Game Rules
6. First steps, team selection and contract
After the completion of your character/player creation you finally can start playing the game. But it won´t be possible to start playing the game unless you have a team to play in. But we´ll explain this to you a little better on the next section.
Another important first-thing-to-do is to take a look on the Help forums so you can learn from experienced users some other things that might be not covered on this manual. We recommend you to do a basic read up of all the threads on your country´s help forum.
It´s of course important to fully read this manual at least one time and consult it whenever you have any doubts about the game. Consider printing it for reference!
A good and very important advice is NOT to spend your money without first knowing what all options are used for.
Finally do not forget to set your individual training scheme after getting a team. But only do it after reading the next section and also the Training section.
Team selection and contract details
Basically when you are looking for a team, you have two options: selecting a human-controlled team or a server-controlled team (also known as “bot team”). To join a team, either click on the Team information box link on the right and select one from there (either human or bot) or go directly to a team’s details page and select the “Join the team” option on the right information box. To search for specific teams you can go to Community >> Search page and then in the right information box select either “Team” or “Division” to start looking for teams on a series of your preference.
Alternatively you can opt to join the Amateur League. This isn’t exactly like joining a proper club; instead it’s just a way for you to get some money (standard 500€ wage) and be able to follow a training regime although you won’t get any feedback on your performances on the field. This is a good option in case there aren’t any available positions in your local bot teams because, this way, you won’t lose any training. To join an Amateur league just click on the Team information box link at the right and then select “Suscribe now!” on the Amateur League section at the bottom of the page.
Now, as we told before, there are human-controlled teams and bot teams (server-controlled teams). You can easily identify a bot team: just go to the team’s details page and look for the manager info (Positions section). If it says “Unknown” then you’re looking at a bot team. If not, you’ll see the current manager’s nickname: you’re looking at a human-controlled team and you can know more about the manager by following the link on the nickname.
Differences between Bot teams and Human teams.
There are many differences between a bot and a human team, here are the most important ones:
- In a human team you’ll have the additional challenge to face a real manager instead of working with a non-communicative one.
-By choosing a bot team you won’t be able to discuss the terms of your contract and you must accept the default terms offered by the server (on a bot team all players receive a 500€ wage by default). In a human team you’ll have to negotiate your contract with the manager.
- In a human team you’ll have not only your individual training but also your team’s training (more details on the next section: “Training”), in a bot team you’ll only have your individual training.
- In a human team you might be required to train fitness by your manager and therefore waste valuable opportunities to train your skills, in a bot team, you don’t have to train fitness if you don’t want to (although you’ll perform badly with low fitness).
- As you start with low skills you might be put on the bench in a human team until you have reasonable skills to play. In a bot team you’ll always be selected to play (if there are less than 11 human players on the team). Bots will set their starting eleven twice a week: on Tuesdays and Fridays around 5am (server time). Skills/quality of players won’t be the main decision factor of their selections as bot teams will try to ensure a rotativity for all the human players, so don’t expect a major AI (Artificial Intelligence) in bots regarding starting elevens.
- You can leave a bot team whenever you want (but you’ll have a 5% morale penalization every time you leave a bot team). To leave a human team you’ll have to wait until your contract runs out, you get bought by or loaned to another team, or your manager sets you free.
You should also know that you can receive offers from human teams if you’re in free transfer or in a bot team. In this case you’ll be informed by FS Mail if you receive any offer. You should then discuss the terms of the deal with the manager.
A strategy could be to, at the beginning, opt to develop your skills and experience in a bot team and only then move to a human team, when you feel more confident. But you can also opt on training a little more by playing less at the beginning on a human team (and possibly having a higher wage).
A final note about foreign bot teams: you cannot join/play in bot teams of foreign countries. For example, if you’re a Portuguese player you won’t be able to join a Spanish bot team. The only exception is when the manager of a foreign human team is fired from the team. In that case, and if you have the option to remain on the team, you’ll stay at the bot team. You can however move to foreign human team.
Rules in Bot Teams
To be able to play in a bot team you must follow a set of rules. First of all, each bot team will have a maximum number of 30 players in their squads, regardless of position or any other player attribute. In bot teams with over 20 players, on a daily basis, the team will fire 5 bot players in order to hold more space for human-controlled players. Another key rule in bot teams is that players inactive for more than 14 days will be fired from the team in case the team has more than 20 players (they will be treated as if they were bot players). These fired players will be able to rejoin the bot teams though (the 3 month rule is not applicable in these cases). The other key rule you should know is that, if you miss more than 2 games of your bot team (failing to be in the same city of the team when a match is played) you’ll be automatically fired from the team. This counter will only be incremented in case you were selected in the starting eleven for that match though.
Bot teams and friendly games
Yes, it’s possible. The only way for this to happen is when a human-controlled team is not able to schedule a friendly game before Tuesday. Human teams can schedule friendly games with bot teams of the same city between Tuesdays (00:00 server time) and the exact time their matches start on their local countries.
Contract details
When you sign for a team you’ll have to have a contract. A contract consists of wage, duration, team role and match prizes (per match, goal, assists, clean sheet - GK’s only); these prizes will be paid on every kind of matches, friendly included. If you’re playing on a bot team you’ll only have a wage (€500). On the other side, if you play on a human team you’ll have the possibility to discuss all the terms with the manager.
In a bot team you can leave whenever you want. In a human team you must respect your contract duration unless you’re fired or sold/loaned by your manager. If not renewed, when you contract expires, you’ll be put on the transfer list again.
If one of the parts wants to end the contract before time, it must discuss it with the other part. Example: if you want to end your contract before time, you should contact your manager and discuss some kind of compensation fee for the team. On the other side, if the manager wants to end your contract before time he has two choices: either offers you a friendly contract termination or he breaks your contract by paying you a compensation. The monetary compensation depends on the last time you have signed a contract with the club:
- a contract signed 27 days ago or less - 5% of season wage*
- a contract signed 28-55 days ago - 25% of season wage*
- a contract signed 56-84 days ago - 50% of season wage*
- a contract signed 85-111 days ago - 75% of season wage*
- a contract signed 112 days ago or more - full season wage*
* season wage > Example: you earn 5000€/week >> Season wage = 5000€ x 16 weeks = 80000€).
By going to Player >> Contract (top menu), players will have the possibility to request their managers to leave through a friendly contract termination. In case their managers accept the request they’ll be put on the free transfer list. The deadline for managers to answer these requests is 30 days (21 days for unprotected teams). These waiting periods can be reduced in 15 days depending on the inactivity level of the team manager: it means that for regular teams, in case of inactive managers, players can wait only 15 days to leave. For unprotected teams it can go down to 7 days. A manager is immediately considered inactive in case he does not log in the game for 15 days. If the manager is on vacations these periods are doubled. Managers can extend this deadline by going on vacations: when this happens, the deadline is extended in one month. Managers can only go on vacations once per season.
In case they leave the proposal unanswered for right amount of 30 days, players will be free to leave without any kind of compensation.
If the team fails to pay you more than 2 wages, you’ll have the possibility to leave the club without having to pay any compensation fee. This will only happen in human teams, since bot teams never fail to pay their wages.
At a human team you might also have the possibility to win Result Prizes. Your human manager might set prizes for wins and draws (home/away) that every human player will earn in case the results are obtained. These prizes will only be paid in official matches though (friendly matches are excluded). Only those players that participated in the match (1 minute will be enough) will earn prizes. Cup matches decided by penalties will be considered draws.
There are some restrictions concerning player contracts in human controlled teams. This is done to prevent unrealistic sudden changes in player’s wages. Consider this as a set of “board rules” in which your club’s directing board won’t allow you to run the club’s finances on a crazy manner. The complete list of restrictions follows:
- The highest allowed wage will be 1000% of the lowest player wage on the club. Example: if your lowest-paid player receives 500€ per week, you will only be allowed to pay a newly signed player 5000€. The lowest wage on your club will be the lowest wage your manager pays to a human-controlled player; bot players will not be taken into account (as their wages are locked).
- Same rule as before applies to all renewals, except if a player already receives more than the 1000% cap. If he does, he’ll be allowed to renew for his current wage but no more than that. Example: if a player receives 10000€ per week and the 1000% cap sets the maximum at 5000€, the maximum wage you can offer the player will be 10000€.
- The maximum allowed wage increase will be set at 100% of the player’s current wage. Example: if a player has a 500€ wage, on renewal managers will only be allowed to pay him 1000€ tops (double his current wage).
- The maximum allowed wage decrease will be set at 50% of the player’s current wage. Example: if a player gets 1500€ per week, the maximum decrease will be 750€ (half his current wage).
- Managers will only be allowed to offer a game bonus of a total of 50% the maximum allowed wage (Example: maximum wage 1000€, game bonus 500€).
- Managers will only be allowed to offer bonuses (except the game bonus, described above) of a total of 25% of the maximum allowed wage (Example: maximum wage is 1000€, managers will be able to offer a maximum goal bonus of 250€, assist bonus 250€, etc., not cumulative).
- A player’s contract can only be renewed once in every 2 weeks.
Contracts might also have clauses. There are four (4) possible contract clauses:
- Minimum release fee (a fee so that all offers above that fee for a player are automatically accepted)
- Team pays house expenses (the team is obligated to pay the daily house expenses - 20€ - if the player does not have a house on the team’s home city)
- Manager release clause (the player is allowed to buy FS Fan Gold and start controlling a team any time he wants)
- Inactivity clause (players might be fired without any monetary compensation if they fail to login for the agreed number of days).
Only players playing in human teams are allowed to have such clauses.
A final note about the team role:
When you sign a contract you’ll be given the chance to choose a team role. You can opt for “Important first team player”, “Squad rotation player”, “Good prospect for the future” and “Not needed in the club”. This part of your contract might have a good or bad effect on your player’s morale so be careful when selecting this option. You should check the Player Psychology section of this manual for more help on this. Also, you can’t have the “Good prospect for the future” status if you’re over 20 years old. In case you are under the previous situation your player morale will start to suffer so keep your eyes on that. You should forget the team role (and the effects it has on your morale) if you’re playing in a bot team.
After the completion of your character/player creation you finally can start playing the game. But it won´t be possible to start playing the game unless you have a team to play in. But we´ll explain this to you a little better on the next section.
Another important first-thing-to-do is to take a look on the Help forums so you can learn from experienced users some other things that might be not covered on this manual. We recommend you to do a basic read up of all the threads on your country´s help forum.
It´s of course important to fully read this manual at least one time and consult it whenever you have any doubts about the game. Consider printing it for reference!
A good and very important advice is NOT to spend your money without first knowing what all options are used for.
Finally do not forget to set your individual training scheme after getting a team. But only do it after reading the next section and also the Training section.
Team selection and contract details
Basically when you are looking for a team, you have two options: selecting a human-controlled team or a server-controlled team (also known as “bot team”). To join a team, either click on the Team information box link on the right and select one from there (either human or bot) or go directly to a team’s details page and select the “Join the team” option on the right information box. To search for specific teams you can go to Community >> Search page and then in the right information box select either “Team” or “Division” to start looking for teams on a series of your preference.
Alternatively you can opt to join the Amateur League. This isn’t exactly like joining a proper club; instead it’s just a way for you to get some money (standard 500€ wage) and be able to follow a training regime although you won’t get any feedback on your performances on the field. This is a good option in case there aren’t any available positions in your local bot teams because, this way, you won’t lose any training. To join an Amateur league just click on the Team information box link at the right and then select “Suscribe now!” on the Amateur League section at the bottom of the page.
Now, as we told before, there are human-controlled teams and bot teams (server-controlled teams). You can easily identify a bot team: just go to the team’s details page and look for the manager info (Positions section). If it says “Unknown” then you’re looking at a bot team. If not, you’ll see the current manager’s nickname: you’re looking at a human-controlled team and you can know more about the manager by following the link on the nickname.
Differences between Bot teams and Human teams.
There are many differences between a bot and a human team, here are the most important ones:
- In a human team you’ll have the additional challenge to face a real manager instead of working with a non-communicative one.
-By choosing a bot team you won’t be able to discuss the terms of your contract and you must accept the default terms offered by the server (on a bot team all players receive a 500€ wage by default). In a human team you’ll have to negotiate your contract with the manager.
- In a human team you’ll have not only your individual training but also your team’s training (more details on the next section: “Training”), in a bot team you’ll only have your individual training.
- In a human team you might be required to train fitness by your manager and therefore waste valuable opportunities to train your skills, in a bot team, you don’t have to train fitness if you don’t want to (although you’ll perform badly with low fitness).
- As you start with low skills you might be put on the bench in a human team until you have reasonable skills to play. In a bot team you’ll always be selected to play (if there are less than 11 human players on the team). Bots will set their starting eleven twice a week: on Tuesdays and Fridays around 5am (server time). Skills/quality of players won’t be the main decision factor of their selections as bot teams will try to ensure a rotativity for all the human players, so don’t expect a major AI (Artificial Intelligence) in bots regarding starting elevens.
- You can leave a bot team whenever you want (but you’ll have a 5% morale penalization every time you leave a bot team). To leave a human team you’ll have to wait until your contract runs out, you get bought by or loaned to another team, or your manager sets you free.
You should also know that you can receive offers from human teams if you’re in free transfer or in a bot team. In this case you’ll be informed by FS Mail if you receive any offer. You should then discuss the terms of the deal with the manager.
A strategy could be to, at the beginning, opt to develop your skills and experience in a bot team and only then move to a human team, when you feel more confident. But you can also opt on training a little more by playing less at the beginning on a human team (and possibly having a higher wage).
A final note about foreign bot teams: you cannot join/play in bot teams of foreign countries. For example, if you’re a Portuguese player you won’t be able to join a Spanish bot team. The only exception is when the manager of a foreign human team is fired from the team. In that case, and if you have the option to remain on the team, you’ll stay at the bot team. You can however move to foreign human team.
Rules in Bot Teams
To be able to play in a bot team you must follow a set of rules. First of all, each bot team will have a maximum number of 30 players in their squads, regardless of position or any other player attribute. In bot teams with over 20 players, on a daily basis, the team will fire 5 bot players in order to hold more space for human-controlled players. Another key rule in bot teams is that players inactive for more than 14 days will be fired from the team in case the team has more than 20 players (they will be treated as if they were bot players). These fired players will be able to rejoin the bot teams though (the 3 month rule is not applicable in these cases). The other key rule you should know is that, if you miss more than 2 games of your bot team (failing to be in the same city of the team when a match is played) you’ll be automatically fired from the team. This counter will only be incremented in case you were selected in the starting eleven for that match though.
Bot teams and friendly games
Yes, it’s possible. The only way for this to happen is when a human-controlled team is not able to schedule a friendly game before Tuesday. Human teams can schedule friendly games with bot teams of the same city between Tuesdays (00:00 server time) and the exact time their matches start on their local countries.
Contract details
When you sign for a team you’ll have to have a contract. A contract consists of wage, duration, team role and match prizes (per match, goal, assists, clean sheet - GK’s only); these prizes will be paid on every kind of matches, friendly included. If you’re playing on a bot team you’ll only have a wage (€500). On the other side, if you play on a human team you’ll have the possibility to discuss all the terms with the manager.
In a bot team you can leave whenever you want. In a human team you must respect your contract duration unless you’re fired or sold/loaned by your manager. If not renewed, when you contract expires, you’ll be put on the transfer list again.
If one of the parts wants to end the contract before time, it must discuss it with the other part. Example: if you want to end your contract before time, you should contact your manager and discuss some kind of compensation fee for the team. On the other side, if the manager wants to end your contract before time he has two choices: either offers you a friendly contract termination or he breaks your contract by paying you a compensation. The monetary compensation depends on the last time you have signed a contract with the club:
- a contract signed 27 days ago or less - 5% of season wage*
- a contract signed 28-55 days ago - 25% of season wage*
- a contract signed 56-84 days ago - 50% of season wage*
- a contract signed 85-111 days ago - 75% of season wage*
- a contract signed 112 days ago or more - full season wage*
* season wage > Example: you earn 5000€/week >> Season wage = 5000€ x 16 weeks = 80000€).
By going to Player >> Contract (top menu), players will have the possibility to request their managers to leave through a friendly contract termination. In case their managers accept the request they’ll be put on the free transfer list. The deadline for managers to answer these requests is 30 days (21 days for unprotected teams). These waiting periods can be reduced in 15 days depending on the inactivity level of the team manager: it means that for regular teams, in case of inactive managers, players can wait only 15 days to leave. For unprotected teams it can go down to 7 days. A manager is immediately considered inactive in case he does not log in the game for 15 days. If the manager is on vacations these periods are doubled. Managers can extend this deadline by going on vacations: when this happens, the deadline is extended in one month. Managers can only go on vacations once per season.
In case they leave the proposal unanswered for right amount of 30 days, players will be free to leave without any kind of compensation.
If the team fails to pay you more than 2 wages, you’ll have the possibility to leave the club without having to pay any compensation fee. This will only happen in human teams, since bot teams never fail to pay their wages.
At a human team you might also have the possibility to win Result Prizes. Your human manager might set prizes for wins and draws (home/away) that every human player will earn in case the results are obtained. These prizes will only be paid in official matches though (friendly matches are excluded). Only those players that participated in the match (1 minute will be enough) will earn prizes. Cup matches decided by penalties will be considered draws.
There are some restrictions concerning player contracts in human controlled teams. This is done to prevent unrealistic sudden changes in player’s wages. Consider this as a set of “board rules” in which your club’s directing board won’t allow you to run the club’s finances on a crazy manner. The complete list of restrictions follows:
- The highest allowed wage will be 1000% of the lowest player wage on the club. Example: if your lowest-paid player receives 500€ per week, you will only be allowed to pay a newly signed player 5000€. The lowest wage on your club will be the lowest wage your manager pays to a human-controlled player; bot players will not be taken into account (as their wages are locked).
- Same rule as before applies to all renewals, except if a player already receives more than the 1000% cap. If he does, he’ll be allowed to renew for his current wage but no more than that. Example: if a player receives 10000€ per week and the 1000% cap sets the maximum at 5000€, the maximum wage you can offer the player will be 10000€.
- The maximum allowed wage increase will be set at 100% of the player’s current wage. Example: if a player has a 500€ wage, on renewal managers will only be allowed to pay him 1000€ tops (double his current wage).
- The maximum allowed wage decrease will be set at 50% of the player’s current wage. Example: if a player gets 1500€ per week, the maximum decrease will be 750€ (half his current wage).
- Managers will only be allowed to offer a game bonus of a total of 50% the maximum allowed wage (Example: maximum wage 1000€, game bonus 500€).
- Managers will only be allowed to offer bonuses (except the game bonus, described above) of a total of 25% of the maximum allowed wage (Example: maximum wage is 1000€, managers will be able to offer a maximum goal bonus of 250€, assist bonus 250€, etc., not cumulative).
- A player’s contract can only be renewed once in every 2 weeks.
Contracts might also have clauses. There are four (4) possible contract clauses:
- Minimum release fee (a fee so that all offers above that fee for a player are automatically accepted)
- Team pays house expenses (the team is obligated to pay the daily house expenses - 20€ - if the player does not have a house on the team’s home city)
- Manager release clause (the player is allowed to buy FS Fan Gold and start controlling a team any time he wants)
- Inactivity clause (players might be fired without any monetary compensation if they fail to login for the agreed number of days).
Only players playing in human teams are allowed to have such clauses.
A final note about the team role:
When you sign a contract you’ll be given the chance to choose a team role. You can opt for “Important first team player”, “Squad rotation player”, “Good prospect for the future” and “Not needed in the club”. This part of your contract might have a good or bad effect on your player’s morale so be careful when selecting this option. You should check the Player Psychology section of this manual for more help on this. Also, you can’t have the “Good prospect for the future” status if you’re over 20 years old. In case you are under the previous situation your player morale will start to suffer so keep your eyes on that. You should forget the team role (and the effects it has on your morale) if you’re playing in a bot team.
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Options
- 1. Introduction
- 2. FootStar requirements
- 3. Registration, activation and character selection
- 4. User interface
- 5. Players
- 6. First steps, team selection and contract
- 7. Skills
- 8. Training
- 9. Mental skills and talents
- 10. Morale, adaptability and experience
- 11. Player relationship
- 12. Match day
- 13. Cities and Trips
- 14. Companies and Agencies
- 15. Teams
- 16. Team management
- 17. Transfers
- 18. Competitions for clubs
- 19. International competitions for NTs and CTs
- 20. Player Awards
- 21. National Federations
- 22. Foobbuteo PvP
- 23. Instant Matches and Campaigns
- 24. Community
- 25. Administration and Denominations
- 26. Behaviour