[Qb]

Some thoughts on this... I didn't spend much hands-on time with HUT at the community event, as I wanted to check out GM mode improvements -- have I mentioned there were quite a few? -- squeeze in a few games, and continue my ongoing discussions with Nate, Gurn, and Jason about improvements/additions for NHL11 & beyond. Also, with all that HUT entails, I was afraid I'd get lost in the mode, as it's quite involved and I'm not too familiar with it's counterparts from FIFA & Madden.

However, a lot of the other community reps did spend a few hours playing around with it, so keep an eye out for their hands-on impressions. Luger33 might've been one of them, so perhaps he'll be kind enough to share with us here. Some other people/sites of possible interest include Shake and Bako from the EA boards, Graeme from the IGN boards, Ed from the HF boards and more. I'll try to contact the group via email to see who has some good info for us.

For those disappointed with HUT as an "online dynasty", I can see your point. It's not a typical online dynasty; however, it does offer a deep team-building experience -- I believe any player from any league is in play -- across both online & offline play. Some people may not care for the fantasy aspect, but having such a huge pool of players certainly makes for some interesting possibilities. Managing your team looks to be quite involved, as it not only requires you to put talent on the ice, but also to balance player development, salary and career length to keep a competitive team on the ice.

There are some cool possibilities -- have a young stud who isn't fully developed for your end of the month playoff push? Perhaps you deal him to someone for a highly-rated vet near the end of his career... Or maybe you prefer to stick with youth in an attempt to lock up as many high potential players on long-term lower paying contracts. I think the elements that make for a great online dynasty are there, so I'd suggest keeping an open mind towards the mode. I know most of my time will be spent in the EASHL, but HUT will definitely get at least a test drive by me.


PS - As mentioned, I dug pretty deep into GM mode and I'm curious to see what the big announcement is. I know there was one thing that had me grinning from ear to ear when I saw it, so perhaps it's...