Football Manager Live Pros and Cons
Average Rating: 8/10 Hits: 474 Submitted: Apr 7, 2008
MMORPGs are all the rage nowadays, what with World of Warcraft, Everquest and erm, Digimon, so it was little wonder that Football Manager, a game that had online capabilities already, was going to be spun off into it’s very own multiplayer planet. But is it a good idea? I will look at the pros and cons of what undoubtedly is a massive marketing opportunity.
The Pros
With the Football Manager series so far a best-seller, there is little doubt that FM Live will be well bought by consumers. The consumers bringing in this revenue will naturally want a place to chat about their game – cue massive influx to the Football Manager scene. This will bring new sites, both good and bad, and more discussion on the forums. It could send some sites under due to bandwidth, but aside from that the Scene will receive some much-needed variety, with the current pattern of resource, resource, blog, resource requiring some revitalisation by the bright young upstarts that arrive with a hatful of ideas and an expensive domain name. In fact, a dedicated fansite has already started up.
According to a Q&A with SI bigwig Marc Duffy, access by mobile will also be available in the future. This is a great idea. The mobile phone is a whole new ball game for the developers, aside from the much-derided Football Manager Quiz Mobile. It really allows SI to play around with the mobile, and perhaps in the future we will see a phone version. My Nokia N-Gage could even see some use, instead of acting as a coaster. Although cost is an issue during SMS auctions, especially in bidding for superstars, the function is unique and if enough income is generated from purchases, new servers could be installed that make the process of messaging the game world even quicker.
The game will also fill a large niche in the market. With no CM alternative yet, or a FIFA or LMA in the MMORPG market, FM Live will be the only place for football managing gamers looking for an online multiplayer experience. This will bring in more revenue too, and allow for further development of the Live franchise.
The Cons
Even though SI has over a hundred people slaving away at Islington, I fear that the Live business could distract the company from their original, and most successful, product. Football Manager 2009 is firmly in the back of their minds at the moment, with FM Live beta testing at the forefront. Also, Live will need to be constantly updated with new methods of play and, unfortunately cheating, being created all the time.
Will Live actually add anything to discussion on forums? Aside from the hit counter, forum discussion is a good way to measure the activity of a site and with discussion features on the FM Live site, manager journals and tactic ideas will be the only topics that come into the boards.
Plus, so many of its features are available from normal Football Manager anyway. Marc Duffy, in a Q&A session with the FML fansite, said that you can have total control over your club including name, kit and the pitch size. However, you can control this in the Data Editor that is packaged with the game. The pitch size, meanwhile, is changeable around two weeks or so into your saved game. Essentially, FM Live will be just like a massive online game, except with people you don’t know.
The Opinion
Personally, I won’t be purchasing FM Live, but I can see why people would be attracted to it. There has been a release buzz with all of the games, and it has received a lot of hype on SI Games and around the community. I’ve never really been into gaming online either, and to be honest my full attention is directed at the 2009 edition of the game we know and love.
Thanks for reading. Oh, and air your voice in the comments box below this article if you fancy ripping into or praising FM’s newest family member.
With the Football Manager series so far a best-seller, there is little doubt that FM Live will be well bought by consumers. The consumers bringing in this revenue will naturally want a place to chat about their game – cue massive influx to the Football Manager scene. This will bring new sites, both good and bad, and more discussion on the forums. It could send some sites under due to bandwidth, but aside from that the Scene will receive some much-needed variety, with the current pattern of resource, resource, blog, resource requiring some revitalisation by the bright young upstarts that arrive with a hatful of ideas and an expensive domain name. In fact, a dedicated fansite has already started up.
According to a Q&A with SI bigwig Marc Duffy, access by mobile will also be available in the future. This is a great idea. The mobile phone is a whole new ball game for the developers, aside from the much-derided Football Manager Quiz Mobile. It really allows SI to play around with the mobile, and perhaps in the future we will see a phone version. My Nokia N-Gage could even see some use, instead of acting as a coaster. Although cost is an issue during SMS auctions, especially in bidding for superstars, the function is unique and if enough income is generated from purchases, new servers could be installed that make the process of messaging the game world even quicker.
The game will also fill a large niche in the market. With no CM alternative yet, or a FIFA or LMA in the MMORPG market, FM Live will be the only place for football managing gamers looking for an online multiplayer experience. This will bring in more revenue too, and allow for further development of the Live franchise.
The Cons
Even though SI has over a hundred people slaving away at Islington, I fear that the Live business could distract the company from their original, and most successful, product. Football Manager 2009 is firmly in the back of their minds at the moment, with FM Live beta testing at the forefront. Also, Live will need to be constantly updated with new methods of play and, unfortunately cheating, being created all the time.
Will Live actually add anything to discussion on forums? Aside from the hit counter, forum discussion is a good way to measure the activity of a site and with discussion features on the FM Live site, manager journals and tactic ideas will be the only topics that come into the boards.
Plus, so many of its features are available from normal Football Manager anyway. Marc Duffy, in a Q&A session with the FML fansite, said that you can have total control over your club including name, kit and the pitch size. However, you can control this in the Data Editor that is packaged with the game. The pitch size, meanwhile, is changeable around two weeks or so into your saved game. Essentially, FM Live will be just like a massive online game, except with people you don’t know.
The Opinion
Personally, I won’t be purchasing FM Live, but I can see why people would be attracted to it. There has been a release buzz with all of the games, and it has received a lot of hype on SI Games and around the community. I’ve never really been into gaming online either, and to be honest my full attention is directed at the 2009 edition of the game we know and love.
Thanks for reading. Oh, and air your voice in the comments box below this article if you fancy ripping into or praising FM’s newest family member.
