================================== Winning Eleven 8 Master League FAQ by lyonnie Version 1.0 August 2004 (Best viewed with Note Pad) ================================== ------------ Introduction ------------ This guide is written specially for the Master League section of Winning Eleven 8. For this first draft, I have assumed that the reader is familiar with the Master League (ML) format of previous Winning Eleven (WE) games (specifically WE7/PES3), so that I can concentrate on highlighting the differences between WE8's ML format and the previous versions'. If I have the time in future (i.e. when I am not spending every spare moment I have playing this game!) I will try to beef up the guide so that it can be more accessible to first-time players as well. I hope you, the reader, find this guide useful and informative. If you have any comments or suggestions, I prefer that you post them on the WE8 ML FAQ thread I have created on Gamefaq's message boards instead of emailing me, so that others can read and contribute as well. Thank you for your understanding! One last note before the guide proper: I know many people out there want real names and real players in the game (like the FIFA series has), and if I have the choice, I will want to have Konami to use the real names too. But it ain't happening yet, so I have learned to deal with it by imagining that I am playing in an alternate footy universe where Old Trafford is called Traid Brick, Everton is called Merseyside Blues and Deco is called Delo, etc. Of course, I am also too lazy to edit all the names in the game. Afterall, a rose by any other name still smells as sweet. ___________________________________________________________________________ -------- Contents -------- 1. New Additions to WE8's ML 2. Starting Your ML Campaign 3. The ML Main Menu Screen 4. Gaining Experience and Levelling Up Players 4.1 Player Development Types 4.2 How to Gain ExP 5. Scouting and Signing New Players 6. Frequently Asked Questions 7. Credits 8. Disclaimer ___________________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------- 1. New Additions to WE8's ML ---------------------------- Here is a brief summary of some of the main additions to WE8's ML. I have left out obvious differences (such as more teams and new players, graphical differences etc) and will cover the important changes (such as the levelling up of players, use of training etc). Each of the new additions will be discussed in more detail later in this guide. (A) Starting your ML campaign (B) Level Up! Improving your players after matches and in training (C) Scouting and signing new players ---------------------------- 2. Starting Your ML Campaign ---------------------------- In WE7/PES3, no matter which team you chose, you always start with the same default group of players (Miranda and gang). Now you have a choice of how to start your ML campaign. Besides using the default players, there are three other new ways you can begin your game in ML: (I) Using Original Team ************************ (a) Create your own team by giving it a name, editing the team's uniforms (you can even add in your favourite sponsor's name!), choosing your home turf, etc. Please note that you can only edit these features once a season once you have finished your team creation. (b) Change up to three players from the default list to any player in the game. Note that although you do not have to pay the transfer fee for the new players, you are limited by the amount of salary the player earns. Thus, the combined salaries of your new players cannot exceed the salary points of the default players you have chose to release. (II) Using Mode Select Team **************************** (a) Choose a club team and start your ML campaign with the club team's players! (b) In addition, you get 10000 instead of 5000 points to begin so life is certainly easier. (III) Using WE Shop Option to Create ML Team ******************************************** At a cost of 2000 WE points (not the same as monetary points in ML used to pay player salaries etc), you can unlock the option to put together your very own dream team right from the start of the ML! -------------------------- 3. The ML Main Menu Screen -------------------------- Here's a quick guide to the layout of the ML Main Menu screen so that the non-Japanese speaking players amongst us can hopefully negotiate their way around and make some sense of what is going on. There are a series of boxes arranged horizontally across the screen. These boxes, from left to right are presented below in a top down fashion from (a) to (i). Some of these boxes have sub-options which are given in the order they appear on screen immediately after the main option. (a) Proceed to match/next week (b) Locker Room - View opponent team data - Analaysis of played matches - View own team formation (c) Data Room - Calendar - League information * League standings * Team information * Scoring/Assist charts - Cup information * Cup schedule * Team information * Scoring/Assist charts - WEFA Ranking - Record Room (d) Player Transfer - Search - List tranfer targets - My team - Transfer bids for new players - Overall transfer market (e) Conditioning (Replaced by Training during off-season) (f) Player Sheet (g) Edit Team (Off-season only) (h) General Settings (i) Return to Mode Select screen (Exit ML) One more important thing: to save your progress in ML, you have to press the Square button. The save option will then be brought up, where you can then choose a slot to save your game in. ---------------------------------------------- 4. Gaining Experience and Levelling Up Players ---------------------------------------------- Perhaps the biggest overhaul in the ML format is the introduction of player retirement. This means that you won't be stuck with ageless players season after season in the ML. Players now age, and you will find some of their attributes decreasing as the players get older and older. Just as in real life, younger players also tend to improve their playing skills as they grow more mature, so that you are forced to be on the lookout for promising youngsters to replace your aging stars. How does this all work then? To put it simply, players gain experience points (ExP) after matches and during training in the off-season. Once the ExP reaches 100% for a certain attribute, that attribute gains one point. Note the following attributes can never be increased: - Agility - Attack mindedness - Mentality - Play stability - Condition As players age, you will find that they gain less and less ExP, and after a while, they stop gaining ExP after matches. After that, they can start losing attribute points as they age further! Note that players never lose any points for the following attributes: - Offense - Shoot accuracy - Defense - Shoot technique - Dribble accuracy - Free kick accuracy - Short pass accuracy - Heading accuracy - Long pass accuracy - Technique (I guess Konami wants to tell us that age does not dull inherent skills!) This section will help you understand this brand new concept better (or at least I hope I make myself clear enough so you understand!) 4.1 Player Development Types ============================ First, let's look at how you can know when a player stops developing. Under the Player Sheet option in the ML main menu, you will find a list of your current squad. Highlight the player you wish to study and press the Circle button. You will find an inverted bell-shaped graph, which indicates which type of developer your player is. There are 3 main types of development (levelling up) available, which I will call early growth, late bloomer, and super-star for the sake of convenience. The early growth kind of player gains a lot of ExP early in his career (typically when he is 17 to 20) and hits his peak in his mid-20s. The late bloomer gains ExP more slowly early on, but continues growing even well into his late 20s (eg Robert Pires). For these two kinds of players, they start losing points when they reach their 30s. This is where the super-star type comes in. Basically, the super-star player does not lose attribute points when in their late 20s or early 40s! (eg Pavel Nedved) So you can imagine that the super-star can continue with his full potential until his retirement. (Note that you cannot change the development type of a player, nor can you check his development type before you have him in your squad) One more thing to note is that the game churns out new players by recycling old retired ones, so that you will find that after retiring, a young player may appear a few years on with the same attributes as the retired star! Definitely a good way to build a squad for the future by being on the constant lookout for new and young talents. 4.2 How to Gain ExP =================== Now, let's look at the two ways to gain ExP: Playing matches and off-seson training. Playing Matches *************** Assuming your player is still developing, he will gain some ExP after every match played (this is why I strongly recommending arranging friendlies in every single week during the off-season. You gain monetary points to spend on transfer fees and salaries, and your players get to gain ExP too). To ensure you earn the maximum ExP possible, take note of the following: - Win the match you are playing! - Do NOT pick up any yellow or red cards! - For GK, they should make as many saves as possible - For DF, they should make as many tackles as possible - For SMF, they should dribble and pass/cross as much as possible - For OMF, they should set up as many goals as possible - For CF, they should score as many goals as possible Please note that the above is only a guideline as suggested by Weekly Famitsu Magazine (a popular gaming mag in Japan that is currently giving out advice on WE8, and where I get most of the information here from. See the Credits section for more details). Obviously, you shouldn't be too obsessed with gaining ExP so that you make your SMF dribble up and down the entire length of field all the time in a match, or field only 17 year-olds in your team! Balance is the key. Play the match, try to win, and think of the ExP as a useful bonus for doing well in the match. Off-season Training ******************* During the off-season, in addition to play friendly matches, you will find that you have the option to engage in training sessions. Do NOT skip these training sessions if you want your players to improve. Your players CAN gain ExP after successfully completing a training session. (The conditioning option during the regular season is replaced by this training option during off-season) Also, this is the ONLY chance for players past their peak (so that they cannot earn ExP after playing matches) to gain ExP and raise attributes, so make sure you devote serious time to training. There are two kinds of training: team training and individual training. Note that different training sessions allow you to gain ExP for different attributes. For example, in team training, if you choose to practice short passes, you can earn ExP in the short passing attributes. Also, you can repeat each training session with the same players until you successfully complete it. As long as you successfully complete the training session, you get the ExP. It does not matter if you keep failing and only succeed after 10 tries. You won't get less ExP than if you had succeeded on your first attempt. After you successfully complete a training session, you can choose to repeat the same training with different players, or choose a different type of training. Usually, I allow each one of my players to complete one training type, exit the training menu so that the ExP is added, and then return in the same week to train again :-) Afterall, even the best players in the world today keep training week in week out, yah? ----------------------------------- 5. Scouting and Signing New Players ----------------------------------- A little tip before I begin: If you don't already know, you can press the Triangle button in the Player Transfer screen (where you search for players, look at your current team, view the week's transfer acquistion attempt, etc) to toggle between the various screens. In WE8, the scouting and signing of new players have been much improved (in my opinion). For a start, you cannot "cheat" by setting the acquisition difficulty to one-star so that you can sign players easily, or set to five- stars the transfer frequency so that the COM keeps wanting to buy your players. Now, you can only influence the COM to buy your players by transfer-listing them, so that the probability of the COM in making you an offer for your unwanted player increases. Similarly, if you press the Directional-Pad Left/Right buttons, you will find that in addition to the salary points, each player has a rating (maximum three- stars). This rating determines the ease in signing the player. Players with three-stars are easy to sign, so that you do not have to up your offer by too much. Conversely, players with no-stars are more difficult to sign, and you will find that unless you offer much more than is stated, chances are the negotiations will break down. Two new searches have also been added when you are scouting for players. Now, there is an Easy Search which recommends players with three-star ratings (easiest to sign) within your current surplus points budget. The other one is the Talent Search, where you choose what kind of player skills you are looking for so that the COM can bring you a list of players satisfying your requirement. I won't go into more details now at this point since each of you have your own preference on the kind of player you like to sign, but I will end this section with another tip: In WE8, there are some players without clubs meaning that you don't have to pay any transfer points when you want to sign them; you only need to negotiate the salaries directly with the players! To find these players, go to "Search Player By Club" option. One of the last few boxes (the club flags) in the last row (near to where you find edited players) contain such a list of free signings, so make that your first stop when you are cash- strapped but want to sign a new player without wanting to offer your current players in an exchange deal. ----------------------------- 6. Frequently-Asked-Questions ----------------------------- OK, this is where I put in the stuff I think is useful to know but which I haven't found a suitable place in the guide to put them in yet. If you have a question, please post it on the WE8 ML FAQ thread on Gamefaq's message boards, so that everyone can read and contribute. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Q1: What does the Conditioning option do? A1: Sometimes, if many of your players are not in the best of forms, you can try to condition them before a match. Basically, you play with your starting 11 against your reserves in a 30-second training match (which also can end early if you score a goal before 30-seconds). Try to pass the ball around and retain possession as much as possible to get the best results. Also, only the starting 11 players will have their form adjusted after the conditioning session. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Q2: How many monetary points can I expect in Division 2? A2: The breakdown of points allocation is as follows (for Division 2): For a league/cup match --- 800 points for a win, 400 for a draw, 0 for a loss (Each goal scored gives you 40 points) For a friendly match --- 500 points for a win, 250 for a draw, 0 for a loss (Each goal scored gives you 20 points) Top scorer/assist/MVP --- 1000 points for each category Division 2 League Final Place --- 1st 4000 points 2nd 1200 points 3rd 1000 points 4th 800 points 5th 600 points No points for below 5th place finish Division 2 Cup Final Position --- 1st 2000 points 2nd 800 points 3rd 600 points :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Q3: Help! I cannot change the difficulty setting or edit my team uniforms during the season! A3: Sorry. You can only change difficuly setting and edit your team during the off-season, so make sure you decide before-hand what you want before kicking off a new season. (However, you can still change the lengh of match played anytime during the season before a match) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Q4: Hey! My favourite player is under-rated in the game! How can I edit his stats so that they reflect the true nature of his abilities? A4: Sorry. Because the ML uses a level-up system, Konami has disabled the editing of player parameters in this game. The only way to increase his stats (besides playing him in matches) is the hard way -- train, train, and train. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ---------- 7. Credits ---------- First of all, a big thank you to Konami for giving us the Beautiful Game that is Winning Eleven 8. People say sequels are lame but this is one series that I never want the sequels to end! A big thank you also goes out to Gamefaqs for hosting this guide (and all my other guides), as well as giving gamers all around the world a place to share our gaming experiences. For the purposes of this guide, I have made use of the WE8 coverage in the following Japanese gaming magazines: Weekly Famitsu No. 819 (August 20/27 issue), The Playstation The Play Vol. 2 (August 27 issue), Famitsu PS2 Vol. 172 (August 27 issue). All errors in this guide are strictly my own failing. Finally, this guide is written for you, the reader, in the hope that your WE8 ML experience can be enriched. Thank you for choosing to read it. ------------- 6. Disclaimer ------------- I have put in much effort in writing this guide, and only Gamefaqs have the right so far to publish it on their website. This guide can only be reproduced for non-commercial purposes. If you wish to use this guide on your website, please have the courtesy to drop me a line to let me know so that I can visit your site too. ___________________________________________________________________________