Stadiums- 9 seasons in and finished.

We are now in Season 10 of Valderrama and it occurred to me a few weeks ago that I need never touch my stadium again.

I remember mid last year, a while pre-reset, looking at the forums and then Jakswans blog to gem up on the 'requirements' for stadiums, and found them to be a stark choice:

Invest in stadium -or- Invest in team

There were some managers that were clearly not playing long term and investing totally in their team. They obviously won all the trophies and then ran away from the GW when the 'investors' income from the stadiums meant the glory hunters couldn't compete. This appeared a solid tactical decision, but possibly not one that would work post reset.

SI wanted teams to stay in their GW's (not hop when they became less competitive) and for new users to be able to catch up (which, when you are competing against teams that have spent 8 months investing in stadiums, is a 'you 'ain't ever gonna catch-up' scenario).

So, to the current format. I have a general theory for building stadia alligned with this important rule: ALWAYS PAY OVER 8 WEEKS.

1) Wait till end season 1/beginning season 2 and build a 3 Tier Ospilata (or whatever it is called). Always build a season in advance of when you think you will want the structue/seats, as it takes around 24 days to build.


2) (beginning of season 3) As soon as it (1) is built, install electronic advertising in the 2 slots & build 1 x Exclusiff Corp seating (Yes, it is bloody expensive, but it also pays itself off quickest and earns you the most).


3) If, when the Corp seating is built, it looks like you have the demand, build another Exclusiff (remember to pay over 8 weeks). If you don't have the demand, or the cash, either add a couple of the more expensive remaining seating (not the other Corp one... ever!), or wait a week or 2.


4) When you have completed the 2nd Exclusiff seating look to fill the stands with the most expensive seating your fans are willing to sit in.


5) This should take you to around season 5 where you want to start looking at building your 2nd Ospilata 3 Tier.


6) When completed build the 2 Electronic advertising slots immediately & build the 2 remaining Exclusiff corp seatings over the following 3 seasons (6-9)... based on demand- if there is no demand yet, again construct the highest price seating wanted by the fans (the over-riding factor here is that the fans with least money are not to be catered for... the peasants).

- I may add the odd small amount of seating at other times, but it’s optional.

The problem with the current system is that there hasn't been the choice as per pre-reset. You could do well and build your stadia. I am now in season 10, have minimal tactical ability (or so I am often told), 15* Rep, Prem Div team and have an income of £163k a day. And therein lay the problem.

I am finished. I have no intention to increase my capacity. I got into this position by mostly FA winnings and prudent wages (we all sell the odd player but I am not even close to being regarded a ‘trader’), and have no particular urge to spend a further huge wedge of cash & for it to pay itself off over the next 500 days. I still have a fair bit of room to improve as a team but can’t earn more cash.

I have 2 Main stands, over 20k of fans wanting to watch the matches, around £5k of fans wanting Corp seating and no reason to satisfy them. Why would I?

So, what is the solution? I just missed it (having started playing FML in March 2009) but understand big changes to the Stadiums caused uproar on the forums…. Some things never change. If the monies were just changed on the game this would cause both problems and moans.

Well, if I were to compare this to a real life scenario, maybe it could be Arsenal. They had Highbury, but it had reached capacity and further building was not possible. They had to move to a new site to build a stand befitting the demand. Could this be added to FML? An enormous outlay to build a whole new stadium?

Alternatively, SI could adapt the game so that teams could earn more at the top end, but also have even faster degeneration of seating, and accordingly, income. Make it more risk and reward. Add another strategic element.

What I would prefer not to do, however, is to only ever visit my stadium when I want to repair it from now to the end of time……. Oh well, another easy thing for Si to adapt J

SI Silence

The rumours are that SI are more silent on the forums now than previously because of the abuse and negative feedback they got/get & the lack of constructive comments made by managers (or, in some cases it seems, ex-managers)- some are like dogs with a bone and never seem to accept an explanation unless it fits their myopic view of the game.

In my opinion, this is a huge fail. The forums have become a haven for the negative disaffected doom-mongerers of FML. Comments and accusations are made as if they are fact, with no official reply. I read the forums and, despite agreeing with some downsides of the game, just feel many random statements made are generally uninformed and narrow-minded.

I try and grasp on to the hope that most people have a rational side, and when explained why something has to, or will happen, then they accept and move on or away. As things stand though, with no comment at all, the dissent increases....

I am guessing it takes a fair bit of time out of their days, and they can ill-afford wasting it, but more of a presence will sate some peoples needs for clarification (and if some things need saying a few times, they need saying a few times- even if it's 'we haven't decided yet' or something more blunt, but informed).

A little tough love's what these people need. If that doesn't work, move on to Molotov cocktails- then again, if SI are fixing a few of the issues about which many people are asking, I guess silence is indeed golden... difficult balance.



Wages are high? Re-bid.

There seem to be a lot of managers unhappy with the high demands of players in their teams & I wondered if it would be possible to have a constructive and reasoned discussion on the forums about it… and then decided that would be impossible with the anti-SI spouting, negative trolling, I hate ‘new’ FMLing, Mr W. Hiners. (as ever, if you don’t like it, leave…. And soon please.)

My perspective is that there is a sense of entitlement felt by many managers over their players. Almost a 'how dare a player performing well in my first team ask for such money'.

But you can always re-bid.

The problem is that the system didn't work properly after reset- we were told players start to demand wages reflecting their Performances, Division, Rep, etc. and increase accordingly. I waited for this and posted on the forums a lot hoping it was about to 'kick in', but until the more recent upgrade it was absent. There were many warnings of increases during the early months, but some managers bid high on players regardless, and are now feeling the pinch- quite a topical reflection on current real-world financial issues.

You can also re-bid on a player, rather than auto-extend.

Equally, the current GW financial climates haven't helped being able to afford wages, but that is the nub of the issue. Managers are now having to think about whether they Auto-Extend or Auto-Rebid. I don't think managers are being forced to pay high wages, more just having to choose whether to effectively 'lock' a player or not.

Its worth repeating… and loudly:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO AUTO EXTEND. YOU CAN AUTO RE-BID

Pre-reset managers got 5 locks. Now you get as many as you can afford. It feels that some managers have been spoilt with the cheap auto-extends recently and are now seeing they can't coast with players. The downside is that you might lose players you really like.

This may well affect the top teams more- as they have the most desirable players- but this is part of the extra mile they have to go to in staying at the top. If the only string to their bow was buying loads of players they didn't want for themselves, and selling high (being a trader) then they aren't up to the task of being the top manager.

There is an alternative & equally vocal view on the forums as well... the fact that even World Famous players can't be sold for £1 as 'there is no money left in the GW's'. I'd say the two issues are linked- there is less money around as the GW's adjust to the new finances (so buying 'willy-nilly' is not happening as much) but I bet the unsigned World Famous players have wages WAY over their base demand? Yep, thought so….

I agree with some that SI have changed too much inside the game to affect long term tactics and needed to Beta test things better (like here), rather than add new innovations, but things are what they are.

The fact is, and you may have gathered this, you don't HAVE to auto-extend....

Oh well... back to the whining..