General Help/FAQ: SMFA Requests

July 28th, 2008 by SM Dev (ste)

A large number of requests from Custom Setup owners are still being rejected by the SMFA in respect of removing a manager from and/or reversing a transfer within their setup. In view of this I am going to republish my article regarding this subject.

Had an ‘SMFA Request’ turned down recently? Well if you follow the pointers witin this article then you could have more success in the future with your requests (and also understand what request is/isn’t acceptable).

In April we introduced ‘Advanced Custom Setup Rules‘. This was introduced due to managers within our community having their own rules/gentlemen agreements within their own Custom Setups.

We also listened to feedback from members of the SM community in relation to this improvement, and we realised that certain managers liked to have more complicated rules within their Custom Setup. Due to this we agreed that we would try to honour any SMFA Request(s) to remove a manager that had broken a specific rule(s) that was clearly written in their ‘Custom Setup Description Box’.

However, when we introduced this new feature/improvement, we received severeal queries within SM Support asking why we had removed the ‘Reverse Transfer’ and ‘Remove Manager’ options. I give an explanation to why we removed these two options, and this can found within this link. We also explained how to admin your own Custom Setup, and this information can be found within this link.

Now that you have read the three links within the above text (which I recommend you do before reading on), I will move to the main part of the article, and explain how you could have more success in the future with your SM Requests (and also understand what request is/isn’t acceptable).

First, I will state a pretty obvious point, and I know that it might sound patronising so I will apologise in advance. Any of the ‘Advanced Rules’ which you select for your Custom Setup are automatically enforced by the AI. So if you select ‘No buying from external clubs’ then the AI will ensure that no manager within your setup can purchase players from clubs outside the setup. Therefore select the rules which you want to apply for your Custom Setup carefully as they will be enforced, and no manager will be able to break the rules you select.

This leads on nicely to the ‘Custom Setup Description Box’. We agreed that we would try to honour any SMFA Request(s) to remove a manager that had broken a specific rule(s) that was clearly written in their ‘Custom Setup Description Box’. However, there are a few exceptions when we will not honour them, and I will give a few examples.

If a manager displays a rule within their description which can easily be selected within the ‘Advanced Rules’, and enforced by the AI then we will not honour their specific rule. For example a manager states ‘can’t buy from external clubs’ then this will not be enforced as you can select ‘No buying from external clubs’ within your ‘Advanced Rules’.

If a manager creates specific rules which are not realistic or practical then we will not honour their specific rule. For example a manager states ‘can not buy any players I have on my shortlist’ or ‘must have at least three Brazilians, one Spaniard, four Englishmen, and three Egyptians in your starting XI’.

Therefore if you select the ‘Advanced Rules’ which you want to apply to your Custom setup, then no manager will be able to break them as they will be enforced automatically by the AI, and there should be no reason to requset the SMFA to remove them for breaking these rules (as they won’t be able to). However, if you add any specific rules to you ‘Custom Setup Description Box’ alongside your ‘Advanced Rules’, then ensure they are sensible, realistic, practical, and not already available within ‘Advanced Rules’ then we will try to honour the requests to remove those managers who have clearly broken them.

Second, I will state another pretty obvious point, and I know that it might sound patronising so I will apologise again in advance. You can choose to make your setup ‘public’, ‘private application’, ‘private locked’ or ‘private password’:

Public - anyone who meets your ‘Manager Reputation’ entry level can join your setup;
Private Application (Recommended when Creating) - everyone has to apply and await your approval to join your setup;
Private Locked - means that no one can join your setup;
Private Password - means that people will have to enter your setup password before being able to join your setup.

Your Custom Setup entry requirements are automatically enforced by the AI. So if you select ‘Private Application’ then the AI will ensure that no manager can enter your setup unless they apply to take over a specific club and you accept their request. Therefore select your setup entry requirements for your Custom Setup carefully as they will be enforced, and no manager will be able to break the entry requirements you select.

Hopefully if you have selected the right entry requirements to your Custom Setup, and chosen which ‘Advanced Rules’ you want to apply then there should be no need to submit an ‘SMFA Request’. This is because no one should be within your setup without your consent (due to your desired entry requirements), and no one can break the ‘Advanced Rules’ which you have set (due to the AI automatically enforcing them).

So when should I submit a request to the SMFA to have a manager removed from my Custom Setup? Well this is the sticking point, and one which my article is trying to tackle.

The following points are when you should contact the SMFA to have a manager removed from your Custom Setup:

If you have selected a specific rule(s) for your ‘Custom Setup Description Box’ (following the advice given above), and a manager has clearly broken your additional rule(s);
If you believe a manager within your setup has broken the Code of Conduct which forms part of the Terms of Use.

If you believe a manager has done either of the above then contact the SMFA to request them to remove the manager in question. To remove a manager you must provide the SMFA with a good reason to remove this manager, and also provide as many facts as you can. The better your reason is and the more facts you provide (providing all of the information is legitimate) the more likely you are to have your request approved.

The following examples are ones which are usually succesful (providing all of the information is legitimate) to have a manager removed:

I believe that this manager is also managing X. This is due to both managers logging in at the same time, and also due to suspicious transfer activity between both clubs. If you look at the recent deal of player X transferring to club Y you will see this.
I stated within my ‘Custom Setup Description Box’ that you can not purchase any players within the first 48 hours of the setup being created, and I sent a PM to all managers to remind them of this extra rule. However, the manager of club X has ignore this rule, and if you look at their transfers you will see they have made several transfers within the first 24 hours!

So when will your request to the SMFA be turned down to have a manager removed from your Custom Setup? Well if you submit requests along the following lines then they are most likely to be turned down (and I will try to say why they will be at the same time):

“I want to remove as I don’t know him!” - If you did not want them in your setup in the first instance you should have made your setup either ‘private application’, ‘private locked’ or ‘private password’. This will prevent anyone from entering your setup that you do not know.
“Sent a rude private message” - If you receive an abusive message containing profanities or similar then simply block that person from sending you any further messages. However, if it was harassment, racist, threatening or similar then we would take action.
“He dosent participate in any transfer deals and dosent answer my emails.” - You can not simply remove a manager for not answering your messages otherwise thousands of managers would be removed from the game within standard setups as well. You can not force any manager within any setup to participate in transfers either as it is their decision if they want to use this facility or not.
“the owner of this seteup is bullying me at school for players.” - Unfortunately what happens outside the website has no impact on our decision, and if this is the case then they need to contact the appropriate person relating to what is happening.
“a team like milan should be competing in all areas of the competitions. however this manager didnt. he failed to do well in cups or leagues. he has not done a good job with a quality side. it would be much appreciated if you could remove him so the rest of the people can enjoy a fair competition.” -You can not simply remove a manager for struggling to get the best out of their side.
“Sorry I promised my best friend he can have it And i forgo to turn my setup of public and i dont really know the guy!”- You can prevent this by selecting your setup entry requirement.
“This manager does not sign on often enough.” - You can select this option in your ‘Advanced Rules’ to ensure that they do sign in ‘often enough’.

The above examples are ones which are usually unsuccesful , and you can also be unsuccessful if the information you provide is false in order to have a manager removed.

The other area people could have a problem with is in relation to reporting a suspicious deal. When you report a possible suspicious deal, it does not mean that the transfer is automatically reversed, and it has another meaning (which people are getting confused with). It means that you are reporting a possible deal which could be suspicous, and breaking the Code of Conduct. The AI will review the deal again, and if it is not legitimate will reverse the deal on your behalf.

The AI will not reverse a deal due to you stating in your ‘Custom Setup Description Box’ that you can not buy players who are Brazilian. If you want a deal reversing because for example a manager has bought a player who is Brazilian and you have a rule against this, then you will need to submit a request to the SMFA (following the above advice), and clearly state that a rule you have has been broken. If what you are saying is correct then the transfer will be reversed, and the manager in question removed from your Custom Setup for breaking the rules you have in place.

I will apologise if this article jumps from one point to another, does not cover one point in enough detail etc, but I hope that it gives an insight into how you could possibly have more success with your ‘SMFA Requests’.

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