[PFellah]

NOTE: I decided to do a reset and start over, but since I didn't get that far, I'm just going to go back and re-use this thread. Why did I restart? It's an even split between "I put the game down for a while and forgot where I left off and would rather start clean" and the completely shallow "I didn't like my first pass at the uniforms and didn't want to wait a year to change them". The road unis in particular looked like pajamas.


Finally time to start a new NHL 20 franchise: I shelved my last 19 game because it was hard to get excited about it with the new one coming out. So time to start over... new rosters, new bells and whistles (hello Trade Finder, you sexay thing, you), but the same basic format of my other franchises. I know the Young People have all moved on to their YouTube videos and Twitch streams, but I'm all about being long-winded in the written word.

For my first franchise, I'll be just doing default rosters, and setting my sights on Houston: the thinking man's destination for people who think moving Arizona to the Central is too weird. Major rules: I don't bother with owner finances or morale meetings -- those things don't add much for me -- but I do keep fog of war on, and in general I try not to meta-game too much with what I know about real hockey. For example, if my scouts were to somehow get things wrong and say Kaapo Kaako is a Bottom 6 forward, I'd try as much as possible to accept that as the reality of this game world and not meta-game. (Though if it's a close decision based on game metrics, knowing something about a guy in real life might be a tiebreaker.)

Traditionally I do a monthly format -- sim most of the games (play one or two just to keep an eye on things and collect screenshots), and then do a summary post for my team and an "around the league" post that sums up the rest of the league action. I also throw in a few "studio show" interludes that serve as a back-door way of talking about key decisions at greater length -- the studio team serves as a bit of a Greek chorus, explaining what I was thinking about major decisions (trades, draft picks, etc.). Those tend to show up at the trade deadline (midpoint summary, and discussing potential deadline moves) and in the early off-season (post mortem of previous year, looking ahead to next season) sometimes showing up at other times as well.