Virtual Manager's Advent Calendar!

Eaglescliffe FC wrote:

So while it’s been great, it’s obviously been better for those with bigger team and just widened the gap rather than being something for all to enjoy equally

Totally understand your point of view, but I don't agree with it. My wage bill is 450k per day. Making an extra 450k from the ticket sales bonus which is roughly what I got, really doesn't do me many favours. It's better than nothing obviously but it doesn't make much of a dent in my expenses. As a percentage of income then smaller teams probably benefitted more to be honest. The contracts thing was hugely weighted in favour of bigger teams in absolute credits terms - but relative to the size of the clubs, it was probably pretty balanced.

I'm not even a particularly big club - granted I'm in top flight and have won a fair amount of trophies, but I don't have a maxed out stadium and I don't have huge cash reserves in the bank - the biggest clubs have literal billions of credits in the bank so safe to say that the bonuses from the advent calendar have made absolutely zero difference to them "pulling further away". In scale terms, they've probably pulled another 10cm ahead when the gap is already 12,000 miles from someone starting out!

Totally disagree about the half price upgrades - they did the right thing by everything being small bonuses on top of the game, rather than actually altering the game itself. Why should anybody under 1 gold star get a freebie just because they happened to be on the game on the right day, when everybody else has had to work for every upgrade? Or what about those who upgraded to one gold star in November? Hardly fair on them. That's why offering those freebies to the smaller teams would have been the wrong thing to do.

The top teams teams. Including you got more out of this damn advert calendar than the small teams...

CoventryAllStars wrote:

The top teams teams. Including you got more out of this damn advert calendar than the small teams...

You've been on the game longer than I have. Maybe stop whining and try harder and you can make the most of next year's calendar.

Maybe, just maybe think about the fact that to "benefit" by the extra 400k or so, I had to spend 100 million more than you expanding my stadium.

CoventryAllStars wrote:

The top teams teams. Including you got more out of this damn advert calendar than the small teams...

Of cause bigger teams gets more out of double attendance, their stadium is bigger however their expenses are way bigger than smaller teams, so double attendance benefits all.
The free scout is possible for everyone to use, EVEN if you don't have any scouts.
Free personal benefits small teams, as they can be expensive to hire for smaller teams.
More youth benefits all.
5% stadium repairs benefits all.

Does smaller clubs need more help? I think they have plenty. Alone the achievement prices are a big help for smaller teams.
2 month ago I restarted my club. I was lucky to have 2 achievements that I randomly got for switching league, that made my start a bit easier. But new clubs has way more than 2 achievements to help them out.
Do you know how many players on action can be bought for less than 1C to 10k C and sold for 40-100k C? A LOT. It is so easy for new players to make money. The start can be slow because you only start with 2.500 C, but just 1-2 achivements will help you a ton, and make you but more players and start making a decent amount of money pretty quick.
New clubs also has a one time deal giving them I think it's 10 days of premium AND 250k C, to help their start, and for a really low price.

Do they need more help? I don't really think so. The startout deal and the achievements er enough in my opinion

I do completely get the point about wages etc as they are all relative. But there some areas of the game which are fixed costs, like staff wages etc where bigger crowds etc to help them. While 100k may not be a lot for big teams, that hires a new trainer or extends a contract. To smaller teams the double attendance takes a lot longer to get that. So that’s where the advent calendar has helped, but I agree in general it has been really good for all.

As for players available for cheap and selling them on. In theory yeah, but smaller teams do get skinned in the transfer market. I’ve had a number of players sell for under 1m then get sold a day later for triple that. It’s all on auction so it’s not a case of playing the market. Bigger teams know they can pick up talent from teams who are smaller for less due to them declining at lesser training grounds. If they are then sold a week or two later I wouldn’t mind, but same day? Come on. There’s clearly an imbalance. I’m not saying smaller teams should be advantaged beyond what is fair. But getting turned over in the transfer market like this is not, especially when on auction it should be fair or luck. It is sadly not. So the smaller teams do need some help to be able to compete, otherwise loads of new people will play for a while and just leave, then what’s left, just the same few at the top. For the sake of diversity and the game and getting and keeping new people, there needs to be a fair playing field and not just favouring those at the top

Eaglescliffe FC wrote:

I do completely get the point about wages etc as they are all relative. But there some areas of the game which are fixed costs, like staff wages etc where bigger crowds etc to help them. While 100k may not be a lot for big teams, that hires a new trainer or extends a contract. To smaller teams the double attendance takes a lot longer to get that. So that’s where the advent calendar has helped, but I agree in general it has been really good for all.

As for players available for cheap and selling them on. In theory yeah, but smaller teams do get skinned in the transfer market. I’ve had a number of players sell for under 1m then get sold a day later for triple that. It’s all on auction so it’s not a case of playing the market. Bigger teams know they can pick up talent from teams who are smaller for less due to them declining at lesser training grounds. If they are then sold a week or two later I wouldn’t mind, but same day? Come on. There’s clearly an imbalance. I’m not saying smaller teams should be advantaged beyond what is fair. But getting turned over in the transfer market like this is not, especially when on auction it should be fair or luck. It is sadly not. So the smaller teams do need some help to be able to compete, otherwise loads of new people will play for a while and just leave, then what’s left, just the same few at the top. For the sake of diversity and the game and getting and keeping new people, there needs to be a fair playing field and not just favouring those at the top

Being a big team makes no difference to auction prices - have mailed you some tips which is what the big clubs will be doing and explains why they get betterm prices on auction. That's their experience with selling on auction, not their reputation

Eaglescliffe FC wrote:

I do completely get the point about wages etc as they are all relative. But there some areas of the game which are fixed costs, like staff wages etc where bigger crowds etc to help them. While 100k may not be a lot for big teams, that hires a new trainer or extends a contract. To smaller teams the double attendance takes a lot longer to get that. So that’s where the advent calendar has helped, but I agree in general it has been really good for all.

As for players available for cheap and selling them on. In theory yeah, but smaller teams do get skinned in the transfer market. I’ve had a number of players sell for under 1m then get sold a day later for triple that. It’s all on auction so it’s not a case of playing the market. Bigger teams know they can pick up talent from teams who are smaller for less due to them declining at lesser training grounds. If they are then sold a week or two later I wouldn’t mind, but same day? Come on. There’s clearly an imbalance. I’m not saying smaller teams should be advantaged beyond what is fair. But getting turned over in the transfer market like this is not, especially when on auction it should be fair or luck. It is sadly not. So the smaller teams do need some help to be able to compete, otherwise loads of new people will play for a while and just leave, then what’s left, just the same few at the top. For the sake of diversity and the game and getting and keeping new people, there needs to be a fair playing field and not just favouring those at the top

I agree with you that smaller teams need a bit more help in the beginning. But in the auction most of the time it's the luck and time of the transfer, rather than bigger clubs taking advantage of smaller ones . The only advantage is the bigger clubs know the price range for particular talents and buy under value and can afford to keep the players on tl. If they want a quick cash out they auction after the Sunday update or tl for a 500k-1m more the player or higher if the player was bought at a big discount (just saw a formidable bought for under 3m, sold for 12-14m). But that's the only one in a few months that I've noticed.

Generally if the newer player get to the forums and read the noobs Bible and 2-3 other sticky topics they can get a decent base on which they can build up by asking questions. It's what I've done and I could have had the WCTF in less than a year if that was the target, but I assumed waiting for a few months is more optimum with the players I had and them loosing 5% of trai ig for a while. It really depends if newer managers have the patience for waiting to upgrade first the tfs or want the quick gratification of reaching top divisions only to crumble under the wages and players declining. It's one of the best advices I got on the forums, not to get stuck in 3rd.2nd div purgatorium where you fight off players retiring and loosing value. But that's the quick and easy way up, at least to a certain point. It also pays to be active enough... Not everybody gets addicted to this game, and prefer something less demanding than daily trainig and replacing players on tl. I've created a hattrick account close to the same time I first wanted to quit vman 1-2 months I to it but I've only logged in every 2 months once I've setup the Training. Didn't even bother to replace some of the players I've trained and sold. Only logging in to keep the team alive,building cash if ever I decide to play more serious. Instead I'm here 2-3 times a day, scouting, training and checking auctions, though less frequent than in the first 6-9 months that were really intense and quite tiresome. I put my breaks and commute time on vman chasing each 100k possible on auction up to ETF. Then the gap gets too big to have the same strategy without getting bored with the game until the PTF and WCTF upgrade. Tried to provide some feedback on this but it was mostly discarded. To me there is no surprise that the users count is stagnant or in small decline. It all depends on wha the target is, and to me it seems there was a small preference not to p!ss off older managers and risk implementing changes that they deem unfair and make things easier for smaller clubs which in turn coud favor an increase in user base.
I must say this is the second online football manager that got me hooked after free kick, not sure if anyone else played it it was a really à long time ago, and was sad to see it gone when I wanted to return playing. So I'm afraid this might take the same turn, despite enjoying it a lot. There were some frustrating moments when I could have quit, luckily some managers in the forums were very supportive and it's why I stayed in the end. I really understand the frustrating smaller clubs have with the awards, I've also pointed this out somewhere in the beginning of the thread. But indeed the same amount of money is not worth the same to managers at different levels. When you've reached at least 2nd division with al 50k+ stadium the Weekly costs are quite high and the players needed to maintain the level have higher starting prices than the ones needed for 3rd div. Not to mention 1st div where the presence at that level should not be taken for granted. Of course no one wants to go backwards, however the competition to the top just got a bit more tipped in the favor of bigger clubs once the youth team was introduced, and it will take maybe a year more for smaller clubs to catch up. I'm just glad on on the good side of the balance, however just having crossed it last October it's not looking great, but at least it's in my favor.
So to other managers struggling, guys you have my understanding and support. Hang in there, choose a strategy that doesn't make you quit the game and build steadily and you'll get to the top(if only to relegate 2-3 times from first division, it's still a great accomplishment).

people moaning about something that is an extra and free of charge.really come on

The Dark Carnival wrote:

CoventryAllStars wrote:

The top teams teams. Including you got more out of this damn advert calendar than the small teams...

You've been on the game longer than I have. Maybe stop whining and try harder and you can make the most of next year's calendar.

Maybe, just maybe think about the fact that to "benefit" by the extra 400k or so, I had to spend 100 million more than you expanding my stadium.

i hope they dont bring this back..dont tell me to stop whining.. so maybe shut your mouth and go back to your team

CoventryAllStars wrote:

i hope they dont bring this back..dont tell me to stop whining.. so maybe shut your mouth and go back to your team

Not sure what you're so upset about but if you're going to whine pointlessly about things you got for free, then expect people to call you out on it. Don't like the advent calendar? Don't open it next year, then you will have nothing to get upset about.