I think the last time I played FM was the 2010 or 2012 edition. It was a little overwhelming.
Nice! My first crack at this game was.. well.. technically it was a version of
Championship Manager, which is what this game used to be called, back in the day. This was back in the 1990s, my friend discovered this game and this is basically how we learned about the English football system.. although in those days you could only play in the Championship (division 2), at least from what I remember. The Premier League existed at this time IIRC, but I guess the game didn't have rights to it yet.. from what I remember anyhow.
I was going to say that my first crack at this game was FM2011.. but then remembered about the 90s version.
The game is a LOT more involved now, compared to the 2011 version. It's a lot more realistic and there is a much larger emphasis on lockerroom balance/dynamics. If your lockerroom happiness goes down, your team can easily start losing game after game after game.. It took me a while to get used to it. It's also a lot harder to continue getting promoted every single season, rising from the bottom to the top. I'm sure it's still possible if you are good at tweaking tactics and if you set up your training regiment fully, and follow the other FM tips experienced players follow.. I'm much more of a casual player though, I basically try to figure everything out on my own. I don't like figuring out what the game has modelled poorly so that I can exploit it. I prefer to imagine that this is an actual football club I'm managing and that there is no way to really cheat (aside from reloading after a team talk goes poorly)
Either way, if you tried out FM2023, it would likely feel even more overwhelming. There is just a lot more going on, from what I remember of FM2011 anyhow. But overall I find the game more accessible even maybe.. The UI has improved and it seems you could just jump into it, if you are new to the series (or haven't played in forever), pick a big club (like Barca, Man City, or whatever) and learn the ropes that way. There is a lot more to do, but it's sort of organized better.
I used to play a lot of FM. From 07-13 I had 200+ hours in each. But since then I found myself playing less and less each year until I stopped with 17 or 18 (I forget which off the top of my head).
You don't have to say either way, whether you're married or not.. but.. if you are, your wife would likely pay the price if you were still playing this game on a regular basis. It's sort of known as the marriage destroyer. Also likely relationship destroyer. Maybe you're immune to the effect if you managed to stop playing though
For me.. I sometimes play this game non-stop every single day for days.. then I take a 2-3 long week break. Then I jump right back in. If I had a wife she'd probably complain at some point or other.
One has to wonder if a game which updates each year, has save longevity. Even if saves from previous versions can be kept, the rosters would change.
From my experience (and from what I've seen on the forums/reddit), the dynamics here are a bit different compared to something like FIFA23. By that I mean that.. Once an experienced/hardcore/dedicated player starts a save, that save can last quite a while. You will forge relationships with the players you sign and they essentially become real to you. A new version coming out will tend to not sway you, you will usually not want to abandon that save just to get the new version w/ the new features and updated squads. You'll sort of peek over occasionally to see what's new in the new version, but whatever save you have going is usually going to draw you in a lot more.
Saves are finally going to be transfearable between versions, which is amazing. Unfortunately this will not apply to the current version
There are mods or tools you can get that will do this for you, and transfer your save.. or at least this used to exist for some versions.. but.. I'm probably personally going to stick to FM2022 until I am finished with this save - meaning that my manager self (in the game) checks off all the things I wanted to accomplish as a manager. Once that's done I might very well buy FM2023 or 2024, or whatever the current versions ends up being whenever I finish with my current save. But hey, I might be wrong about how others approach this game. It just seems to me that those who play this game often, prefer long-lasting saves
The baseball version of FM - Out of the Park - lets you play from any start date, going back to the 19th Century. I'm not sure football/soccer fans are as into the history of their game as baseball fans are.
Oh that actually sounds pretty damn cool! I personally don't really care about the year the game is set in. I actually prefer playing in the future, where all known players have retired and are now coaches or managers.. I love my regens! There's just something about taking a 15 year old and nurturing him over a decade to become a world class player, playing at the highest level.
Having said that, if FM allowed me to manage historical teams, like the 1970s Polish teams that were so good, or some South American club even, maybe where Maradona played.. That would be fun, I'd get into that a bit! Heck, managing a team in one of the very old world cups would be cool too. I guess the thing is that it takes them long enough to assemble the database of players for the current year. Football is a global sport and there's so many diff leagues that it's probably a lot of work. Compiling historical data would be overkill.. but.. maybe they'll do it eventually?
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