CAGLS: Official NHL 13 No Hockey League - Playoffs! Rd 1 - Deadline 12/11!

[quote name='moojuice']Wow, really? I've been going for an hour o far, 86%[/QUOTE]

Not all Comcasts are created equal... Pretty shitty though since they just raised my bill to $62 a month. Pretty sure I'm at at least 20MB...but who knows how hard they throttle my butthole. Though, I'm also probably in a more populated area than you are. Peak hours and all that.

[quote name='ajh2298']You guys all suck that get to download this early.[/QUOTE]

We don't "get to". We paid to, lol. At least give us proper recognition for being EA shills. ;)
 
Nice to see Cheapy join up into the CAG franchise. Anyone who wants a goalie, I'm sure DiPieitro is availiable!

I'll be curious to see reactions from you guys on NHL. I'm already pumped for the first hockey night next Friday.
 
Umm...ok. I'm playing through the tutorial (for the hell of it), and my screen is getting stuck. Like a frozen image, but the tutorial thinks it's still going. Anybody else getting this?

Annnnd...just locked up my Xbox when I looked at the options when creating a GM Connected League. I hope my download isn't corrupted or something from taking so long.

EDIT - Ok, upon reboot, it seems to be running smoother. Maybe it just needed to warm up after that beast download, lol. As much as I'd like to use the name "No Hockey League" for our lockout inspired franchise, the only way to secure it would be to start now...which would give us current rosters and tuner sets. HOWEVER, "CAGLS No Hockey League" just fits as a name, haha, so we should be able to use that.
 
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Havent experience that. Noticed the graphics look pretty bad...hopefully its just compression since its a download since the demo looked way better
 
All right, looking at the GM Connected options, we've got a few things to figure out. These are the general settings...and what I assume most of us will want. I'll put the items up for debate in bold, so feel free to weigh in on those...or any of the others too.

League Name: CAGLS No Hockey League (assuming there's a lockout and we want to be smartasses, lol)
Description: Official CheapAssGamer Hockey League

Maximum Users Per Team: 1
NHL Schedule Length: 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks (this determines how much of the schedule is available to be played at a time)
Allow Simming of Games: Yes (meaning users can choose to sim their games vs the CPU)
Allow Join Requests: Yes (not really a reason to have this on, but who knows who may stumble upon this league without seeing the thread. we might even want to let them join)
Skill Level: Rookie, Pro, All-Star, Superstar (one of the few options that can be changed after we start the franchise)
Game Style: Casual, Default, Normal, Hardcore, Favorite, Current (I still barely know what these do. I usually just leave it on Default, but if somebody else has a better idea, speak up)

Period Length: 5 minutes
Icing: Delayed
Injuries: On
Penalties: On
Post Whistle Rules: Authentic (I hope we'd all agree on this one)
Penalty Time Scaling: On
Fighting: On

Playoff Series Length: Best of 7
Playoff Tie Break: Continuous OT
Season Overtime Loss: 1 point
Season Tie Break: 5 min (4 on 4) then Shootout
CPU Trades: On (meaning allow CPU to CPU trades)
Waivers: On
GM Connected Length: 25 (25 seasons...yep...I'm sure we'll get there, lol)
Starting Rosters: Current
NHL Salary Cap: On
Roster Type: Default (meaning real NHL rosters)
Tuner Set Version: Latest (unless they screw something up horrifically)
 
Don't have any strong feelings about Skill Level and Game style, but I think schedule length should be a week. How often are we looking at advancing, and what number of games are we playing?
 
[quote name='jza1218']Don't have any strong feelings about Skill Level and Game style, but I think schedule length should be a week. How often are we looking at advancing, and what number of games are we playing?[/QUOTE]

The bad news is, Reddit guy seemed to be full of shit. I didn't see any option to shorten the number of games played. Sooo...we might need to come up with a really smart system to decide which games will be played because playing 82 games in a franchise that is meant to go multiple seasons is just stupid.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']The bad news is, Reddit guy seemed to be full of shit. I didn't see any option to shorten the number of games played. Sooo...we might need to come up with a really smart system to decide which games will be played because playing 82 games in a franchise that is meant to go multiple seasons is just stupid.[/QUOTE]

Sim certain months? Like Sim November, December and January?
 
[quote name='jza1218']Out of curiosity, what are the options for regular season OT?[/QUOTE]

I listed every settings option. If you didn't see it listed, you can't change it.

[quote name='Vulcan2422']Could be different in the full game how ever. Has to be an option some where for it.[/QUOTE]

Doubtful. The early release of Madden was exactly the same.

[quote name='jza1218']Sim certain months? Like Sim November, December and January?[/QUOTE]

Sim Febtober!
 
[quote name='DestroVega']So it's 82 games? I'm fine with trying that. hope everyone can hang with it.[/QUOTE]

Uh fuck no, not if we want to play multiple seasons.
 
Hell, I think I'll hop in on this... I'm not sure which of the leftovers I want yet since my Wings (dibs if he leaves lol) and a couple others are taken.

I'll pick a team Tuesday or Wednesday after I try to get a couple games in with the few teams I have it narrowed down to.

Here's my info for now. AttackingMVP - EST - Right now availability is any until I start work which then it will be pretty flexible since I can come and go. To be certain I'll say any time after 6PM est to 1 or 2 AM est.
 
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[quote name='jza1218']Uh fuck no, not if we want to play multiple seasons.[/QUOTE]

No I understand that.


HUT isn't available to play on the early release? I wonder why that is.
 
So I had a horrible experience last night. The boss got called into work, and the monkey went for a sleepover. While the punkin was sleeping soundly I was jacked that I was going to get a solid 4 hours of playing in before this old mans bedtime. Do you think that after all the luck I had up to that point would continue over... nope, the early release would not down load, and instead I spent the four hours with tech support trying to figure out why my machine will not accept the download.
Not a happy GAG.
I'll try again tonight. I hope everyone is loving it as much as I want to be.
 
I will take the Dallas stars if they are available. My Xbox tag is mn wild 22. I am in the central time zone and I am very flexible for game times.
 
I say fuck shootouts. 1 point for a tie, no points for ot loss.

I know those options aren't availiable, but oh well. That's when hockey was real dammit!
 
[quote name='Panther1484']I say fuck shootouts. 1 point for a tie, no points for ot loss.

I know those options aren't availiable, but oh well. That's when hockey was real dammit![/QUOTE]


I actually agree.
 
[quote name='Panther1484']I say fuck shootouts. 1 point for a tie, no points for ot loss.

I know those options aren't availiable, but oh well. That's when hockey was real dammit![/QUOTE]

[quote name='jza1218']Out of curiosity, what are the options for regular season OT?[/QUOTE]

Reading Shady's post made me realize I misunderstood what you were asking, lol. Just too much to try to make sense of last night. I think my brain shut down at some point, haha.

Anyway, these are the full regular season options concerning OT:

Season Overtime Loss: 1 point, 0 points
Season Tie Break: 5 Min (4 on 4) then Shootout, Single OT (4 on 4), Single OT (5 on 5), No Overtime, Continuous OT, Shootout

So, there are options. Just depends if people want to stray from the current rule system at all.

[quote name='mvp828']Hell, I think I'll hop in on this... I'm not sure which of the leftovers I want yet since my Wings (dibs if he leaves lol) and a couple others are taken.

I'll pick a team Tuesday or Wednesday after I try to get a couple games in with the few teams I have it narrowed down to.

Here's my info for now. AttackingMVP - EST - Right now availability is any until I start work which then it will be pretty flexible since I can come and go. To be certain I'll say any time after 6PM est to 1 or 2 AM est.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='mnwild22']I will take the Dallas stars if they are available. My Xbox tag is mn wild 22. I am in the central time zone and I am very flexible for game times.[/QUOTE]

Glad to see both of you guys join. Welcome aboard!
 
We've now got 24 of the 30 teams filled...which is awesome! It's just too bad that EA doesn't have a reasonable suggestion for how to actually complete a season. I'm really not loving our options no matter which way we go. Playing all 82 games is just unrealistic. It would be a miracle just to get through one season. If we don't plan for multiple seasons, then things like contracts, scouting, player progression, etc. are worthless.

So, we need to come up with some kind of system where we only play about 1 out of every 4 games...which would put us at around a 21 game season. The problem is deciding which of those games get played and which don't. We really need some brains working on this one. I'm thinking of trying to break down the NHL schedule in terms of division games, conference games, etc. so that it fits the length we want (gee...that sounds like what EA should have done :dunce:) This is how the schedule is built:

Each team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home and 41 on the road. In all, 1230 games are played.

In the 2008–09 season, the NHL regular season reverted to the format used before the 2004–05 Lockout, where each team plays six games (three at home, three away) against the other teams in its division (a total of 24 games). Teams play all ten non-divisional teams in their own conference four times (twice at home, twice away, 40 total games). The remaining 18 games of the season are inter-conference play, allowing every team in the league to play every other team at least once. Each team plays 12 teams from the other conference once and plays the other three non-conference teams both home and away.[1] If a non-conference team is played only once, next year's schedule will include at least one game between the same two teams at the opposite venue. The schedule is structured so that every NHL team plays in every arena at least once every two years.

For the six Canadian teams in the league prior to 2011-2012, the extra three inter-conference games were always against the three Canadian teams in the other conference. This ensured that all Canadian teams played home and away against their Canadian non-conference opponents each season, and each of the non-conference U.S. teams once per year. For the American teams, the extra three games are rotated each season between the twelve non-conference U.S. opponents in a way designed to ensure each U.S. team will play five regular season games against each U.S. team in the other conference over a four season cycle (two games in one of the seasons and one game in each of the other three seasons). Following the 2011 relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, the league decided not to alter the season structure for the following season, meaning that the new Winnipeg Jets are still being treated as a U.S. Eastern Conference team for the purposes of the 2011-12 schedule.
Click to expand...

The ugly side of playing less than the full 82 games is that for games that if we're simming 3/4 of the season...you have to question how much we're even in control. As I said, I don't really love either option, and I think it's pathetic that EA didn't think that this could be an issue. But I feel like we're basically having to decide between the lesser of two evils here. Figure out what the best option is, and just take the bad with the good. All input will be considered and is appreciated.
 
As I was messing around with the online GM mode today I had an idea as to how to handle the schedule...

If you set the games available option to 2 weeks that would give everyone 5-6 games to pick from. If you had a set day (every Monday for example) that the league advanced it would be up to the individual GM's as to how many games, of that 6 game block, they wanted to play for that week. This would give the GM the option because I personally would play the majority of my games but a GM that doesn't have as bad of a video game addiction could choose to play fewer if they wanted. This would cure the issue of how much control you have over how your team does.....the more games you play obviously the more you control your record.
 
[quote name='mnwild22']As I was messing around with the online GM mode today I had an idea as to how to handle the schedule...

If you set the games available option to 2 weeks that would give everyone 5-6 games to pick from. If you had a set day (every Monday for example) that the league advanced it would be up to the individual GM's as to how many games, of that 6 game block, they wanted to play for that week. This would give the GM the option because I personally would play the majority of my games but a GM that doesn't have as bad of a video game addiction could choose to play fewer if they wanted. This would cure the issue of how much control you have over how your team does.....the more games you play obviously the more you control your record.[/QUOTE]

Except that's not an option when most of the league is comprised of human owners. It's not reasonable to expect anybody to schedule 6-7 games in a 2 week period...and even if we did...we'd STILL be following the real NHL schedule, meaning we wouldn't finish season one until June.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Except that's not an option when most of the league is comprised of human owners. It's not reasonable to expect anybody to schedule 6-7 games in a 2 week period...and even if we did...we'd STILL be following the real NHL schedule, meaning we wouldn't finish season one until June.[/QUOTE]


Can the GM's set their games to sim when they don't want to play? This way if you don't want to play all 82 you don't need to. And IF you have that addiction and want to play fifteen games in a three day span you can.

I still can't download it so I'm talking directly out of my ass right now. Is that even possible?
 
The more I think about it, the more I feel that this just won't work if we have to do a full 82 game season. If we have any goal of doing multiple seasons we gotta at least 3 or 4, maybe 5 weeks virtual ime in one week real time. I the only thing I can think of now is to play one we, and then sim 3 or 4 "blocks." Like Nate said, at that point, but we're only playing a quarter of a season, and so what's hhe point?
 
[quote name='Captain OBVIOU5']Can the GM's set their games to sim when they don't want to play? This way if you don't want to play all 82 you don't need to. And IF you have that addiction and want to play fifteen games in a three day span you can.

I still can't download it so I'm talking directly out of my ass right now. Is that even possible?[/QUOTE]

The problem with this is that it ends up rewarding the people with the most free time. Those of us with jobs, wives, kids, school, etc. are going to suffer. IF the CPU was a reasonable replacement, and games weren't just an automatic win, then MAYBE we could consider that. I feel like that's what EA was counting on...it's just a tough sell for me. I feel like ultimately, making sure everybody plays the same number of games is the most fair thing.

[quote name='moojuice']The more I think about it, the more I feel that this just won't work if we have to do a full 82 game season. If we have any goal of doing multiple seasons we gotta at least 3 or 4, maybe 5 weeks virtual ime in one week real time. I the only thing I can think of now is to play one we, and then sim 3 or 4 "blocks." Like Nate said, at that point, but we're only playing a quarter of a season, and so what's hhe point?[/QUOTE]

Yeah...that's why I'm really disappointed with this mode. For EA to not have the foresight to realize that the entire purpose of this mode is playing multiple seasons...and that thinking any multi-player experience is capable of playing 82 games is ridiculous. And when it gets to the point that you're simming more than 50% of your games, how much of an impact can you really feel that you're having?

I don't know. The best "solution" I can come up with is just that we only play division games during the regular season (which would be 24 games). At least that way, in theory, the division races should be decided pretty fairly. And if we're able to fairly determine who deserves to go to the playoffs, that's probably the best we can hope for. It would probably be kinda boring...as you'd only play 4 different teams. But then when the playoffs started, we'd all get new teams to play.

If somebody really wanted to break down the schedule and branch out a bit more, we could probably figure out how to only play half the division games and also include some conference games, but that amount of effort shouldn't be necessary. I'm starting to feel another EA Facebook rant coming on. It boggles my mind thinking that leagues may have actually been better as they were. Pretty sad.

And yeah, to put things into perspective as far as games played and advancement goes, the Official Madden league completed 5 seasons last year, playing essentially the entire year. That's a 17 week season and 4 rounds of playoffs (so basically "21 games"). They played a game every 3 days. For NHL, we've got the 82 game schedule to figure out...plus 4 rounds of best of 7 playoff series...to complete ONE season. How EA thought that was feasible, I have no idea. My only request is for people to scour the EA forums and Operation Sports to see if anybody comes up with a better idea of how to manage it. If the best thing anyone can come up with is simming 75% of the season...I don't know what to say.
 
Would splitting it up into multiple leagues help? Like an east and a west league, or go further and break into divisions? Something more realistic to finish while still competitive
 
The problem with multiple leagues would be coming back together for playoffs. Depending on roster moves, it will practically be impossible to recreate teams for playoffs.

Really hope the option to chose season length gets patched in. Just find its funny that there is a 25 season cap... Don't know how someone could get that far without simming
 
[quote name='wiz2020']Would splitting it up into multiple leagues help? Like an east and a west league, or go further and break into divisions? Something more realistic to finish while still competitive[/QUOTE]

If we're going to do that, we might as well just go all the way and do an "on paper" league, just creating our own schedule and doing unranked games. Of course, that would eliminate trades, contracts, free agency, scouting, drafts, etc. I appreciate thinking outside the box. I just don't know at what point if becomes stupid.

For that matter, I even thought of breaking up into "teams" and trying to do our own EASHL. Then, for our "hockey nights" we could play games vs the computer and whatnot, and possibly get through the season quicker. We could decide how many players we'd want on a team, nominate captains, and then even do a "draft" so the teams aren't too unbalanced. Hell, or we could do a random lottery to decide who's on a team together. Then, we could just use random rosters for the teams since we have to use NHL players instead of our created BAP guys.

I just can't believe that I'm getting the feeling that having so many users is actually hurting us here. You're either forced to play all 82 games, or you're forcing people to allow their games to be simmed. At least straight up games vs the CPU wouldn't be as big of a deal to sim. But if I'm available to play on Monday, but my opponent can't play Monday...do I force him to let me play the CPU? It just becomes a huge freaking mess. It took me 10 seconds to see these problems. EA should have figured this out months ago.
 
Maybe we just wait till Tuesday and see if there is an option?

Granted, it's early release but, a 4gb dl right? When the normal game is about 8 correct? I heard no Hut either. So some things could easily been not added just to save space. That's just my thoughts and we shall see come Tuesday.

It could just be locked till Full release just like the replays and hut. Call me a Dr. Pizza Ltor dick if I'm wrong come Tuesday, but let's just all chill out till the full release.
 
[quote name='Vulcan2422']Maybe we just wait till Tuesday and see if there is an option?

Granted, it's early release but, a 4gb dl right? When the normal game is about 8 correct? I heard no Hut either. So some things could easily been not added just to save space. That's just my thoughts and we shall see come Tuesday.

It could just be locked till Full release just like the replays and hut. Call me a Dr. Pizza Ltor dick if I'm wrong come Tuesday, but let's just all chill out till the full release.[/QUOTE]

DL was 6GB. Max a dual layer DVD can hold is 8GB. Not sure if that means there will be anything extra on the disc...or possibly that things were compressed for the DL (Alan questioned if the graphics looked off). Ultimate Team wasn't in the Madden Early Release either because from my understanding they didn't have the packs available yet, so people really couldn't make any progress.

Everything else is fully functional though. We're already earning our skater cards, we created the Canaderps, and GM Connected leagues are fully operational and can be created and played. I know you're trying to be optimistic, but adding an extra line on a menu option wouldn't really take up much more disc space. At best, I feel like we can hope they patch it in.

Madden has an issue similar to this too that outraged the public but ended up being "by design". With Madden, they decided that any game that disconnects in the 2nd half is an automatic loss for the person who dropped. This is fine for ranked play where people try to pull their cord or whatever. But in a regulated league, with spotty EA servers, it's a little ridiculous to think that somebody is trying to cheat their way out of a loss (especially when it's the winning team who drops). But yeah...EA logic. :dunce:
 
I'd say let's wait till Tuesday and see what clarity is there concerning the franchise. Might also be something they patch in on Day 1.
 
LOL...well I got a quick response from the EA NHL Facebook page. First my comment, and then their response.

[quote name='n8rockerasu']Can you guys please explain to me how you thought it was smart to not allow people to shorten the season length in GM Connected? The option for how much of the schedule is visible at one time doesn't help at all.

The entire point of GM Connected is to play multiple seasons. Expecting people to play through an 82 game season is ridiculous. I've got 24 guys in my league who all agreed that a 20 game season sounded like a good length, once you factor in playoffs and offseason.

The only way to accomplish this under your brilliant design is to sim 75% of the season. If we're simming 75% of our games, how are we supposed to feel that the games we're playing have any impact?

Yes, the CPU can play for us. That's nice. The way you guys program AI, I don't wish that on my worst enemy. It's beyond pathetic that I actually feel leagues were better last year. Yes, they were extremely barebones, but at least they could be set for a manageable length and have a chance of being completed. What you've given us now is unusable. Not happy at all.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='EA SPORTS NHL']Thanks for the feedback.[/QUOTE]

Guess that means they can't explain it, lol. At least they're aware of it, I guess.
 
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Rob (jza1218) had an interesting suggestion last night. He can definitely explain it better than I can though. Obviously, a large portion of games would still need to be simmed, so I still don't know how appealing that is...especially for the weaker teams. But I'll let him present the idea and people can see what they think.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Rob (jza1218) had an interesting suggestion last night. He can definitely explain it better than I can though. Obviously, a large portion of games would still need to be simmed, so I still don't know how appealing that is...especially for the weaker teams. But I'll let him present the idea and people can see what they think.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, thats my main issue. I dont want to see us simming 75% of the games. That said, I'm still totallly open to suggestions.
 
Well I don't think there are many, if any, solutions involving not dimming a lot of games. My solution is a bit complex, but allows users the flexibility to pick their own matchups while allowing us to move quickly enough to play multiple seasons.

Nate posted above the wiki entry on NHL schedule structure. I too, that and prorated each of the following to fit into a 20-game schedule, though it can be modified for 30 games or more if we want.

The real crux of it is this: each team plays six games in division, 10 in conference and 4 out of conference. Teams will make a list of the teams they wish to play against, and can not choose to play games against the Ai.

For example, as the rangers, my division is full. So I play each of those teams once. Then I get to pick two of these teams to play once more. So I might choose the islanders (cheapyd) and penguins(darktower). However those two have to agree to have me as one of their extra games.

What each team would have to do is go through the schedule and post who their opponents would be. Thinking about it, expanding the number of games we played would probably
he,p, but that's a different conversation.
 
Well, that's the biggest problem. We either have to be ok with playing 82 games (most certainly never playing more than one season...and very likely not even finishing one season), or we have to be ok with simming a certain percentage of the games. Even playing a 30 games season, we'd still be simming 64% of the games. It's honestly a horrible scenario no matter how you slice it. I can only pray that somehow, some way, Gary (Vulcan2422) ends up being right and the disc version has more options. Otherwise, it just seems like a wasted effort from EA.
 
[quote name='jza1218']Well I don't think there are many, if any, solutions involving not dimming a lot of games. My solution is a bit complex, but allows users the flexibility to pick their own matchups while allowing us to move quickly enough to play multiple seasons.

Nate posted above the wiki entry on NHL schedule structure. I too, that and prorated each of the following to fit into a 20-game schedule, though it can be modified for 30 games or more if we want.

The real crux of it is this: each team plays six games in division, 10 in conference and 4 out of conference. Teams will make a list of the teams they wish to play against, and can not choose to play games against the Ai.

For example, as the rangers, my division is full. So I play each of those teams once. Then I get to pick two of these teams to play once more. So I might choose the islanders (cheapyd) and penguins(darktower). However those two have to agree to have me as one of their extra games.

What each team would have to do is go through the schedule and post who their opponents would be. Thinking about it, expanding the number of games we played would probably
he,p, but that's a different conversation.[/QUOTE]


I guess that could work, considering the lack of other options lol
 
Well, not sure if this counts as confirmation, but:

http://www.operationsports.com/foru...-gm-connected-mode-but-you-can-sim-games.html

I guess EA actually Tweeted a response about it back in July saying that they intended it to be this way. So, barring any 180 from the company due to public backlash, it seems that if we want to attempt GM Connected at all, we've gotta give up control and just accept these issues:

* The outcome of at least 50% of your games will be decided by the computer.

* You could put up a very good record against human opponents and still end up missing the playoffs

* While the CPU is in control of your team, some of your players could be injured (I've read that injuries are up quite a bit...and in the test league I created, I saw 10 players injured on the 1st day...one of which was a 49 day injury), waived, or even traded (moojuice created a test league and noticed when he simmed a few games that his own team was making player moves).

There's probably even more issues that I'm not thinking of, but these stood out to me. Kinda hard to accept that the franchise structure is nowhere near as good as Madden's, but if we can mentally get over the fact that any one of us could get completely screwed over by the CPU, then it could still be somewhat enjoyable. Just definitely not what I had envisioned. And definitely a piss poor effort on EA's part.

I won't even bother with the "vote with your wallets next year" nonsense. I buy this game every year because it's the only hockey game out there. And by default...the only game is the best game. With NHL and Madden, EA pretty much has the vast sports gaming community by the balls and can get away with whatever they want.
 
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