Unfortunately due to being away I'm not really able to log on to forum for any length of time (expensive on board the Queen Mary 2) and due to a massive clanger on the wife's part (holiday ends later than thought) unlikely to be able attend.
The council to me says that SI are REALLY doing something apart GW activity. If you were harsh then you'd say they were now having a meeting about doing something but I think it's progress.
I think my gripe is that the game seems to lack direction or a vision. I may well be way off the mark here but it seems to me that FM Live started as Fantasy Football using the FM database / match engine and became something more.
It seems to have moved so far from the original vision that SI no longer have a vision as such. If I was to be harsh again you'd say Si were making it up as they go along. To get things back on track that needs to be sorted. Maybe the council will allow them to really home in on exactly what direction to take.
It seems to me it's one direction or another
1) What we have now - GW's are not dynamic and remain as they are. New managers need to be given a boost in order that they can find their level in a GW.
2) The entire concept changes to 'rags to riches' or 'minnows to giants'.
Just to repeat what I wrote on in a forum post I'm of the opinion that a new GW launches with 1000 managers, 100/200 will be happy with a lower league manager type of game; into the community, chatting about players, the Fa set up, the games, youths, and generally just enjoying the game.
800 or so will be desperate to get to the top; owning the best players, top 30 ranked, winning premier leagues, getting into UFFA, etc.
After a few seasons your left with 200 / 300 managers, 100/200 are happy with their lot and the rest are either at the top or think they will be at the top soon.
The reminder have come the conclusion that it isn't going to happen and either leave the game or hit the forums to beg for a new GW.
If you accept that as the reason for the levels of activity that we see then really it's back to SI to ask if they have to make a more commercial game. That's not a given, there vision for the game may well differ and it may not need be a mass market product. In fact if you can find enough managers happy with a lower league / simulation type of game then why worry?
If they do need to make a more commercial game then the only one that is viable is 'rags to riches' in some way. The hardcore of the community will generally argue against this, yes it's a long term game they will say but
How that's implemented exactly is open to debate, high pa youth teams to new managers, force top managers out, hard code regression to top teams, allow managers to move clubs, Prestige forced restarts etc etc.
Isn't it already like that though?
In a way it is, I can get into a GW slowly build up the stadium to support a galaticos squad and head on up to the top 50 ish. It takes a long time and with changes to the FA's in some GW's (like Clough) it's a fun journey. Not everyone has played the game for the same amount of time as me though, whilst I'm not amazing at FM Live I'd say I'm above average so very often others can't experiance the game in the same way.
Very early on the hit the wall and are left bored with what is basially a Lower League Manager / Simulation type game.
Also if I started a new seprate account in Shearer I can't see that 2nd account overtaking the first account, so I will be limited as to how far I could progress anyway.
The solutions put forward by the community don't follow this either, if the vast majority of the community that is left are generally happy, their suggestions are often pre occupied with preserving the staus quo. Give new managers a boost seems to be touted around a lot but the second you start suggesting boosts like high PA youth team, hands are thrown up in horror but that's a real boost they say! :)
The one thing that SI seem fairly convinced about is that database players need to remain for an old GW to be attractive. Is this the reason why GW's are not popular? When I've debated with managers who advocate this as a reason why they won't join an old GW it comes across to me as an excuse and not the reason.
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