Notes from a historical game

CalgaryCannons · 04-02-2013, 01:07 PM

I've been playing the 0.9.9 release starting from the earliest possible starting date. I'm now on 1953 and wanted to summarize my thoughts on some bugs/features. I know many of the items I'm going to mention are still works in progress, but it's easier to just list everything and let the dev team sort out what is useful. If you want more info on anything, let me know.

Player Movement/Contracts

Player rights held indefinitely/player will never return to table for more negotiations
Right now when playing in historical mode when a players contract expires his team continues to hold his rights. This is likely accurate for the time, but causes issues with the current contract negotiation system - I've got two goalies that could be all-stars (Worsley and McNeil) but neither one wants to negotiate so they are never going to play another game in the NHL. I think this can at least partly be solved by making teams more likely to trade the rights to unsigned players, which leads into the next two issues.
No trades
In the six seasons I've played there have been zero trades between AI controlled teams and zero trade offers made by the AI. I've managed to complete a few trades that I've initiated.
Player rights have no value
Going back to my two star goalies that won't sign a new contract, I've tried to include their rights in trade offers but they seem to have negative value. I'm guessing that the trade logic is designed to prevent "quantity for quality" type trades by making teams unlikely to accept trades where they receive more assets than they give up, even if there is no cost to the additional players (i.e. rights to unsigned players). I can't even trade my unsigned players for another teams weaker unsigned players, so the only options I have are to release the players for nothing or just let them sit in my protected list until they retire. With the historical game having new players automatically assigned to their teams there are no players available as free agents, so if teams are at least willing to trade the rights to these players who refuse to play for them it should provide a way to build your team.
Waivers during season (with buyout required to send down)
I'm not sure when the waiver system started in the NHL, but I think it was part of the 2005 CBA. It shouldn't apply in 1947. Right now what happens is that if I want to move a player to my reserve list during the season they need to "clear waivers" (unless they are young enough not to need that) and if they clear then my only option is to buy out the rest of their contract. This has caused me some problems when I have a bunch of players on the injured list, bring in replacements in order to fill out my lineup and then can't send anybody back to the reserve list when the players get healthy. In some cases I've had to buy a player out of his contract, send him to the reserve list and then sign him again so I can cover the next injury. Of course, this isn't a problem because of the next issue:
Team budgets seem way too high.
I'm playing as the Montreal Canadiens and my budget is so high that money really isn't an issue for me. I can sign any player to whatever contract they want and can throw cash into trades without ever worrying about it. My current budget (in 1953) is $151 million and the current payroll is $89 million. This may just be a special case of the Habs having a really good TV deal and my team being quite young with lots of cheap players as the AI teams seem to spend to their budget.
Players magically added to my active roster
It seems that at the start of the playoffs my roster is automatically filled out with players from my reserve list if I'm under the 23 players permitted. This has caused issues when I've had open spaces waiting for a player to come back from the injured list, especially when the player that gets automatically called up needs to clear waivers and get bought out to remove from the roster.

Stats/History

No record of who won Stanley Cup
I've played six seasons but I don't know who won the Stanley Cup in any of them - the league history page only shows the pre-1947 winners and the team history page shows my regular season record without ties, place in the standings or the 'X' marking cup wins.
Defenceman of the Year trophy voting is weird
There doesn't seem to be any logic behind who wins this award. One year my 5th defenceman won it while averaging just 14 minutes a game. To simulate how actual voters seem to think you could probably do a quick fix by using a weighted rank based on minutes played, points and plus-minus (and possibly actual talent to simulate reputation based wins).
Filter league stats by position and rookies
It would be nice to have a screen where I can see who the leading scorers are for rookies or defencemen.
PP/PK %
The Team Stats page includes PPG, SHG and Penalties per game, but not Power Play or Penalty Kill percentages which I think would be quite useful in evaluating these areas.
GAA/Sv Pct in career stats
The Career Stats page for the goaltenders includes GA and SA but not GAA and Sv% which would be quite useful.
Standings columns misaligned
The League Standings screen has the columns misaligned - there are two blank columns between the ties and points in the actual values, so the points are shown under the "Goals A" heading.
Many stats not recorded
Things like shutouts, fights won, game winning goals, etc. aren't being recorded.

News

News item for league rule changes
It would be useful to get a news item before each season (or towards the end of the previous season) outlining upcoming changes to the league rules. Things like the number of games (goes from 60 to 70 around 1949) or the number of players dressed for a game (which bounces all over the place - 18 to 19 to 18, etc.).
News stories for playoff series results, season end, game results, milestones, etc.
I'm sure this is in the works, but the world feels more alive when there are more news stories.

Injuries

Injury List screen should show length of injury
Right now the Injury List screen defaults to the Info page. The Health Status page would be more useful - if I'm going to that screen I usually want to know who is out and for how much longer.
Day to day injuries can't all be played through
There have been quite a few injuries where the "Health Status" for the player shows "Day-to-Day" instead of "Out" but they have a red cross and aren't able to dress.
News item for player can return from IR triggered by health regardless of number of days left on IR.
If I put a player on the Injured List when he is out for less than the minimum time on IR (7 days in this era/league) I get a popup alert when they become healthy saying I can move them off the Injured List, but I can't actually do it until they finish serving their time. The logic should be adjusted to show the alert when the player is healthy and is actually eligible to be moved back to the active roster.

Other

Player potential ratings less than actual
I'm thinking this is a result of the player ratings being adjusted each season based on historical results, but many of my players have an actual star rating that is much higher than what is shown as their potential (i.e. Jean Beliveau and Alex Delvecchio are currently a 5 star ability with a 1/2 star potential).
Screen showing player rating changes
It may be useful to have a screen which shows player development - what players ratings have gone up or down between seasons, etc.
Player comparisons
I often find myself trying to figure out which of two players is better and it currently is quite time-consuming. It would be nice to have a comparison screen similar to what Football Manager has where you can go to a player and then choose to compare them against any other player and it will show the ratings/stats for each side by side. This is useful for things like filling out a lineup (who is the better left winger?) or evaluating a potential trade or signing (is this player better than what I already have?).

04-02-2013, 01:07 PM	#1
CalgaryCannons Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 89	Notes from a historical game I've been playing the 0.9.9 release starting from the earliest possible starting date. I'm now on 1953 and wanted to summarize my thoughts on some bugs/features. I know many of the items I'm going to mention are still works in progress, but it's easier to just list everything and let the dev team sort out what is useful. If you want more info on anything, let me know. Player Movement/Contracts Player rights held indefinitely/player will never return to table for more negotiations Right now when playing in historical mode when a players contract expires his team continues to hold his rights. This is likely accurate for the time, but causes issues with the current contract negotiation system - I've got two goalies that could be all-stars (Worsley and McNeil) but neither one wants to negotiate so they are never going to play another game in the NHL. I think this can at least partly be solved by making teams more likely to trade the rights to unsigned players, which leads into the next two issues. No trades In the six seasons I've played there have been zero trades between AI controlled teams and zero trade offers made by the AI. I've managed to complete a few trades that I've initiated. Player rights have no value Going back to my two star goalies that won't sign a new contract, I've tried to include their rights in trade offers but they seem to have negative value. I'm guessing that the trade logic is designed to prevent "quantity for quality" type trades by making teams unlikely to accept trades where they receive more assets than they give up, even if there is no cost to the additional players (i.e. rights to unsigned players). I can't even trade my unsigned players for another teams weaker unsigned players, so the only options I have are to release the players for nothing or just let them sit in my protected list until they retire. With the historical game having new players automatically assigned to their teams there are no players available as free agents, so if teams are at least willing to trade the rights to these players who refuse to play for them it should provide a way to build your team. Waivers during season (with buyout required to send down) I'm not sure when the waiver system started in the NHL, but I think it was part of the 2005 CBA. It shouldn't apply in 1947. Right now what happens is that if I want to move a player to my reserve list during the season they need to "clear waivers" (unless they are young enough not to need that) and if they clear then my only option is to buy out the rest of their contract. This has caused me some problems when I have a bunch of players on the injured list, bring in replacements in order to fill out my lineup and then can't send anybody back to the reserve list when the players get healthy. In some cases I've had to buy a player out of his contract, send him to the reserve list and then sign him again so I can cover the next injury. Of course, this isn't a problem because of the next issue: Team budgets seem way too high. I'm playing as the Montreal Canadiens and my budget is so high that money really isn't an issue for me. I can sign any player to whatever contract they want and can throw cash into trades without ever worrying about it. My current budget (in 1953) is $151 million and the current payroll is $89 million. This may just be a special case of the Habs having a really good TV deal and my team being quite young with lots of cheap players as the AI teams seem to spend to their budget. Players magically added to my active roster It seems that at the start of the playoffs my roster is automatically filled out with players from my reserve list if I'm under the 23 players permitted. This has caused issues when I've had open spaces waiting for a player to come back from the injured list, especially when the player that gets automatically called up needs to clear waivers and get bought out to remove from the roster. Stats/History No record of who won Stanley Cup I've played six seasons but I don't know who won the Stanley Cup in any of them - the league history page only shows the pre-1947 winners and the team history page shows my regular season record without ties, place in the standings or the 'X' marking cup wins. Defenceman of the Year trophy voting is weird There doesn't seem to be any logic behind who wins this award. One year my 5th defenceman won it while averaging just 14 minutes a game. To simulate how actual voters seem to think you could probably do a quick fix by using a weighted rank based on minutes played, points and plus-minus (and possibly actual talent to simulate reputation based wins). Filter league stats by position and rookies It would be nice to have a screen where I can see who the leading scorers are for rookies or defencemen. PP/PK % The Team Stats page includes PPG, SHG and Penalties per game, but not Power Play or Penalty Kill percentages which I think would be quite useful in evaluating these areas. GAA/Sv Pct in career stats The Career Stats page for the goaltenders includes GA and SA but not GAA and Sv% which would be quite useful. Standings columns misaligned The League Standings screen has the columns misaligned - there are two blank columns between the ties and points in the actual values, so the points are shown under the "Goals A" heading. Many stats not recorded Things like shutouts, fights won, game winning goals, etc. aren't being recorded. News News item for league rule changes It would be useful to get a news item before each season (or towards the end of the previous season) outlining upcoming changes to the league rules. Things like the number of games (goes from 60 to 70 around 1949) or the number of players dressed for a game (which bounces all over the place - 18 to 19 to 18, etc.). News stories for playoff series results, season end, game results, milestones, etc. I'm sure this is in the works, but the world feels more alive when there are more news stories. Injuries Injury List screen should show length of injury Right now the Injury List screen defaults to the Info page. The Health Status page would be more useful - if I'm going to that screen I usually want to know who is out and for how much longer. Day to day injuries can't all be played through There have been quite a few injuries where the "Health Status" for the player shows "Day-to-Day" instead of "Out" but they have a red cross and aren't able to dress. News item for player can return from IR triggered by health regardless of number of days left on IR. If I put a player on the Injured List when he is out for less than the minimum time on IR (7 days in this era/league) I get a popup alert when they become healthy saying I can move them off the Injured List, but I can't actually do it until they finish serving their time. The logic should be adjusted to show the alert when the player is healthy and is actually eligible to be moved back to the active roster. Other Player potential ratings less than actual I'm thinking this is a result of the player ratings being adjusted each season based on historical results, but many of my players have an actual star rating that is much higher than what is shown as their potential (i.e. Jean Beliveau and Alex Delvecchio are currently a 5 star ability with a 1/2 star potential). Screen showing player rating changes It may be useful to have a screen which shows player development - what players ratings have gone up or down between seasons, etc. Player comparisons I often find myself trying to figure out which of two players is better and it currently is quite time-consuming. It would be nice to have a comparison screen similar to what Football Manager has where you can go to a player and then choose to compare them against any other player and it will show the ratings/stats for each side by side. This is useful for things like filling out a lineup (who is the better left winger?) or evaluating a potential trade or signing (is this player better than what I already have?).