Here are my suggestions to make MLSM a greater game. Some of these
suggestions could be added in future versions of MLSM, or a different
version, like ESL. Feel free to e-mail me to add your own ideas.
I updated this list after getting some response from Dan as well as
my own personal inclinations.
Suggestions (Click on each for a more detailed description):
#1 Do away with the salary cap. This is the single most important factor that destroys my early teams. I can't compete when a team signs 2-4 internationals in the first year. If there still is a salary cap, at least make the other teams have one. #2 More flexability with the national team. Whenever I win the league, I don't even care to play with the U.S. team. There's no purpose to winning a US Cup. What would be cool is a National Team Manager game, where you can take a team through 18 months of qualifying and the World Cup. I expect that a game like this, though, would cost money, similar to ESL mode. I have yet to play ESL mode, so I'm not sure how much different it is from MLSM. I have heard good things, though, and I'm sure a World Cup Manager would go over well with the crowd that is reading this page. #3 Add in a youth program. All teams have their own minor league (U.S.I.S.L.) teams and also the newly proposed Project 40; these could provide new sources for finding the next Claudio Reyna or Eddie Pope. It would be cool to add in the specific A-league and D3 teams for each team(like the SF Seals are in the Clash organization). This way, each team draws from different pools. The other teams could call up prospects similar to the way they sign normal free agents. #4 More Control over the GM aspect of the game. It would be cool to restructure contracts, have multiple player trades, have control over the stadium or stuff along those lines. If this were to be added though, I suggest that it be an optional part of the game. I'm sure too much detail in a game isn't for everybody. #5 Create a player feature. This is an idea I "borrowed" from the popular FIFA series from EA Sports. I love to vicariously live out my sports thrills by creating myself as a super striker, placing myself on Man U or AC Milan, and scoring 70 goals in a season. #6 More player skills. This suggestion actually is related to the GM suggestion. Right now, the game works great with just offense and defense skill points. If the game were to become more detailed, though, it might be appropriate to add a more detailed analysis of the players. #7 Deeper draft as years progress. By this, I mean have more talented players available in the college draft. If we look optimisticly at the future of American soccer, there will be more kids growing up with soccer and thus more exceptional college players. I think that when the years pass by, we should presume that the American players will raise their level of play. In the draft in 50 years or something, the leftovers should be 70-70 instead of 50-60. More players of the caliber of Reyna, Kirovski, and Pope should be available. This will also make the league more competitive in the latter years when you don't know anyone by name. #8 More South American influence. Thanks to Nicolas Avendo for this suggestion: What about the new international leagues that DAN promised us. I voted for the Argentina & Brazil league but nothing has come out. A new league would be a lot more interesting since we already now everything about the European and MLS leagues. #9 Make the league dynamic. This might be impossible to program, but it would be cool to make the league dynamic as well as the players. Changes that we forsee for the MLS, such as adding a promotion/relgation system and the elimination of the shootout, could actual occur at a random point in the game. #10 Add the US Open Cup. I saw a USISL D3 game this 4th(SF Seals) and thought it would be cool to be able to play for the US Open Cup in MLSM. Just the team names would need to be added; it would be quite difficult to get the names of all of the A-League and D3 players. This wouldn't be an unprecedented move, as many soccer manager games have added the countries domestic league cup in play(like Italian/English Soccer Manager, Footy Fanatic). This would be more appropriate than the US Cup, as it is the club team that plays for the US Open Cup. #11 Compete with other team for unsigned free agents. With the unsigned free agents, it is unknown why a player won't play for your team some times. Every player has a price; there should be more bidding wars for certain players. Also, you should be able to resign your own players who left your team for a certain amount of salary increase. I hate having to play a reserve for an entire season just so he will resign with the team. #12 Include potential league expansion. Thanks to Andee Olsen for this suggestion: Let the league expand every four years or so. Let there be a voting system where all the teams "owners" "vote" for which city should get a new team (as in other American sports). After expanding the league, hold an expansion draft, and let there be more players in the game. This would be a VERY cool addition to the game.... #13 Other teams trade. Thanks to Reggie Gutierrez for this suggestion: I think it'd be cool if other teams could initiate trades. Just a suggestion. #14 Include transfer listing. Thanks to Edward Landsberg for this suggestion: I think we should decide if the player can go away instead of having to let him go away.We should be able to put him in the transfer list and if he was bought while he still under contract, we should get half of the money.We should also to be able to discuss the contract with the player, for ex:If he was bought before the contract is over, we could get 30% or more. #15 Future additions to MLSM. Thanks to Neil Witherell for these ideas. The next five suggestions are his: Having found this game midway through my freshman year of college, and seeing the results it had on my grades, I feel that I should voice my ideas. 1. Something like a world club cup or something, where the champion MLS team could play against randomly chosen clubs from around the world. Having played Italian Soccer Manager (probably tied for second best manager game along with Footy Fanatic), that game does the same thing by having the whole sha-bang of club cups, the UEFA Cup, Cup Winners Cup, Champions League, Super Cup, World Super Cup, plus having their own Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup, the only thing it doesn't have is the Intertoto Cup, but I mean, hey, I can live without it. 2. American internationals in the second and third round. I mean even when the MLS becomes an established league in the world, American players will go to other countries (example Ronaldo doesn't play in Brazil does he?). 3. Future American stars. It seems like after Jovan Kirovski, Brian McBride, and the rest of the current American stars retire no other Americans seem to posses their great ability. Every now and then you'll find a defender or forward with a 150-170 rating but that happens once in a blue moon, and you'll never find a midfielder with the same ratings as John Harkes, Tab Ramos, and Claudio Reyna, and after Freidel and Keller American goalies will suck. 4. USA flags. Now this might be a little cosmetic, but one of the things I'd really like to see is an American flag for the future players or the good, present, non-picture players. All this would involve is, say, if an American player is selected to the US National team, or added on there, he is represented by a flag (even in place of his college logo) just like the internationals from other countries. Many times I have had a great US player lead my team to victory, but have had to see someone else take his place on the teams 3 most valuable players/champions screen when you win. 5. Having just recieved ESL mode let me just say that at $7-$9 bucks we are ripping off Dan because this a great game. One thing I would love to see though, is him just to stick to one league at a time and making it like the ultimate soccer manager game. Like take Italian Soccer Manager, it deals solely with the Italian league, and has everything that the Italian league can offer, it has the leagues from Serie A all the way down, it has the European Club Cups (as stated above), youth teams that produce quality talent (depending how much money you put into it). Probably the most exciting thing about Italian Soccer Manager is that you can create your own team and get to start from scratch and try to build your team to glory, you event get to create your teams uniform and sponsor. As it pains me to say it, it does have MLSM beat in the completeness of the game, but I think that Dan could easily blow them all away, by including these features in games like Footy Fanatic, Italian Soccer Manager. Now don't get me wrong, I think he does have the best game out there, and as far as cosmetics, fun, and toughness he already does have them beat. If you've played Italian Soccer Manager I'd think you'd understand (If you can put up with those horrible graphics). Thats all my babble (not to be confused with Markus Babbel) Neil Witherell (Go Crew and Manchester United) #16 Add scouting reports. Thanks to Bobby Urpsis for this suggestion: I have a suggestion that at the end of every season they make a newspaper article or just a scouting sheet on a young guy that is excellent through college or even High School. Then make it where u could have talks with him about what he would want to sign. So it makes it where you can sign him out of High School but let him play in College. #17 More recorded stats. The thing I love the most next to winning the league is looking over the dominant statistics my team members put out. I looked at ESPN Sportszone and there are tons of different stats they have. I would like to see some more incorporated in the game. Have a hard man of the year by seeing who accumulates the most yellow and red card points. Other ideas are points per game average, scoring streaks, and home and away records. #18 Sort button on US Cup. This is only a minor suggestion, but it would be easier to sort through players for the national team(especially later in the game) with the standard sort button on the other player pool screens. #19 Build a team from scratch. Thanks to Aaron Horton for this suggestion: To expand on expansion in the MLS suggested by Andee Olson. I think this is a great idea. Some MLSM players (like myself) may want to build a team from scratch. Choosing the location and name of your team and holding an expansion draft before the season starts would be wicked! Each team in the MLS gets to protect a certain amount of players from their rosters and the rest are up for grabs to build your team. From then on build from the draft and signing free agents & internationals. < NAME="20"> #20 Multi manager. Thanks to Brian Leach for this suggestion: My suggestion for the game is to add a multi manager feature. I have the game at work and have gotten others interested in the game (and soccer). We want to compete against each other. Currently there is only one manager at a time. What better way to play then to share your skills against humans and not computers.