Wednesday 21 October 2009
Wednesday 30 September 2009
Words from another, erm, Man
While others are promoting blogs that diss FML and its gameworlds, I'm always keen to promote those who do the opposite.
A close friend and fellow mod in StJohn has set up a new site on Tumblr, which may or may not be the clown equivalent of Blogspot - I'm not sure yet. Anyway, it's well worth a look - though I do fear for Frooty's sanity sometimes... The writing is brief and good quality, documenting the life and times of Frootloops FC.
A close friend and fellow mod in StJohn has set up a new site on Tumblr, which may or may not be the clown equivalent of Blogspot - I'm not sure yet. Anyway, it's well worth a look - though I do fear for Frooty's sanity sometimes... The writing is brief and good quality, documenting the life and times of Frootloops FC.
Words from a Great Man
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses or the marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.”
Sir Bobby Robson
Sir Bobby Robson
Monday 28 September 2009
Rage quit? One can dream
When this blog started, I'd had visions of using it as a revolutionary behind-the-scenes look at what being a mod entails, about looking at what goes into the big decisions.
It's often not come to pass. The writing became harder when the game went live - one starts to worry more and more about what the paying punter will think or feel, that somehow I could upset someone's delicate sensitivities by writing the wrong thing here.
Others, it seems, don't share the same respect. After more than two years of FML, and nearly two years of moderating, apparently I (and others) don't give enough to our community. The ideas for innovative and interesting competitions, the months of work building communities and grafting for free to establish FAs and keep a Gameworld active and enjoyable get labelled as 'idiotic', 'shit' and the like. By people who've made no effort to communicate their opinions or thoughts, or come up with better ideas, through the proper channels - no, but plenty of effort to blog about it and not to let facts get in the way. Rage quit? One can dream.
In other news, selling Vucinic turned out to be a bizarrely good move. The Frecheville Blades enjoyed their best ever season, with an early season dalliance at a title run culminating in a good league finish (8th in the FA, and only 2 points off third!) and my first official senior silverware - the EDFA Cup, after a stirring performance ended in stalemate and a penalty shootout win. I'm likely to get to keep the trophy too, with the EDFA folding this season also, due to falling numbers.
We're aggressively looking to merge and re-structure our remaining FAs. Any aging GW will see falling numbers - that FML can keep people's attention for as long as it does is nothing short of amazing. How many games do people seriously play to such an extent for months on end? It's great value... The green shoots of recovery aren't restricted to the real world economy however - we had a great intake of new, active managers last season who are now feeding into the main FAs after a protected baptismal season in NUFA.
So, doom and gloom? Not totally... the future is bright for those in StJohn. It's still one of the sanest worlds around, enjoyed by many. But that doesn't make such a good story...
It's often not come to pass. The writing became harder when the game went live - one starts to worry more and more about what the paying punter will think or feel, that somehow I could upset someone's delicate sensitivities by writing the wrong thing here.
Others, it seems, don't share the same respect. After more than two years of FML, and nearly two years of moderating, apparently I (and others) don't give enough to our community. The ideas for innovative and interesting competitions, the months of work building communities and grafting for free to establish FAs and keep a Gameworld active and enjoyable get labelled as 'idiotic', 'shit' and the like. By people who've made no effort to communicate their opinions or thoughts, or come up with better ideas, through the proper channels - no, but plenty of effort to blog about it and not to let facts get in the way. Rage quit? One can dream.
In other news, selling Vucinic turned out to be a bizarrely good move. The Frecheville Blades enjoyed their best ever season, with an early season dalliance at a title run culminating in a good league finish (8th in the FA, and only 2 points off third!) and my first official senior silverware - the EDFA Cup, after a stirring performance ended in stalemate and a penalty shootout win. I'm likely to get to keep the trophy too, with the EDFA folding this season also, due to falling numbers.
We're aggressively looking to merge and re-structure our remaining FAs. Any aging GW will see falling numbers - that FML can keep people's attention for as long as it does is nothing short of amazing. How many games do people seriously play to such an extent for months on end? It's great value... The green shoots of recovery aren't restricted to the real world economy however - we had a great intake of new, active managers last season who are now feeding into the main FAs after a protected baptismal season in NUFA.
So, doom and gloom? Not totally... the future is bright for those in StJohn. It's still one of the sanest worlds around, enjoyed by many. But that doesn't make such a good story...
Wednesday 19 August 2009
Blades conquering mid-table...
So I'm not even going to apologise for my shameful absence this time... It has been inexcusable, unforgiveable etc and so forth... I've been super busy :(
Moderation is going swimmingly as always - StJohn is a very well behaved world in general. SI have brought out the idea of 21 day trials for Football Manager Live, which have been quite popular and have brought us probably 150 new managers over the last two off-seasons. The mod team in StJohn has also expanded to 9 now, with several great new lads coming on board. It's always a real pleasure to be able to get people into the team.
As for the Frecheville Blades, well it's been a mixed bag. I had quite a rise up the world rankings lately, with a high of around 45th - not bad for me. The new tactics UI has been quite a godsend! The big experiment - going all out for a decent income didn't really pay off. I do well, and signed some great players (Vucinic and Thiago Neves being highlights - Pablo Zabaleta did well too, and Pablo Piatti is on the left wing now too!) but we were always a bit short.
The best finish yet saw me come in 5th in the newly formed EDFA Premier League - it's an interesting daytime FA with fairly low AI levels and some good people.
Anyway, I will try to get more time to blog a bit more meaningfully again...
Moderation is going swimmingly as always - StJohn is a very well behaved world in general. SI have brought out the idea of 21 day trials for Football Manager Live, which have been quite popular and have brought us probably 150 new managers over the last two off-seasons. The mod team in StJohn has also expanded to 9 now, with several great new lads coming on board. It's always a real pleasure to be able to get people into the team.
As for the Frecheville Blades, well it's been a mixed bag. I had quite a rise up the world rankings lately, with a high of around 45th - not bad for me. The new tactics UI has been quite a godsend! The big experiment - going all out for a decent income didn't really pay off. I do well, and signed some great players (Vucinic and Thiago Neves being highlights - Pablo Zabaleta did well too, and Pablo Piatti is on the left wing now too!) but we were always a bit short.
The best finish yet saw me come in 5th in the newly formed EDFA Premier League - it's an interesting daytime FA with fairly low AI levels and some good people.
Anyway, I will try to get more time to blog a bit more meaningfully again...
Friday 8 May 2009
Massive week continues with shock FA move
More big news from the Frecheville Blades as their week of big news continues.
The recently-relegated side have moved to the newly-formed EDFA (Elite Daytime FA), leaving the AEFA after four seasons.
The new FA promises some new innovative competitions and since only active managers will be around to sign up, it should also be super active.
In other news, two new first team defenders have joined the Blades, with centre half Stephane Mbia and left back Tiago Gomes joining the club after being poached in end-of-contract wage auctions.
The recently-relegated side have moved to the newly-formed EDFA (Elite Daytime FA), leaving the AEFA after four seasons.
The new FA promises some new innovative competitions and since only active managers will be around to sign up, it should also be super active.
In other news, two new first team defenders have joined the Blades, with centre half Stephane Mbia and left back Tiago Gomes joining the club after being poached in end-of-contract wage auctions.
Thursday 7 May 2009
Second signing of day pleases Blades fans
Frecheville Blades have won the race to sign Brazilian midfield playmaker Thiago Neves in the end of contract wage auction that ended this morning at 11:48.
Their bid of £23,001 was enough to secure him on a 2 season contract.
There is an acquisition fee of £400,000 payable to Dutch manager
Jordie Altheer's dazzling Garuda and a signing-on fee of £230,010 (10 x his wage of £23,001) payable to Thiago Neves.
Of the three clubs who made bids, the second highest bidder made a bid of £21,000.
This is the Blades' second stunning signing of the day, following the earlier capture of star striker Mirko Vucinic.
Their bid of £23,001 was enough to secure him on a 2 season contract.
There is an acquisition fee of £400,000 payable to Dutch manager
Jordie Altheer's dazzling Garuda and a signing-on fee of £230,010 (10 x his wage of £23,001) payable to Thiago Neves.
Of the three clubs who made bids, the second highest bidder made a bid of £21,000.
This is the Blades' second stunning signing of the day, following the earlier capture of star striker Mirko Vucinic.
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