Mike’s addiction to transfer deals led to the most productive and active newsfeed discussion in, well, ever:
Like an extended Dead Parrot sketch, many Top 100 managers complained like Mike that their parrot wasn’t just not very active, or a bit slow, in a lull or a quiet phase, or just a bit stale, but is, in fact dead. An Ex-parrot!
On a more serious note, below is what I hope is a fair summary of the problems highlighted, and the solutions suggested, as well as some of the possible consequences of these proposed fixes.
I’ll do a follow-up post soon with some polls to see who wants what, and when.
I think the main problems that managers highlighted can be broken down into three interconnected areas, as per Mike’s original post:
- Social activity
- Transfer activity
- Manager activity
1. Social activity
Some comments from managers:
Hard to be sure about the newsfeed, although I wasn’t around for the start of the Game World. Certainly, blog activity (pageviews) has reduced dramatically if this is any guide:
And people do chat a lot in the Top 100 WhatsApp Group, which may well have taken away from the newsfeed and blog.
We also have a Facebook Group, but it isn’t very active – or interactive – from what I’ve seen.
Regarding blog content – regular updates, posts and pages – I can empathise with feeling like I’m the only one writing (and reading, commenting) on the blog, at times. And I also find it a pain to format posts and pages how I want them to look. And I suspect it isn’t mobile-friendly.
In trying to offer a range of different platforms for people to get their Top 100 fix – in-game newsfeed, blog, FB, WhatsApp, it seems like we may have lost a lot of what people want and like in the game world itself.
2. Manager activity
There seems to be a strong feeling among some managers that there are now more managers than before who just aren’t very active, or active enough to make Top 100 work as it should. This is most noticeable when it comes to trying to do transfer deals…
3. Transfer activity
Again, there seems to be strong feeling among most managers who commented on Mike’s original post that transfer deals are getting harder to do, for a whole host of reasons. It should be said that there are a few managers who commented that this difficulty is part of what makes Top 100 what is is – a tough challenge! And others that say that it’s the inevitable result of any game world after several seasons in.
So what can we do about any of the above problems? What are the suggested solutions?
1. Improving social experience
It’s pretty clear people want Team of the Week, or something like it, back. Frank used to so this, and had his own system for doing it. And Doug and Nathan kindly offered to run something similar:
Regarding doing stuff on the blog more generally, that’s always been an option for anyone who wants to contribute.
It would be great to do any and all of the other suggestions, and bring back Top 100 TV in some form or other, but all of these ideas require other managers to commit to doing some regular work!
Recent blog stats here show that even when people like myself, Norman, Malcolm, Stephen, Nathan and others have written articles or updates, there are only 10-20 views!
Whether that’s down to difficulties with viewing the blog as it is on a mobile phone, not knowing there are updates, or lack of interest in what’s been posted, I’m not sure.
Opening up our Facebook page so that all members can post might be a way of increasing activity there, but not everyone wants to or does use FB, and the risk is that like WhatsApp, we just take stuff away from the in-game newsfeed and this blog.
2. Dealing with inactive managers
There’s obviously a lot of frustration with what are perceived by some as inactive managers – managers who fail to respond to transfer bids, private messages, or who don’t post anything on the newsfeed, or the blog, and/or who are perceive to be underachieving at their clubs.
There seems to be a lot of support for making managers commit to achieving certain targets, and if they fail to do so, the expectation is that they then resign and let someone else have a go.
That would certainly make the game more realistic!
I’ve added ‘manager contracts’ to the list of suggestions, as I think that perhaps more realistically encapsulates the idea of the ‘stipulations’, and would leave room to offer managers longer contracts at clubs where more long-term squad building is required, and short-term contracts at top clubs where squads are already well-established and achieving, with the expectation for a new manager to keep winning trophies or to ‘leave by mutual consent’.
If a manager refuses to quit under these terms, and is therefore in breach of contract, he could be permanently banned from doing transfers with other managers, and refused a new team.
In terms of the Game World admin settings, it’s possible to increase the number of sackings from the bottom 2 to bottom 3 only (i.e., no option to sack the bottom 4), but even so that would still stimulate the transfer market by increasing the managerial merry-go-round.
It would also increase the need for having managers ready to replace those that leave Top 100 temporarily, or for good.
3. Stimulating the transfer market
There were a lot of suggestions about how to make the transfer market more active, mainly around the idea of changing the 50 player squad cap or limit, and somehow managing who gets to bid on new players and/or free agents on the player database.
Squad cap
Most suggestions were around reducing the squad cap with the expectation that this would force managers to sell unneeded players, thus increasing the number, and perhaps the quality of players available for weaker teams to buy.Some managers suggested that increasing the squad cap – certainly for lower division teams – would be more helpful for their longer term development.I think, overall, while there is lots of support for a reduction in the squad cap, there are also a lot of people against that idea because they believe it will be counter-productive, and/or that it will be unfair to managers who are using different strategies – a bit like moving the goalposts!There were also quite a few suggestions about limiting the youth squad size.One problem with a split squad cap from an admin point of view is enforcing the rule, which brings us on to suggestions for increasing the sanctions for going over the squad cap (which often seems to happen when managers bid on new players).
New players
Another suggestion that seemed popular was limiting or managing who can bid on new players added to the database, although again here there were also plenty of dissenting voices, arguing that it will unfairly penalise managers using different strategies.
Other suggestions
Cash only transfers, limiting or managing loans, who can bid on players that request transfers, and having some kind of between seasons player draft were also offered up, but with fewer supporters and more dissenters.
One idea that came to my mind on writing up this summary is to implement some kind of Financial Fair Play system, but I’m not sure how this would work or be enforced. A wages cap? A total player value cap?
In terms of what I can do via the Game World Admin settings, other popular suggestions also included introducing transfer window(s).
The options are to have one or two windows, between turns 1 to 38 (not sure how that would affect the between seasons period, which is currently when most transfer activity occurs).
Another option would be to change the Game World economy setting from normal to poor, in anticipation of clubs having to reduce their wage bills further down the line.
Of course, most (big) clubs already have so much cash in the bank this might make very little difference?
Voting on suggestions
I think all managers are of the view that if the most popular suggestions are selected on and voted for by a majority, then those changes can be implemented.
I think it may be wise, as some have counselled, not to try to do too much too soon, as it could create unintended problems and be unfair on managers who are pursuing strategies based on the current longstanding game world rules and conditions.
So, a bit like Brexit, I’m intending to run some initial non-binding votes or polls to get a better idea of how many managers support the following ideas:
- Future use of and contribution to the Top 100 newsfeed, blog, Facebook and WhatsApp groups.
- I’ve created a new ‘test’ blog here https://smtop100.wordpress.com – it should be easier to use and view using a mobile phone (as well as being easier to create posts and pages, and it allows polls, which Blogger no longer does).
- Introducing contracts for new managers – and extension of managerial stipulations, contracts offered by Top 100 managerial selection panel, and agreed to and/or negotiated by new manager.
- Increasing the number of mandatory sackings from bottom two to the maximum bottom three. Managers can still be offered a new contract with the club they have been sacked from, as now.
- Squad cap – increase or decrease, different caps for each division?
- Squad cap – increased sanctions for going over the limit.
- Introduction of Transfer Window(s).
Please do let me know if you think I’ve missed anything, got something wrong or if you have anything else to add to the discussion.
Long Live Top 100!
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