Some suggestions

jdek · 01-15-2019, 08:03 AM

Hello!

First of all, I would like to thank the developers for an outstanding game. I've never had this much fun in a hockey simulator before.

My first save on this game is with a team in the Swedish Hockey League, and I'm blown away by the realism. Being swedish and a big hockey fan, I'd say I have a good grasp of how the league works, and there are some minor things I'd change to make it even more realistic.

1. Players being contracted by a NHL team
Problem:
From my experience after three seasons, the amount of players who sign contracts with the NHL isn't very realistic. Especially in the first season, the NHL completely destroyed my team with 9 call-ups. I had a pretty bad season and finished 11th in the league, only two of my players had a standout season and yet everyone with 2,5 stars or higher were pulled from my team.

Realistically, every team loses 0-2 players per season to the NHL (Not counting recently drafted players). Most of the time they sign a 24-27 year old, either undrafted or a draftee that was never signed. In my save I had a 33 year old center, who in real life has turned down any contract offers from north american teams after a failed AHL run in the 05-06 season. He relies heavily on his playmaking abilities and doesn't really fit on a bottom 6 line. He's just not NHL material. In my save, he was contracted by the Blue Jackets, used in the initial 11 games and then scratched for the rest of the season. He ended his career at 35 years without any more playing time in any league, in the SHL he could probably have continued another year or two. On another team, I saw Joel Lundqvist being sent to the NHL at age 37. Not very realistic.

Three of my players were grinders in my bottom 6, with pretty bad seasons behind them. They were also snatched by the NHL which I guess was because of their high SHL rating. All three ended up in the AHL, or even worse - the ECHL.

Suggestion:
Have the NHL teams make more realistic decisions of who they pick from the SHL. Has this player had one or more unsuccessful stints in NA before? Will his role fit on the current NHL roster? Does the player have the potential to succeed in the NHL? A lot of times I feel like the AI picks maxed out players because of a good season in the SHL, but that rarely happens. Most of the guys are picked because they still have some untapped potential. The difference between the SHL and NHL is so big that even the best SHL players are very unsuccessful in the NHL if they are at an age where they won't really improve.

There should also be an option to loan the players back if the NHL team decides that they weren't good enough. Instead of sending them to the AHL, a lot of players return to their old SHL club on a loan. Not sure exactly how that works contract-wise, but I know SHL clubs can't compete with NHL salaries, so I guess it's some sort of separate contract. A lot of players opt to do this rather than playing in the AHL, and they definitely don't go to the ECHL for entire seasons.

I guess the same applies to other european leagues similar to the SHL, like Liiga and the Swiss league.

2. In-game coaching
Problem:
I have a little bit of trouble understanding the point of "playing" a game rather than simming it. It seems to me like the on-ice coaching is very limited, and the players are not really commited to the tactics I've set up. I totally understand that I can't expect my team to play 100% according to my tactics, but I feel like they sometimes completely ignore it. My 2nd line is instructed to start plays deep in the defensive zone and through the center with a deep-lying center to help out. Most of the time my defender whips the puck up the ice to a winger, who immediately charges at goal and thunders the puck on the goalie's shoulder and out of play.

Also, it's a little bit hard to tell because of the way the games are being displayed. My wish for the next installment (Or a patch) with a more detailed and fluid visualisation of the ice. Not asking for a 3D engine, but something a bit more detailed so it's easier to find out why certain tactics aren't working, and what I can do to make my team score.

Also, when I scratch players mid-game, due to being overly aggressive or just being plain bad, they somehow sneak themselves back on the ice and log a few more minutes before the game ends.

3. Improving relationships with players
I haven't really explored this as much as my other two suggestions but in my experience, there are limited ways of interacting with your players. The best thing I can do to improve my relationship with them is to give them a lot of ice-time, and awarding them with captaincies.

I'd like to be able to have meetings with the team and specific players, both initiated by me and by them. If they have concerns regarding the tactics, I'd like them to tell me. Maybe they want to be put on another line, switch their line mate or maybe they want really want to play their old team? Or even give me useful tips on how to play against them?

Also I would like a warning then they are not planning to re-sign with me. Every off-season 1-2 players surprise me with a refusal, even though they are happy on the team. It would also be useful if there was some way to talk them into resigning even if they initially refuse. I understand that sometimes it happens in real life too, but they also sometimes tell their GMs or coaches when they are not planning to re-sign.

It would also be cool to talk to players who are not at your club at the moment, just to see if they would be interested or maybe even improve your relationship with them to have an upper hand when they become free agents.

4. Affiliate team negotiations
Could be that this is already implemented. Couldn't find anything in the manual so I'll post this suggestion as well.

My affiliated teams for my SHL are only junior teams within the same organization. I'm playing as Färjestad BK in the SHL, who are sort of affiliated to BIK Karlskoga in Allsvenskan. It used to be a much closer affiliation, but BIK and Färjestad still exchange players on a regular basis, a lot of times on loan deals. It kind of works like NHL and AHL affiliations. This affiliation doesn't seem to exist at all in this game, and my problem occurs when I want to give ice time to players who are above the age of 20 but don't make the cut for my team.

As of now, I can only send players down to Färjestad BK J20, and that league only allows players under the age of 20.

It would be awesome if I had the option to negotiate new affiliations with teams in Allsvenskan and HockeyEttan, and those teams would at least have a higher chance of taking on players from my team on loan or a higher chance of accepting offers from my team than other SHL teams.

5. Players stuck in HockeyEttan
This has really been bugging me. HockeyEttan (Sweden's thierd tier league) has produced several promising prospects, but the problem is that I can't get any of them on my team. There is especially one defenseman that I really want to have on my team. He has a unique playing style, is rather young and has a high potential by SHL standards. He plays for a team in HockeyEttan and it doesn't seem like there is any way to get him.

I can't offer his team a trade (The option doesn't appear), and they keep extending his contract before the season ends. If I try to offer him a contract it just says that the SHL honour contracts in HockeyEttan. I found him at age 17, and now he's already 23. He's way too good for HockeyEttan, but it seems like he'll stay there for the rest of his career.

This is the case for several other players in HockeyEttan. The only time I see them leave is when KHL or NHL teams contract them. There should really be a way to get these players as a SHL team.

6. Champions Hockey League
This is a fun tournament for european teams, but it seems a little bit overlooked. The only thing that works in this tournament is playing games and seeing the standings page. The other pages don't work (Stats to name an example).

I can't add the tournament to my news feed, and I don't always know what's going on in that tournament. I've only seen one e-mail regarding the CHL, and it tells me which team won in the final. In the season summary, your performance in the CHL doesn't count. I guess that's alright though, because people don't really care that much about this tournament in real life. But it would be nice to receive some bonus points if you have a good run.

The biggest problem I have with this league is the difference in roster regulations between the CHL and SHL. The CHL only allows 23 players on your current roster, while the SHL allow 30. Since I can't send players above the age of 20 to any affiliate teams, the only solution has been to buyout players. That means that every season I'm in the CHL I can only have 23 players who are 20+ on my roster. It's not entirely bad, because I've had to use a lot more young players and some of them have had good performances. But it kinda sucks to have to spend money on buying out contracts on depth players.

7. Prospects taken too soon
This is related to my first suggestion, but this is just about my prospects. So far, any prospect that is showing a lot of potential is taken by an NHL team right after they are drafted. A lot of them are taken right from my J20 team. While this does happen occasionally in real life, most young swedish prospects take 1-3 years to establish themselves in the SHL (Or even Allsvenskan) before moving to NA. It also seems to happen more often if I put them on my first team roster during the pre-season.

So far I've only been able to keep one prospect on my team, while five (In two seasons) have moved the major junior leagues or the AHL before I've had the chance to use them.

Like I said, this happens on occassion in real life but not as often as it happens in the game. It's hurting my team a little. I hesitate to pick up players who are under 20 with a decent potential, and instead I have to spend a lot more money to get established SHL players who have a smaller chance if being taken by a NHL team. I really enjoy developing prospects, so it's taking a little bit of fun out of it too.

8. SHL salaries
Very minor suggestion, since the only real problem I have with it is realism.

The development of salaries in the SHL is extremely fast. During my first season I think my highest paid player had something like 190,000 USD per year. Now I see several players in the SHL with 500-700,000 USD contracts, and that's waaaay above the league standard. They seem to compare NHL and SHL salaries in an unrealistic way.

The reason I don't really care about this is because I don't have trouble to sign a player who realistically could be signed by SHL teams, since my salary budget is on par with the salary demands. It's only the realism. The highest payed SHL player today is Jack Connolly who has a salary of 2,400,000 SEK a year (Something like 270,000 USD) and the second highest is Ted Brithén with 2,150,00 SEK (240,000 USD) and the standard for first line players is something between 1,600,000-1,000,000 SEK (200,000-100,000 USD)

That's it for now. Again, I love this game. Amazing work, these were just some minor suggestions

Alessandro · 01-15-2019, 09:29 AM

Thank you for playing in Europe, it's not many of us who try their way in the old continent.

I agree with most of your points.
1) if it's any consolation, as you said transfer problems apply to most European leagues, KHL included. Moreover, the rules aren't well implemented, hopefully as the years pass, we'll get it closer to the reality.
2) I agree especially with your last line. I bench players, yet they keep on playing. We need a bettere game presentation, there's little doubt in that and I'm sure the devs are well aware of this.
3) Having even half of this would be awesome

jdek · 01-15-2019, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Thank you for playing in Europe, it's not many of us who try their way in the old continent.

I agree with most of your points.
1) if it's any consolation, as you said transfer problems apply to most European leagues, KHL included. Moreover, the rules aren't well implemented, hopefully as the years pass, we'll get it closer to the reality.
2) I agree especially with your last line. I bench players, yet they keep on playing. We need a bettere game presentation, there's little doubt in that and I'm sure the devs are well aware of this.
3) Having even half of this would be awesome

Oh, that’s entirely my pleasure. I’m a big fan of european hockey, so I’m just glad it wasn’t overlooked. I’m planning on giving the other leagues a go, as well as forming a real top flight european league.

And thank you for your points, I’m really looking forward to the future of this game.

Alessandro · 01-15-2019, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdek

as well as forming a real top flight european league.

This is something that I would like to achieve as well, but currently it's not possible. You can either launch a completely custom game, with custom teams and players, and I don't like it, otherwise you can add teams to the KHL, but not moving teams between leagues, so for example you won't be able to get Frolunda join the KHL and the likes.
Having the chance to move teams between leagues would be awesome...

renojedi · 01-15-2019, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdek

2. In-game coaching
Problem:
I have a little bit of trouble understanding the point of "playing" a game rather than simming it. It seems to me like the on-ice coaching is very limited, and the players are not really commited to the tactics I've set up. I totally understand that I can't expect my team to play 100% according to my tactics, but I feel like they sometimes completely ignore it. My 2nd line is instructed to start plays deep in the defensive zone and through the center with a deep-lying center to help out. Most of the time my defender whips the puck up the ice to a winger, who immediately charges at goal and thunders the puck on the goalie's shoulder and out of play.

Also, it's a little bit hard to tell because of the way the games are being displayed. My wish for the next installment (Or a patch) with a more detailed and fluid visualisation of the ice. Not asking for a 3D engine, but something a bit more detailed so it's easier to find out why certain tactics aren't working, and what I can do to make my team score.

This is my only (substantive) issue with the game. One thing that is related to what you said is we really have no idea what the opponent is doing. When I read in the manual that certain offenses work best against certain defenses and vice versa none of that matters if I can't tell what the opponent is doing. That may be why players aren't following our tactics--the opponent gets a vote on our game plan as well!

Someone mentioned it would be great if the assistant coach feedback mentioned what was happening or what style/formation the opponent is playing. That could be an interim fix. So if it makes it too easy to list the AI offense because we could just pick the appropriate defense maybe the assistant could say they have countered our defense, or the opponent is doing "X" and we have to figure it out. No matter what is done, you are right that a better way to "see" games is sorely needed.

We all play games differently so for those of us who play out the games this is arguably the #1 area we want a focus on. I know it is probably too big of a project for this current game but I like the way you think and will hold out hope that it can be had in an update

Gerry58 · 01-18-2019, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by renojedi

This is my only (substantive) issue with the game. One thing that is related to what you said is we really have no idea what the opponent is doing. When I read in the manual that certain offenses work best against certain defenses and vice versa none of that matters if I can't tell what the opponent is doing. That may be why players aren't following our tactics--the opponent gets a vote on our game plan as well!

Someone mentioned it would be great if the assistant coach feedback mentioned what was happening or what style/formation the opponent is playing. That could be an interim fix. So if it makes it too easy to list the AI offense because we could just pick the appropriate defense maybe the assistant could say they have countered our defense, or the opponent is doing "X" and we have to figure it out. No matter what is done, you are right that a better way to "see" games is sorely needed.

Same here, really seems like the game is more suited for a GM style of play. Disappointing

jdek · 01-23-2019, 05:07 AM

Updated the first post with new suggestions that I've thought of after another 5 seasons in the SHL

(Suggestions 4-8 are new)

Alessandro · 01-23-2019, 07:33 AM

Regarding the 8 - there seems to be a steep difference between year 1 and the next years in (European) salaries, then it stabilizes.
Champions Hockey League is in terrible shape today as it is... you can't know the aggregates, you don't even know in what turn you are because the game doesn't tell you anything. I won the Champions League (with HC Ambri-Piotta!) and all I got is a news item announcing that I won. Not even that, that HC Ambri-Piotta won. That's all. You should ideally get news items whenever you are qualified for the next stage (at least to know what stage you are!), or don't pass the turn etc. I frankly feel the same for the NHL/league playoffs stage, but at least there you can see the playoffs tree, which you cannot in the CHL.
Other problems are the same in other European leagues. I hope that for the next year the European play will get some attention.
I would add to your list, the absolute impossibility to get rid of your players. I had a young goalie emerging through the season, so now I have three first-team goalies. It's a situation that happens in hockey. So now with the third goalie I can't do absolutely nothing other than keeping him in my team until his contract runs out. This is ridicolous, in real life I'll first try to sell him for a nominal amount, or I would just mutually dissolve the contract and both parts would just go on...

Alessandro · 01-23-2019, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by renojedi

This is my only (substantive) issue with the game. One thing that is related to what you said is we really have no idea what the opponent is doing. When I read in the manual that certain offenses work best against certain defenses and vice versa none of that matters if I can't tell what the opponent is doing. That may be why players aren't following our tactics--the opponent gets a vote on our game plan as well!

Someone mentioned it would be great if the assistant coach feedback mentioned what was happening or what style/formation the opponent is playing. That could be an interim fix. So if it makes it too easy to list the AI offense because we could just pick the appropriate defense maybe the assistant could say they have countered our defense, or the opponent is doing "X" and we have to figure it out. No matter what is done, you are right that a better way to "see" games is sorely needed.

We all play games differently so for those of us who play out the games this is arguably the #1 area we want a focus on. I know it is probably too big of a project for this current game but I like the way you think and will hold out hope that it can be had in an update

You are somewhat right, but I think it's not as easy as it gets. To put it simple, if you tell the player that attack B defeats defense A, the user plays Attack B and wins all the games.
Even a game like Football Manager had to go through a(nother) lift of the tactics system because the player had too many information that turned the game into being too easy.
It's really a fine line. Probably, last year we knew too much. Now, we don't know enough. Hopefully next year we'll find the golden medium

Alessandro · 01-23-2019, 07:39 AM

And lastly, regarding the thread starter's points, having a dynamic affiliation system, where you can negotiate and have affiliates working over a period, then you have to renew the contract or find yourself another affiliate, I think this is something the devs would like to achieve in the (not near) future, but you can imagine that it should be a bit complicated.
That being said, the easiest option would just be implement loans in the game, the possibility to offer players on loan where (minor leaugue) teams "apply" to get the player, and things like that.

jdek · 01-23-2019, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Regarding the 8 - there seems to be a steep difference between year 1 and the next years in (European) salaries, then it stabilizes.
Champions Hockey League is in terrible shape today as it is... you can't know the aggregates, you don't even know in what turn you are because the game doesn't tell you anything. I won the Champions League (with HC Ambri-Piotta!) and all I got is a news item announcing that I won. Not even that, that HC Ambri-Piotta won. That's all. You should ideally get news items whenever you are qualified for the next stage (at least to know what stage you are!), or don't pass the turn etc. I frankly feel the same for the NHL/league playoffs stage, but at least there you can see the playoffs tree, which you cannot in the CHL.
Other problems are the same in other European leagues. I hope that for the next year the European play will get some attention.
I would add to your list, the absolute impossibility to get rid of your players. I had a young goalie emerging through the season, so now I have three first-team goalies. It's a situation that happens in hockey. So now with the third goalie I can't do absolutely nothing other than keeping him in my team until his contract runs out. This is ridicolous, in real life I'll first try to sell him for a nominal amount, or I would just mutually dissolve the contract and both parts would just go on...

Yes, that's true. It doesn't seem to go up much after the first season. Some teams (Including myself) tend to sign bolder contracts every year, but by a much smaller margin than during the first year.

Congrats on winning! I've only managed to get to the finals. However, after a couple of seasons I discovered that the playoff tree is actually hidden in the Standings tab. I noticed that I was able to scroll down below the groups and find the playoff tree there. It was hard to find though, considering that I was looking at the tab that normally displays the playoff tree.

And yes I agree with the difficulty of losing players. Buying them out seems to be the only viable way of getting rid of them fast. I've placed players on my trade block, but I've only managed to sell one single player during my 8 or 9 seasons in the SHL. I'm guessing the trade block is ignored in the SHL? Since the trading is different from the NHL. Mutual dissolve sounds like a good solution, if the player is dissatisfied and agrees.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessandro

And lastly, regarding the thread starter's points, having a dynamic affiliation system, where you can negotiate and have affiliates working over a period, then you have to renew the contract or find yourself another affiliate, I think this is something the devs would like to achieve in the (not near) future, but you can imagine that it should be a bit complicated.
That being said, the easiest option would just be implement loans in the game, the possibility to offer players on loan where (minor leaugue) teams "apply" to get the player, and things like that.

I would love for this system to be in place!

croatian · 01-23-2019, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alessandro

. I won the Champions League (with HC Ambri-Piotta!) .

I would like to see winning roster

Alessandro · 01-24-2019, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by croatian

I would like to see winning roster

croatian · 01-24-2019, 07:44 AM

Wow :O That's "heavy" team in terms of Ambri budget. Who did you beat in the finals ?

Alessandro · 01-24-2019, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by croatian

Wow :O That's "heavy" team in terms of Ambri budget. Who did you beat in the finals ?

I went a bit top-heavy with Sbisa and Paajarvi and saved a lot on goalies, look how much I'm paying them haha. Moy is good but I'm paying him too much, he's got a decent GR because he racked up a few good performances against low-seeded teams.
All-in-all, I'm spending only 4.6 million dollars so I don't think it's unrealistic money-wise. In real life, Sbisa would never sign with Ambri-Piotta, but the lack of a team reputation allowed me to sign him. Probably Plastino is also a bit overrated in the game.
The situation is pretty realistic imho. I have a very top-heavy team, and riding two hot goalies with a strong first line I managed to win it all (notice the only 3 goals allowed in the semifinals and finals). But that's not enough in the league, where I am only fifth (although the gap is very close) as I lost too many games, either for bad goaltending (I spend more on Sbisa than on all my goalies combined for two years lol) or for lack of secondary scoring once that Maelananen can't put it in the back of the net.

This is my CHL path (odd not to have Frolunda btw, they are a middle of the pack team in the SHL in my save

)

SirMichaelJordan · 01-24-2019, 09:26 PM

I would love a FM style classic 2D gameplay in this game.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

01-15-2019, 08:03 AM	#1
jdek Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2019 Posts: 13	Some suggestions Hello! First of all, I would like to thank the developers for an outstanding game. I've never had this much fun in a hockey simulator before. My first save on this game is with a team in the Swedish Hockey League, and I'm blown away by the realism. Being swedish and a big hockey fan, I'd say I have a good grasp of how the league works, and there are some minor things I'd change to make it even more realistic. 1. Players being contracted by a NHL team Problem: From my experience after three seasons, the amount of players who sign contracts with the NHL isn't very realistic. Especially in the first season, the NHL completely destroyed my team with 9 call-ups. I had a pretty bad season and finished 11th in the league, only two of my players had a standout season and yet everyone with 2,5 stars or higher were pulled from my team. Realistically, every team loses 0-2 players per season to the NHL (Not counting recently drafted players). Most of the time they sign a 24-27 year old, either undrafted or a draftee that was never signed. In my save I had a 33 year old center, who in real life has turned down any contract offers from north american teams after a failed AHL run in the 05-06 season. He relies heavily on his playmaking abilities and doesn't really fit on a bottom 6 line. He's just not NHL material. In my save, he was contracted by the Blue Jackets, used in the initial 11 games and then scratched for the rest of the season. He ended his career at 35 years without any more playing time in any league, in the SHL he could probably have continued another year or two. On another team, I saw Joel Lundqvist being sent to the NHL at age 37. Not very realistic. Three of my players were grinders in my bottom 6, with pretty bad seasons behind them. They were also snatched by the NHL which I guess was because of their high SHL rating. All three ended up in the AHL, or even worse - the ECHL. Suggestion: Have the NHL teams make more realistic decisions of who they pick from the SHL. Has this player had one or more unsuccessful stints in NA before? Will his role fit on the current NHL roster? Does the player have the potential to succeed in the NHL? A lot of times I feel like the AI picks maxed out players because of a good season in the SHL, but that rarely happens. Most of the guys are picked because they still have some untapped potential. The difference between the SHL and NHL is so big that even the best SHL players are very unsuccessful in the NHL if they are at an age where they won't really improve. There should also be an option to loan the players back if the NHL team decides that they weren't good enough. Instead of sending them to the AHL, a lot of players return to their old SHL club on a loan. Not sure exactly how that works contract-wise, but I know SHL clubs can't compete with NHL salaries, so I guess it's some sort of separate contract. A lot of players opt to do this rather than playing in the AHL, and they definitely don't go to the ECHL for entire seasons. I guess the same applies to other european leagues similar to the SHL, like Liiga and the Swiss league. 2. In-game coaching Problem: I have a little bit of trouble understanding the point of "playing" a game rather than simming it. It seems to me like the on-ice coaching is very limited, and the players are not really commited to the tactics I've set up. I totally understand that I can't expect my team to play 100% according to my tactics, but I feel like they sometimes completely ignore it. My 2nd line is instructed to start plays deep in the defensive zone and through the center with a deep-lying center to help out. Most of the time my defender whips the puck up the ice to a winger, who immediately charges at goal and thunders the puck on the goalie's shoulder and out of play. Also, it's a little bit hard to tell because of the way the games are being displayed. My wish for the next installment (Or a patch) with a more detailed and fluid visualisation of the ice. Not asking for a 3D engine, but something a bit more detailed so it's easier to find out why certain tactics aren't working, and what I can do to make my team score. Also, when I scratch players mid-game, due to being overly aggressive or just being plain bad, they somehow sneak themselves back on the ice and log a few more minutes before the game ends. 3. Improving relationships with players I haven't really explored this as much as my other two suggestions but in my experience, there are limited ways of interacting with your players. The best thing I can do to improve my relationship with them is to give them a lot of ice-time, and awarding them with captaincies. I'd like to be able to have meetings with the team and specific players, both initiated by me and by them. If they have concerns regarding the tactics, I'd like them to tell me. Maybe they want to be put on another line, switch their line mate or maybe they want really want to play their old team? Or even give me useful tips on how to play against them? Also I would like a warning then they are not planning to re-sign with me. Every off-season 1-2 players surprise me with a refusal, even though they are happy on the team. It would also be useful if there was some way to talk them into resigning even if they initially refuse. I understand that sometimes it happens in real life too, but they also sometimes tell their GMs or coaches when they are not planning to re-sign. It would also be cool to talk to players who are not at your club at the moment, just to see if they would be interested or maybe even improve your relationship with them to have an upper hand when they become free agents. 4. Affiliate team negotiations Could be that this is already implemented. Couldn't find anything in the manual so I'll post this suggestion as well. My affiliated teams for my SHL are only junior teams within the same organization. I'm playing as Färjestad BK in the SHL, who are sort of affiliated to BIK Karlskoga in Allsvenskan. It used to be a much closer affiliation, but BIK and Färjestad still exchange players on a regular basis, a lot of times on loan deals. It kind of works like NHL and AHL affiliations. This affiliation doesn't seem to exist at all in this game, and my problem occurs when I want to give ice time to players who are above the age of 20 but don't make the cut for my team. As of now, I can only send players down to Färjestad BK J20, and that league only allows players under the age of 20. It would be awesome if I had the option to negotiate new affiliations with teams in Allsvenskan and HockeyEttan, and those teams would at least have a higher chance of taking on players from my team on loan or a higher chance of accepting offers from my team than other SHL teams. 5. Players stuck in HockeyEttan This has really been bugging me. HockeyEttan (Sweden's thierd tier league) has produced several promising prospects, but the problem is that I can't get any of them on my team. There is especially one defenseman that I really want to have on my team. He has a unique playing style, is rather young and has a high potential by SHL standards. He plays for a team in HockeyEttan and it doesn't seem like there is any way to get him. I can't offer his team a trade (The option doesn't appear), and they keep extending his contract before the season ends. If I try to offer him a contract it just says that the SHL honour contracts in HockeyEttan. I found him at age 17, and now he's already 23. He's way too good for HockeyEttan, but it seems like he'll stay there for the rest of his career. This is the case for several other players in HockeyEttan. The only time I see them leave is when KHL or NHL teams contract them. There should really be a way to get these players as a SHL team. 6. Champions Hockey League This is a fun tournament for european teams, but it seems a little bit overlooked. The only thing that works in this tournament is playing games and seeing the standings page. The other pages don't work (Stats to name an example). I can't add the tournament to my news feed, and I don't always know what's going on in that tournament. I've only seen one e-mail regarding the CHL, and it tells me which team won in the final. In the season summary, your performance in the CHL doesn't count. I guess that's alright though, because people don't really care that much about this tournament in real life. But it would be nice to receive some bonus points if you have a good run. The biggest problem I have with this league is the difference in roster regulations between the CHL and SHL. The CHL only allows 23 players on your current roster, while the SHL allow 30. Since I can't send players above the age of 20 to any affiliate teams, the only solution has been to buyout players. That means that every season I'm in the CHL I can only have 23 players who are 20+ on my roster. It's not entirely bad, because I've had to use a lot more young players and some of them have had good performances. But it kinda sucks to have to spend money on buying out contracts on depth players. 7. Prospects taken too soon This is related to my first suggestion, but this is just about my prospects. So far, any prospect that is showing a lot of potential is taken by an NHL team right after they are drafted. A lot of them are taken right from my J20 team. While this does happen occasionally in real life, most young swedish prospects take 1-3 years to establish themselves in the SHL (Or even Allsvenskan) before moving to NA. It also seems to happen more often if I put them on my first team roster during the pre-season. So far I've only been able to keep one prospect on my team, while five (In two seasons) have moved the major junior leagues or the AHL before I've had the chance to use them. Like I said, this happens on occassion in real life but not as often as it happens in the game. It's hurting my team a little. I hesitate to pick up players who are under 20 with a decent potential, and instead I have to spend a lot more money to get established SHL players who have a smaller chance if being taken by a NHL team. I really enjoy developing prospects, so it's taking a little bit of fun out of it too. 8. SHL salaries Very minor suggestion, since the only real problem I have with it is realism. The development of salaries in the SHL is extremely fast. During my first season I think my highest paid player had something like 190,000 USD per year. Now I see several players in the SHL with 500-700,000 USD contracts, and that's waaaay above the league standard. They seem to compare NHL and SHL salaries in an unrealistic way. The reason I don't really care about this is because I don't have trouble to sign a player who realistically could be signed by SHL teams, since my salary budget is on par with the salary demands. It's only the realism. The highest payed SHL player today is Jack Connolly who has a salary of 2,400,000 SEK a year (Something like 270,000 USD) and the second highest is Ted Brithén with 2,150,00 SEK (240,000 USD) and the standard for first line players is something between 1,600,000-1,000,000 SEK (200,000-100,000 USD) That's it for now. Again, I love this game. Amazing work, these were just some minor suggestions Last edited by jdek; 01-23-2019 at 05:10 AM. Reason: Update

01-15-2019, 09:29 AM	#2
Alessandro Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 6,387	Thank you for playing in Europe, it's not many of us who try their way in the old continent. I agree with most of your points. 1) if it's any consolation, as you said transfer problems apply to most European leagues, KHL included. Moreover, the rules aren't well implemented, hopefully as the years pass, we'll get it closer to the reality. 2) I agree especially with your last line. I bench players, yet they keep on playing. We need a bettere game presentation, there's little doubt in that and I'm sure the devs are well aware of this. 3) Having even half of this would be awesome

01-23-2019, 05:07 AM	#7
jdek Bat Boy Join Date: Jan 2019 Posts: 13	Updated the first post with new suggestions that I've thought of after another 5 seasons in the SHL (Suggestions 4-8 are new)

01-23-2019, 07:33 AM	#8
Alessandro Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 6,387	Regarding the 8 - there seems to be a steep difference between year 1 and the next years in (European) salaries, then it stabilizes. Champions Hockey League is in terrible shape today as it is... you can't know the aggregates, you don't even know in what turn you are because the game doesn't tell you anything. I won the Champions League (with HC Ambri-Piotta!) and all I got is a news item announcing that I won. Not even that, that HC Ambri-Piotta won. That's all. You should ideally get news items whenever you are qualified for the next stage (at least to know what stage you are!), or don't pass the turn etc. I frankly feel the same for the NHL/league playoffs stage, but at least there you can see the playoffs tree, which you cannot in the CHL. Other problems are the same in other European leagues. I hope that for the next year the European play will get some attention. I would add to your list, the absolute impossibility to get rid of your players. I had a young goalie emerging through the season, so now I have three first-team goalies. It's a situation that happens in hockey. So now with the third goalie I can't do absolutely nothing other than keeping him in my team until his contract runs out. This is ridicolous, in real life I'll first try to sell him for a nominal amount, or I would just mutually dissolve the contract and both parts would just go on...

01-23-2019, 07:39 AM	#10
Alessandro Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 6,387	And lastly, regarding the thread starter's points, having a dynamic affiliation system, where you can negotiate and have affiliates working over a period, then you have to renew the contract or find yourself another affiliate, I think this is something the devs would like to achieve in the (not near) future, but you can imagine that it should be a bit complicated. That being said, the easiest option would just be implement loans in the game, the possibility to offer players on loan where (minor leaugue) teams "apply" to get the player, and things like that.

01-24-2019, 07:44 AM	#14
croatian All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 1,040	Wow :O That's "heavy" team in terms of Ambri budget. Who did you beat in the finals ?

01-24-2019, 09:26 PM	#16
SirMichaelJordan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 2,627	I would love a FM style classic 2D gameplay in this game. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk