Quick question regarding skill stats and effects.

[Sureshot]

Oops, ignore me on Parnell, I was thinking of someone else.

Everything else has been taken on board.

[Scritty]

(and there is a database errors thread for this). However, when it's a matter of opinion (eg. personal or national preference), I don't mind it being discussed, but I personally amn't interested.

For some reason editing is not discussed openly here.

This being the one and only text/sports sim I've ever some across that doesn't have an editor.

I play multi leagues of FM online (which has an editor) Baseball Mogul and "Out of the Park" (which both have editors) Various other cricket games online and off - which all - without exception have editors.
They get around it by 2 quite simple expedients.

1) Having an official editor with the game allowing the safe "ish" manipulation of files while hugely lowering the clamour for third party "unauthorized" editors.

2) Performing some kind of data check before an online game commnces to check either reasonableness or a full save game validity check on the data being transferred between the clients. If the "official" editor is used then this "watermarks" any save game made allowing the user and anyone they compete against online to clearly see that they are playing with/against an edited database

All of this is almost a moot point. I went online last week twice to update my client. There is no-one there. I have never seen more than 8 people online.

Back in the days of ICC200 and ICC2002 there were sometimes 20+ online. Despite regular "peeks" into the online community over the interveneing years I see nothing. I've not come across an opponent to play against online since about 6 weeks after the 2010 game came out. Even in the first 6 weeks I never saw more than 5.

And guess what..

Despite there being no official editor readily available this forum was FULL of people complaining about cheats.

So whatever purpose not having an official editor has - and the tabooing of talk about editing seems an entirely redundant.

At the moment cheats edit readily and simply.
Simmers (i.e those that perfer simulation play rather than ball by ball play) and knobbled by the lack of the sort of facilities that a game as established and venerable as ICC really should have had a very long time ago.

I notice a thread on this forum from 2 hours ago with someone asking for a partner to play online now.
Just been online and checked.
No-one there.

Protecting a feature that hardly anyone uses at the expense of critical game features elsewhere seems a little bit of a "dog in a manger" attitude to me.

• Unofficial editors come out within days of the game
• Cheats already exist online who use thiese unnoficial editors
• Within 6 weeks of each release the online game is all but deserted

But this backdrop is used as the main reason we cannot have officially supported editing?

If that's supposed to make any sense than I grew up on the wrong planet.

Scritty

[GrahamB]

..........we've also agreed to look at spin and it's impact.......

Excellent news. Thanks.

[Sureshot]

There are reasons beyond online that there isn't an official editor, but I'm not going to go in to them.

As said, we accept that there are some ratings that are wrong (though as said elsewhere, it is subjective in a lot of cases, but obviously the likes of Pelser shouldn't be as good as they were) and we are making big steps to improve this in 2011.

Likewise, Online has issues and we are looking to make changes to this to make it a better gaming experience, this is beyond the problem with cheaters.

[Scritty]

Likewise, Online has issues and we are looking to make changes to this to make it a better gaming experience, this is beyond the problem with cheaters.

Intruiging.

Sounds like a good direction in itself (notwithstanding the lack of an offically supported editor).
The online game could do with an overhaul.
A points system to be "spent" on a team (i.e better players cost more points - either like "fantasy" cricket in the papers OR a system where you spend points on individual batting/bowling/fielding attributes for players in a team - starting witrh a "blank" canvas as it were)
Doing this would mean hanicapped play would be possible (less points for more skilled player) and might get rid of cheating aspect altogether as team could be verified quite simple by the server. If it cost more points than were available - it fails.

I think online play would be an excellent idea for an overhaul.

Looking forward to 2011 already (yes, I will be buying it - why break a 13 year old habit?)

Scritty