SMW-Custom-Game-World

Many years ago my younger brother was introduced to a play-by-mail football manager game. A few weeks later both myself and my older brother also joined. This was in the mid-1990s when Serie A was the league to follow and there were a glut of football management games for the PC.

Even though the play-by-mail was a simple concept, it was an addictive game and most importantly it was social.

There was something about filling your turn-sheet in by hand and posting it off before the deadline of when your turn was going to be played. The thought of writing numbers on a grid of where you wanted your players to play and ticking boxes for your tactical instructions will probably amuse the younger generation, but it’ll bring back memories of those who are over-30.

It also generated excitement waiting for your results booklet to be delivered through your letter box by the postman and most days I hoped that this would happen before I set off for school.

It also generated tension as you wanted to find out if you’d bid the most for a player who’d just been added to the database for example.

How did we negotiate transfers with other managers? We picked up the phone and called them! I remember on numerous occasions calling managers from my league and asking to speak to the [insert club name] manager so that we could hammer out a transfer.

I also competed in the same leagues as my brothers and their friends. This made getting one over them in the transfer market or the league extra special.

In a way our multiplayer game has many similarities with the play-by-mail that I used to play. You set your tactics. Make transfer offers. Interact with other managers. Wait for your result to come in. Watch your game and either celebrate or despair at the end result.

Since day one I have enjoyed competing in leagues with friends and family and like with the play-by-mail, you can’t beat the satisfaction of getting one over them.

We always encourage managers to play in the same leagues as their friends and family because from experience this is the best way to play. That is the main reason why we introduced the Custom Game World initiative in December 2015.

There is however one area of the game that we are wanting to improve and we are already undertaking the work to do this. It is to make the game even more social because we believe that is what makes a multiplayer football management game.

Some Game World News Feeds are buzzing with activity and that is brilliant to see, but others are like the Mary Celeste! Some managers also interact away from the game on our forums or even set up their own blogs like the excellent Top 100. This is something we want to embrace and also move into the game.

That is why we are taking a two pronged approach to improve the social connectivity in Game Worlds by improving the News Feed and also the social aspects of the multiplayer game. In a nutshell we want to make it easier and better for managers to interact with one another.

These are some of the things that will be introduced or improved:

  • Improved News Feed:
    • Like button;
    • More share buttons to Facebook, twitter etc;
    • Similar style to social networks:
      • Show manager name / picture first,
    • Auto share more information such as:
      • Records;
      • Big results;
      • Internationals.
    • More sharing of your Club Messages.
  • Make Manager List more prominent:
    • Box on first page on both app & desktop;
    • Show list of who’s recently been online;
    • Slide up when manager comes online – app.
  • Friend / social buttons more prominent.

We believe that with these changes (along with a whole host of other improvements that i’ve not touched on) it’ll make the game more social and interactive because that is what helps make a multiplayer game.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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2D-Matchday-Gold-7

Last December we introduced a new match engine to Soccer Manager Worlds, and we followed this up with a 2D Matchday Experience in March.

The 2D Matchday is currently in Beta and is only available in Gold Championships at this stage. I thought I’d share my experience to date as I’m currently competing in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) as Castilla.

In the single player game there has been a 2D Matchday for some time, but in the multiplayer game, we have what you call “old school” commentary. You would have found the same feature in many of the traditional, management games of the past such as Championship Manager, Premier League Manager, Ultimate Soccer Manager and so forth.

The first time I enjoyed a 2D Matchday within a football management game was in 2003 when it was introduced into the Championship Manager series for the first time. It brought with it a whole new experience as I could now see my players carrying out my instructions as dots on a screen. Yes, it was basic, but it did the job, and it still does to date.

Naturally the next step in this evolution is a 3D Matchday Experience, but that’ll have to come later.

I suppose the joy of playing a football management game is that, for a moment, you slip into a fantasy world where you become a football manager. You make tough decisions in the transfer market, try and drag your team out of relegation or pull off that win to keep you top of the table and so forth.

Likewise, when you’re watching the traditional match commentary you’re also using your imagination into how the action is unfolding. I’ve found that this is made more vivid with the 2D Matchday, which was introduced into Soccer Manager via Game World ID 3065 before any other and I’ve now experienced many a matchday in 2D.

It has added another dynamic to my Soccer Manager experience. I’ve found myself more immersed in the game as I’m screaming at tiny dots running around the pitch in front of me and getting odd looks from my wife in the process as my No9 dot skies a clear cut chance over the bar! It’s even piqued my daughter’s interest, and I now find her watching the game with me.

I’m struggling to recall the last time that I clicked on the View Match button to watch the traditional commentary, as now I just click on the “Play 2D Match Beta” button. It works seamlessly on both the desktop and app. I’ll take that as a positive seeing it is still in Beta.

Yes, it does still have one or two quirks which we’re currently ironing out, but once we have finished, I see no reason it can’t be rolled out game wide for everyone to enjoy. In the meantime, if you want to experience it then head over to a Gold Championship in the multiplayer or check out the short highlights video.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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New-UI-Header

We relaunched Soccer Manager Worlds to celebrate our 10th anniversary towards the end of 2015. It contained many exciting new features and updates which you can read about here.

One of the updates was a slick new design for the desktop that gave the game a modern feel and this was developed with the help of feedback from our community. This redesign was done in tandem with our new app so that the interface of both were the same. The idea behind it was that it helped you when you switched from one platform to the other.

Existing members of our community can move freely between the old and new interface, but new members of our community don’t have this option.

Your feedback helps drive the game forward. This has always been the case. All feedback whether posted on our forum, social media, via in-game PM or email is passed on to the development team.

We promised that the old interface would remain in place until we have a new interface that the majority of you are happy with. Nothing has changed in this regard.

We are still listening to your feedback.

Both interfaces will remain alongside one another until the late Summer / early Autumn when we will be rolling out a new design that we will be working on with the help of our community.

We have included a screenshot so that you have an idea of what the new interface will look like. We feel that this is much more similar to the old interface but with a good lick of paint to help give it a more modern feel.

In the coming weeks we will post several more screenshots so that you have an idea of what we are trying to achieve.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

PLAY SOCCER MANAGER NOW

 

 

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SMW-Squad-Cap

One of the topics that always seems to raise it’s head on our forums and is always a heated subject it the issue of squad sizes and whether there should be a squad cap in place in Soccer Manager Worlds. I’ve recently revisited some of these posts and one of them will give War & Peace a run for it’s money! If you ever come across that thread I strongly suggest you leave an evening free and crack open a bottle of wine whilst you read through it.

From all of what i’ve read over the years the general consensus is that certain managers hog players. There is a general agreement that this is a problem and only a few people have argued that it isn’t because there are thousands of players on Soccer Wiki. Yes, that may be the case but when you dig down into the stats only a certain percentage of players on the database are bought by the vast majority. This has always been the case and it will always be because managers buy (in the main) players that they’ve heard of and from the bigger leagues.

The suggestion that is put forward time and time again on how to address player hogging is to have a squad limit:

“First team has a cap of say 35 players. Youth team allows for a further 15/20 players however they must be rated 85 or less. If a member of the youth team reaches either 22 years old or 86 or higher then they are automatically placed into the first team.”

“Have a squad cap of 25 1st team players and then a squad cap of 20 youth team players but have a max rating of 87 and raise the age to 22.”

“For me a 100 is a good number for a max squad rating as that allows a 30 man first team, 30 man reserve team and a 40 man academy.”

“There should be a squad cap of something like 50 youth players and 30 first team.”

I could carry on quoting numerous managers but you get the idea from the handful that i’ve posted in that there is no general consensus on what limit (if any) should be brought in. I don’t think a squad limit is the answer to player hogging but unofficial caps are. They are in place at the moment and you may not even realise this.

When Soccer Manager Worlds was relaunched on 2 December 2015, we made numerous changes to the Game World economies and you can read all about them here. One of the changes that naturally contributes towards an unofficial squad limit is the increase in player wages (especially for the better players) as this in theory should stop player hogging and force people to sell top players they are not using.

I wrote about the impact of the recent financial changes in January and it’s worthwhile revisiting this article. If you recall I said that I always try and keep a small first team squad and it currently stands at 20 players with an average rating of 93. I have a dozen or so younger players out on loan and my first team is complimented with a handful of players in my youth squad that are 85-86 rated.

I made the decision to have a small squad to keep a rein on my finances as well as ensuring that I don’t hog players that I don’t need. The numerous changes to the Game World economies has made it even more important than ever for me to be sensible and in a sense it also dictates how many players I have. Operating in this way also means that I turn a profit each season.

I wrote last week about the strategy that I use in the transfer market and this has enabled me to keep my squad competitive each season. This goes on to the next point which I believe is key. The scouting of players. One of my main joys of Soccer Manager Worlds is the scouting of players and then the signing of them for my Castilla. I’ve seen managers argue that by putting a squad cap in place then this would take this aspect of the game away. The counter argument to that is if there is a limit then it’d make you more selective in who you actually bought. I briefly touched on that in my last article.

The other unofficial limit in place other than your financial constraints is the player concerns feature. You can read all about player concerns in the Help under the article of the same name. It’s a very useful article and if you’ve not read it then I can recommend it as it contains a wealth of information.

I’m quite proud in that none of my players (either in my first / youth squads or loaned out) have any concerns or had any in the past (if you exclude the old wage concern that has now been phased out). This is because as i’ve already wrote I have a small squad and I also rota my players sensibly and don’t just field the same XI week in week out. I’m also not afraid to throw in a 86 rated wide player in my 4-3-3 formation to compliment my two 96 rated strikers for example or even field a 83 rated defender in my back line. More managers should do this and be confident in the squad players at their disposal.

If they did this, kept a smaller squad, rotated their players and were more sensible in the players that they bought then they wouldn’t develop concerns. I always visit the Concerns List in my Game World and i’m always surprised to see some big name 88 to 90 rated players on there. How they’ve let them develop concerns and get to a Level 3 or 4 always amazes me!

When I dig into some of the players on there I soon realise that some are there due to mismanagement but the vast majority of them are from what you’d class as player hogging. There is currently an 89-rated keeper on a Level 4 concern due to lack of games. He’ll more than likely hand in a transfer request in the coming weeks. When I look at the club he’s at I notice that he’s currently their No2 as the manager’s first choice is a 90-rated player. There’s only a year apart in age of both keepers and he doesn’t need both of them but yet neither are on the transfer list and you can argue he’s simply player hogging.

If I look at other players on the list the story is the same. They are developing the lack of games concern because they aren’t being played and the managers is simply hogging them. It’s also the case with the players that have developed concerns about being loaned out. An 88-rated 25-year-old has a Level 3 concern about being loaned out. His position is D(RL). When I look at the manager’s squad he has 8 players that can fill in at D(L) and 9 that can cover at D(R). So the question is why is this manager loaning a 25-year-old out who is surplus to requirements instead of selling him?

If you go back to the 89-rated keeper on a Level 4 concern due to lack of games, I know for a fact that he would be first choice for half of the managers in Game World ID 3065 because there are only 47 89-rated plus keepers in the game. I suppose only the manager who owns him will be able to say why he still has this player.

In Game World ID 3065 we started a new season, Season 22, a few weeks back and the Loan List caught my eye as well. The number of what i’d call average players in the 85-88 range on the list was staggering. I understand fully putting players 22 or under on the loan list as they’re still developing and haven’t yet reached their potential. However, that is different to putting an 87-rated 25-year-old D(C) or 88-rated 29-year-old DM,M(C) on the list as there’s a pretty good chance that they won’t develop any further. If you dig into it a bit deeper and actually look at some of the players that a club has out on loan then you sit here scratching your head trying to understand the logic behind loaning out a 83-rated 28-year old Brazilian journeyman for example.

So even though there is an unofficial limit in place with the player concerns feature, I don’t believe that it’s working as it should do as it isn’t harsh enough and fast enough (in that it takes too long for a player to develop a concern). I think that if this area is revisited and improved, then along with the numerous changes to the Game World economies they should in theory should stop player hogging and force people to sell top players they are not using.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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SM-Worlds-2D-Matchday

On 2 December, 2015, we introduced a new match engine to Soccer Manager Worlds as part of our relaunch to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

We’re delighted to announce that the next improvement to the match engine is a 2D matchday experience.

We’ve always offered pinpoint tactical control of your side with a wide range of formations and instructions. Now, as well as following games via our traditional match commentary, you’ll be able to see how well your players execute your instructions throughout matches with a 2D overhead view of the pitch.

The 2D matchday experience is currently in Beta and is available in all Gold Championships.

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Transfer-Market-Advice

Everyone has a different strategy in the transfer market as they aim to build a strong squad and sign some of the best young players around. I’m no different as this was my aim and still is since I took over Castilla in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065).

I’ve been in Game World ID 3065 since day one when it opened, I believe back in the Summer of 2007. You can argue that I’m now part of the furniture along with several other long-serving managers.

I’m sure my average rating was something like 78 when I took control of Castilla and my transfer funds were very limited. Today the average rating of my squad is 92. It wasn’t something that happened over night as it took a certain strategy that I adopted in the transfer market and still use to this day.

Therefore I think that this article might be useful to those of you who don’t take control of ready made squads and instead like to build from the ground up due to the challenge involved. I’m not saying for one moment that this only works for smaller club’s as it can apply to anyone. You should never let your squad stagnate as I believe that you need to be consistently active in the transfer market to be successful.

Signing the best players no matter the size of your club is always a hard task. The managers who have them, tend to want to keep hold of them and rightly so. From being on the game since day one I knew this was the case. I also knew that it’d be harder to sign players due to playing in a Gold Championship.

As a result, I turned my attention to signing up-and-coming players with lots of potential or those that were having a break out season and had previously been under the radar. You can’t sign every player who falls into either of these categories due to limited finances and also other managers having the same idea.

Yes, there are some managers who still sign every up-and-coming player under the sun and I don’t think there is any skill involved in this. There is a manager in my Game World that takes this approach and you can argue until the cows come home whether it involves any skill or not. However, there is a saying that you should cast your net far and wide when you’re looking for something and I suppose that one or two of your catch will eventually bear fruit.

I had to be more selective in this approach in the early years due to my limited finances. Even though I now have a nice healthy balance I won’t cast my net far and wide as I don’t think there is any skill involved in that whatsoever. Instead I do plenty of research into various players and then make a decision which ones I want to take a gamble on.

Not every up-and-coming player that you purchase develops as expected. I’m old enough to remember the hype from the 1990s in the UK surrounding Sonny Pike and it was interesting reading this article on him in the Guardian a week or two ago. Yes, he hadn’t made his professional debut before he called it a day but I suppose this is a good example to use.

Just ask yourself how many players have emerged over the years dubbed the “New Messi”, “New Zidane”, “New Ronaldinho” etc? Now ask yourself how many of those players have actually lived up to the early hype and fulfilled their potential?

Thinking about what I said earlier now I can see why that manager in my Game World casts his net far and wide when signing up-and-coming players, as for every 50 you sign only a handful of them will live up to the hype and reach their potential.

I suppose the real skill is actually making a call on which of these players will or won’t make it. Without blowing my own trumpet too much I can say that I’ve been quite successful over the years in doing this but I’ll also hold up my hands and say that I’ve made a few mistakes along the way.

Much to my wife’s annoyance I watch an awful lot of football. I also read as many news and blog articles as I can, as well as keeping up-to-date with the footballing world on twitter. I also visit numerous stat sites to see how many minutes players are clocking up. All of this helps with my decision with regards who to keep and who to sell. However, you need to be slightly ahead of the game in deciding who to sell.

If you realise that a certain up-and-coming player isn’t going to fulfill his potential and you leave it too late to move him on, there’s a good chance that other managers in your Game World have also spotted this. This is why you need to monitor them and make that call before they get to that stage in their career.

I usually offer two or three of these type of players to another manager in my Game World in exchange for a more established player. However, on occasions you might need to include someone that you think will actually make it, to help seal the deal, especially If you’re dealing with an equally knowledgeable manager. I have used this strategy from day one and I still use it to an extent now and that’s how I built up my squad.

I often wonder why another managers would take several of my up-and-coming players for a more established one and I think it’s because they want to take the gamble on those players even if you don’t or they might not be as knowledgeable and haven’t kept track on their development. Another reason could be that part of the fun is to watch players develop whereas with some established players they’ve reached their peak. After all, we all love to get the New Player Report message stating that a player in our squad or on our shortlist has had a rating change!

I’ve talked about my strategy on how it helped develop my Castilla in Game World ID 3065 into what it is today. Now i’ll recommend two websites that are worth bookmarking in Scouted Football and Outside of the Boot. I can’t recommend them highly enough as they produce quality article after article by some fantastic writers on young up-and-coming players. The former have also recently released a Scouted Football Handbook on 105 players that they think will make a splash in 2016. If you’re on twitter you can also follow them @ScoutedFootball and @OOTB_football respectively.

Before this article becomes too long and you start to switch off, I’ll briefly touch on how to keep your squad fresh, stop it stagnating and going into decline. You can use some of the aforementioned strategem to keep your squad fresh and in the best shape possible. Don’t just build up a good squad and be content with it. Always look to improve your squad and keep ahead of other managers in your Game World. This is because history has told us that all empires come to an end. Club’s that once dominated their domestic league for a period of time stop doing so. It’s all about cycles. This is no different to Soccer Manager as your squad will have a cycle as well.

Constantly look at bringing in up-and-coming players using the strategy outlined in this article and also apply it to your established stars. I’ve seen some good squads stagnate and then decline in Game World ID 3065 over the years. This can happen to anyone if you aren’t on the ball, all players eventually decline but some faster than others.

Again you need to take a gamble in this area and move the player on before they begin to decline because once they’re on that slippery slope they’ll continue to drop further and further and you’ll find it hard to get a good deal for them. Yes, it might be hard to move the player on because of who he is and their current rating but think further down the line and don’t just look a the present.

I’ve always used this approach and moved the player on in a deal that, at first looks favorable to the other manager, but down the line I’ve made the right decision. As the saying goes, “Those that stand still soon get left behind” and this is very true and the reason why you have to be on the ball in the transfer market.

Keep your eye on how your players are performing by watching as much football as you can, read as many news and blog articles as you can, keep up-to-date with the footballing world on twitter and also visit numerous stat sites to see how many minutes players are clocking up.

All of this will help with your decision with regards who to keep and who to sell before your player starts to decline. Remember that staying ahead of the game in deciding who to sell is key to the cycle of your squad and stopping the rot. Think of it as a game of chess as you always have to stay one move ahead of your opponent.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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SMFA-Cup-Heartbreak-&-Sibling-Rivalry

It’s been a few weeks since I did my last article when I wrote about my quadruple dreams and the impact of the recent financial changes on my team, Castilla, in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) and back then season 21 was drawing to a close.

I ended up playing 7 games in 10 days and I ended up sacrificing the Spanish Cup Final to concentrate on the league and SMFA Cup. In a sense I weren’t disappointed because the Zaragoza manager who i’ve become friends with beat me in the final 2-0. Their manager has assembled a good team over the past few years and hats off tom him for making it an entirely Spanish based squad that now competes for silverware season after season.

By sacrificing the Spanish Cup Final it meant that I could field my strongest XI in my remaining two leagues games in season. I ended up funnily enough playing Zaragoza again the next day in the penultimate league fixture which I won 4-0 but my title rival Valencia also won. This meant that I went into the final league game of the season with the same points as them but I had the superior goal difference.

I won my final game convincingly to claim my first league title since season 17. Previously i’d won the league 6 seasons on the bounce from season 12 to 17! It was nice to finally lay my hands on the Spanish league once again.

My final game of the season was the showpiece event, the SMFA Cup. I’ve won this competition on 3 previous occasions and this included back to back titles in season 16 and 17. I faced an excellent Morecambe team in the final who hadn’t won this competition before but were beaten finalists in season 15.

The manager of Morecambe has been in Gold 7 since day one like myself and i’d now class them as a super club within the game world. They also aren’t a push over as they’ve won the English league 3 times in the past 4 seasons! The SMFA Cup final was a tight affair and an early goal sealed Morecambe’s first SMFA Cup and I had to be content with ending the season with just the league and cup double (as i’d wont the Spanish Shield earlier in the season).

I’ve started season 22 as I mean to go on by winning my opening two league games. I was also delighted to be drawn against my brother in Group F of the SMFA Cup. He’s been managing a team from Genoa since September 2013 but our paths have never crossed during that time. This is because needless to say i’m managing in Spain and he’s managing in Italy.

I suppose this is what makes Gold Championships unique and different to Standard Game Worlds. Gold Championships contain multiple national leagues. Each one will have the American, Argentine, Brazilian, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Scottish, Spanish and Turkish leagues by default. They are then joined by 5 other leagues that are selected randomly from 39 leagues. So they could be joined by the Australian, Belgian, Chinese, South African and Swiss leagues for example.

Naturally with this many leagues there are numerous clubs to choose from and this leads to more managers in a Game World. I’ve just checked Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) and there are currently 83 managed clubs. This is what I like about these type of Game Worlds because with that many managers it makes it more challenging in the transfer market.

In a Standard Game World for example a Spanish Championship, it contains two divisions with 20 clubs in each one. This means that you have club’s from England, France, Germany, Italy etc as external clubs and there is a wealth of talent to help you build a team of your dreams. However, within a Gold Championship all of these clubs are active within your Game World making the transfer market harder as the pool of talent at external clubs is smaller.

I’ve found that you need to be clever in the transfer market in a Gold Championship and also have patience. This is also the case in some very popular Standard and Custom Game Worlds as well. It won’t be to everyone’s taste though as some like to build a squad instantly. I think in my next blog i’ll discuss the strategy of how I managed to build up my Castilla over the years as I believe this will interest some managers.

If you want to test your managerial skills in a Gold Championship, then you have to be a Gold Manager. It costs 2,250 SM credits for 30 days or 15,300 for 365 days. As well as being able to compete in this unique Game Worlds you’ll also be able to manage international teams, manage your club in SMFA competitions and manage an additional 10 clubs.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

PLAY SOCCER MANAGER NOW

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SMW-v2.01-2D-Matchday

I mentioned in a blog post last week that going forward any updates to Soccer Manager Worlds will be released in versions. So the first update since our relaunch to celebrate 10 years of Soccer Manager is v2.01.

The big news that I want to shout about is the introduction of a 2D matchday experience into our two test Game Worlds, IDs 238724 & 239094, as well as in English Championship 2154 (Game World ID 17658) and Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065). In my post last week I explained how i’d had access to this for the past few months and enjoyed watching my Castilla’s matches via a 2D overhead view of the pitch. I’m still enjoying watching my games this way and think it’s better than the traditional commentary because you can see the action unfold in front of you.

The 2D matchday experience is currently in Beta and if you’d like to help test it and provide feedback, please feel free to apply for a team in either of our two test Game Worlds or alternatively join either English Championship 2154 or Gold Championship 7. I’m sure you’ll agree with me in that it’s a massive addition to the game and will enhance your matchday experience.

v2.01 also contains numerous bug fixes and improvements to the new user interface (UI). This wouldn’t have been possible without your help, so a big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to provide feedback over the past few weeks. I think that with this latest update the new UI has taken a massive step forward and we’re getting to the point where the old one will eventually be phased out. So please keep your feedback coming as this is invaluable.

When we made changes back in December to the algorithm for calculating a player’s value, it was changed to include the player’s potential rating and any concerns they may have, as well as what was taken into account before: rating, age and position. However, this led to some fluctuations in a player’s value and we have now smoothed this out to stop drastic fluctuations on a daily basis.

We’ve also made the penalties for players playing out of position harsher based on your feedback. I won’t go into exact detail of what the penalties are but I will say that I won’t be playing a player out of position unless i’m forced to due to a lack of options because of injuries and/or suspensions!

The last update to tell you about in v2.01 are improvements to the free Custom Game World that you receive when your reputation is 45+. There are numerous managers who’ve invited their friends to join them in Soccer Manager Worlds and take a club in the new Custom Game World that they’ve created. As a thank you to those that have filled their Custom Game World, you will receive another free Game World if your last one is still active when you’ve finished your first full season. So it’s no longer a one off and you can keep receiving free Custom Game Worlds for you and your friends to play in as long as you all remain active.

To make it easier to invite your friends to join you in your Custom Game World, we’ve made numerous improvements to the friend inviter tools, allowed the owner to offer clubs sooner, allowed accepted managers to tell their friends about the Game World and also created a news feed were the owner and friends can post messages prior to it opening. I think that with these improvements it’s now easier than ever to invite your friends to join you and hopefully you’ll all continue to enjoy making the free Custom Game Worlds that we’re giving away!

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Quadruple-Dreams-and-Impact-of-Recent-Financial-Changes

At the start of last week I had hopes of achieving a quadruple in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) and it got me wondering how many managers in a Gold Championship have actually achieved this?

To achieve a quadruple is a unique achievement. It’s something that I wanted to try and achieve. I had already won the Spanish Shield earlier in the season. With 3 league games left of the season I were going toe-to-toe with Valencia for the title and I also faced them in the semi final of the SMFA Cup. I also faced Levante in the semi final of the Spanish Cup.

I always try and keep a small first team squad and it currently stands at 20 players with an average rating of 93. I usually have a dozen or so younger players out on loan but none are good enough to get into my starting XI. However, I have a handful of players in my youth squad that are 85-86 rated that I can call on to compliment my first team. Naturally when you have a small squad as soon as injuries or suspensions hit it can cause a few problems but to date it’s never been a major concern.

So I had hopes of achieving a quadruple but alas it weren’t to happen as I ended up playing 7 games in 10 days. The busy schedule took it’s toll on my small squad and something had to give and after reaching the Spanish Cup final I decided to sacrifice that competition:

  • Monday 11th January SMFA Cup Semi Final Leg 1 Castilla 1-1 Valencia
  • Wednesday 13th January Castilla 3-0 Valladolid
  • Friday 15th January Spanish Cup Semi Final Castilla 3-2 Levante
  • Saturday 16th January Granada 0-2 Castilla
  • Sunday 17th January SMFA Cup Semi Final Leg 2 Valencia 0-3 Castilla
  • Tuesday 19th January Spanish Cup Final Castilla 0-2 Zaragoza
  • Wednesday 20th January Castilla 4-0 Zaragoza

Having a key first team player out with a torn ankle ligament since 23rd December, 2015, didn’t help and another squad player wasn’t due to return from injury until 15th January after a 7 week lay off. Throw into the equation one of my CBs picking up an injury on 16th January and this meant I were literally screwed!

I can’t really complain though as I made the decision to have a small squad and it was a good challenge juggling my starting XI from game to game. I also had to delve into the loan market after playing three consecutive games ahead of the Spanish Cup final. Morecambe (who I incidentally face in the SMFA Cup Final on 25th January) were kind enough to loan me 3 players and they went straight into my starting XI for the final along with numerous youth players. Something had to give and I sacrificed that competition so I could field a strong XI to try and clinch the league title the next day. Thankfully I gained revenge over Zaragoza the next day and won the league ahead of Valencia on goal difference!

Why do I have such a small squad? It’s to keep a rein on my finances as well as ensuring that I don’t hog players that I don’t need. My wage bill and ground maintenance is currently 98.8M and 4.63M respectively per season. So I know that next season my outgoings will be approximately 103M for the season. I’ve done some quick calculations and i’ll be making 1.97M per home league game and approximately 37.43M over the course of the season.Throw in the 511K that i’ll make away from home and that’s an additional 9.7M in income. So I can expect approximately 47M income over the season.

My initial thought is i’m screwed as i’ll be making a deficit of 56M. However, i’m not taking into account any cup runs that I may go on both domestically and in the SMFA as i’ve only factored in income from league games. My outgoings are as high as they are because the average rating of the 20 players in my first team is 93 and my youth players are developing as expected and likewise this is reflected in their increase in ratings.

Without wanting to blow my own trumpet but with the players that I have at my disposal I should be reaching the latter rounds of both domestic cups and also the SMFA Cup (which incidentally I have done this season). So this is were I close the 56M in deficit because any additional revenue that I generate from playing a domestic or SMFA cup game is a bonus.

I’m also sat here with a big grin on my face whilst I type knowing that i’ve just received 26.5M in prize money for winning the Spanish league. This is because we’ve just made changes to prize money based on our communities feedback. I know that i’ll be guaranteed at least 10M on 25th January for playing in the final of the SMFA Cup and if I win the trophy for the fourth time i’ll pocket 20M. Throw into the mix my share of gate receipts, merchandising and TV revenue and this is going to be a very lucrative game.

If the changes to prize money were in place at the start of the season I could’ve made in the region of 20-30M in my run to the SMFA Cup final. The prize money has also increased for the domestic cups and you also generate additional income from these games. However, I now know which competition other than the league that i’ll be concentrating on next season as the SMFA Cup is now a very lucrative tournament.

Actually i’ll be making additional revenue due to the revised attendances and stadium building. Prior to the changes I had a stadium of 17K or so and only averaged around 13K fans each home game. My stadium increased to 24K when this was in Beta in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) and then again to 28K when this went live. Last week as a one off and to bring club’s up-to-date and in-line with the changes, some clubs received another increase and you can read about there here.

So my stadium capacity now stands at 31,284. My first home game after this increase saw a record 31,261 fans attend. Quite good timing really as they saw me clinch my first league title in 4 seasons! I might have to recalculate my projected income from home games next season as due to how attendances and stadium building works there is a very good chance that it’ll be increased once again when we move into season 22 in the next week or two.

So on reflection it’s not all doom and gloom and as bad as I first thought as I should be making a nice profit next season (that’s not even taking into account how I operate in the transfer market as I usually turn a profit in transfers each season). I’m now looking forward to the SMFA Cup final on 25th January and also a good battle next season once again with the managers in the Spanish league as I try and defend my league title.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

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Milestones-&-Best-Managers

One of the things i’ve been doing recently is reviewing the Help in Soccer Manager Worlds as it needs updating. Whilst looking at which articles we currently have and making note of if they’re still relevant and if they need updating, I came across one titled Best Managers. Due to being on the new user interface (UI) I went looking for this list as due to being on Soccer Manager since day one I thought there’s a pretty good chance that I might feature in one of them due to how it is currently setup.

Disappointingly I couldn’t find Best Managers within the new UI but managed to find it hidden away in the old one. I thought to myself I wonder how many members of our community are aware that this exists due to it being hidden away? If you do want to look at it as it makes an interesting read you need to click on Community within the cog icon on the desktop and then the Best Managers tab. For ease you can always click here as a shortcut.

Due to only having one team (as I don’t include the other one as it’s within a test Game World) which is in a Gold Championship I naturally went to the Gold Game World area to see where I am currently ranked. I’m currently sat in 26th place with my Castilla which is in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065). I’m quite proud of this as there are a lot of good managers around and i’ve managed to get in the Top 50 having taken on a small club and building them to a powerhouse over the years. However, this is where the problem lies.

There are now quite a few Gold Championships and the newest team from those Game Worlds is from Gold Championship 86. That in itself speaks volumes. This is because it uses Manager Points (which you can read about here) and naturally the managers with the most accumulated points will be in the Top 50. It’s good having a list like this but it also means that it’ll be near impossible to enter it due to how it currently works. Yes, you can argue that that is what the Average Points tab is for to see a snapshot of now but something needs to change.

The Best Managers firstly needs to be brought into the new UI. After that it needs to be brought to the fore so that it’s not hidden away in some menu that no one knows about. Lastly it needs to be expanded on so that it also includes a monthly Top 50 that is reset every 30 days as I believe that is something that managers would like to try and be part of.

After visiting the Best Managers it reminded me that there is also a Best Managers for your Game World. Again I believe that this is hidden away and a lot of managers probably aren’t aware of it’s existence. You can access it on the old UI via Game World (the globe icon) ? Overview / History > History > Best Managers. On the new UI via Game World > Overview / History > History > Best Managers. Unfortunately I can’t provide a link this time as it wouldn’t take you to your Game World.

Again I weren’t surprised to see my Castilla in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) sat in both the Best Game World Managers of All Time as well as Best Current Game World Managers. This is because just like with the Best Managers it uses Manager Points to work out the Top 10 managers for each list.

It’s very well seeing myself sat in both Top 10s (currently sat in 2nd in both leaderboards) as I took control of my team in the Summer of 2007 but again it’ll be hard for those that haven’t been in the Game World to enter it.

So I know that the same problems that exist with Best Managers also exist with Best Managers for your Game World. I won’t list them all again and also what needs doing as i’ll just be repeating myself.

However, I will state that i’m a strong advocate of the community aspect of the game as I believe that is what Soccer Manager Worlds is all about. So needless to say that the Best Managers is an area that I want to improve going forward as there is nothing better than boasting to your mates that you’re now above them in the Best Game World Managers list whether it is for current managers or a new monthly leaderboard.

This leads me to my next point. It was only when I went to Best Managers within my Game World that I noticed i’d been manager of Castilla for 999 games! That’s some achievement considering you play two league games each week and any additional games are dependent on your success in domestic and SMFA cups.

Even though I played my 1,000th game in the first leg of the SMFA Cup on Monday night it felt like a damp squib. This game could easily have come and gone without me even knowing! It made me think that this achievement wasn’t important. So what, you’ve managed the same club for that many games? Well it is an achievement and i’d be nice to let other managers in your Game World know about it. Never mind other managers, I want to know about it as well so that it just doesn’t pass by like any other game!!!

So it got me thinking that just like with Best Managers we should do more to celebrate milestones that you achieve with your club. This is something you should be made aware of. This is something that you should shout from the rooftops and let other managers know. Needless to say this is an area of the game that i’d like to see improved going forward.

About the author – Steven Gore

Steven is one of the co-founders of Soccer Manager and has been playing SM Worlds since August 2005. He can be found in Gold Championship 7 (Game World ID 3065) managing Castilla if you’d like to join him.

PLAY SOCCER MANAGER NOW

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Free-Custom-Game-World-blog

To celebrate 10 years of Soccer Manager Worlds, we are offering members of our community one FREE Custom Game World. This is because we believe the best way to enjoy the game is playing in your very own unique Game World with your friends, family and work colleagues.

When you access your account a pop-up will appear advising you that we’ve added a FREE Custom Game World your account. This can be created at any time via My Game Worlds by clicking the Create button.

However, the following criteria must be met for your FREE Custom Game World to be created and remain open:

  • The Game World must have at least 8 managers to unlock;
  • Should activity within the Game World fall too low, it’ll be closed but you’ll be given enough notice and opportunity to invite new managers;
  • If the Game World is populated with fake / inactive managers, the Game World will be closed.

We’ll never close a Game World without good reason and will always give members of our community every opportunity to keep their Custom Game World open as long as they keep to the above criteria.

This FREE Custom Game World will be offered to our long standing members of our community first before it is rolled out to everyone going forward.

We hope that you enjoy your FREE Custom Game World.

 

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Old-&-New-Interface

Thank you for everyone who has taken the time to provide feedback. It is really appreciated and it’s good to see that you are all as passionate about the game as we are.

It is your feedback that helps drive the game forward and what has made it into the game what it is today as many of your ideas and suggestions have been implemented over the years and will continue to be.

We’ve been passing on everyone’s feedback whether that has been on the forum, social media, via in-game PM and email to the development team.

Due to this we’ve put the old interface that you all like so much back into the game and you can now move freely between the old and new ones.

This will remain in place until we have a new interface that the majority of you are happy with.

Whilst we make changes to the new user interface, please continue to provide constructive feedback on our forums because without this the game won’t be able to develop.

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