Football Manager Live - Sign in here if you are getting it.

[astrosfan64]

Astrosfan64
Frogman



Who else? If you are going to get it on release sign up here. We need to try and organize ourselves to be in the same gameworld.

[FrogMan]

good idea astrosfan, I see you got a hold of my credit card number

I'll definitely be signing at some point before the end of September. Finding a gameworld with many people I know will be a priority though.

FM

[astrosfan64]

Let me know when you preorder. I'll hold off till then as well. I really want to try and get a decent sized group of us to go at the same time.

DaddyTorgo and SirFozzie might get it. At least I hope they do.

[illinifan999]

How much is it going to be? I think I remember reading that the actual game would be free, there would just be a monthly fee, but I could be totally off-base.

[Marc Vaughan]

I'll be in (using my normal name in-game).

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

How much is it going to be? I think I remember reading that the actual game would be free, there would just be a monthly fee, but I could be totally off-base.

cheapest "buy in" is 3 months for 22.99 pounds.

So like 45 bucks for us for the first 3 months.

[FrogMan]

some info from Miles Jacobson on the SI forums:
Football Manager Live pre-order details - Sports Interactive Community

We are very happy to announce that we'll be starting to take pre-orders for Football Manager Live in the coming days.

We know we've still got a couple of issues to sort with the opening day of gameworlds, but we're working on those now and once those are sorted, we are ready to roll.

As places are going to be in short supply at first, I wanted to take the time to explain to you the launch plan.

There is no set "release date" for the game as there would be for a standard retail release. This is because Football Manager Live (FML) is not a standard game release, but a subscription based service, and therefore, much like something like the launch of Sky HD, there will be a release period of a few months. This period is likely to start in October.

During this release period, gameworlds will be started, and therefore places will be available, as and when the hardware and service levels are able to be there for new customers. We want to ensure that everyone who plays FML has the best quality experience possible.

The timetable for release is thus.

Wednesday 20th August – beta testers invited to take up their spaces in the first gameworlds. The beta testers should wait until they have received an email which will give them access, so keep an eye on your inboxes!

Tuesday 26th at noon UK time – people on the FML registered mailing list, and people reading these forums, invited to pre-order.

There will be 14 gameworlds available in this phase, or 14,000 places. We expect these to fill quickly, and do expect some people to be disappointed, but these are the optimum amount of gameworlds to be launching in the first few weeks of release. When these 14,000 spaces are full, we will have 1 gameworld at a time available, until another 6 are full. This means that during the "launch window" as it's called, there will be 20,000 spaces available.

Once these 20 gameworlds are sold out, people who haven't got into any of the gameworlds will be invited to join a "gameworld alert" mailing list. This will be the only way to find out when gameworlds after this initial phase are to be launched. We hope to be able to launch new gameworlds every few days, on a first come, first served basis. This phase will likely stay in place until January.

Please also note that FML will be English language only for the foreseeable future. When we have plans to release non-English language game worlds, we will, of course, announce this on these forums. This will definitely not be in 2008, and most likely not til the latter part of 2009.

Come January, we’ll be telling the world about FML with a large marketing and PR campaign, and there will be lots of spaces available. In February, we will aim to launch a retail boxed version of FML in a few countries, still to be confirmed.

I should probably explain how subscribing to FML will work!

The FML client (as in the piece of software that will work on your computer that you’d normally buy on a CD or DVD) will be free. When you subscribe to the service, you will be given a link where you can download on PC and/or Mac. You can use this software on as many computers as you want to, and download it as often as you want to.

You subscribe to the service for a set period of time. Initially, these will be 3 monthly, 6 monthly, or annually, with a cheaper fee per month the longer you subscribe.

Unlike most MMO’s that charge you for the client, and then for future expansion packs on top of the subscription, for FML we are using a development practise that we’ve dubbed "constant development". What this means that we’ll be adding new features to the game every few months, and will keep subscribers in the loop on what we are working on through the FML forums which are available to subscribers to the game. The first of these updates is due in January 2009, and every few months after that.

We fully understand that some people are going to miss out on the initial places, and are going to be disappointed with that. However, we felt it was very important to release the service in this way to ensure that everyone has a great experience from the off – walking before you can run is very important. This is because we’ve seen too many MMO launches hitting issues in the first few days and weeks recently, which is something we want to avoid. There will be enough spaces for everyone in the coming months, and we ask those of you who don’t get to play in the first few worlds to be patient – we know there is a lot of anticipation for the game despite us not doing any PR or marketing on it for a while, but we’re hoping the plan we have in place will ensure that those most loyal to our games through these forums and who signed up to get information on the game are rewarded with the initial spaces.

Unfortunately, there will also be other disappointed people, as there are quite a few countries that we are not allowed to sell the game in at launch. This is for a variety of reasons - some legal, some because we aim to have local partners in countries when non-English language versions are available, and some because the payment system being used won't allow payments from those countries. The full list of these is - Brazil, Chile, Singapore, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Korea, Democratic People's Republic Korea, Republic of Malaysia, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Serbia, Montenegro, Uruguay & Vietnam. If you have any questions or comments about this, please email [email protected] and someone will reply - please note that this is one of the rare cases where this is very much out of our (SI's) hands, so there's no point asking us questions about it, as we don't have answers

So, one thing left to talk about, and that’s pricing of the service. As I mentioned above, this will come in various "plans" initially. The longer you subscribe for, the cheaper per month the game will cost.

The initial subscription pricing is

3 months - £22.99
6 months - £43.99
12 months - £72.99

Payment in most countries is available via credit/debit card or via PayPal, with Visa, Mastercard, Switch/Maestro and Electron all usable. In some countries, payment is only available via PayPal.

If you have any questions, this thread is the place to ask – but please make sure you’ve read the thread in full before asking questions to ensure that they haven’t been asked already! We’ll also add the best questions to the FAQ for FML, which you can find over at www.footballmanagerlive.com, which is also the place to find out more about the game. Remember, this is NOT Football Manager online, so do not expect the same experience that you get from the Football Manager series. FML is your club, your way, your management style!

Also, this was answered in the their forums:
Q:
What are the options available to enable us to play on the same GameWorld as our mates?
A:
There is a find a friend tool when you select your gameworld, so you can find where they are playing.

and

Q:
if your friends gameworlds are full would there be an option for a group of frineds to move to a new gameworld when it opens so they can all play together?
A:
You will be able to move gameworld, yes.

===========================

Here's what I think I could do. On Monday evening (eastern time), I will sign up on the gameworld which is the least full and will post it here. Comes Tuesday, around 7 am eastern (noon UK time), you'll be able to preorder it to secure a spot in the same gameworld if we want to be all together when the launch happens. Makes sense?

That all being said, the launch is still only set to happen in October, so another month or two in the future...

Anyway, I thought I'd pass along the info...

FM

[GoldenEagle]

Wow, it is priced very high. I won't be getting in, simply because of the high costs.

[DaddyTorgo]

it depends on my financial situation, but I can see myself in the same boat as GE potentially, unless my situation changes (which is possible, the resume is going up online this week)

[samifan24]

Wow, I didn't realize that this game was a pay-to-play. I knew it was multiplayer only but I guess I thought that players could host private leagues similar to OOTP.

[MJ4H]

I was in the beta for awhile and there is no way it's worth anywhere close to that. Just my opinion.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

I was in the beta for awhile and there is no way it's worth anywhere close to that. Just my opinion.

care to elaborate?

[astrosfan64]

That is pretty much standard MMO pricing.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by astrosfan64

That is pretty much standard MMO pricing.

which is pretty much why I haven't gotten into MMO's

[Flasch186]

+1 to DT

[DaddyTorgo]

don't get me wrong. I'd love to be at a point in my life where I had an extra $15 a month to spend on a game, but i'm not really at that place.

[Flasch186]

FWIW, I think that any MMO for $15/mo better be incredible and this one has a pretty damn good, one time fee, counterpart, IMO.

[astrosfan64]

I guess it boils down to whether or not you enjoy playing against other people.

[FrogMan]

okay, I've signed up in the Jackett gameworld. If you wanna check, my ingame name is Steve Gougeon and my club's name is Pointe-Levy FC.

The Jackett gameworld is on the third page of gameworlds and is currently only at 3% full but we can switch gameworlds so if anybody has signed up in another one, we can arrange something...

FM

[FrogMan]

might be worth it to keep an eye on that thread over on the SI forum, if we want to sign up on a gameworld with many North/South Americans:
North/South American FML players - Sports Interactive Community

FM

[astrosfan64]

I can't sign up till tomorrow. Said its closed to me till the 26th.

[FrogMan]

yeah, 26th at noon UK time, or right about now... Or maybe in 30 minutes from now.

FM

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

okay, I've signed up in the Jackett gameworld. If you wanna check, my ingame name is Steve Gougeon and my club's name is Pointe-Levy FC.

The Jackett gameworld is on the third page of gameworlds and is currently only at 3% full but we can switch gameworlds so if anybody has signed up in another one, we can arrange something...

FM

How in the hell did Kenny Jackett manage to get a virtual football universe named after him? Some of the guys at SI have warped minds.

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, 26th at noon UK time, or right about now... Or maybe in 30 minutes from now.

FM

Well, I've tried to sign up three times today. 3 of my credit cards were denied. Not sure what is going on there.

So I'm going to call my credit card company tomorrow and see what is going on. So far, this is a HUGE pain in the ass.

[Flasch186]

Deleted out of kindness to FM since I love the SP version....LOVE

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm in Cantona at the moment - chosen purely because it was the 'most full' ...

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by astrosfan64

Well, I've tried to sign up three times today. 3 of my credit cards were denied. Not sure what is going on there.

So I'm going to call my credit card company tomorrow and see what is going on. So far, this is a HUGE pain in the ass.

I used Paypal to pay, went through without a glitch, or so it seems for now. I mean, it shows me as registered and all...

FM

[astrosfan64]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

I used Paypal to pay, went through without a glitch, or so it seems for now. I mean, it shows me as registered and all...

FM

I'll try and set it up to use my CC on paypal. I don't like auto debit stuff directly from my bank account. Paypal is set to tap into my bank account.

I called my CC company and was put on hold for 10 minutes. This guy got on and said contact the vendor your account is fine.

I think I'll just try paypal

[FrogMan]

just thought I'd say that I have cancelled my pre-order last night. With my crazy schedule of giving karate classes four evenings a week and taking class the fifth evening, I found myself having to make an appointment in my Google calendar to save some time to play, and I found that simply looking at scores after the fact wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be.

Not that I think my signing up would matter to anyone, but I wanted to be upfront about my signing out of it...

I'll quite probably save the money not spent here and upgrade my WWSM2008 to '09...

FM