MATCHES FOR THE MASSES 

Friendly competitions are great fun for the Gameworld and let you get to know a greater number of other Managers. How many will you join?

FINDING COMPETITIONS

There are many competitions created and available for entry all the time, and you can keep an eye on them in several ways.

The main way is by going to Word -> Competitions -> Not Started. This will give you a list of all the Competitions (as per below) that have been created but have not yet started. It is often useful to sort the screen by prize money, and number of teams entered. Comparing the number of teams entered to the number of spaces in a competition will allow you to gauge how long it will take for the competition to fill up and start; sorting by prize money meanwhile will enable you to find the most lucrative comps, or looking at it the other way, the ones that are for player training and not prize money. It is also worth keeping an eye on the entry fee throughout. You don't want to be paying alot of money to enter a competition if your chances of getting something in return via prize money are slim.

The Competition Mailing List is another area to look out for new competitions. If you see an item advertising a competition you like, click on 'Respond' and you can enter the competition. Another way to find competitions is via the Marketplace. Competitions that are only one or two users short of starting are generally advertised here, so if you looking for a competition that will start soon, it's worth keeping an eye out! You may also, finaly, recieve invites to competitions from contacts and/or other managers. It's nice to be invited, but don't feel obliged to enter - you should only do so if it's in your interests!

ENTERING COMPETITIONS

You can join Competitions by clicking on their name, then going to Membership -> Enter Competition. You will be asked to confirm and told what affect it will have on your available cash if there is an entry fee. Once you have entered a competition, until it starts you can leave the competition by selecting Withdraw from the same menu.

Note that when entering a Competition and you have more than one squad, you can pick which squad you want to use in any competiton by going to the [Competition profile page] -> Membership -> Select Sqaud. This is particularly handy for youth competitions. You can view all your current Competitions by going to your Club -> Profile -> Competitions -> Current. This enables you to keep track of the status of every competition you are in.

ENTRY LIMITS

Be aware that there are a few of instances in which you will be unable to enter competitions (aside from if they've already started).  Some competitions limit entry to managers of clubs of a set reputation - this is mainly so that users are able to play people of their own standard rather than enter unevenly balanced competitions dominated by the strong and sufferred by the weak.

Padlocked, private competitions are also only entereable via invite. This is because these competitions are mainly used for a bit of fun between contacts and friends. Don't worry however, there are many more open than closed competitions, so you should be spoilt for choice.

A final warning is regarding youth and reserve competitions - only enter these if you have an appropriate youth or reserve squad. Entering without one of those helps no one!

CONSCIENTIOUS ENTRY

Don't enter a competition blindly. Playing in these should be an informed decision. Below are some points to consider.

Prize Money – Does the competition reward just the winners, therefore decreasing your chances of making any money? It is safer to look for competitions which give an even amount of prize money. Ideally you should look at competitions set out as below

      10 teams -        1st Place, 2nd Place and 3/4th Place

      16 teams -        1st Place, 2nd Place, 3/4th Place, 5-8th Place

      32 teams -        1st, 2nd, 3/4th, 5-8th, 8-16th

      32 +       -        At least half of the entrants 

Private Competitions – Ask yourself why are you being invited into this competition. Are you seen as easy pickings - always check the Rank/Team of the host, and the other teams entered. Although it is by no means a certainty a higher ranked team will win, many teams prey on the lower ranked teams in order to make quick money.

Competition Length – Always check the playtimes and competition length. Will you be online during those times? How quickly are you expected to complete games? During the early part of the Gameworld you may find the competitions are set to complete in 2 days, to get them over with quickly. If you are entering a competition you want to be online to play those games as many are set up with an AI penalty.

Classification – Be sure to check the age group for the competition, is it Senior, Non-Ranked, U21, U20 U19, U18, U17 do you have enough players of that age group to compete in this competition.

Competition Squad – If you have more than 1 squad, always set which squad will be used for this competition, this will enable that squad and tactics to be used in the event of AI matches.

How Many Teams – Competitions of more than 64 members can take a long time to fill up and sometimes never do. If these competitions have an entry fee, this will be deducted on your projected finances.

How Many Games – Check to see the layout of the competition and how many games it could involve. Are you going to play one game in the first round or is it a two legged affair or even a league.

You should now know all you need to about joining the right competition. Good luck!