Online Hockey Sim - MetroHO

[21C]

MetroHO (http://www.metroho.com) is a browser-based game similar to Hattrick or DeepRoute (and yes, I did a check first).

I haven't tried it since I'm not a hockey fan but I thought there might be some interest here.

[bbor]

Thx for the link...i will definatly try it out.

[samifan24]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check it out.

[samifan24]

Dola- This seems interesting so far.

I just signed up as "The Whale" in a league called "Quebec" which needs more team to fill out the league. My username is the same as on here so feel free to look my team up.

I played a game of shinny against another team and won 4-3 in OT. The most interesting part of the game is that each minute of a period counts as a "round" and you have to decide which line to send out every "round." Strategy is involved because you only have a set number of times each line can play during each period. For example, my first line can only play 7 "rounds" in each period and so forth.

[duff88]

Just signed up in the Quebec league.

[sachmo71]

Look out for the Ice Demons! HISS!

[sachmo71]

And if you sign up with this link, I get a free draft pick!
http://www.metroho.com?reference=180

[Travis]

Joined the Quebec league, curious to see just how badly I mangled myself with these initial contracts :D

[samifan24]

Joined the Quebec league, curious to see just how badly I mangled myself with these initial contracts :D

Great, now we only need one more team to start the league!

[Pumpy Tudors]

Damn, somebody beat me to it. I was going to join the Quebec league. I think I'll just leave my team sitting there for a while and possibly join another league later.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Dola- This seems interesting so far.

I just signed up as "The Whale" in a league called "Quebec" which needs more team to fill out the league. My username is the same as on here so feel free to look my team up.

I played a game of shinny against another team and won 4-3 in OT. The most interesting part of the game is that each minute of a period counts as a "round" and you have to decide which line to send out every "round." Strategy is involved because you only have a set number of times each line can play during each period. For example, my first line can only play 7 "rounds" in each period and so forth.

But then you ran into the steel jaws that are THE FUZZY BUNNIES

;)

I didn't know there was another FOFC'er in "Quebec" good to know i'm not alone. Still not too sure what a shinny is......but i'm lovin' every minute of it

[Apathetic Lurker]

Damn, somebody beat me to it. I was going to join the Quebec league. I think I'll just leave my team sitting there for a while and possibly join another league later.


Sorry Pumpy..... Actually I signed up before checking up over here. I was planning on coming over here to see if any league was FOFcentric but noticed Quebec filing fast so jumped in.

[samifan24]

But then you ran into the steel jaws that are THE FUZZY BUNNIES

;)

I didn't know there was another FOFC'er in "Quebec" good to know i'm not alone. Still not too sure what a shinny is......but i'm lovin' every minute of it

Absolutely. You guys crushed me 4-1. A shinny is like a scrimmage. So I guess the "Quebec" league is almost entirely FOFC based.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Cool.... FOFC needs to be represented everywhere

[Dr. Sak]

Damn, somebody beat me to it. I was going to join the Quebec league. I think I'll just leave my team sitting there for a while and possibly join another league later.

Pumpy let's start another league.

[Draft Dodger]

Pumpy let's start another league.

me too, please

[Dr. Sak]

Okay...i'll make one now and post the name.

[samifan24]

By the way, guys, I believe that you can change the league you're in each off-season. So at the end of this season (20 days IRL) we can create a couple of full FOFC leagues if there's still interest.

[Dr. Sak]

League name is FOFCHL

[BreizhManu]

joined in

[laser]

I'm in with the Lasers.

[RPI-Fan]

joined FOFC league

[MizzouRah]

going to sign up now

[Suburban Rhythm]

I'm in got the 10th team

[samifan24]

Ok, I just played my two home games on "day 1" in the Quebec League. It looks like you have to login to play (or at least auto-sim) your day's games. Each day every team has four games, two home and two away. I played both of my home games this morning and another guy simmed one of my away games. Now I'm waiting on someone else to sim my final game today.

I checked out the site forums and apparently someone named Adam created and is running the game. He wanted to have people login every day to play their games until a lot of people pointed out how ridiculous that expectation was. Apparently he added an auto-sim option this morning but you still have to login and click the auto-sim button, as far as I can tell.

This is clearly a work in progress. That said, I'm having fun with it so far. It's new and it isn't going to be perfect but I hope that those running the game continue to take player input regularly.

[MizzouRah]

Damn you Pumpy!

[MizzouRah]

I do like how NON-tedious the game is. Should keep me interested for quite some time.

[tucker rocky]

I'm in as BDD HC, but already joined a league.(USA.II)
Didn't see the FOFC league until afterwards, since only 2 leagues were created at the time.

[MizzouRah]

Hey SR, I declined your trade for now... I like my team so far and it's too early for me to see what weaknesses I have.

Then you went out and beat me. :) My only loss thus far.

[samifan24]

Hey, JeffNights, did you get my trade offer?

[Suburban Rhythm]

Hey SR, I declined your trade for now... I like my team so far and it's too early for me to see what weaknesses I have.

Then you went out and beat me. :) My only loss thus far.

No problem...just trying to balance my team out a little. I have a bunch of offensive D, and you seemed heavy on stay-at-home. I feel like the Pittsburgh Penguins 2006-07 :(

[MizzouRah]

No problem...just trying to balance my team out a little. I have a bunch of offensive D, and you seemed heavy on stay-at-home. I feel like the Pittsburgh Penguins 2006-07 :(

You're offer is still noted on my sticky notes on my desk. ;)

[Suburban Rhythm]

Two features added. I like this-


1) When you play home games the long way, you can now select the style of play you want that line to play. Keep in mind, if you ask a checking line to do an "All-Out-Attack," they still aren't going to be nearly as offensive as a sniper line even on normal mode... also be warned that the more offensive your style of play is, the less defensive you'll be.

2) You can now assign your players an offensive/defensive ratio instruction. Note that this does not replace player types, but rather further refines the particular player. For instance, by setting a power forward to Offense +2.0, Defense -2.0 they will still play like a power forward, just they'll be slightly more offensive than the typical power forward

except that you style (#1 above) resets to all-out-attack after every shift, so if you don't remember to tone it down a little, you leave yourself open when you 4th line is out there.

[Arles]

Had an odd game where I was somewhat evenly matched with an opponent, outshot him by 12 and lost 6-0 (including three penalty kills by his 4th line - mostly 50s against my top line 80s). I just don't feel that anything I do makes much sense with the game.

[samifan24]

Had an odd game where I was somewhat evenly matched with an opponent, outshot him by 12 and lost 6-0 (including three penalty kills by his 4th line - mostly 50s against my top line 80s). I just don't feel that anything I do makes much sense with the game.

Yeah, I'm wondering about that, too. Do line combinations even matter? It seems like I have one scoring line and that's it. Does it matter if I have them go all-out attack or play conservatively? I can't tell if I'm actually having any affect on the team.

[Travis]

Yeah, I'm wondering about that, too. Do line combinations even matter? It seems like I have one scoring line and that's it. Does it matter if I have them go all-out attack or play conservatively? I can't tell if I'm actually having any affect on the team.

Haven't done enough testing to know for sure, but I went from having my three best guys on my top line (was under .500 but that line was tearing it up), dropped one down to the second line (as that line was getting murdered) and since then the first line production has dropped a bit, but second line production is way up and been winning a lot more games.

I haven't played at all with the new options for aggressiveness, but seeing line combination changes make a difference like that for me was an encouraging sign.

[Arles]

OK, this is really weird. I just saw the results to the opponent I lost to 6-0 and outshot by 12. In my away game, I won 7-0 after being outshot by 5.

So, I call the lines and outshoot him by 12, lose 6-0. He calls the lines in the same day and outshoots my by 5, but loses 7-0. The morale of the story is never call your own lines. ;)

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, I'm not sure I understand the way the game comes up with results.

[BreizhManu]

Don't like it so far :- I have absolutely no clue on what to do to win games (well since I'm last it probably means It's just do the opposite).- So the tactics is to set the lineup and that's it ?- It's a pain in the ass to have to connect every day to sim games.Luckily I'm bored at work so I'll keep playing, else I would have stopped already.

[samifan24]

I don't like the fact that playing a game by hand takes so long. I've just been simming my last five or six games and have had two different opponents forfeit because they didn't log in to sim their games. They should offer an option like "sim this week's games" every Sunday (or something like that).

[Suburban Rhythm]

Agree...I've been trying to log in and manually play these, since I believe you don't earn credits for quick-simmed games.

But it is fucking tedious.

Also, site is down this morning.

[Travis]

You can quick sim and earn credits, it's auto sim that doesn't earn you credits. Quick sim you still have to log in, go to the schedule and hit the button (thereby also giving you the chance to see if you have any injuries, want to play with your lineup, etc). Auto sim is a setting you can change so that you wouldn't have to log in to play your games. I'm assuming it'd auto correct your lines if you have any new injuries, but I haven't used this feature myself yet.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm afraid I've lost interest in this game. :(

[MizzouRah]

I'm afraid I've lost interest in this game. :(

I'm about there with you Pumpy..

[samifan24]

They recently switched servers and now the game has all kinds of problems. The standings and stats are correct but some games went unplayed and others show a blank boxscore. I give the guy running this game credit because he's doing a pretty good job by himself but I think the game is quite a bit away from being as good or as structured as Hattrick.

[samifan24]

Well my team finished the regular season with the #1 seed in our league. We opened the playoffs 5-0 and looked poised to hoist the Cup. We then lost to the Knights which forced a decisive game three in the Finals. We lost 4-2 and the Knights won the Cup. The final game was the first time I've actually played the game in a very long time. I just find it too tedious. I wondered if the outcome might have been different if I had just simmed the game but it was too exciting to sim. My team ("The Whale") finished second and were awarded a finalist trophy.

I still log in to check this game once daily but it needs a lot of improvement to capture and maintain fan interest levels. That said, I did have fun despite losing the final game and am interested in checking out the off-season, which begins in our league tomorrow.

[Suburban Rhythm]

For anyone interested, our league season is compeleted.
I just lost 2 game to 0 to the Coyotes in the finals.

[samifan24]

For anyone interested, our league season is compeleted.
I just lost 2 game to 0 to the Coyotes in the finals.

Oh, that's a good point. For those interested, you can now join one of the two FOFC leagues since teams are free to change or join leagues during the off-season period.

[Travis]

Heckuva season Samifan, was glad to see that two FOFC'ers made it to the finals in the Quebec league.

[samifan24]

Heckuva season Samifan, was glad to see that two FOFC'ers made it to the finals in the Quebec league.

Indeed. You guys made a strong run as well and I was happy that the #2 seed won if my team didn't win.

[Travis]

I think one of the biggest things I'll be looking for next season is a more active (owners) league. Getting in on the ground floor is nice and the guy running things looks like he'll be continuing to improve the system (and seems to be listening to suggestions on the forums), but having a bit more in league activity (trading/discussion/etc) would go a long ways towards making the game more entertaining. Just kind of sucked having almost half the road games end up being forfeit wins.

Not sure if there is enough active owners left for a purely FOFC league (hoping so), but if not I did get a couple friends going in this who are still checking daily, though I don't think their leagues will be done for another 10 days or so.

[Travis]

The final game was the first time I've actually played the game in a very long time. I just find it too tedious. I wondered if the outcome might have been different if I had just simmed the game but it was too exciting to sim.

I did this for the playoffs as well, certainly gave it a bit of a different flavor than the regular season (quick simmed all but my first couple of games) and I'll probably do the same next season. That said, I'm guessing you were pretty into it during those last couple of shifts down by 1, on the PP and your goalie pulled.

Should have seen me during the 40 turn OT in game 2 ;)

[samifan24]

I did this for the playoffs as well, certainly gave it a bit of a different flavor than the regular season (quick simmed all but my first couple of games) and I'll probably do the same next season. That said, I'm guessing you were pretty into it during those last couple of shifts down by 1, on the PP and your goalie pulled.

Should have seen me during the 40 turn OT in game 2 ;)

I was very into it. I actually put my 1st line PP on the ice with 2 minutes left and hoped they could tie it without the empty net at the other end. When that didn't happen, I had to pull my goalie for the final minute but was down to just my 2nd line.

[samifan24]

I think one of the biggest things I'll be looking for next season is a more active (owners) league. Getting in on the ground floor is nice and the guy running things looks like he'll be continuing to improve the system (and seems to be listening to suggestions on the forums), but having a bit more in league activity (trading/discussion/etc) would go a long ways towards making the game more entertaining. Just kind of sucked having almost half the road games end up being forfeit wins.

Not sure if there is enough active owners left for a purely FOFC league (hoping so), but if not I did get a couple friends going in this who are still checking daily, though I don't think their leagues will be done for another 10 days or so.

I agree and would also like to try and move to a more competitive league. Too many forfeit road wins this year.

[FrogMan]

just signed up for this thing, no clue what I'm doing. :) Been looking at the players I was dealt and tried to sign a UFA and was told I couldn't sign one over 69 of rating, so I plan on signing all of mine over 69 and then go shopping, does that make sense?

Pintendre, err, THE Pintendre Pittbulls are without a league, what's the next step?

FM

[samifan24]

just signed up for this thing, no clue what I'm doing. :) Been looking at the players I was dealt and tried to sign a UFA and was told I couldn't sign one over 69 of rating, so I plan on signing all of mine over 69 and then go shopping, does that make sense?

Pintendre, err, THE Pintendre Pittbulls are without a league, what's the next step?

FM

Since you have a full roster, you can create a league. I tried to create "The FOFC League" as a private league but was told I need at least 15 signed forwards to do so and, since my season ended yesterday, I don't have that many on my roster right now.

If you don't mind, just go to "leagues" and then scroll to the very bottom and click on "create your own league." Then just post the league password here and others can join. Personally I hope Travis joins the league as well since he had a great team last season and was one of the few active GMs in our former league.

As an aside, doesn't it seem odd that leagues simply vanish in this game? Why doesn't the game automatically queue up another season in the same league when your current one finishes? It seems very odd that you have to go find another league when your first season is over. Oh well, if we create a private FOFC league, we'll be making the best of it.

[FrogMan]

Gotcha samifan but I've not signed all my players so I'm kinda stuck with the same "15 signed forwards" message. Will fill my roster over lunch and if no one else has started a league I'll do it then. Do we have enough players around here to keep it viable?

Yes, it is very odd that the league simply disappears. I tried finding anything with FOFC in it and simply couldn't...

FM

[Travis]

New league created

League: FOFCHL
Password: BEgKGdemcVCVcgVMFx6Kr

And yes, that's an auto generated password ;)

[samifan24]

New league created

League: FOFCHL
Password: BEgKGdemcVCVcgVMFx6Kr

And yes, that's an auto generated password ;)

Thanks, Travis, but apparently I can't even join a league with 15 forwards. I've got to sign some players now so please save a spot for me in the league!

[FrogMan]

gah, can't sign into the league either, still need two defensemen and I refuse to sign the last two offensive ones I have on my RFA list as I already have four out of six that are offensive. Got offers out to UFAs but they all say they'll consider them and get back to me within two days, bleh...

FM

[bbor]

I can join in 2 days if all the players i am tring to sign do so.

[samifan24]

Haha, I should have paid more attention to contract lengths when I first signed my players. Several of my star players, including my #1 goalie, are currently listed as either UFAs or RFAs. I'm going to be in trouble if most sign elsewhere.

[Travis]

Haha, I should have paid more attention to contract lengths when I first signed my players. Several of my star players, including my #1 goalie, are currently listed as either UFAs or RFAs. I'm going to be in trouble if most sign elsewhere.

I'd imagine RFA's you should be okay, giving up 3 picks to sign one of those is pretty steep. Any of your UFA's still have a small bidding group as only a few leagues have finished their first season, and with the restriction on bidding on players with a 70+ rating hopefully you can bring most of them back (if not all).

[laser]

Just signed the Lasers up for this league. We came in first in the our league last season but lost 2 straight in the playoffs.

[FrogMan]

so, what's up with our league? we went from a potential 4 teams to now only 2, is it time I drop out and get a league on my own?

FM

[Travis]

I've got 2 more people just finishing up their playoffs then they were going to join up. If we can't get a private league up to 10, I'm going to wait until they're both done playoffs then join up with them. If anybody else wants to do that so we can still try and maximize active owners I can post when they're ready (assuming one of us would create a public league at that point).

[samifan24]

I still want to join the FOFC league but I have to add two or three more defensemen before I'm eligible to join a league. Hopefully I'll be ready by the end of the week.

[Travis]

Anybody else going to be signing up? I just ask as I have one more person signing up today or tomorrow, then Blade should be able to sign up a couple days after that (his league's championship series is just starting), but that would still only get us to 5. If that's the case, once Blade is ready to join I can just create a public league, get the 5 of us in there for sure, then let the rest fill up so we can get going again.

Just wanted to throw it out there for those already in the league to give them a heads up or if people were on the fence about continuing and wanted to give it another try.

[samifan24]

Anybody else going to be signing up? I just ask as I have one more person signing up today or tomorrow, then Blade should be able to sign up a couple days after that (his league's championship series is just starting), but that would still only get us to 5. If that's the case, once Blade is ready to join I can just create a public league, get the 5 of us in there for sure, then let the rest fill up so we can get going again.

Just wanted to throw it out there for those already in the league to give them a heads up or if people were on the fence about continuing and wanted to give it another try.

Yeah, I'm trying to but the game still requires me to sign two more defensemen. I'm out of draft picks and now even terrible players are being signed for millions per season. Please save a spot for me, I hope to join by the end of the week.

[Travis]

Yeah, I'm trying to but the game still requires me to sign two more defensemen. I'm out of draft picks and now even terrible players are being signed for millions per season. Please save a spot for me, I hope to join by the end of the week.

Not a problem, though I think we'll have to go the public league route once Blade's league is done. I haven't found a way yet to simply remove the password protection from a private league to make it public, so if we end up going that route we'll get something coordinated.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I'm in ....not quite eligible, so I am signing guys now

[samifan24]

I joined the FOFC league this morning. I finally signed two or three crappy defensemen to make my roster eligible.

[Travis]

We've got 6 now, anybody else still looking to join up? If not we can try a public league as at least we'd have a good core base of active owners.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I should be good as of tomorrow. 1 D short, so I made an offer to the guy I really want, as well as a piece of crap who no one else will offer and I'll be sure to sign.

[samifan24]

I've learned this off-season that you'd better sign your own players to extensions during the season. If you don't you're stuck throwing outrageous numbers at mediocre players. I believe someone in our league just signed a defenseman at a rating of 62 or 64 or something like that to a contract worth upwards of $5M per season for a couple years. That contract is outrageous but it's on par with others I've seen, especially given the financial environment the game creates.

[Travis]

Okay, that still only gives us 7. I'd propose that unless we have 2 or 3 more people voice by tomorrow that we open a public league and go that route. I can't imagine we'll have much trouble getting together if it's even close to "planned". I know I can get on page with Blade and my other friend currently in the league as they both have net access pretty much anytime, so for rest, would afternoon be better than morning or vice versa? Just on the off chance that people seeing a public league with 4+ owners might jump in there a bit quicker.

[RendeR]

Lemme go create a team, I'll let you know as soon as I have a clue!

[Travis]

I've learned this off-season that you'd better sign your own players to extensions during the season. If you don't you're stuck throwing outrageous numbers at mediocre players. I believe someone in our league just signed a defenseman at a rating of 62 or 64 or something like that to a contract worth upwards of $5M per season for a couple years. That contract is outrageous but it's on par with others I've seen, especially given the financial environment the game creates.

I also think this is where keeping your draft picks will come in handy. Now that you have to use your picks prior to joining a league (I think that's where it was at last I read), using your picks to replace players you lose at the end of a season will be huge to avoid the free agency market (easily the most broken aspect of the game currently I think). That or dealing a pick for a couple 50-60 rated guys to fill out your roster to avoid sinking a bunch of money into a similarly rated player.

[Travis]

Lemme go create a team, I'll let you know as soon as I have a clue!

Biggest thing to start is just to make sure you sign all your initial RFA's to deals to get roster compliant (as you can't join a league until you are). Biggest suggestion would be to sign your young guys until they're 26 (as they'll still be RFA's at that point) and anybody almost 26 or older to either max length deals or to some point from the age of 30-33. Jury is still out on how players will go down in rating once they're 30+ and I'm assuming that'll be tweaked as the game ages, so kind of a crap shoot as to what strategy to take on those older players.

[RendeR]

Ok whats the league name and password and I'll join up

[RendeR]

I signed all the players I really wanted to keep to contracts of 5-7 years in length, the 400K guys, for the most part I left at 3 years, a few I gave 4-6 just to keep the re-up years at a decent level so I don;t have half my team needing contracts at the same time.

[Travis]

Ok whats the league name and password and I'll join up

League: FOFCHL
Pass: BEgKGdemcVCVcgVMFx6Kr

You'll put us up to 7, Suburban Rythm will be 8. I'm trying to get a guy I used to work with to join up which could be 9 which means we're still needing 1, though more likely 2 more teams to fill up the league. Time to send out some referrals ;)

[RendeR]

I won my first 'shinny' 3-2. I scored to take the lead in the 19th round of period 2, then went "all out attack" for every round of the 3rd period and held on to win. Spent 3/4 of the period shooting at their goal.

[RendeR]

Lost to travis' team 4-3 in the 21st round of OT...damn you man!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Un-fucking-believeable...

I lost out on the player I didn't expect to get, he got a higher offer.

I also made offers to 2 defensive D (both rated 60).

They are both taking the full 2 days to review!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, when at least one of them accepts tomorrow, I'll be eligible.

[RendeR]

See I went ahead and simply signed all my original guys, then I went and put some offers in on other players. I can always cut the rif raff later on.

[RendeR]

Speaking of which, anyone want/need a 84/85 rating hybrid Goaltender? I have two available. not sure how well stocked the teams are with this level of goalie.

[samifan24]

Speaking of which, anyone want/need a 84/85 rating hybrid Goaltender? I have two available. not sure how well stocked the teams are with this level of goalie.

Goalies are way too good and way too plentiful in this game. My starting goalie is a 86 and went 29-11 with a 2.63 GAA in 40 games last year. My backup (who began the year as my starter) is a 90 and went 4-9 with a 2.90 GAA in 13 games. I also have two other goalies, one a 80 and one a 77. It also seems like there are way too many goalies on the FA wire. I think the game needs to do something about the super goalies and also about every goalie having an above average rating.

[Travis]

Hey guys. With Suburban Rhythm we'll be at 8, so once he's got enough players signed, shall we do a public league? I'm just asking now as I'd like one of the newer accounts to verify that they can indeed leave the private league. Just want to check as I know there are some limitations on accounts under 30 days old, so don't want to assume we can all bail and resign with a public league. If newer accounts can't leave I'll fire the designer an email asking him to remove the password from our league or post it on the forums over there to try and get a couple more owners.

[RendeR]

Whatever works. Hell I'll go sign up for a second team if you want =)

[RendeR]

OK, I entered a second team so we only need one more tomorrow. If we get someone else I'll drop the second team (River Rats)

typical no activity between my own teams stuff. I'll quick sim all games between them as well.

[Travis]

Sounds good. Anybody else want to do a second team? I've got two other teams that I'm running, but both are in the "need to sign 2 defensemen" situation that may take a few days to be able to join in if we're still looking for another team. If we're still needing another team when they're good to go I can round things out under the same outline as RendeR listed above.

[RendeR]

Holy shit what a shinny I just played vs the pittbulls:

http://www.metroho.com/loggedin/viewresults.php?code=l3gHDgGVVsiDVRmFQ5Vq4QaVUyg7UFghjmPMu7IwRSVNJn4AKyQ

90 rounds of OVERTIME to decide a 4-3 game. Damn. penalties all over the place but neither team could capitolize on the power play.

Intense!

[RendeR]

Ok, so where do we stand?

[Travis]

Ok, so where do we stand?

We're at 8 right now, I think Suburban Rhythm will put us to 9 once his roster is good, and if nobody else wants to, as soon as one of my other teams is roster compliant I can be the 10th. I did a ton of offers today so should be good to go tomorrow or the day after. If somebody else wants to get in I guess that's the deadline.

[RendeR]

sounds good. I played a bunch of shinny's with both teams with things coming out about even thus far. discovered a few nuances of lineup management that I'm still testing. be fun to see what happens.

[Travis]

Okay, my other team is good to go. I'll wait until tomorrow or whenever Suburban is able to join up (how's the FA signing working out for you?) in case somebody new wants to join, then we can get rolling.

[RendeR]

The BEngals signed like 4 FA's though I admit I probably overpaid for them. Ranging anywhere from 1.85 m/year for 3 years to 4 million a year for 3 years. Stat wise they ranged from 65-79 in ability.

[Travis]

Just got a random message on Metroho from a guy looking for a spot in a league. He's finished one season so I've sent him the password. If he doesn't sign up by tomorrow I'll still take the last spot with my other team.

Suburban, how are things looking on your end, were you able to fill up your roster or need another couple days for offers to go through?

[samifan24]

Only one spot left in the league now!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Finally someone signed with me!

I'm in, that makes 10.

Schedule starts tomorrow

[RendeR]

Alrighty boys lets play some HOCKEY!!

Bengals come out on FIRE shutting out the Rebels TWICE on opening day!! and taking down the River Rats twice as well.

Fantastic 4-0 start for the Newest team from Buffalo!

LETS GO BUFFALO!

[samifan24]

*bump*

We're now a few days into the season and so far I think the league is pretty competitive. I like that Adam has added "deadline dandies," the trading block and different round draft picks to the game.

[RendeR]

I'm laughing at myself as my two teams couldn;t be more the opposite of one another. The bengals are a powerhouse on offense with a great goaltender, while the Rats, well...they aren't called rats for nothin ya know...they suck =)

Trying to find a winning combination with them is tough.

Really liking how the game plays at this point. Unfortunately Thursday I'll be leaving for the weekend and I'll have to turn on AUTO sim for Friday Sat and Sunday's games. Gonna hurt to lose those revenues =(

But I should be able to play mondays in time. So its not so bad.

[samifan24]

I started a Facebook page for MetroHo to help spread the word. You may join here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MetroHo/20244871658

[samifan24]

*bump*

Thus far our league has been all crickets except for a couple of trades by Travis, including one I made. It seems like scoring is way up this season all the way around. I'd imagine some of that is due to playing with better teams this season but I wonder if Adam tweaked the game at some point after I started my first season.

What does everyone think of some of the suggestions being bandied about on the MetroHo forums? I personally think adding tournaments (which I guess are coming), special teams units (I haven't played a game out in a long time but I guess they're there?) and player numbers go a long way toward making the game even better.

I guess my hope is that MetroHo turns into a hockey version of Hattrick.

[Travis]

*bump*

Thus far our league has been all crickets except for a couple of trades by Travis, including one I made. It seems like scoring is way up this season all the way around. I'd imagine some of that is due to playing with better teams this season but I wonder if Adam tweaked the game at some point after I started my first season.

What does everyone think of some of the suggestions being bandied about on the MetroHo forums? I personally think adding tournaments (which I guess are coming), special teams units (I haven't played a game out in a long time but I guess they're there?) and player numbers go a long way toward making the game even better.

I guess my hope is that MetroHo turns into a hockey version of Hattrick.

I haven't been scouring the forums, but I think Adam is almost continually tweaking things. For a while it was home ice advantage as the big one, but I think scoring/penalties are an almost always on going thing. I've been enjoying this season more due to the lack of forfeits if nothing else. I'm curious to see if there are any other trades as the deadline gets closer and if my suggestion that some (either random or via loyalty rating) UFA's start signing their extension offers during the final season of their current deals rather than waiting to hit the market gets any play.

I do think for next season we should just do a public league as I'd imagine we shouldn't have a tough time getting all the FOFC owners in there so long as we're on the ball. I think this year we've got what, one "outside" owner and one person running two teams, so unless two more people step up between now and the end of the season (and nobody drops out) we could just plan to start a new public league and fill it up fast. Did kind of suck having such a long layoff between seasons.

That all said, that could be dependent on whether everybody can fill up their min roster requirements with their draft picks or if some will have to sign some free agents. As long as I don't get stupid with trades between now and the deadline I'll be good to go by using picks to hit mins, how're the rest of you looking?

[RendeR]

Tournaments are kewl, someting to do in between leagues.

Player numbers should definitely be in there, seems like something so simple but pleasing to the GM's.

There are no special teams units right now, but I'd love to see them added. Simply adding 2 specialty lines (power play) (penalty kill) and you set them just like your regular lines before the game starts.

I'm having a rough time with the Bengals, we were dominating and now we're lucky to play .500 hockey and we've slipped to 3rd in the league.

The River Rats continue to improve though. I've found that playing a defensive minded game with them keeps things a lot tighter. I also signed 3 FA's to help bolster the team a bit. As well as picking up a playmaker in a trade.

Fun stuff =) I definitely see the advantage an older (# of seaons played) team has over a brand new one though. The Rox have multiple elites/super stars compared to maybe 1 or 2 super stars at all on the rookie teams.

Going to be fun knowcking them out of the playoffs ;)

[RendeR]

Roster-wise both my teams are set for at least 3 seasons. no worries there. I'll be ready to go as soon as the league is full. That 4th seaon I'll be looking at some issues, but if I played my contracts right, my draft picks and a few FA's along the way should cover any losses I take from year to year.

[Travis]

Been an interesting season so far for the Knights.

First 4 days: 8-8
Next 4 days: 13-1
Last 3 days: 5-5

Thank goodness for that middle streak and beware whoever I face from days 13-16 ;)

[samifan24]

I haven't been scouring the forums, but I think Adam is almost continually tweaking things. I'm curious to see if there are any other trades as the deadline gets closer and if my suggestion that some (either random or via loyalty rating) UFA's start signing their extension offers during the final season of their current deals rather than waiting to hit the market gets any play.

That all said, that could be dependent on whether everybody can fill up their min roster requirements with their draft picks or if some will have to sign some free agents.

I agree that Adam is probably continually tweaking things. I don't know if you saw my post in the "franchise player" thread on the message board but I agree with you on the UFA issue. Give the GMs some sort of feedback, even something as simple as a "yea/nea" response after a contract offer to an UFA. This way, teams are rewarded by offering an extension early. The current system forces you to wait until the off-season, when you hold no advantage over other GMs.

Speaking of the off-season, the biggest weakness in the game, as I see it now, is the way the game requires to you meet roster requirements through the FA process. I admit that I made one bad contract offer ($1m for two years) to a 59-rated defenseman just so I could meet the requirement to join the league. It was a bad decision on my part but one which I feel reflects a currently broken system.

I don't know how to fix the current system. I spent last off-season targeting a few players all at once. I'd have offers out to five or six top notch forwards. I'd be happy with one or two. Suppose, now, that three or four players signed with me all at once. Now I'm stuck with more players than I needed, especially all at the same position. I know, the easy answer is to not offer contracts to everyone at once and that's true, to a certain extent. I almost wish the game had FM's "delay transfer for X days" option so I could see if multiple players are willing to sign with me while avoiding the "everyone all at once" problem.

[Travis]

I agree that Adam is probably continually tweaking things. I don't know if you saw my post in the "franchise player" thread on the message board but I agree with you on the UFA issue. Give the GMs some sort of feedback, even something as simple as a "yea/nea" response after a contract offer to an UFA. This way, teams are rewarded by offering an extension early. The current system forces you to wait until the off-season, when you hold no advantage over other GMs.

Speaking of the off-season, the biggest weakness in the game, as I see it now, is the way the game requires to you meet roster requirements through the FA process. I admit that I made one bad contract offer ($1m for two years) to a 59-rated defenseman just so I could meet the requirement to join the league. It was a bad decision on my part but one which I feel reflects a currently broken system.

I don't know how to fix the current system. I spent last off-season targeting a few players all at once. I'd have offers out to five or six top notch forwards. I'd be happy with one or two. Suppose, now, that three or four players signed with me all at once. Now I'm stuck with more players than I needed, especially all at the same position. I know, the easy answer is to not offer contracts to everyone at once and that's true, to a certain extent. I almost wish the game had FM's "delay transfer for X days" option so I could see if multiple players are willing to sign with me while avoiding the "everyone all at once" problem.

I'm not sure how to fix it either, but adding the element of some upcoming UFA's signing extensions during the final year of their current deal would help a lot. Obviously not all should be willing to and some should command more than they would if they were to be RFA's, but it should still happen (as it should with some RFA's signing extensions).

That said, I don't think it'll ever truly be fixed until there are enough active owners to run full size, perpetual leagues where free agents would be spawned just for that league. Owner turnover would obviously happen, but with just the owners of that league having to battle for players it would be a lot more realistic than how it is now. At some point I'm also assuming that buy outs will become costlier and affect the cap in some way rather than coming clean off by using credits or draft picks (as it is now by my understanding, I haven't tried that yet).

[Travis]

Make that trade #3 on the season.

And hopefully the last one for my team anyway.

[RendeR]

Jesus, wtf is going on? the last week the Bengals have gone from powerhouse to joke? Now one of my best players is injured to add to it.

Are you guys changing how you play out the games or is this some sort of sick twisted "You're a Sabres fan you should be used to starting hot and failing miserably" type thing?

[samifan24]

I haven't done anything (I rarely, if ever, play out the games anymore since they take too long) and The Whale have won six straight. I wonder if it's our team or Adam's tweaks which cause this sort of swing.

[Travis]

Jesus, wtf is going on? the last week the Bengals have gone from powerhouse to joke? Now one of my best players is injured to add to it.

Are you guys changing how you play out the games or is this some sort of sick twisted "You're a Sabres fan you should be used to starting hot and failing miserably" type thing?

Heh, see above for my "interesting" season thus far. I've read that some style combinations for lines are supposed to be better than others, so I tend to play with my lines a bit here and there. I've found that I seem to have a couple guys on each of the top two lines who are clicking well, so I rotate some other players through, change where they're playing on the line in case that matters, etc. Just haven't had the patience to sit down and do enough shinnies to see if it really matters or not. I would suspect that tweaks on the engine will change things during the course of the season too, one of the "perks" of getting into the game this early.

[RendeR]

I think for tomorrow's games I'll just sim them and see what happens. Can't be any worse than 2-3 days worth o 1-3 records. Christ we're dropping like a fucking stone.

[samifan24]

I think for tomorrow's games I'll just sim them and see what happens. Can't be any worse than 2-3 days worth o 1-3 records. Christ we're dropping like a fucking stone.

My team seems to do better when I sim the games, FWIW. By the way, I believe FM's term for it is "sinking without a trace." :D

[samifan24]

Adam announced yesterday that MetroHo now accepts donations to help him run the game. I'm fine with this in principle, but I'm not fine with his donation options.

1) Pay $6 for 30 days (game time) of donation "status." This enables you to open a new league. It is not possible to host a league without the league owner donating.

2) Pay $65 for 365 days (game time) of donation "status." This option includes the ability to host a league and gives you extra drills every day and an extra first round draft pick.

My issue is a) I can't see how a fledgling game like this can survive on a partial "pay to play" model and b) $65 is an outrageous amount. I think something akin to Hattrick's $20 annual supporter feature would be much more realistic. What do you guys think? Will this ultimately doom MetroHo?

[Travis]

Adam announced yesterday that MetroHo now accepts donations to help him run the game. I'm fine with this in principle, but I'm not fine with his donation options.

1) Pay $6 for 30 days (game time) of donation "status." This enables you to open a new league. It is not possible to host a league without the league owner donating.

2) Pay $65 for 365 days (game time) of donation "status." This option includes the ability to host a league and gives you extra drills every day and an extra first round draft pick.

My issue is a) I can't see how a fledgling game like this can survive on a partial "pay to play" model and b) $65 is an outrageous amount. I think something akin to Hattrick's $20 annual supporter feature would be much more realistic. What do you guys think? Will this ultimately doom MetroHo?

I'm relatively optimistic that if things take a downward turn that he'll adjust these options. He's seemed very open to feedback and changes so here's hoping that continues.

[RendeR]

As much as I know that he will have to develope a pay-to play system at some point, I think in general bringing that into it dooms the game on its own without any relation to how much it is.

[samifan24]

As much as I know that he will have to develope a pay-to play system at some point, I think in general bringing that into it dooms the game on its own without any relation to how much it is.

As I wrote on the MetroHo forums, I think one way to "fix" the problem now is to remove the restrictions on creating leagues from the current donation structure. Currently, only those who donate are allowed to create new leagues. If I'm a new player and am looking for a league, what veteran player is going to risk allowing a newbie to join and then maybe be a deadbeat GM? I think if Adam allows everyone to create leagues, he will encourage the growth of the game. If he opts to keep the current donation structure, I think the game is doomed.

[samifan24]

*Update*

Adam posted earlier today that he is creating two new league structures in part because of the user outcry over new teams possibly being without a league when they first join. Now, Adam states that the game will automatically create a free, 10 team league for players to join each time a private league fills up (if I'm understanding his post correctly). Also, Adam stated that he is working on larger, 15 or more team leagues with "better" trophies. I'm not sure if these larger leagues will be open to everyone or just to those who donate to the game. Still, I have to give Adam credit; once again he listens to his audience and tweaks the game due to user feedback.

[RendeR]

Great first season ! Are we going to start up again right away and try to keep the same teams involved? I'll hold out my second team (River Rats) until we see that we won't get another full league, so that we can get new players involved.

Lets get back at it!!!

[samifan24]

It was a good season. I won't miss The Rox, though. They won the league and, I think, the first Medallion tournament.

Has anyone paid for the Supporter feature? If not, we could just all join a free, public league at the same time? Most of the GMs in the league last year seemed pretty active (Travis, RendeR, me)

[RendeR]

I haven't and I doubt I will at the price he's set, its a bit much for only a year's worth of playing time. 20$ a year is far more acceptable and would actually bring me back as a supporter every year. but 60+? not likely. If we're lucky we'll have someone who really wants to and will start the leagues so we can continue.

Not real big on some of his choices but thus far he has done a great job of introducing the things that the players want.

[samifan24]

20$ a year is far more acceptable and would actually bring me back as a supporter every year. but 60+? not likely. If we're lucky we'll have someone who really wants to and will start the leagues so we can continue.

I thought a player could buy a 30 day donation pack for $6 and start a league, no? Regardless, if the others want to just join the next available public league, I'm all for it.

[RendeR]

I guess what we could do is rotate who buys the donation pack each season. Take turns paying the 6 bucks and getting the little perks to keep costs down for all of us.

I'll do that. FOFHL will be available shortly ;)

[RendeR]

Alright, I flipped for a 30 day pack as the first guinea pig.

Do we want another 10 team league or 15? could we even find another 7 players (since 2 owners had 2 teams)

Its gotta pdate in the system before I can create the league so I will post as soon as I discover its ready.

[RendeR]

Oh kewl, my best Ofrward won rookie of the year =)

Jeremy Fehringer also won silver sniper (3rd best goals)

The boy is a phenom =)

[samifan24]

I guess what we could do is rotate who buys the donation pack each season. Take turns paying the 6 bucks and getting the little perks to keep costs down for all of us.

I'll do that. FOFHL will be available shortly ;)

Thanks for doing this. Don't forget that you also get access to more drills every day as well as player numbers and team jerseys.

[Travis]

I'll be back in for sure as will at least one of my off board friends. I'll check with the other and update them on the situation and see if they're interested in continuing (considering he made the finals I'm guessing that's likely).

[RendeR]

Ok league has been created:

FOFCHL

password: 3koFHLkmgbjYUzllQaTV1

Sign up!

[Travis]

in

[RendeR]

The jerseys are kinda weak but certainly could be updated easily if he would put in a way to upload your own file. Then you have to assign the numbers from the lineup screen.

Not bad and it gives you something more to immerse you with the players.

[Blade]

Second place...I am happy with that, but to lose in two straight is disappointing.

I will get in to the new league as soon as I have enough players signed!

[samifan24]

Does anyone else think that the current FA system in the game is broken? It seems it's impossible to sign anyone over a 70 rating without paying the maximum allowable contract. If I wanted to sign a player 80 or above, I have to shell out $13 mil a year and hope that I'm the first one to do so to get the player.

[Travis]

Does anyone else think that the current FA system in the game is broken? It seems it's impossible to sign anyone over a 70 rating without paying the maximum allowable contract. If I wanted to sign a player 80 or above, I have to shell out $13 mil a year and hope that I'm the first one to do so to get the player.

It is, but at least now that you can resign your RFA's prior to their contract running out, that should at least improve the ability for teams to retain good players until they're 30+ and on the decline (making short term big offers a bit more "realistic"). I'm still hoping the FA model improves, but to this point I haven't had any good ideas to suggest on how to do so other than to really overhaul the buyout system and make it much more severe, but even then, for a lot of the newer teams who still have a lot of cap space after one season, they can just afford to max things while older teams can't. Depending on how the new draft system works it may self correct a bit (very curious to see what sort of results come from first round choices), but it is nice to see changes being implemented that should at least provide a lengthier work around.

[samifan24]

Speaking of the new draft system, I stocked up on picks when I traded a winger (to one of you guys, don't know who) for two 2nd rounders. I had five 2nd round picks and drafted the following players:

2-Way F, Age 19, 73
Playmaker F, Age 20, 60
Sniper F, Age 19, 53
Stay-at-home D, Age 18, 51
Stay-at-home D, Age 20, 51

I don't know if this is typical for 2nd round picks because this was the first time I used the new draft system. I would've liked the drafted players to be around 55 or 60 minimum but I guess they will improve given their young ages. I never had a 1st round pick because we started the league last season before Adam implemented the new draft system. I thought hording picks would be a good strategy to obtain young players on the cheap and control them for a long time but "pulling" very low rated players (60 or below) makes that very difficult, in my opinion. Please share your own draft picks, for comparison purposes, if you'd like.

[RendeR]

I would but I don't have any, I used them to get rid of the chaff on my roster.

[RendeR]

Who else was in the last season? Can we get most of them back? My team is all set to roll so lts get moving people ;)

[Travis]

I'm assuming there'll be a few day delay for some as they get their roster minimums up to snuff. Other than that we had 1 outsider and 1 or 2 owners running two teams I think, so once everybody has checked in, might have to fill things out through the forums over there.

[RendeR]

Could be. I just entered the River Rats into a 15 team league that the owner/progrmmer is in (team #1 the slayers) Figured it can't hurt to try =)

Bengals are ready to roll, I have a few offeres out to FA's but I don't expect to get them. The 13 mill contracts for less than 90 rated players just seems silly. I'm sure he'll get the FA system hammered out over time.

Fun stuff =)

[RendeR]

If we really need another team I can always start a third one, then farm them out to a public league for their second go-round like I'm doing with the rats.

We can probably find someone via the forums as well. Put out a message looking for teams within a certain raqnge of ID number or something so we don't get any dead ringers who will wipe us out =)

[RendeR]

For anyone here at FOFC who wants to try this out, PLEASE go for it, join our league!

[Blade]

Just got enough D-men signed this morning, so I am back in!

[samifan24]

We still need four more teams in our league, FOFCers. If you want to give the game a try, please create a team and join our league. It's fun, we promise!

[Travis]

Personally I'd say if we don't have a full league by Monday, anybody with a second team not in a league right now should feel free to join up (I'd rather that than nabbing owners from the forums over there if we can). If others feel differently and would prefer 10 separate owners then maybe we should start spreading the word over there now?

[FrogMan]

hey guys, sorry for sort of holding you up. I wasn't gonna continue, even though my Pittbulls won the cup last year ;), but then I got an 86 rated 19yo sniper as one of my three 2nd round draft pick. Gotta do something with that kid...

Thing is, for now, I'm one d-man short of being able to sign up for the league. Got quite a few offers sent out so maybe I'll be able to join up tomorrow...

FM

[RendeR]

I got an email request from a noob that wanted to join the league, I sent him the password but he has yet to sign up. We'll give it a few more days then fill in as needed =)

[RendeR]

heh, I called him a noob as if I have SOOO much more exprience, god I suck =)

[Suburban Rhythm]

I'll be back, just need a 3rd goalie, so I've got an offer out there

[bbor]

In...with my shot blockers team.

[RendeR]

kewl so we're at 8 once Sub-ryth gets back in, looking good!


not sure whats wrong with my River rats team, I'm in a 15 tem league with them and I'm getting my ass handed to me almost every game, I think I've won twice thus far...

[samifan24]

Where is Pumpy's team? I thought he created one?

[Suburban Rhythm]

I'm in...pulls us to 8

[RendeR]

Ok, rookie scrub team added to get us to 9 (mine, I'm testing a signing and FA theory with this team)

Anyone want to add a second squad or have a friend they want to bring in to get us going?

[RendeR]

League is FULL, season 2 of the FOFCHL is underway!!!!!

[Suburban Rhythm]

Played my first 2 games this morning- winning 8-1, then losing 5-0.
Ugh.

[samifan24]

Who owns the last couple of teams in? I don't recognize the usernames.

[RendeR]

The last team in is someone from metroho-public, don;t know him personally. The Titanics are mine.

[samifan24]

Does anyone else think the scoring has gone way up? The last two days my team has won games by scores of 8-3 and and 7-3 and lost one 7-6. To my eye, the scoring and injuries have both been turned way up recently.

[RendeR]

Scoring yes, its definitely up from last season, but injuries? no, can't say as I've seen that at all. I've had one injury between 3 teams thus far in the different leagues they're in.

I have to say though that the Titanics truly suck. 0 for Home thus far this season. how awful is that??

Bengals are starting their mid season slide, I guess its the city that does it, the Sabres are the same way....

[samifan24]

Well, another season down. Congrats to Travis and his Knights on another Metro Cup! I had fun and thought my team was still competitive despite the fact that I didn't sign up as a supporter or pay for those extra drills. What did everyone think of their year?

[RendeR]

THe Buffalo Bengals made the playoffs, barely, after leading the league for the first half of the season they fell apart down the stretch yet again. I don't know what I have to do differently. They blow people away early on but can't beat teh worst teams late.

My other teams were literally cellar dwellars. I'm trying to build the Titanics through drafting and FA, I only kept about 2/3 of my original players.

The River Rats have really great players but just can't seem to win consistantly. We have one streak each season of 5-6 wins straight but other than that they play .250 hockey at best.

I really dunno what to do with any of them. Are their specifics about the different player types that you need on your team to win? I know you need a decent playmaker or 3, and snipers are pretty much a requirement, but what other forwards are really crucial?

On defense does the style of defenseman really make a lot of difference?

[Travis]

Does anybody currently have an account on the go to create a league or should we all just try and jump into a public league together? I think Blade is taking a season off (he's going to be in Europe for 3 weeks here pretty quick).

I'm still thinking my success to this point was more luck of the draw than anything (most of my best players when the team was generated were all 24 or younger), but more than anything it really does seem to come down to having a highly rated goalie. My guy went into shutdown mode down the stretch and in the playoffs but prior to that it seemed like no line changes I was making made all that much difference.

[RendeR]

I Paid the 6 bucks for the last one =)

[Travis]

I Paid the 6 bucks for the last one =)

I don't mind picking up the tab for next season if nobody else has an active one right now if we're going to have enough teams. If we're down too many though I'd prefer to go the public league route rather than waiting a while to get enough teams to fill up a private league though.

[bbor]

i'm in again.

[samifan24]

I'll play again, too. Maybe we should go to a public league this time, though, to encourage active participation from all players.

[RendeR]

I'm ready and waitingand have the extra dregs to throw in as needed.

[Blade]

Yah, as Travis said, I am off to Europe for a few weeks, so I will catch up after this season...

[Suburban Rhythm]

I think I am sitting out...I really lost interest this season. Crazy shit at home and work didn't help, and I ended up autosimming a good number of my games.

[RendeR]

heh , I autosim 90% of my games for the simple fact that I tend to lose any game I actually play out =)

[Travis]

That puts us down a pair, there's a public league that just started up that has only 1 team in it so far, should we go that route? How many teams were you running in the last league RendeR? Could still use them here or slot them into another league and have a bit more freedom for trading?

[samifan24]

I always autosim now. I haven't actually played a game out since season 1.

[samifan24]

How many healthy players at each position do you need in order to be eligible to join a league? I currently have 13 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies. I have less than one mil in cap space. How many more players do I need to sign before I can join a league?

[RendeR]

You need 15 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies to join a league.

I'm fine with joining a public league but I've got some signings to do to get the bengals ready to play.

I had the bengals and the Titanics in our last league. Titanics had a huge number of playmakers but not enough of anything else to win much, they lost their first 15 games at home =(

lets give it till say, Monday, then jump in whichever public league is open enough to fit us in.

Sound off if yer going to join in with us again so we can keep track of how many we got. we had 9 active players last time (I had 2 teams) and we're down 2 so far, so lets hear from those other 6 (not counting myself) then we'll jump in.

[samifan24]

I'm in.

[Travis]

Count me in for the Monday join up. I'll check with my friend and see if they're back in and let them know that Monday is likely the sign up day.

[samifan24]

I know we said we'd sign up today and there's a completely empty public league available. Join up?

[RendeR]

Yep, lets roll, I'll join with the River Rats, the titanics are in a shambles and the bengals can't sem to sign that last defenseman they need.

Lets play some hockey!

[Travis]

In!

[samifan24]

Joined.

[bbor]

INNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

[RendeR]

Wow, ok, decent season for all 3 of my teams. I got the 5th or 6th seed in the league we're all in (Cincinnati River Rats) marking their first ever playoff appearance. A huge improvement at home, but goo god we gave up more goals than Carter had liver pills.

The Buffalo Bengals went into a public league right after ours and have staked their claim as the #2 seed followed closely by the Titanics who have totally reversed fortunes and become a powerhouse on offense.

Can't wait to enjoy my first two home ice advantage playoff series!!!

How'd you guys fair? =)

[samifan24]

My guys finished first in our league and pretty much ran the table the whole season. Our top line and goalie were phenomenal. Then we lost the first playoff game, of course, but came back to win the next one. That's where we stand in "Public League 17."

[samifan24]

I got knocked out of the playoffs with a 5-1 loss! How can my team be #1 all season long and then fall apart in three games? The last game I actually played out myself, something I never do, and I wonder if that cost me...

[RendeR]

I got knocked out of the playoffs with a 5-1 loss! How can my team be #1 all season long and then fall apart in three games? The last game I actually played out myself, something I never do, and I wonder if that cost me...


See I dunno about the play/quick sim thing. The last two seasons I simmed almost all my games and my teams really suffered. This season I actually played them out with a specific plan of attack and my record improved across the board on all three teams.

Been poking around the forums but the gist I get from there is that its a matter of trial and error, find a lineup that works well under quick sim or keep playing your lines until you find a rythem that works for your team. *shrug*

Sorry man, you were pretty dominant all season, I think I took 1 or 2 games from you all year at best. maybe 1 now that I tihnk about it....

[Travis]

Heh, I'm out too. Should be an interesting playoffs to watch with the top 2 seeds on the outside looking in now.

[RendeR]

Heh, I'm out too. Should be an interesting playoffs to watch with the top 2 seeds on the outside looking in now.



Wait, that means...

I WON =)


Whoot, first playoff series win for the River Rats!!

Sorry it had to be you man, but damn, victory tastes sweet!

[RendeR]

Gah, dissapointment abounds as all three teams got tanked in the playoffs. Grats to the winner!

I've got the River Rats ready to roll and the other two should be good to go soon. Anyone else ready to have another go at it?

[Travis]

I've got one team about midway through a season, two others currently in seasons.

You thinking private league to get around the ranking structure now? The team I have closest to ready has about 16 games left in the regular season plus playoffs but won't need any down time in the off season as the roster will be league eligible once the season is over.

[samifan24]

How do you guys like the ranking system? My team are a level 5 but haven't been able to join a new league because of the roster requirements.

[DeToxRox]

I just made a team .. anyone about to join a league?

[samifan24]

I just made a team .. anyone about to join a league?

I'm still looking for one.

[DeToxRox]

I'm still looking for one.

Sadly I'm Level 1 so I joined some BS Public League

[Travis]

I've got a 5, a 3 and a 2 going right now. The 2 and 5 are in ranked leagues while the 3 is finishing off a season in an unranked league that was on the go. Took a few days for the ranked league to fill up but I'm quite curious to see how I do against others of "a similar level". I'm not sure how he ranked teams but the more and more I play this, the more and more it seems to come down to having a top notch goalie. Seems like everybody else in the rank 5 league I'm in has a goalie comparable to what I've got so I'm trying to figure out what the next most important pieces will be.

Also sounds like big hits/fights/agitators will be worked into the game soon so that may drastically affect player type values.

[samifan24]

Also sounds like big hits/fights/agitators will be worked into the game soon so that may drastically affect player type values.

It's good to see that Adam is going to tweak the penalties to be more realistic. I'd also like to see him implement a one phrase description to all players, something akin to the "strong fullback" or "Hull captain" from FM. Right now we have "two way forward, sniper" and the like but I'd like to see a more specific system, perhaps one the manager can control in terms of how he values his own players.

[RendeR]

My teams are al level 3. I like the structure now because it is frustrating to be in a league with 4 scrubs , 4 mediums and two ungodly powerful teams. being the medium teams I handle 8 out of 10 teams and guarentee I can't ever win a title.

This will help balance things out somewhat.

[Travis]

Hey bbor, I see we managed to hook up in the same league this season. I'm running the Hunters in the level 3 division. Looks like you're coming off a pretty nice playoff run. Good luck this season!

[bbor]

Hey bbor, I see we managed to hook up in the same league this season. I'm running the Hunters in the level 3 division. Looks like you're coming off a pretty nice playoff run. Good luck this season!


Good luck...i know i need it...my team is hurting this season for soem reason

[Travis]

Good luck...i know i need it...my team is hurting this season for soem reason

Out of curiosity, what are you using for coaching tactics? My team played nothing but trap last season but I got a lucky first round pick (90 OA Two-Way forward who's on my second line this season). Started out brutal on trap but have had a lot more success going to run and gun this season (small sample sizes so far, but seemed to make a big difference).

I've pretty much got to go for it all this season as I'll be in salary hell the next couple years with a couple of those rookie 3 year @ a million per's expiring.

[samifan24]

I'm running the Hunters in the level 3 division.

I didn't realize that you have two teams. What level are the Knights playing? I hope they're level 5 because our two teams are always right near each other and I'm in a level 5 league right now.

[Travis]

I didn't realize that you have two teams. What level are the Knights playing? I hope they're level 5 because our two teams are always right near each other and I'm in a level 5 league right now.

Heh, 3 teams actually ;) Knights and Hunters are level 5 and 3 respectively and I've got the Lynx in level 2 (I really need a new goalie for that squad next offseason). Knights took the dominance trophy this seasonn (just earned a spot in round two of the playoffs for that season).

Right now the Hunters are probably my strongest roster, but it's a small window. Got lines right now of:

92/94/90 - 92/85 - 93
90/86/83 - 87/80 - 90
80/75/80 - 79/79
77/75/73

That's running with about $8.7 million in cap room right now (the 94 on my top line is on the last year of his 3 years @ a million per deal so he'll eat up most of the difference once he's resigned). I'm debating whether I should add another playmaker, sniper or offensive defenseman with the left overs to really make a run this season or to reup with my RFA's and lock them up early. Got two RFA's from last season (86 and an 82) I could sign to one year deals and fit them in on the third line if I do some shuffling but I'm giving the current lineup about 1/3 of the season to see where I seem to be the weakest at. Sad part is that they're only 8-10 so far, really gotta get this line up rolling.

[bbor]

I have a lev 3 and lev 5 team......the bbors (lev 3) and the shot blockers (Lev 5)

[Travis]

Holy crap was that a serious whooping, nicely done bbor.

[bbor]

Looks like my team is out of their slump :D

[Travis]

Well I got swept today, so here's hoping you pull off the comeback and avenge me ;) in the finals Bbor!

[bbor]

Going to play my game now....pray fro me :D

[bbor]

Woohoo...1-0 in OT....it took 41 shots but i finally sneaked one past the goalie.

[Travis]

Holy crap, no goals until the 64th minute of the game, that's crazy.

What style are you playing Bbor? And did you get a balanced head coach or did you go offensive/defensive for that hiring?

[bbor]

no coach...no system....heh.i'll get a coach after this season.

[Travis]

no coach...no system....heh.i'll get a coach after this season.

I'll be curious to hear your results once you add coaches in. I went with a balanced coach (and the "normal" approach) for two teams while I went with an offensive coach and the run and gun system for my other team.

I had started the balance coach teams out on trap but switched both to the normal approach this season and saw improved play but that may have more to do with getting a ratings bump for my goalies for both teams this season. The run and gun team is my most successful team, but was also my only div 5 team, so not sure how much of that is the coaching staff or just a carry over of the roster quality.

[bbor]

Let me know when you are good to go in another league...i will join the same one.With coaches this time:)

[Travis]

Sounds good, I'm guessing we should be free to join leagues come Monday. Are you going to need any time to fill out your roster? I'm pretty sure I'll be good with all the mins/position.

[bbor]

I need to sign a few...should'nt take long.If i draft well i will be doen real fast.

[Travis]

Anybody else still playing? If possible I'd still like to get into leagues with FOFCers. I've got a level 2, 3 and 5 team on the go. The level 3 league is a couple days away from wrapping up their playoffs, got a week left in the level 2 league (plus playoffs) and just 5 days into the level 5 league.

[samifan24]

Anybody else still playing?

I'm still playing as "The Whale" and I just joined an "all levels" league which starts day 1 tomorrow. The last league I played in was a level 5 and something like 60% of the teams were ranked 30 or higher.

[Travis]

I'm still playing as "The Whale" and I just joined an "all levels" league which starts day 1 tomorrow. The last league I played in was a level 5 and something like 60% of the teams were ranked 30 or higher.

Heh, you should see the league I'm in now. Started and run by Adam (who, shockingly has the #1 ranked team, heh), it's a 15 team level 5 league. Still only the top 8 make the playoffs and you can play anywhere from 2-5 games per day (schedule is a lot wackier than the 10 team leagues to still get 72 games played after 19 days).

Power rankings in the league:
1, 7, 9, 14, 17, 19, 24*, 32, 35, 39, 50, 56, 60, 62, 112

I'm ranked 24th right now but started the season in the 40s. Made a deal to pick up a couple of higher ranked older players in exchange for a younger high 80's forward and a high 80's D in the last year of his contract. Had a good start to the season so figured I'd pull the trigger and see how much damage I can do against these guys. I haven't followed a lot in the forums, but gm666 is in this league, so I'd definitely like to finish ahead of him and not lose to him in the playoffs if possible. I recognize a couple of other GM names from previous leagues (tmai, kehmesis) but nobody I've talked at all with.

[bbor]

Sami...my Shotblockers team is in that league with you....as i was previously in the Lev 5 league with you.My team got demoted to lev 4 now though :(

[samifan24]

Sami...my Shotblockers team is in that league with you....as i was previously in the Lev 5 league with you.My team got demoted to lev 4 now though :(

I'm not sure how the game determines levels but I think it needs to be tweaked a bit. My team dominated before the levels were created and only went around .500 in a level 5 league. My guess is that we would be a good but not great team in a level 4 league. We'll see what happens in this new "all levels" league. I've never played with 15 teams before.

[Travis]

I'm not sure how the game determines levels but I think it needs to be tweaked a bit. My team dominated before the levels were created and only went around .500 in a level 5 league. My guess is that we would be a good but not great team in a level 4 league. We'll see what happens in this new "all levels" league. I've never played with 15 teams before.

The initial rankings were done based on the power rankings of teams on a certain day. So some teams who didn't have rosters filled out or were incomplete ended up lower than they should have been. That's why he's put in the promotion system he has (top 2 gain a level, bottom 2 go down a notch) to try and work teams through the system so they end up about where they should be.

Not a perfect idea, but not horrible and with him still allowing multi level leagues to be made those that choose not to worry about the tier structure don't have to.

[RendeR]

I still have 3 level 3 teams, we all made the playoffs in the last season I entered (3 different leagues) now I'm fighting to get an upgrade in personnel and stay under the cap. not nearly as easy as I'd hoped it would be.

So yes, I'm still playing, but I'm taking my time right now working on the rosters of each team.

[Travis]

Hey bbor, let me know when you're ready to go with another league. I've got a compliant roster ready. Still hoping to make a few moves, but I'm ready to join a league whenever you're good to go.

Anybody else with any level 3 teams getting close to ready for a new season that would like to link up? I don't mind waiting a few days if people are closing out seasons.

[RendeR]

I'll have a team ready in a day or two.

[bbor]

Hey bbor, let me know when you're ready to go with another league. I've got a compliant roster ready. Still hoping to make a few moves, but I'm ready to join a league whenever you're good to go.

Anybody else with any level 3 teams getting close to ready for a new season that would like to link up? I don't mind waiting a few days if people are closing out seasons.


I should be good to go after the update tonight...i'll let you know for sure tommorrow.

[Travis]

My roster is technically good to go, but I'm trying to get a bit inventive on fitting a few guys in, so I can use at least one if not two days.

That said, whenever you're ready Render we can get rolling (assuming bbor is good to go at that point).

Either of you looking for a goalie? I've got a 27 year old, 93 rating, 2 years left at $2.7 million per that I'll be trying to move once we join a league. Figured I'd check here first. He had a 2.72 GAA and a .918 save % as my starter last season.

And just as a disclaimer, there's nothing wrong with him (never been injured actually and was part of my initial team signup), I've just gotten really lucky with how quickly one of my backups has progressed. I can keep the older guy around as insurance, but I'd prefer to try and use that cap space towards improving the rest of my lineup.

[RendeR]

Buffalo Bengals will be at least 2 more days. Had to find another scrub defenseman and I'm still dickering around with my all star goalie. I'd love to have yours as he's a point better than mine and a LOT cheaper, but I have nothing to offer in return.

[Travis]

Buffalo Bengals will be at least 2 more days. Had to find another scrub defenseman and I'm still dickering around with my all star goalie. I'd love to have yours as he's a point better than mine and a LOT cheaper, but I have nothing to offer in return.

Depending on how things work out with yours I'll likely be looking for picks for mine. Not sure if that's of interest to you or not but figured I'd clarify that a bit. Now if I could just figure out a non cheating way to trade him to one of my other teams instead (got a nice big cap number on a 94 rated goalie with my Knights team of around 6.5 starting next season unless I get a really lucky draft pick).

[Travis]

How are you boys looking?

If either of you are looking for roster filler or second line type guys, let me know. I may have gotten a bit.....ambitious in my offseason moves and have a few 80-85 guys that might need to be moved in addition to my goalie ;)

[bbor]

i'm good to go!

[RendeR]

I just dropped my Bengals and Titanics into public league #4, we're ready to roll!!

[Travis]

Joined!

[Travis]

Approaching the mid way point of the season and right now all 4 FOFC teams are in playoff spots, 3 of them currently with home ice advantage. Not a bad first half.

Right now you guys each have a few games to play today, but if your top teams each win out today's games there'd only be a 3 game gap from 1st to 4th then a pretty serious drop off. Should be an interesting second half.

[samifan24]

Do you guys typically set lines based on the "type" of player? For example, I use all of my playmakers as centers and most of my two-way players on the same line. Lately I've been splitting up my three best players and only keeping two of them together on my top line to try and balance scoring between the top two or three lines. How do you guys handle things?

[Travis]

I haven't done a terrible amount of experimenting, but this is what I've done so far.

Coaching: Go with your coaches rating (ie: 50/50 coach use normal, 65/35 go offensive, 35/65 go trap). I tried going trap with a 50/50 coach and it worked pretty well for defensive stats but I've had much better team success with setting my team to normal.

Lines: I've revamped my teams to mainly have 3 specific forward types (Playmaker/Sniper/Two-way for two teams and on my third I have power forwards instead of Two-way). I use Playmakers at center, snipers on RW and then my other player type on LW (it's my understanding that in shorthanded situations it's your RW that sits off). That said, I've also left all my players at 0/0 for individual offensive/defensive bonuses. I also quick sim all my games rather than play them out which supposedly means I'm giving up a home ice bonus for playing games out, but any time I've actually played games out I seem to lose and I hope that always quick simming gives me more consistent results to base my decisions off of.

Seems like having a couple 90+ defensemen is huge as well as having a 93+ goalie. Forwards seem to be able to do more at a lower rating than D do but I tend to try and make sure that my third pairing D and 3/4 forward lines are still 73 (if not 75)+ guys to avoid them getting just beat on.

The team I have in with you guys is a bit of an anomoly as I have an abnormally high amount of rental players on that team. So for this season I've got the luxury of a very deep lineup but that'll be gone after some new contracts get handed out in the offseason so my strategy will be put to the test a bit more for that squad.

For my level 1 team it's worked pretty well though. We just started our playoffs in the 15 team league (all but two teams ranked in the top 50) and while I suspect some sand bagging, my 20th ranked team ended up going 55-17. I'm guessing I'll lose out in the second round of the playoffs (should match up with Adam's team at that point) but I was very pleasantly surprised at how well that team did in a league that competitive.

[bbor]

great advice...thx Travis

[Travis]

Just a couple days to go before playoffs, looks like all 3 FOFC teams should make the playoffs including a potential Render vs Render opening round, heh. Either of you guys looking to make any deals prior to the playoffs starting?

I had a bit of a crash and burn with my level 5 team. First time I'd ever played in a 15 team league or a best of 7 playoff style. Made it through the first round, went 2-1 at home in the second round, but 0-3 on the road to get eliminated in the semi's. Kind of disappointing after playing so well all season only to see my team absolutely die on the road.

[Travis]

Wow, speaking of, I really don't want to run into bbor in the playoffs, your road record is insane.

[bbor]

Wow, speaking of, I really don't want to run into bbor in the playoffs, your road record is insane.

Weird...i;ve never had a good road team before.....

[samifan24]

I've made the finals for the first time ever in our "all levels" 15 team league. We lost two of three today to start off the finals, including a 8-0 loss in which we outshot the opposition 41-38! I'm hoping that we can win all three home games tomorrow but if not I just hope we take two of three and push it to a seventh game.

[Travis]

Good luck sami, worst case you've at least locked up a finalist trophy which is nice, but here's hoping you can at least push that series to 7.

[samifan24]

Finalist trophy? I didn't know they gave those out...how are they different from a dominance trophy? Are dominance trophies only given to the top two teams in the regular season standings?

[Travis]

Team wise you get a Dominance Trophy if you finish first after the regular season. The team that wins the playoffs gets a Metro Cup and the team that loses the finals gets a Finalist Trophy. No series is played for 3rd so no bronze place award for the playoffs.

The top two teams (after the regular season) are both promoted a level (in a level specific league, if you're in an "open" league I don't believe that applies) and if you finish at the bottom (I think bottom 2 in a 10 team league and bottom 4 in a 15 team league) you lose a rank. Not 100% on how the 15 team league works for losing a rank at the end of a season but I think that's close.

[samifan24]

Cool, thanks, Travis, I didn't know that.

Do most of you guys have more than one team? I only have one because I thought multiples could get you banned. Is that not the case or have the rules changed?

[Travis]

From what I've read on the forums, multiples are allowed, but it's frowned upon to play in the same league with multiple teams and really not a good idea to trade among your teams.

Essentially though, they just don't want players throwing games to themselves or having more than one team to then trade between and uber stack one of them. I've been rolling with three since I started and haven't had any issues. I can't remember if any of my teams have played in common leagues though. If they did it was in the first couple seasons but I never made any trades between them.

[RendeR]

I have three and have had 2 of them in leagues together before. I never trade between them and I auto-sim all my games so it doesn't really effect anything.

[Travis]

I have three and have had 2 of them in leagues together before. I never trade between them and I auto-sim all my games so it doesn't really effect anything.

Exactly, and I'm glad Adam hasn't taken the hard line with enforcing a one team per user rule. Once an example of cheating crops up he seems to act pretty swiftly (but fairly as he'll contact the teams to give them a chance to defend themselves) and bans them, but so long as you don't try to take advantage of the system he lets you roll.

[samifan24]

How close are you guys to being done with your season? Mine just ended yesterday and my team lost in the finals. I'd like to join a league with fellow FOFCers if possible.