Suggestions

[3z4rivyirn]

Another filtering issue. In the Free Agents screen I drop down the box to show Defensive Stats and then click Checking so it organizes from highest rated too worst. Then I click the dropdown box again and go to Info so I can quickly see their Age and Ability / Potential ratings but it doesn't keep them in the same order. Sure I can hover my mouse over each one but I want to just see a quick list to scan down. It takes a lot more time to hover over each name going down the list instead of just having the numbers all displayed.

[TurboJ]

1. Add feature: Yearly recaps for player development.

It's a great feature to see monthly development reports on your players and prospects. How to make this feature even more useful is to add a yearly or half-yearly recap report which shows the total, combined development of each player during that time period. This way you'd see exactly who's on the right track and who's not.

2. Additional difficulty options.

We have toggles for injury frequency and trade difficulty, which is great. Still, at least for manager sim veterans, the overall difficulty in terms of winning and losing as a team could use an increase.

Naturally that would have to be optional. I don't know what would be the best way to implement this, but I'm 100% certain veterans would much appreciate it if there was a difficulty option that would directly affect your win rate so that Stanley Cups and dynasties wouldn't be quite as easy to achieve.

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by TurboJ

1. Add feature: Yearly recaps for player development.

It's a great feature to see monthly development reports on your players and prospects. How to make this feature even more useful is to add a yearly or half-yearly recap report which shows the total, combined development of each player during that time period. This way you'd see exactly who's on the right track and who's not.

+1 for number 1.

[oldfatbaldguy]

Thanks for adding player birthdates on the bio tab. It's important in juniors.

[redtiger7]

Have draft rules an option in the Historical league editing list. Right now you can edit the rules (age, rounds, etc....) on July 1st, but they just un-set the next year. Screws everything up

[ZBGuy]

These suggestions are purely for the custom game mode:

1) The ability to designate created leagues/junior leagues as generic leagues as they are in the main game. I want to create a fairly large hockey universe, but not have every element be maximally detailed and have their own roster needs etc. I want much of it to be just generic leagues that don't have to do anything other than generate stats and develop younger players and stuff.

2) The ability to turn off drafts for created leagues. I'm adding the NCAA to my fictional universe, and a draft doesn't make sense for that.

3) All-star game options. The game right now is scheduled in the middle of a gameday, it'd be better to designate what day it is (and have the auto schedule generator create off-days around it), and also maybe give the user options on roster sizes, what kind of teams would be playing, whether every team must submit at least one all-star, etc.

4) Age rules for rosters. Users can't create a functional NCAA/college league because of this, or bantam/high school feeder leagues for that matter.

5) The ability to include at least some international tournaments for a custom game. I suspect the reason they're not in is because a custom game may not include enough players to properly fill out international rosters, but any way to get at least the WC/Olympics in would be appreciated.

6) Long-shot request, but some kind of database editor in case I want to import a non-FHM league that has its own history. Very much a nice-to-have.

Non-custom game suggestions/requests:

1) Users should be able to specify which league they create a player into. If I want to create a player for the OHL, it should properly create a Canadian player from Ontario, not just anywhere in Canada. Also they should at least be fluent in English, not fluent in French but barely knows English, etc.

2) I know you guys are aware of this but please find a way to have playoff games be staggered, not having all 8 of them on one day followed by an off day

3) Roster controls akin to OOTP, where multiple players can be selected for promotion/demotion/adding to shortlist, and also the ability to delete players

4) An option to stop the Stanley Cup winner announcement from interrupting simulation

Thanks for reading

[landru22]

Originally Posted by ZBGuy

These suggestions are purely for the custom game mode:

1) The ability to designate created leagues/junior leagues as generic leagues as they are in the main game. I want to create a fairly large hockey universe, but not have every element be maximally detailed and have their own roster needs etc. I want much of it to be just generic leagues that don't have to do anything other than generate stats and develop younger players and stuff.

2) The ability to turn off drafts for created leagues. I'm adding the NCAA to my fictional universe, and a draft doesn't make sense for that.

3) All-star game options. The game right now is scheduled in the middle of a gameday, it'd be better to designate what day it is (and have the auto schedule generator create off-days around it), and also maybe give the user options on roster sizes, what kind of teams would be playing, whether every team must submit at least one all-star, etc.

4) Age rules for rosters. Users can't create a functional NCAA/college league because of this, or bantam/high school feeder leagues for that matter.

5) The ability to include at least some international tournaments for a custom game. I suspect the reason they're not in is because a custom game may not include enough players to properly fill out international rosters, but any way to get at least the WC/Olympics in would be appreciated.

6) Long-shot request, but some kind of database editor in case I want to import a non-FHM league that has its own history. Very much a nice-to-have.

Non-custom game suggestions/requests:

1) Users should be able to specify which league they create a player into. If I want to create a player for the OHL, it should properly create a Canadian player from Ontario, not just anywhere in Canada. Also they should at least be fluent in English, not fluent in French but barely knows English, etc.

2) I know you guys are aware of this but please find a way to have playoff games be staggered, not having all 8 of them on one day followed by an off day

3) Roster controls akin to OOTP, where multiple players can be selected for promotion/demotion/adding to shortlist, and also the ability to delete players

4) An option to stop the Stanley Cup winner announcement from interrupting simulation

Thanks for reading

#5 and #6 for custom games would be awesome for me

[Lord PichuPal]

Being a longtime advocate for the custom game mode, any features we can get for that are always appreciated. The biggest two things for me I've waited a long time for and hope we can see soon are for international tournaments, and custom playoff formats.

Much like with how OOTP works, I want the ability to choose how my playoff format looks. My 20-team league for example, it feels too big having 16 teams get in but 8 is too few. I'd like it being the old NFL format of 12 teams, 6 per conference, division winners get a bye as the top 2 seeds. But the only 12-team format in the game isn't how I want and since I can't customize it further, I have to use a different format. The tournaments and all star game would also be nice to have, for immersion's sake.

[oldfatbaldguy]

The thing about putting college hockey in a custom league is that you have to deal with recruiting, and that seems like a big ask. The college sports sims that are out there have detailed recruiting systems that are a huge part of the game. The fan collective that does updated and expanded databases for Eastside Hockey Manager has crammed the NCAA into them, but it essentially plays as another junior league with teams named after colleges.

[NolaSola7]

Been wanting more user applied metrics ..

let me tell the engine if I want my created players to be more physical or skilled... fast or strong ... etc ..

adjust national metrics .. and just like the beauty we find in OOTP

[ZBGuy]

Originally Posted by oldfatbaldguy

The thing about putting college hockey in a custom league is that you have to deal with recruiting, and that seems like a big ask. The college sports sims that are out there have detailed recruiting systems that are a huge part of the game. The fan collective that does updated and expanded databases for Eastside Hockey Manager has crammed the NCAA into them, but it essentially plays as another junior league with teams named after colleges.

I think for starters it could be just a generic league, like it is in the main NHL universe. They could pull in mostly American players who aren't playing in the CHL/USHL/NAHL. They should probably have the highest priority for young American players next to the CHL, I think.

Then over time functionality could be added to make it viable as a playable league. Right now my main concern is there's no way to have the NCAA/college hockey in a custom game, even as just a place to put draftees for development and such.

[Mikjer]

A few small things I would love to see implemented:

1. During the playoffs, the loading screen converts to the league schedule and I would love the option to have it be be the 'standings' screen and show the current playoff bracket along with the current playoff stats leaders for skaters and goalies.

2. The pop up window which shows the Stanley Cup Champion is a beautiful addition but it would be amazing to see the 3 players stats shown, under their names.

3. When trying to find a player to sign or trade for a really handy inclusion would be to filter in specific roles. So I could search for someone who is rated as at least a 15 as a sniper for example. Would really help to find the exact players you want.

4. Another little immersion quality of life addition would be some more notes in the players profile "". Things such as awards they've been nominated for, player of the month awards, major injury history etc.
Would also like to see at least the awards etc show up on my manager profile like it does for players.

5. Have a positional filter when looking up league or team stats/historical stats.

That's all I can really think of right now.

[jilech]

A couple of suggestions.

On clubs hitstory page, have the headlines of stat category (POINTS LEADERS, GOAL LEADERS etc) be clickable and point to player index sorted by that category.

Again in club history, split the LEADERBOARD page into 3 columns and add rookie season records. There is rookie game records, but there's no rookie season records.

Would also be nice to have playoff records added to LEADERBOARD. Maybe instead of have skaters and goalie records separate, have them on same page, looks like theres enough real estate to add goalie records, and then have drop-down menu choose regular season records and playoff records.

[oldfatbaldguy]

Originally Posted by ZBGuy

Right now my main concern is there's no way to have the NCAA/college hockey in a custom game, even as just a place to put draftees for development and such.

But NHL teams don't put draftees on college teams for development. The players decide whether they'll go to college, and both drafted and undrafted players in college decide when they'll leave to turn pro. NHL rules allow teams to retain the rights to drafted college players for a longer period of time, respecting their decisions.

[Javs]

1. When Hall of Fame voting happens, instead of clicking the 'link' in the news item and having just a list of players, it would be nice if there was a pop-up screen which maybe had multiple pages if necessary and outlined each players stats and achievements.

2. In the NHL, at the end of the year it would be nice to have an 'event', similar to hall of fame voting, where you were prompted to re-sign players with expiring rights. It would also be nice if the players responded fairly quickly. Right now if you don't remember until you get too close to July 1st, even if you offer the player a contract he might not respond in time and you'll lose his rights.

3. Ability to send CHL (QMJHL, OHL, WHL) players back to their lower level teams instead of only having the ability to send them to your 'farm team'. In the WHL and QMJHL, you could get rid of these generic affiliate teams. This might work best with general CJHL rights instead of individual league rights. A shortcut, maybe to be able to recall unsigned players throughout the year (a maximum of 10 different players).

With this being said, you should have the ability to recall/send down these players throughout the season, however once they reach '10 GP' you should not be allowed to send them back to their lower level team or affiliate and they should become 'full-time' players.

4. Underage player limits for the QMJHL/OHL/WHL.

5. Ability to assign and edit affiliate teams for QMJHL/OHL/WHL expansion teams.

6. Actual roster rules for CJHL/US Junior leagues. It is weird to see teams with less than 23 players signed and 4-5 of them being goalies. This could help with more realistic player movement throughout the lower levels in NA.

7. NTDP U18 team in the USHL actually only be allowed to sign U18 players.

8. Players assigned to generic teams closer to the area of the hometown. This is only a problem in Ontario U15/18 leagues, or other leagues with multiple generic leagues in the province/state.

9. U16 leagues where applicable.

10. Realistic waiver system for the CHL.

11. More realistic financial systems for all leagues. Human and staff contracts are low across the board and budgets are high allowing you to run VERY large staffs.

That is all for now.

[Mikjer]

Another one I just thought of. Can I have all the players I have under contract assigned a number, so I don't need to reassign players every single time when they are coming up and down from the AHL etc

[hockeyman001]

I'd actually like to see the number of offensive and defensive roles come down a little bit:

For forwards:
-Playmaker (+ to all offensive attributes, and favor shooting just a little more than it does now) eg Mario Lemieux, Paul Kariya, Mika Zibanejad
-Setup man (bigger + to passing attributes, - to shooting attributes and tendency) eg Wayne Gretzky, Peter Forsberg, Igor Larionov
-Sniper (bigger + to shooting attributes, - to passing attributes and tendency) eg Alex Ovechkin, Pavel Bure, Petr Klima
-Power forward (+ to all offensive attributes/balance/strength/hitting/screening, - to defensive attributes) eg John LeClair, Todd Bertuzzi, Adam Graves
-Two way forward (no change to attributes) eg Steve Yzerman, Rod Brind'Amour, Steve Rucchin
-Checking forward (+ to defensive attributes, - to offensive attributes) eg Joel Otto, Kris Draper, Rob Zamuner
-Grinder (+ to physical attributes, - to offensive and defensive attributes) eg Martin Lapointe, Mike Grier, Shjon Podein
-Agitator (+ to hitting / agitation / temperament / misconduct frequency, - to aggression, fight tendency) eg Matthew Barnaby, Steve Ott, Maxim Lapierre
-Enforcer (- to offensive attributes, + to hitting and fight tendency) aka a grinder that fights eg Darren McCarty, Kelly Chase, Paul Laus
-Goon (- to offensive and defensive attributes, + to hitting, aggression, fight tendency and misconduct frequency) eg Gino Odjick, Shane Churla, Brantt Myhres

For defensemen:
-Quarterback (+ to offensive skills) eg Ray Bourque, Phil Housley, Sergei Zubov
-Point Shooter (+ to shooting skills, - to passing skills) eg Al MacInnis, Al Iafrate, Rob Blake
-Puck Rusher (+ to offensive skills, ++ to skating skills, - to defensive skills) eg Brian Leetch, Paul Coffey, Mike Green
-Two way defenseman (no change to attributes) eg Chris Chelios, Larry Murphy, Glen Wesley
-Bruiser (+ to defensive skills, ++ to hitting skills, - to positioning) eg Scott Stevens, Adam Foote, Vladimir Konstantinov)
-Stay at home defenseman (- to offensive skills, -- to shooting skills, + to defensive skills) eg Karlis Skrastins, Marc Staal, Joe Reekie
-Crease clearing defenseman (-- to all offensive skills, + to positioning and defensive skills, + to penalty tendency, - opposing forwards' screening ability) eg Jay Wells, Craig Ludwig, Luke Schenn
-Agitator (+ to hitting / agitation / temperament / misconduct frequency, - to aggression, fight tendency) eg Darius Kasparaitis, Ulf Samuelsson, Radko Gudas
-Enforcer (- to all offensive skills, + to fighting tendency and misconduct tendency) eg Paul Laus, Jeff Beukeboom, Bob Boughner

Obviously this is just to give examples of players in each mold, and individual attributes would still dictate a lot about what happens, but I think this would be better than trying to understand the difference between an "up and down winger" and a "2 way forward"

I also think roles for the PP and PK should be specific. Counterattacking forward at even strength is basically just a defensive forward with some scoring ability, but on PK, I take it to mean a player who has offensive ability who will try to score given the chance (vs just clearing the puck). I'd also like to see defensive roles for the PK that determine whether someone pressure the puck or plays passive. And for the PP, defensemen could have the option to "pinch" or "stay back."

So, say, for the PK:
roles of "passive defender" "shot blocker" "grinder" "counterattacking forward"
then for D: "two way defenseman," "stay at home defenseman," "bruiser," and "crease clearing defenseman."

And perhaps for the PP:
For forwards: Playmaker, setup man, screener, sniper, two-way forward
For D (and forwards on D): Quarterback (max 1 per PP unit), Point Shooter, One-Time Passer, Pinching D, Two-way defenseman)

I think this would be a little simpler and more interesting. Plus making it so any player can be deployed in any role on any line, subject to even strength / PP / PK situation.

[laving]

Suggestions for better draft day experience, that should be to painful to implement:

* Next Pick
On the Draft Screen, Draft Tab, it should say somewhere who's on the clock. I know you get the information on the next tab, Draft Order, but this would be helpful.

* Move the AI Pick button
So, you're hitting the Next Pick button, waiting for your team to be on the clock. Loosing focus for a split second, and you have accidentally hit the AI Pick button when it's your turn. Moving the AI Pick button so it don't overlap with where the Next Pick button normally is located should avoid any annoying mishaps. Having a confirmation pop-up for the AI Pick button should also do the trick. (And if you wondered, the AI picked a completely rubbish player for me in the second round ).

* Adding Pick Number on Trade Screen
Tried to trade for one of the Blue Jackets three first round picks. But even after the Draft Lottery, you can't see anywhere which overall pick it is you're trading for. The Draft Screen doesn't show the pick's original owner, and the Trade Screen doesn't show the overall number. And since the draft is scheduled after July 1st, you can't see the standings. You're basically guessing which pick you are trading for. There should be at least one way to identify which pick is which.

[redtiger7]

While mid game adjusments are great, I find the pop ups intrusive. Not to mention that I'm not really feeling as if I'm in control . You feel as if you should be answering yes to verything that pops up, like it's hinting that this is what you should be doing. What if we had a menu we could access at any time of the game with entries allowing us to do the actions from those pop ups , with out being prompted. (Play more defensivly, target player A, put pressure on this player, etc...)

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by laving

(And if you wondered, the AI picked a completely rubbish player for me in the second round ).

Drat, double drat! I feel your pain...

Originally Posted by redtiger7

While mid game adjusments are great, I find the pop ups intrusive. Not to mention that I'm not really feeling as if I'm in control . You feel as if you should be answering yes to verything that pops up, like it's hinting that this is what you should be doing. What if we had a menu we could access at any time of the game with entries allowing us to do the actions from those pop ups , with out being prompted. (Play more defensivly, target player A, put pressure on this player, etc...)

Good idea. Plus one.