The game needs to be changed where a player can only be offered a maximum amount of bonus money per season. Right now, in MFN-1, many players are getting contracts where the vast majority of their contract is bonus. This is unrealistic and just plain stupid as far as financial strategy is concerned.

I would suggest no more than 33% of the total contract, or 3% of the salary cap, can be given as bonus money per season, whichever is less. So, if I am offering a contract that is $900,000 in the first year, the bonus cannot be more than $300,000 per year. If the contract is $12,000,000 in the first year, then the bonus cannot be more than $3,969,000 based on our current cap in MFN-1 of $132,300,000.

This, in addition to the ability to type in your contract offer rather than using the slider, will add some financial consistency and a bit more strategy to the game.

I agree with getting rid of sliders for contract offers. Look through the league transactions in MFN-1. There is no strategy, it's all luck based on where your slider stops, basically. 10 teams all offering the same basic contract... one just happens to be lucky enough to have the sliders stop $5000 higher than the others, and that team gets the player.

If I wanted to gamble, I'd play roulette. I prefer a game where skill matters, not luck. This makes the game very frustrating. Every FA sim, I want to just stop playing the game because of this. So stupid and annoying.

I'll put the contract changes up to the top of the next version updates. I will keep the sliders as an option, but allow you to switch to "expert" mode and enter in the bonus and annual base salary manually. I also want to make it where you can backload a contract instead of having the salary increase each year at the predetermined rate. (Bonus of course would still be distributed over the life of the contract).

On the question of maximum bonus money, I'd like to hear others' feedback on that one. You are required to offer a minimum base salary, but I'm not sure I want to cap what you can do with the bonus. You're rolling the dice if you do mostly bonus because while that would increase his probability to sign it also will put you into hot water if you ever trade the player or if he retires.

I am in agreement with this. I have lost a lot of free agent offer due to the bonuses. I had offered more money per year, so that wasnt even close. The league owned team offered less, but with 80% bonus money. Doesn't make the free agent marketplace fair.

The problem is that the AI is using max bonus. Humans can't compete with the AI using max bonus. So, in essence, you have to roll the dice or end up with nothing in FA. Which, as people drop out or come in, leaves them in a very precarious situation. Worse, what happens when one of these guys retires or has a career ending injury? You can't have a situation where a guy screws a team up royally, then quits and leaves it for someone else. The game has to have a cap on bonus.

Think about it in real terms... how many teams are REALLY going to offer a 90% bonus on a contract? It's just not going to happen. There is nothing here to make GMs fiscally responsible, and the only recourse is to build it in, to a certain extent.

Ok, thanks for your input - I see your point, I'll put a cap on the bonus percentage when I restructure the contract negotiation.

I think the AI needs to be changed immediately. Somehow, it knows exactly what contracts I am offering, and offers a little better than me.

I made three offers in league 1, and all three were signed by an AI team with almost the same offer... Look at WR Ware to understand my issue. I offered 25 million over 6 years. There were 5 other similar offers, all from the AI teams. Why bother trying to sign FA and improve my team? Why bother to even play the game if I have no chance to sign players. The game is unfair, and I wonder why I, or anyone else, will want to play an unfairly set up game. Notice, no other human player came close to my offer. It is ridiculous.

The AI shouldn't know what my offers are and match them before the turn is even run. If they match the following week after my offer was out, that would be different. Those players should be mine. This is just stupid... why should I continue to play this game?

Hm, looks like you are correct, the AI was pulling the wrong information to make the offers. Just pushed a fix.

Wow man... don't quit! It's frustrating, sure. But that's part of what happens when you are in a beta game. Also, in MFN-1, we have the cutting edge stuff. You just have to roll with the punches and help make the game better, which you have done by bringing this up.

JDB... is this rolled out to all leagues? MFN-6 is getting ready to go to FA also, and I'd like to know that I have a shot at some FAs against the AI ;)

Yes, I did push it to all leagues.