Football Manager Live
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
I've been playing the Beta test for a couple of weeks now and have really begun to get into it.
For those of you who've not come into contact with FML, it's a game that could be one of the biggest MMORPG titles - I suppose that's the category it, technically, falls into - in the world.
It's like Football Manager, but online. Two of the best things in the world - football and it's fans - combined, rather than the solitary existence of a standard Football Manager game, only given a smidgen of interactivity by conversation on forums.
It's broadly the same, but simpler - more accessible and immediate - than the game on which it is based. Federations are formed, which run leagues and cups, all for prize money - so you join one that suits you, looking at their times of play, rules and regulations, and sign up. I'm part of the Casual Football Federation as they're quite lenient and let you play during the evenings, which is when I'll be logging on.
You can buy players, but the majority of trading is done in auctions, much like eBay, which results in some nerve-wracking final minutes as you fight with a few other managers for a player who could make or break your season. Teams are fully customisable, down to name, kits, stadiums and pitch sizes, and every player is real. Familiar faces are flung around unfamiliar teams, but the idea that each one has a committed manager - a real person - behind it soon creates a firm universe with which to play. Taking part in friendly matches, for instance, enables you to use the in-game chat window to talk with fellow managers, and you'll quickly begin to recognise teams, managers and their danger players.
Seasons last 20 days - plenty long enough for a full fixture of games, as you can let the AI handle some of them - and time to train your players, which is done by selecting a coaching topic and letting the game tick down until you've earned the badge. Which is a sleeker system than devising your own schedules, like previous games.
A new sesaon started yesterday - the fifth, I think, since the Beta begun - and the server crashed.
Bollocks.
For those of you who've not come into contact with FML, it's a game that could be one of the biggest MMORPG titles - I suppose that's the category it, technically, falls into - in the world.
It's like Football Manager, but online. Two of the best things in the world - football and it's fans - combined, rather than the solitary existence of a standard Football Manager game, only given a smidgen of interactivity by conversation on forums.
It's broadly the same, but simpler - more accessible and immediate - than the game on which it is based. Federations are formed, which run leagues and cups, all for prize money - so you join one that suits you, looking at their times of play, rules and regulations, and sign up. I'm part of the Casual Football Federation as they're quite lenient and let you play during the evenings, which is when I'll be logging on.
You can buy players, but the majority of trading is done in auctions, much like eBay, which results in some nerve-wracking final minutes as you fight with a few other managers for a player who could make or break your season. Teams are fully customisable, down to name, kits, stadiums and pitch sizes, and every player is real. Familiar faces are flung around unfamiliar teams, but the idea that each one has a committed manager - a real person - behind it soon creates a firm universe with which to play. Taking part in friendly matches, for instance, enables you to use the in-game chat window to talk with fellow managers, and you'll quickly begin to recognise teams, managers and their danger players.
Seasons last 20 days - plenty long enough for a full fixture of games, as you can let the AI handle some of them - and time to train your players, which is done by selecting a coaching topic and letting the game tick down until you've earned the badge. Which is a sleeker system than devising your own schedules, like previous games.
A new sesaon started yesterday - the fifth, I think, since the Beta begun - and the server crashed.
Bollocks.
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