Best on-line manager game

Discussion in 'Games' started by mundial, Aug 1, 2002.

  1. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which on-line management game do you find the best? I started this poll before the big crash, but the discussion didn't really have a chance to get off the ground. Curious as to what other BS users play the most.
     
  2. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My opinions

    First of all, let me say that the poll would only allow me to put 6 options, so there is no 'other', and I'm sure there are other games out there.

    Also, let me say that I have yet to pay for a game, and that I doubt I'm going to spring for anything soon. Free is good.

    Hattrick - most-used and probably most competitive. I really like this game. I am just starting to figure it out after 6 months though.

    It's a Goal - relatively simple, but I like the stadium features, match reports, and transfer market

    Manager Zone - Just started this one. Seems complex and borrows a lot from Hattrick (both Swedish). I'll see how it goes.

    Sunday League - Too silly for me. I quit after a season.

    True Manager - I never got into this one either. I think the mix of reality and 'your own team' is something best left to...Championship Manager

    World Elite Soccer - tactically complex! This is probably my second favorite, right up there with Hattrick. Good community too.

    Anyone else?
     
  3. SoccerAddict

    SoccerAddict Member

    Sep 21, 2001
    Pullman, WA
    WES is, by far, my favorite online manager game. Hattrick and Sunday League are the only 2 others that I've tried though. Sunday League was a joke - I only lasted a week.

    I became bored with Hattrick - I'm dropping my Series III team after 3 seasons. Hattrick could have been hockey, baseball, cricket, or whatever... Everyone plays the same formation and tries to get the best midfielders possible. No tactical strategy required. Too much emphasis on finances.

    WES is great. I've just finished my 4th season. The game involves lots of tactics and strategy. The ability to trade players with other managers makes for a nice interactive community. The game is still being developed and gets better every season.
     
  4. kcwizmojo

    kcwizmojo New Member

    Apr 29, 2002
    KC
    is hat trick free?
     
  5. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hattrick

    Yes,

    Hattrick is free, though you can also sign up for Supporter, for $16 a year, which has extra features, but you can have some success without supporter too, which is nice.

    Nick
     
  6. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  7. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    bump

    one more time
     
  8. Matteo

    Matteo New Member

    Jul 21, 1999
    itsagoal

    ^
     
  9. MLS3

    MLS3 Member

    Feb 7, 2000
    Pac NW
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've tried Hattrick, World Elite Soccer and Sunday League...and now I'm only in World Elite Soccer (WES)...Hattrick was too boring, everything was midfield, midfield, midfield...and I hear they have gotten away from that so I joined again but before I even got my team just decided why bother, it takes time and theres no payoffs...Sunday League was a complete joke, I even took the time to name all my players then my team crashed like 4 days later and sent all the players back to original names and the league and game sucked, I just liked naming my players, hah...but i quit that...I'm still in WES have been for the past 5 seasons...Its got 300 something teams, and you get to know most all managers who they manage, all the players in the 8 leagues, etc...whos who, there is a chat that alot of people go into, everyone is friendly and we got some rivalries also...I just like how its a controller environment, theres not 50 million teams, you get know all the teams, players and the managers and that helps for getting your team good as well as having a good time, I know teams that lose season after season and still have a great time, just because of the community feel to the game...Plus the creators of the game add 1 to 2 big features along with numerous amounts of small features each and every season, the game keeps getting better and better..
     
  10. PFSIKH

    PFSIKH Member

    Nov 1, 1999
    ClarkVegas
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am in WES and it is great. The only other soccer game I play is MLFS. It is nice, but once the hot players are discovered it is next to impossible to mount a comeback.

    As MLS3 said, they continually make improvements to WES. Plus, they will listen to your suggestions and implment them when the programming aspect is figured out. I am in my 4th season and have enjoyed it immensely.

    This is not a knock on hatrick, but when I found it (after joining WES), it did not seem that appealing.
     
  11. Lone Star

    Lone Star Member

    Aug 21, 1999
    Pizza Hut Park
    Hattrick for me........

    Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I definately prefer Hattrick to WES. I tried WES for a while last summer, but just lost interest after a month or so. People complain about Hattrick being too simple, well I found WES to be too technical in a brain-surgery kind of way.

    I've played Hattrick for 15 months now. There's a lot more to the game then people think. It's not just midfield, midfield, midfield (at least not like it was), and it's not devoid of strategy. Sure, build up your midfield all you want, but you WON'T go far without support players. Weather, skill levels, form, injuries, age, formation, specialties, opponent's strengths and weaknesses, match of the season, play it cool, team spirit, confidence, home/away (to name a few variables) all come into play for every match. More so the higher up you progress since everyone becomes more evenly matched.

    I also enjoy watching the team that I created from the ground up (name, logo, stadium, colors, etc) get better and better. In my 5th season I finally won my series (but didn't advance to Div II) and made it to the USA Cup Round of 16. I also like the community that's developed on the Hattrick forums, America bashing and all. It's just a fun game, and my personal choice for the best out there. I actually become a Supporter and get to enjoy all the extras.

    Who knows, had I discovered WES first it might have been different. Oh, and for the record I've also tried Sunday League, True Manager, SoccerSim, and Internet Football Club........

    Chris
    Panther City FC
    III.1

    http://www.geocities.com/gollum1197/LoneStarCup.html
     
  12. Elwood

    Elwood New Member

    Mar 20, 2001
    Indianapolis
    Got to agree with LoneStar.

    Hattrick is definitely #1 with me, though sometimes it's very frustrating. Definitely more to it than midfield.

    My experience was first with www.soccersim.com (now pay and under different management) and then sundayleague. I liked soccersim, but sundayleague I just kind of abandoned. Then I found Hattrick. Definitely the #1 community of them all (I think it's even better than Championship Manager's community, though there's obvious differences, as it's a web-only game, with no program to modify, etc).

    The next game I found was WES, and while I still have my team (Beijing), I rarely log in and happened to log in Sunday morning to see I was 4-1-1 without logging in since the season had started (or changing my lineup from last season)!!! Of course all my guys are currently pretty beat up, but 2nd place without even setting a lineup (I got relegated last season due ot not paying much attention) doesn't say a whole lot.

    Itsagoal has potential, and I'm sticking with it, but the league structure is terrible! I know they wanted to change it for the current season, and now plans are for the next (starting next week or the week after, right?), but if they don't change it fast, I'll soon tire of promoting from divisions with only 3-6 actives (out of 20). Won 420 and 419, and am leading 418 with 1 match to go, though to be fair I've finally found someone else who's trying (we're tied with 1 match to go, drawing each of our matches). But likely we'll both just move through 417 next season unless the changes happen.

    ManagerZone looks to have potential. At first it appears to be a total rip-off of Hattrick (and it's been mentioned to me from some HT higher-ups that it might be, and there might be legal proceedings in the future), but it's not. Training is different, youth work differently, coaching is different, there are more friendlies, but also there are more 'pay-only' features. From an outsider's perspective, I'd say someone played Hattrick (in it's midfield days) and took what was good and changed what they (and many others) thought needed changing. But since the match engine is completely different, I can't really agree that it's a rip-off, since that's the main feature.

    For any Hattrickers that are curious about the differences, here they are:

    1. Match engine totally different. Not really sure how it DOES work, but at least on the surface it's not that similar to Hattrick's. A bit too much detail, but the guys seem genuinely interested in making it better.

    2. Training - you can individually train players.

    3. Youth - you set aside an amount of cash each week, and based on how much you spend, you get a certain # of youth (who draw no wages, but do cost weekly) to train. Sometime when players are 18 (or 19?) they get moved to the full-time squad. All 5 of mine are 16 or 17, currently.

    4. Coaches - you can have multiples, and dedicate them to training particular skills. In player stats, each skill gets a certain amount of 'balls', which equal levels. Say a player has 3 'balls' in passing. If you put him training passing, and put a coach with him, and the coach has more than 3 'balls', he'll help speed up improvement. From what I've gathered, more than 4 players in an area (or is it 4 players with a coach?) slows training a bit, and once a player levels, it's best to switch his training.

    5. Formations - there are no preset formations. You place players like in Championship Manager. Depending on where you place them, you'll get reported 3-5-2, 3-4-3, 4-4-2, etc, but the players stay where you put them. Also you have options such as 'use wings', 'offensive', 'defensive' and such.

    Overall, the site is a bit slower than Hattrick's (HT's layout is easily the best, simple and to the point, similar to soccersim's old one while still free), but it's not bad. Itsagoal has incredible lag at times, and WES is sometimes slow, as well.

    Not sure where MZ will rate, but I'm guessing between Hattrick and Itsagoal. What kills WES for me is there are SO MANY numbers and NO financial controls. It's like a weaker implementation of CM's rating system. But I'm keeping my WES team active since the developers are the most active of any of the games, and make good improvements constantly.
     
  13. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Itsagoal

    Anyone else frustrated with failure to re-org the divisions in time for this season! Aargh! It'sagoal is dropping for me fast.
     
  14. jon_doe

    jon_doe BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 19, 2002
    can someone please list the urls to these games so that i may check them out? thank you.
     
  15. Lone Star

    Lone Star Member

    Aug 21, 1999
    Pizza Hut Park
  16. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    World Elite Soccer - www.worldelitesoccer.com
    It's A Goal - www.itsagoal.com

    Someone else will have to verify Manager Zone and True Manager, but I think True Manager is just www.truemanager.com

    There is a link to one of many Sunday League servers on this site, at the top of this forum.

    Hattrick rules. WES is a close second. IMHO.

    Nick
     
  17. radiokvar

    radiokvar New Member

    Jun 13, 2002
    St. Louis, MO
    I checked out WES after reading it here in this post and applied for a team, didn't take more than maybe 10 days on the waitlist until i got one. I have been enjoying it quite a bit since, thanks for the tip. If any of you play it and feel like a friendly vs someone who you will most likely kill my team is europe north division 2 Odense Gaurdian Knights.
     
  18. mundial

    mundial Member

    Mar 12, 2000
    Washington, DC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a goal sucks

    I have decided this game is a waste of my time. The rest of you who play, enjoy. Let me know if it gets any better once division re-org occurs.

    Nick
     
  19. Playable Back

    Playable Back New Member

    Apr 26, 2002
    truemanager and WES are good....but I don't have time to keep up with them.
    I ejoyed soccersim immensely, too.
     
  20. bringbacksoccersim

    bringbacksoccersim New Member

    May 23, 2004
    Out of the games available to vote for, Managerzone is the best in my opinion.

    But I haven't voted for it, because it will never be the best online soccer management game that existed. SoccerSim was far better. I still play Managerzone today, but only because SoccerSim finished :(
     
  21. junjunforever

    junjunforever Member

    Feb 18, 2002

    is managerzone the one where you can buy money with real money and need to set up friendlies 3 times a week?
     
  22. Ohlson

    Ohlson New Member

    Jun 24, 2004
    I started playing Managerzone about 9 months ago and I've really started to enjoy it more and more by the day.
    (and just to get it out of the way -- the URL: http://www.managerzone.com )

    They've constantly been making updates to MZ, and while it might be annoying every once in a while to have half a day of downtime, I'm really finding it worthwhile.
    While managerzone may be "pay-to-play" ($1 to start a team), the creators of the game continually work on trimming down advantages gained by individuals who pay for the special packages in the game.
    The simple fact that there are features in the game that users can purchase gives it a bad wrap, in my opinion.
    The packages that you can buy give you the ability to join certain worldwide Cups and Tournaments, start friendly leagues with just your friends... etc..
    The least expensive package ($1/month) allows you to watch all of your games in a new 3D Live mode that they've recently unveiled. While it's still somewhat in it's infancy... this is really going to be great once they get some kinks worked out. I like the ability to watch my team that I've built from the ground up -- actually play in a 3D simulator that I can watch and control the camera.
    (all is fair in stating that I've never tried any of the other games mentioned in this thread... so they may be capable of the same thing and I don't even realize it)
    -- I might as well throw in a little screenshot of what the 3D simulator looks like for those of you interested:
    [​IMG]
    mmm... no, I don't think you're thinking of managerzone. You can't get ahead financially in the game by giving real money. That's exactly what the adminstrators try to prevent in the big scheme of things.

    In my opinion MZ can be a little complicated... but I think that's the nature of games like this. It may have took me a while to figure it all out and read through the FAQ... I wouldn't have had it any other way. I enjoy the control over my team's finances, stadium, youth program, coaches, training, transfers etc..etc..

    Well, that's my opinion on the topic...
    ...thought it was worth a post.

    Cheers.
     
  23. jd6885

    jd6885 Member

    Jun 30, 2001
    Tacoma
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    the only thing I hate about mz is that you need to schedule a few friendlies a week or your form suffers and ur team starts to suck.
     
  24. Headless-Pixie

    Headless-Pixie New Member

    Aug 1, 2004
    Hattrick is no longer all about midfield. The best side in England now plays 3-4-3 and counterattacking is now playing a big part. The communites great aand really helps out the newbies. The trainig system is the best i've ever seen and hattrick rewards good tactical decisions. It's easily the best game out there.
     

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