*wave*
Hello folks, long time no see! I understand it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything, and for that I apologize. Sadly (well, not super sad), real life has been somewhat hectic, and I haven’t had as much time to play as I thought I would. Additionally, I was experiencing a smidge of burnout, coupled with a severe bout of A.D.D., preventing me from settling on a bloody story! For this, I offer my heartfelt apologies! Unfortunately, with so little time left before the release of the next Football Manager game, I won’t be continuing with any of the plethora of stories that I’ve subjected the lot of you too (thanks so much for your patience!).
Fear not (or fear a lot, depending on your point of view) however, for I shall be back in full force with Football Manager 2012 (videos and all)! My goal this time around, is definitely to stick with a single story from release day clear on through till the release of FM 2013 (or at least a good 6 or 7 months of story). I’ve been giving this a considerable amount of thought, and probably more than I should considering this is just a game. I wanted a story I was really passionate for, that I would be excited to see through to the finish, and would offer enough variety to keep my attention firmly where it belongs.
So upon which team did I decide? Well, truth be told, I haven’t. I can, however, share with you the logic behind that decision, and the criteria I’ve been using.
1) A compelling nation — Now this might make not much sense off-the-bat, but I want a nation that interests me. This ultimately ends up eliminating North and South America, Asia, and Africa. As much as love D.C. United, I have no desire to manage in the MLS, and I truly believe the heart of soccer (hey, it’s what we call it) beats in Europe. As such, it has to be a country in Europe, and it has to be one without exceedingly lame rules (sorry Belgium, that means you).
2) Room to grow — I don’t want to start at the ceiling (for example, Barcelona or Manchester United). While it can be fun to steamroll opponents, I want to do it with a squad I’ve built myself.
3) I don’t care about my club — Er…what? That’s right, I don’t care about what club I play. How does that make even the tiniest bit of sense, you ask? Well…this leads me rather melodramatically into my plans for my 2012 story!
My 2012 story will be…»Building a Nation»!
To clarify, I plan to take full advantage of the dynamic league reputations, and build a lower level nation into an international powerhouse. This will be a lengthy process, and will involve managing multiple teams within a nation’s top flight in order to build up the necessary reputation. It’s a plan that will almost certainly keep me occupied for the length of FM2012, and that’s a good thing. Obviously this goal eliminates certain major nations (the big «five» of England, Spain, Italy, France, and Germany for example), and I’ve decided that my nation’s top league must not be any better than «three» stars.
This leaves quite a few nations floating around, but I’ve managed to eliminate it down to just a handful:
(In no particular order)
1) Poland
2) Wales
3) Scotland
4) Serbia
5) Hungary
That may seem like an awfully long short list, but I assure you it’s taken me ages to get that far! Each nation is compelling for their own reasons, and all of them offer tremendous room for growth. Over the coming days I plan to narrow that list down far enough until we have an actual final nation. I’ll announce my choice in a video at some point this week, and will of course post it here when I do. In the meantime, feel free to offer any advice or input on the nation you might like to see.
Take care!
