed defenders unable to find anyone but the goalkeeper to pass to, because they seem unwilling to turn around, and, you know, face the field.

Dribblers overrunning the ball: Happens most with quick wingers. A player in plenty of space starts their dribble, only to leave the ball behind them and simply keep running. Looks embarrassing....

I won't go and and describe the problems with through balls, goalkeepers tracking long crosses, mid-fields collapsing in defense, or players navigating around the field while still lying on their backs, to name a few other issues.


So here is what I need to know: I can, for the most part, take into account most of these foibles of the ME (or disasters, depending on your point of view/level of hysteria). But the match engine is really pretty broken, and what I DONT want to happen, is spend a week creating a tactic that works, only the have something patched and be back at square one... and then do it again, only to see another patch a week later that again changes everything....

Previously, SI has released the game and then waited 3-4 months between major changes to the ME. Is that what we will be seeing again? Or will we be back to the drawing board every couple of days, as we saw happen during the beta?

 

[TheBetterHalf]

My GUESS is that SI Will move very carefully to fix these issues. If they dont, well
, the knock-on effects Will be devestating.L

As for Tactics working, not working, I have used te same approach since FM10 and the flow Of game/tactic looks the same.

 

[TheSimeon]

As for Tactics working, not working, I have used te same approach since FM10 and the flow Of game/tactic looks the same.

The flow of the game does look quite similar, I agree, and when the ME is not bugging out, it looks excellent. In particular, I am excited about the movement of center forwards, particularly the slower ones, who tend to be much more prone to staying high, and not dropping deep to get the ball.

My biggest gripe with FM 2012 was the play of big, physical forwards. A player like Llorente or huntelaar was difficult at best to use effectively, and a pacey striker was almost always going to bag more goals in the end. It looks like this may be the first year in at least 4 where the hulks and podolskis of the world aren't the only strikers worth buying.

It also looks as though playing three at the back or even with a sweeper is a decent way to counteract the ME's defensive deficiencies, which I'm kinda looking forward to, but it is disappointing to see new new formations become viable mostly because of AI problems.

 

[Nintymat]

Midfield is the major issue in this game.

I've lost my games/trophies/jobs because the Goalkeeper hoofs the ball down field, the opposition central midfielder heads it back towards my goal, the ball loops over my defence and their striker grabs onto it and slots it in.

It seems like before the game starts there's a flip of the coin to see which midfield dominates. I've tried playing with to BWM, 1 BWM and 1 DLP, 2 DLP, every combination, and the results are just varied.

Finally, winning the ball back is too hard. When a highlight starts, you can guarantee who ever has the ball at the start of the highlight will have a chance on goal. Very really do I see the opposition miss a pass, or get tackled by a defender. Even teams like Southampton seem to be able to just pingpong the ball around, work it into the box and score.

 

[Operative Y]

Let's be honest, shall we?

Almost everyone on these forums in is some stage of the denial - grieving - acceptance process regarding this years Match Engine. To be clear, this I do not simply hate the ME, nor is this some nerd rage rant about how SI has stolen my money and molested my family.

"Off the Ball" responses to balls in the air: A defender boots the ball upfield, and as the ball falls gracefully to earth, one of our midfielders takes a step toward it, then turns and sprints at top speed away from where the ball was going to land, allowing it to bounce several time before reversing direction and sprinting frantically back toward to loose ball. The only way you haven't seen this happen is if you are watching your matches on "key moments only".

Dribblers overrunning the ball: Happens most with quick wingers. A player in plenty of space starts their dribble, only to leave the ball behind them and simply keep running. Looks embarrassing....

Firstly, I don't know why but I found the first paragraph hilarious. Benefits of having a childish sense of humour I suppose. Next, the reason I picked out the two points I did is because they're the ones I've noticed most predominantly as well. I think the off the ball movement may have something to do with the "helium effect", as I've chosen to call it. That is to say, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed that when the ball is in the air, it seems to hang and float there for a bit longer than it needs to. Which is another problem I'm hoping SI will address. And people leaving the ball behind while dribbling is a big problem, especially when your team has just built up a promising attack, and then BAM! Someone leaves the ball behind, has to go back for it, and they've been closed down.

 

[TheSimeon]

Midfield is the major issue in this game.

It is hard not to notice that its much easier to keep, and much harder to regain possession. And I blame us, and by us, I mean the members of these forums. We'd be fools not to think that SI didn't notice that on every message board at least half of the posts are "BARCELONA TACTIC, BUT FOR REALZZ THIS TIME!!!111!!1" They wanted possession football to work, and so they borked tackling.

And possession is much easier to achieve in this years game, although for me whether it's actually any more effective when it's time to actually score is TBD.

 

[SimonP12]

My only gripe is that the game (I'm currently playing the 'You Can't Win Anything With Kids' challenge as Gloucester) can be very spiteful if you get too good.

I won six on the bounce, and now it won't let me beat Worcester - no matter what formation I use or players I field it is like the great God of FM is saying 'Thou shalt lose 5-0 muhahahaha!'

I don't mind losing, but make it a fair game. There's a difference between losing a match where you did everything you could and losing a game because the match engine wants to be a little sod and make you have a bad game.

One thing as well if you take this challenge - you HAVE to play the kids in every game that you can, as their attendances must be in the top 10. If you don't do this you won't pass the challenge.