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Winning Eleven 8
Master League FAQ
by lyonnie
Version 1.0
August 2004
(Best viewed with Note Pad)
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Introduction
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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.
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Contents
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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
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1. New Additions to WE8's ML
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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
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2. Starting Your ML Campaign
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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!
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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.
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4. Gaining Experience and Levelling Up Players
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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)
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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.
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7. Credits
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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.
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6. Disclaimer
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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.
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