Mad Skillz

I guess I've teased people by saying the Skills are an 'awesome new feature', so I should discuss what they are for people that don't know.

I'm going to steer clear of the comparison with the system used in the MMO 'EVE Online', but erm, well OK it's similar. The skills in FML are trainable manager abilities that allow a user to really specialise their team and make them unique from any other team. In my opinion, having seen FML without and with the Skills, they really are the icing on the cake.

So... What skills are there? Well, I don't want to spoil the surprise for people who haven't had a chance to get into the beta, because they're gonna have a lot of fun with it when they do get in, whether still beta or retail... but a few teasers wouldn't hurt, eh?

The Skills currently fall into 5 categories - Coaching, Physio, Scouting, Management and Learning. Within these are many subcategories. Most skills require you to learn other skills first, and each skill appears to have 5 levels - each giving a small benefit, but taking longer each time, and it would take 6 years to learn all of the skills on offer... so you're unlikely to learn them all - hence team specialisation.

The beauty of the system is that it means everyone can have a role in FML. Maybe you want to be a scout, and sell your valuable information for hard cash. Maybe you want to want to charge people to heal their players at your state-of-the-art medical facilities (another possible future feature). You could specialise in youth development... or developing a specific type of player (like I am).

The options are almost endless. But they mean that even if you're struggling with form, there will always be a reason to play, a goal in site, or a way out of your problems. They've really got people interacting, and they're great fun too.