Hello, I’m here with another article for you, so here it comes. The whole thing is basically a balanced look at the Football Manager ‘community’, split into three parts. The first, this article piece, is a critical look at it. Then, we’ll move on to a positive overview, before summing up the good points and bad points concerning this hub of our gaming cabal, in our third, reviewing post. So, let’s begin.I’d say that there are about twelve sites on the Scene, all claiming to offer different things from the rest. What’s so bad about that? People like to say they have something to set themselves away from the rest, the monotonous majority. However, this may not be a good thing, in my opinion.
I’m talking about the type of domain that fills up 95% of our Football Manager community, the behemoth of the Scene. The resource site. As I notice a new one starting up, The-Gaffer.net, not wanting to try and strangle it at birth, I just see the same site recurring. FM-Heaven, FM-Player, FM-View. It’s just a lack of new ideas. They offer us graphics and guides, fodder of all resource sites giving us ‘content’.
I just don’t see innovation there. It’s just trying to steal attention. It isn’t really offering us anything. It’s just look. Look. Resources are an easy thing to offer. But why do people feel the need to make things so samey? I believe that it is just a case of trying to go along with the crowd. People are afraid to try something different – they just stick what they know they do. But isn’t the Internet all about learning new things, being able to expand your knowledge?
People’s creativity is at an all time low. The article site was once de rigeur, with people churning out independent blogs peppering us with interesting thoughts relating to the game and community. Now, there are but a few blog sites, us, Life in FM and The True Football Manager. We don’t need guides or graphics, we can get it from the ‘untouchables’ like SortItOutSI or wherever. The smaller resource sites need to show some invention and forward thinking.
On arrival at the community, people need to broaden their horizons and recognise that an InvisionFree forum or a site proffering us graphics and guides has been done before. Just because you may not be very good at writing, it doesn’t mean you cannot try to smash through the predominancy and give something else. What about a dedicated team guides site? Domains that cater for specific areas of the game are a good thing, offering us for example guides done well instead of the normality, a quick paragraph on players you would buy anyway.
A second cancer of the Scene is the bitching. If we are to refer to the game’s online presence as a ‘community’, aren’t we supposed to act as one? The definition of community involves sharing an environment. Fighting between sites is ruining it. Goal Kick versus CM Frenzy. Throw-In against itself. People need to calm down and realise that the Scene is just a bit of fun between fans, making websites dedicated to their favourite game. Staff and members both need to show some respect towards each other and relax.
Websites fighting against each other is causing the Scene to slowly implode. The spitefulness and egotism has made the community into a warzone, and all these tirades against other sites could end it all.
