At this stage, the EIHL and EPL players have their Technical Ability ratings, Potentials and Templates entered (amongst other things). A fair proportion of the NIHL-1 has been provisionally rated, but I'll be re-rating this league as the rosters have changed substantially since I carried out the provisional ratings and there's a lot of new players without ratings. Hopefully once this is done we will see the NIHL-1 playable in game.
At the moment, the British teams and players don't seem to be performing all that realistically. My guess is that it is because the players are lacking any real ratings at this stage (E.g. Telford quite frequently finish towards the top and Guildford frequently finish towards the bottom). I know the EIHL and EPL aren't the only leagues to suffer from this in game.
What Needs Testing at the Moment?
My primary concern is the cross-over in ratings between the EIHL and EPL. Also, are the EIHL ratings correct in relation to leagues of similar levels?
Things that could be tested:
* How do good and poor EPL players perform in the EIHL when signed by EIHL teams?
* How do good and poor EIHL players perform in the EPL when signed by EPL teams?
* How do the weak/poor AHL players perform in the EIHL when signed by EIHL teams?
* How do mid-level and weaker ECHL players perform in the EIHL when signed by the EIHL?
* How do players from the Danish and Norwegian leagues perform in the EIHL when signed by the EIHL?
Most Important Features Missing from the Leagues?
In my view, there are two really key things missing which greatly affect the league's realism (ignoring complex features which couldn't feasibly make it into version 1 - such as cup tournaments):
1) The 2 week notice system used by all levels of league. At present, the UK leagues are using the standard transfer system. In reality, teams can release players by giving 2 weeks' notice (equally, a player can leave with 2 weeks' notice) without having to pay any contractual compensation. Teams only sign players as free agents (the transfer system isn't used).
2) The import rule. At present, we have the no foreigner rule. This isn't too far off, but I'd like to see an additional setting for this rule which counts players without a primary UK nationality as foreigners (even if they have a UK second nationality). This is probably a decent compromise considering that we'd never realistically see an IIHF card system in game.
Scoring Levels
Hopefully the correct league scoring levels will be added to the game in time for the first beta. But in case they're not, I've listed below the correct scoring levels. To set these you must enable the Commissioner Mode when starting your game. Then select the EIHL from the League Menu and click on League Settings.
From the League Settings Screen, you will need to enter the figures listed below. After you have done this, click on Save Changes (bottom right corner). Then click on drop-down menu towards the top of the screen to select the EPL, enter the correct settings and then click on Save Changes. You'll need to do this before you start simming any games.
EIHL
ES Goals/Game: 4.48
PP Goals/Game: 1.70
SH Goals/Game: 0.25
EPIHL
ES Goals/Game: 4.76
PP Goals/Game: 1.80
SH Goals/Game: 0.27
* Note that the EPIHL PP and SH scoring levels are just my estimates (I think I should be able to compile 100% accurate levels for these later), but it gives you the correct overall scoring level settings for the league.
Enjoy!
