Debt glitch...

[ggsimmonds]

I'm sure many of you have heard about it, after changing teams you become over 2 billion dollars in debt and you can not get out of it.

Now so far EA has been very adamant in saying that they do not plan on releasing a 3rd patch, however this glitch definitely renders MM as broken or unplayable to me. Players are left with 2 options, start off with the team they intend of staying with and face a high chance to be sacked quickly, or do as the designers intended and work your way up to the best teams.

But after all your hard work in climbing the ranks you are rewarded with a budget that reads -2 billion dollars.
Its a lose lose situation.

Can any one offer any insight into this glitch? Maybe any ideas as to what causes it or how to avoid it. Maybe when you become manager of certain teams its triggered, so maybe its only safe to take over a few teams? If you managed to switch teams without seeing this glitch please help me. What team/league were you originally in? Where did you transfer to?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Debt glitch...

From what I've read, it's completely random. I've learned to keep a multiple-save rotation going from getting burned on corrupted saves in the past.

Hopefully you can just revert back to a prior save if it happens. If not, then , and FM10 only from then on.

EDIT: Alright, now I'm curious. Time to do some testing.

Bad news. I simmed four times, changed teams each time after the season, and each time got the debt glitch. The fifth time, I stayed with my team and the budget carried over fine. That really sucks because now you basically have to stay with the same team throughout your career. I guess my only question is: how the **** do you not test that? Seriously.

Well, this game's replay value just flew out the window for me. I love the game on the pitch, but I am really a MM fan, and this just sucks. Oh well, maybe I'll join up with that 4-star max league I saw someone starting up. I get my manager fix from FM anyways...

[SpHSpH]

Re: Debt glitch...

This seems like something that is important enough to warrant EA to make an adjustment.

I know we all like to complain about weather and stuff, but ...

This *actually* effects the gameplay.

Please, please, please fix this issue!

[ggsimmonds]

Re: Debt glitch...

EA is aware of the problem and their response has essentially been "oh well." They are very adamant in their position that there will be no further updates. All I was told is that "the developers will look to the cause to ensure that it will not be there in the future"

[StormJH1]

Re: Debt glitch...

After being fired from Tottenham, I was disappointed, but looking forward to starting somewhere and building my way back up. The I discovered the "debt glitch" and realized it was game over.

Very unfortunate that they don't seem to have an interest in fixing it. You would think out of pride, if nothing else, they would want to correct something that virtually bricks an entire portion of the game they did work on to revamp, which was to allow Manager Mode to be this perpetual thing that you keep playing, instead of getting a "Game Over" screen. Especially given how much easier it is to get fired in THIS career mode, as compared to other Franchise modes in sports games.

I really do consider this a Game of the Year candidate, but if they're not going to address such a critical issue that shipped with the retail game, then it needs to be added to the equation when doing the post-mortem evaluation on the game as a whole.

[rush02721]

Re: Debt glitch...

Well, I have to think this is a game killer for me, I a in my first year of my MM and if this is the case then what is the point? I wanted to build up my prestige and progress into a star manager taking over a top club. It seems that I can never truly start a franchise mode in any game anymore Madden has it's issues now this. I can only play online for so long until I'm bored of playing against the same teams over and over again. Guess I'm going back to The Show

[StormJH1]

Re: Debt glitch...

Well, I have to think this is a game killer for me, I a in my first year of my MM and if this is the case then what is the point? I wanted to build up my prestige and progress into a star manager taking over a top club. It seems that I can never truly start a franchise mode in any game anymore Madden has it's issues now this. I can only play online for so long until I'm bored of playing against the same teams over and over again. Guess I'm going back to The Show

Yeah, totally. While I have to admit that the GM progression feature is in a lot of games and I never use it, I can imagine a game like College Hoops where the whole appeal of it was the coaching carousel and trying to generate better job offers out of your success. That can't happen in Manager Mode with this glitch. So, I recommend picking a team that you could see yourself wanting to develop and stick with.

[cdwilliams33]

Re: Debt glitch...

Yeah I started a MM with Real Madrid because I thought it would be fun to build a Galacticos team. After my second year with them I should have had 200 million in club budget and about 600,000 in wage budget but instead I got hit with the glitch and had negative money in both. I did not switch teams at all during this manager mode. I'm pretty pissed. EA THIS MAKES MM UNPLAYABLE!

[Tycobbler]

Re: Debt glitch...

Well since this is this case i am returning this just as i have Madden, both simply DO NOT deliver if you're interested in franchise modes. Screw you EA. Obviously you cannot make a football game (soccer/football) past practice has shown this, and i am officially finished with your failed attempts.

[FORMULA316]

Re: Debt glitch...

I'd like to see Operationsports.com call EA on this. It's not a casual
gripe on the minutia of weather simulation, rather, once you're in the
hole for 2 Billion, it's over. That's why I have refrained from buying
the 2010 game at the current price tag. IMO, not worth the $$$
to simply play online games against hard-charging, never tire 5*'s

[WDaniel]

EA, are you going to fix the manager mode debt glitch or not?

Inquiring minds want a definitive answer on this. If you aren't going to fix it, then I'll be returning my copy for PES.

Thanks.

[SpHSpH]

Re: Debt glitch...

There are numerous threads about this problem at the EA UK boards.

People there are NOT HAPPY - and I 100% agree with them.

Anyway ... I found someone who said this ...

"What worked for me was to withdraw all transfer offers i had made, just before the last match of the season (just before the change of season)."

I just wanted to post that on this forum - in case it actually works.

And I want to remember it for later.

- - -

Has every OS'er had this problem? Or is there still some chance of being able to move on to a new team without instant failure? I just got the game - I have not yet started a MM.

[Hooligan]

Re: Debt glitch...

Hey all. Look, I know we are all disappointed with this whole debt glitch, but I started thinking about it, and played around with it on a dummy Manager Mode, and came to the conclusion, that it's not as bad as it seems (bear with me).

There are two sides to the glitch. The first is the negative side that won't allow you to buy upgrades to your team. That's annoying, but I was able to (sort of) rationalize it that the computer isn't upgrading their teams either, so it's still a level playing field. My goal with Manager Mode is to move up to a top tier team, not take a lower team up there.

The second issue (and is the vastly overlooked issue) is that the glitch shows a POSITIVE 2+billion in the transfer market. The values are positive, and have no impact on you not being able to buy players. In my test Manager Mode I was totally able to make offers using my team, no problem. Now, it'll be up to you to keep in mind what your "real" budget is for players, but because the wage allowance isn't affected by this, you'll be kept in check from bringing Ronaldo over to a League 2 team.

So, from where I stand, I'm still going forward with my Manager Mode. Am I annoyed with this glitch? Absolutely! But EA isn't going to fix it. And, when I thought about it, it isn't the game breaker that everyone is making it out to be.

I'm really not an apologist, and I'm not trying to keep anybody from blaming EA for this stupid bug. I honestly think Manager Mode can be enjoyed as intended.

Let me all know what you think.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Debt glitch...

Hooligan - thanks a bunch for testing that out. When I did my tests, I was so disappointed that the negative amount showed up every time I changed teams, I didn't go any further in testing the transfer market.

In your post, you say that you are still able to make offers to players in the transfer market. When the time comes that the offer is accepted, does the board allow the transfer to go through? Also, when you come to the end of the season and need to re-sign players (or re-up during the season for that matter), are you able to pay for the signing bonus? I'd test this myself, but I just downloaded FM10 a couple days ago and, yeah, that's taking up ALL my free time right now. Last night I about threw my computer out the window when effing Liverpool finished third in their Champs League group, dropped into the Europa League, I (Lazio) drew them right of the bat in the first round, and they beat me 3-0 on aggregate. Ah, the joys of FM...but I digress.

I absolutely think that there's still some enjoyment to be taken out of this mode. I'm 6 games away from bringing Newcastle back to the Premier League and am hoping to get them back into Europe within 4 seasons. However, after I do that, I'd like to take what would probably be my 4-5 star manager reputation to one of the bigger clubs. At that point, if I can't keep my key players because I can't pay signing bonuses, it's going to get very tedious to have to build a team before every season through transfers. Not being able to upgrade my scout so I can see how my players are generally going to improve or decline over the next few seasons would be a bummer. Also, if you can't spend money, you can't go on a scouting trip at all. The rest of the upgrades I can live without, but I need my scout, dammit!

Anyways, that got kinda long-winded. Let us all know if you find anything else out in your test.

[Hooligan]

Re: Debt glitch...

I will continue my testing, as you are correct, there are other issues that need to be clarified. I just wanted to share the news that things might not be all doom and gloom.