Official NHL 11 CAG Team - CheapyD All Stars - Hockey Nights Tue @ 10e / Fri @ 8e

Status
Not open for further replies.
[quote name='Magicking610']Again, I live to prove people wrong. It might take a long time to change people's opinions (if they change at all), but it I set my mind to it, I can change. Eh, your right, it might be in everybody's interest for me to leave, but only if I don't change. Just give me one more chance. Besides, as I said, I'll even play with my mic off or on as little as possible until I think people wouldn't mind me.[/QUOTE]

I'd be ok with letting you play tonight...but with the knowledge that mistakes will be pointed out, and I don't want to hear much more than acknowledgment as a response. I think we've tried to be as fair as possible with the constructive criticism. You are far from the only person whose play has been critiqued. The important thing is learning from it. If we all just repeat the same mistakes, we'll never make any progress.

(This next part kinda goes for everybody)
With the understanding that mistakes will be pointed out, essentially, the choices are fix them so there's nothing to point out, or find a new team. Of course nobody is perfect, and some plays just catch you off guard. That's one thing. But what we see a lot of times is repeat offenses that give an overall impression of lack of knowledge. I absolutely recognize that we're taking this seriously, and I won't hold it against anybody if they don't want to be a part of that.

Having said that, I'm hoping for a good night tonight. I'll see you guys in a couple hours.
 
Nate, just make sure we have a third person along, since I have a bad connection during the weekdays (remember how I wanted the other hockey night to be Saturday? I had good reason to want it then). If my guy starts to skate around wildly, look for the arrow over my head to disappear. As you said, you wanted an acknowledgement, so I added a disclaimer to mine. Real test will be Friday if my connection doesn't prove strong enough, eh?

Thanks for the last chance, I hope I don't let you guys down.
 
I don't have time to read all that right now since I'm about to head out, but when I saw Magic's post yesterday, I was going to make a joke comparing it to the Lebron special. Looks like we got the forum version of that, LOL.

As I told Nate and Venom just now through Xbox.com, I'll be late since I have some business to handle. It should take about an hour, give or take 20 minutes. I'll just get on and join the party as soon as I get back.
 
My appearance tonight all depends on what time I get to leave work. Hopefully I'll be on about 130 though, if anyone is still on.
 
Indeed it is. Can't wait to play with you. Hopefully, Franky will get it, too.

We (Nate, Alan, DarkTower, statnut) switched to Uno after hockey because the EA servers went down at 11:30 Pacific for all games "for up to 5 hours" for all EA Sports games, according to the news update. I played peekaboo on camera with a person using a fox puppet, and compared guitars with said puppeteer. It was actually really fun.
 
New Tuner set today. Here's what it changes.

Sept 22 (gameplay balance) *Scheduled to be deployed at 2am PDT / 5 am EDT on Sept 22th.

-Increase maximum speed when hustling (L3).
-Easier to generate/maintain speed doing forward crossover turns.
-Decrease goalie acceleration.
-Increase chance of penalty when a stick lift breaks a stick.
-Decrease chance of stick lift causing a dropped stick.
-Increase to slap shot power
-Increase non-puck carrier acceleration and agility and decrease puck carrier acceleration and agility.
-Weaken shots in certain situations that were leading to goals with too high a frequency when cutting across the middle of the ice.
-Increase chance of losing balance when carrying the puck (online/HUT only).
-Increase chance of losing the puck when deking or turning sharply (online/HUT only).
-Increase chance of tripping on a poke check (undoing previous change that affected online/HUT).
Click to expand...
 
Oh boy, this tuner is gonna piss some people off. Slowing the goalie's acceleration? I dunno if it's just me, but the goalies seem too slow to begin with. Slowing the puck carrier while speeding up everyone else, well, could be good or bad, depends on which side you are on. And last, losing the puck even more? It's hard enough to pick up as is. Everything else isn't too bad.

So, EA went from being down for 30 minutes at 2AM PST to being down for 5 hours starting at 11:30? Sounds like an EA update.
 
[quote name='Magicking610']Oh boy, this tuner is gonna piss some people off. Slowing the goalie's acceleration? I dunno if it's just me, but the goalies seem too slow to begin with. Slowing the puck carrier while speeding up everyone else, well, could be good or bad, depends on which side you are on. And last, losing the puck even more? It's hard enough to pick up as is. Everything else isn't too bad.

So, EA went from being down for 30 minutes at 2AM PST to being down for 5 hours starting at 11:30? Sounds like an EA update.[/QUOTE]

I disagree. Decreasing the goalie's acceleration is a good thing because it's WAY too hard to score on normal shots (especially slap shots). If it takes him a little longer to get moving...combined with increased slap shot power, maybe we'll be able to score on something other than a shot that completely deceives him. As for slowing down the puck carrier and speeding up other skaters, I don't like that one. I think it's too easy to catch the puck carrier as it is.

Obviously, this is going to be drastically affected by what level your skater is, but I've seen countless times where the puck carrier is a good 5 feet ahead, but is caught from behind. I guess at best, this could make cherry picking less severe. I hate that they even added a "hustle button" though...and now they're making it more effective? If they were going to do that, why not just bring back the turbo button? But losing the puck more often makes sense if they're putting tripping calls back to where they originally were. Honestly, most of the changes seem to be so people will stop spamming RB and A...which is a good thing. It will be interesting to see how it plays though.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']I disagree. Decreasing the goalie's acceleration is a good thing because it's WAY too hard to score on normal shots (especially slap shots). If it takes him a little longer to get moving...combined with increased slap shot power, maybe we'll be able to score on something other than a shot that completely deceives him. As for slowing down the puck carrier and speeding up other skaters, I don't like that one. I think it's too easy to catch the puck carrier as it is.

Obviously, this is going to be drastically affected by what level your skater is, but I've seen countless times where the puck carrier is a good 5 feet ahead, but is caught from behind. I guess at best, this could make cherry picking less severe. I hate that they even added a "hustle button" though...and now they're making it more effective? If they were going to do that, why not just bring back the turbo button? But losing the puck more often makes sense if they're putting tripping calls back to where they originally were. Honestly, most of the changes seem to be so people will stop spamming RB and A...which is a good thing. It will be interesting to see how it plays though.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, you and me are basically looking at 2 sides of the same issue. I've seen a few times when the other team just goes backhand-forehand and is faster than the goalie enough, but I guess EA tried to even it out by decreasing puck control while dekeing. But yeah, when it comes to slap shots, they're useless. It'll be interresting to see how many times they get to the net, and from there, how many times it goes in. Also, does anyone know if they fixed the graphics issue where you "trip" a guy yet he doesn't do anything?

Honestly, the hustle button seems like it's broken. No matter when I try to use it, it doesn't seem any different from normal skating. Who knows, this tuner could go either way.
 
Yeah, but a breakaway is a breakaway. If a guy is one on one with the goalie, and he has dekes, the goalie should get beat. I'd rather see slap shots go in than have the goalie be able to stop most breakaways. It makes more sense to just not give up breakaways. This tuner set could also make cross creases more effective, if the goalie isn't able to dive across quite so quickly. But again, if he's faced with a 2-0 or even 2-1 break, it should result in a goal. It just means that teams have to play better defense.
 
Point taken about the breakaways and the diving, but I have a little more to add. I don't know if you guys noticed it last night, but that game where we took that beating was just one guy who could just walk right up to the goalie, force him to dive, and get a wide open net to shoot at. It's things like that that make me think that decreasing a goalie's acceleration is a bad thing. But, as long as we don't end up having to face teams like that, I don't think it would be too much of a problem.

And yeah, 2-0 and 2-1 breaks should be goals anyways, but they're starting to have problems with the one guy back somehow becoming God and stopping every single cross, and if it's not that, it's a puck that just flys in front of the guy or off the guy's skate or something.

And on the topic of last night, perhaps we should go into practice a bit on Friday and have everyone decide when to throw the puck at the net vs trying to pass it. I know I've had some nights where I only shoot or pass for entire games because I'm not sure if anyone's going to follow through on the shot or keep coming up for the pass.
 
Increase in slap shot power = good.

Increase in tripping calls from the poke check = bad.

There are already way too many bullshit tripping calls as it is, and poke checking is the most reliable way to take away the puck.

EDIT: You guys doing the new dashboard preview thing? I'm about to apply. People who are accepted can only do party chat with those who are also in the preview. Of course, as I said to Destro, there is still in game chat.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']
EDIT: You guys doing the new dashboard preview thing? I'm about to apply. People who are accepted can only do party chat with those who are also in the preview. Of course, as I said to Destro, there is still in game chat.[/QUOTE]

I was wondering that too. Guess I'll sign up as well.
 
Yeah, I signed up for it too. I figure most people on this site should get into it, so more than likely, we won't be losing party chat anyway. In case anybody missed the thread about it, here's the link to sign up for the preview. Don't want anyone on the CAG team to be left out!

http://mjr.mn/csMPKf
 
Since the September season (or "pre-season" as I dubbed it) is almost over, I want to make sure everyone is aware that there are now two clubs to choose from. As I'm sure most people noticed, there has been heavy debate over the past couple weeks about differences in play styles and expectations. I've updated the OP to reflect what you can expect from the two teams. I'll post it here as well to make sure everybody is where they want to be.

CheapyD All Stars
This is a team for people who wish to compete at a high level and learn the correct way to play their position and hockey in general. Your play will be critiqued, and your contributions to the team will be evaluated. This is not to deride anyone for the way they play, but to improve the team and to give us a better chance of winning games and possibly earning a playoff spot someday.

If you become a detriment to the team, there is a possiblity you could be cut. Not saying this to scare anybody off...but we're looking for smart, skilled, and committed players.

Crotxchx Panthers
Vulcan2422 (Gary) has created a team called the Crotxchx Panthers for players looking for a more relaxed atmosphere, consisting of playing the game for fun, encouraging casual conversation between members, and generally just having a good time regardless of the outcome of the games themselves.

Please choose the team that best suits your abilities and style of play. If anybody wishes to change teams, just post in the thread and we'll get you taken care of. Thanks!

Also, the CheapyD All Stars roster in the OP is a bit bloated. I know some people are waiting to acquire the game and that's fine. But there are others who signed up in the thread, and haven't gone anywhere near the team in the game. Anyone who has yet to play a game with the team will be placed on the "inactive roster" when the new season starts. If another 30 days passes without you playing, you'll be purged from the roster. Just trying to keep everything clean so people know who to look for when trying to get a game going.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
And on the note of Pre-season, who is going to be around to finish it up tonight? I should be on a bit later than usual myself.
 
I'll sign on at 8 to see if anybody is on and to gauge if an 8 PM start time even makes sense. If it seems most aren't showing up till 10, the start time will most likely be moved for future weeks.
 
I think that people have been showing up late because they know they can start playing the second they get on since we've been sitting at the menus waiting for a third or fourth person. Perhaps they need a little incentive (besides, some of the best teams play late anyway.) Nate, there's always at least one person from the team on at 8, either because they just got on or because they're playing another game. It's just a matter of "Do we want to play with 2s and 3s?" as well as "Can we get them to switch games?" You know?
 
[quote name='Magicking610']I think that people have been showing up late because they know they can start playing the second they get on since we've been sitting at the menus waiting for a third or fourth person. Perhaps they need a little incentive (besides, some of the best teams play late anyway.) Nate, there's always at least one person from the team on at 8, either because they just got on or because they're playing another game. It's just a matter of "Do we want to play with 2s and 3s?" as well as "Can we get them to switch games?" You know?[/QUOTE]

Dude, you really need to stop talking so much. You're barely on the team...and you give your opinion like you're in charge. That's not the reason at all. Many people don't get on until later because they're either a couple time zones behind or don't get off work until then. On Tuesday, I ran practices with you for at least an hour until more people showed up. I'm not doing that every night. If 8 is too early for most people, the time will be moved. Period.
 
Connection took a dump on me again last night, dunno if DT's connection did the same. If so, GG Comcast, GG. I should be on around the start time.
 
Picked up my pro card this afternoon, so I'm hoping the points I dumped into endurance will help me skate quicker in the third period.
 
Nice. Having as many guys as boosted up as possible will definitely help things. I'll be posting a sortable player stat summary from the first month of play sometime tomorrow. I thought I was going to be able to post it tonight, since last night at around 8 PM, the counter switched to "Days Left In Season: 1 Day". I just checked again tonight, and it now says "Days Left In Season: 24 Hours". Somebody should tell EA that 1 day and 24 hours are the same thing, haha. No clue if the next season will start immediately...or if 9/26-9/30 will be for playoffs or what. Should be interesting though.
 
It was a nice way to get to 30 games too, 2 goals and 3 assists. I'd like to see our record after the first week, once everyone got a hang of the game and playing with each other. I'd wager it's close to .500.
 
From Sept. 7-Sept. 11 we were 10-35. Since then we're 35-25, not sure about the OT losses, but that's pretty good. If we can keep playing the way we have been, I think we'll be ok in October.
 
[quote name='jza1218']From Sept. 7-Sept. 11 we were 10-35. Since then we're 35-25, not sure about the OT losses, but that's pretty good. If we can keep playing the way we have been, I think we'll be ok in October.[/QUOTE]

Well, I think the other thing is just getting everybody where they need to be. Looking over the stats for the month, there are some people who just need to make some minor adjustments, some who need to put in more time with the game, and maybe even some who need to switch teams. Obviously, for the game's first month, there's going to be a lot of adjustments that need to be made...and we're getting there. But next month should really give us an idea of who's serious about pushing the team to the next level.
 
Yeah, we had a really great run to finish up the pre-season last night. 6-1...with our only loss coming to an elite team, but our first two wins coming against elite teams. They outplayed us in both games, with more time on attack and more shots, but we won both games 2-1. After that, we started to dominate though. By the time the night was over, we had moved like 5,000 places, from the middle of the Amateur division up to the middle of the Pro division. Definitely good stuff to carry with us into next season.

As promised, here's a stat summary from the past month. Hopefully it works ok for everybody. I'm not too familiar with how Google Docs works, but it should show up as a sortable list. If not, just click "view" and then "list view". Then, you should be able to sort each stat in ascending or descending order. When looking at the stats, obviously, you have to think about them on a "per game" basis, but it should give us an idea of how everyone is doing, and what needs to be worked on. Particular areas of interest: P Grade, PIM, SHT%, Give/Take ratio.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?key=0AnUDKr6l5OF5dG1IQVNoTGZNZXdFLXUyNDB4MW9XTlE&f=0
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Yeah, we had a really great run to finish up the pre-season last night. 6-1...with our only loss coming to an elite team, but our first two wins coming against elite teams. They outplayed us in both games, with more time on attack and more shots, but we won both games 2-1. After that, we started to dominate though. By the time the night was over, we had moved like 5,000 places, from the middle of the Amateur division up to the middle of the Pro division. Definitely good stuff to carry with us into next season.

As promised, here's a stat summary from the past month. Hopefully it works ok for everybody. I'm not too familiar with how Google Docs works, but it should show up as a sortable list. If not, just click "view" and then "list view". Then, you should be able to sort each stat in ascending or descending order. When looking at the stats, obviously, you have to think about them on a "per game" basis, but it should give us an idea of how everyone is doing, and what needs to be worked on. Particular areas of interest: P Grade, PIM, SHT%, Give/Take ratio.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?key=0AnUDKr6l5OF5dG1IQVNoTGZNZXdFLXUyNDB4MW9XTlE&f=0[/QUOTE]

Hmmm, says I don't have permission to access it.
 
[quote name='jza1218']Hmmm, says I don't have permission to access it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, wow...now that CAG's done being crashed for 5 hours (hope I wasn't the only one getting a "server unavailable" message...since this was the only site not working for me), I can finally fix it. It should be accessible now. I had the sharing set to "anyone with the link can view"...but for some reason, it was still asking people to log into Google. It should just go straight to it now.
 
Yeah I couldn't log in here for a while as well.

Looking at the stats, the thing I'm most pleased with is my +12. One thing I could definitely work on is my giveaway/takeaway ratio (115/119). Need to bring my giveaway numbers down. I've never been a big hitter, so I'm not surprised there.

Anyone see something I should work on?
 
[quote name='jza1218']Yeah I couldn't log in here for a while as well.

Looking at the stats, the thing I'm most pleased with is my +12. One thing I could definitely work on is my giveaway/takeaway ratio (115/119). Need to bring my giveaway numbers down. I've never been a big hitter, so I'm not surprised there.

Anyone see something I should work on?[/QUOTE]

Haha, wow. While I really appreciate your desire to improve, your give/take is one of the best on the team, man. Having anything close to a 1:1 is exceptional in my book. With as many games as we've played, neither mine nor Alan's is that great, but I don't think they're bad enough to be "hurting the team" either. In my opinion, if you're near 2:1 give/take, it's something you need to really work on.

Honestly, statnut, the only number that really jumps out at me is your offsides. You're right around one per game, which is probably a bit high. The numbers are a little skewed though because the offsides stat counts your drop-in games as well. Since it's not listed on the club stats page, I had to pull it from the leaderboards section. But as a forward, it's something to keep an eye on. The logic I try to use is never assume a pass is coming to you and rush into the zone without the puck. Even if you're open...sometimes the passing lane won't be, or maybe the guy with the puck can carry it in himself and set you up for an easy goal.

That's really the biggest thing I see. So, really, at worst...you're just being too aggressive. But you also score a lot of goals, so to me it's not a bad trade off. If it's something that can be improved, great. But don't lose any sleep over it. Otherwise, I think you're doing awesome, man! I definitely like having you on LW when I play C. You make my job easy as hell, lol.
 
So, after a message from Magic and some discussion between myself and Alan (moojuice), it appears that we are in the playoffs. Actually, it appears that all teams make the playoffs...but the challenge is winning four games in a row. We should earn a trophy just for finishing the regular season in the Pro division, so that's pretty awesome for the very first season. But we have a shot at getting the Pro Playoff Winner trophy as well.

Because of this, Alan and I might be selecting a "playoff lineup" with our top 5 players from this season to try to bring home the trophy. If we do this, it will be based purely on the stats from the past month, so it's not a clique'y thing, or something that can't be altered for the next season. Whoever plays the best hockey each month will make the squad. As I've mentioned before, the more you put into the game, the more you will get out of it.

The good news for everyone else is the playoffs only last 5 days (well...4 now), and you can still play regular club games in the meantime. They won't count toward our record, but they still count player stats for the all-time leaderboard. Barring any matchup issues, it shouldn't take long to get 4 playoff games (at most) knocked out anyway. I'm pretty excited about it though. It definitely adds a new level of competition, and it's cool to at least let everybody have a shot at it.
 
All right, after reviewing stats and talking it over, Alan and I have decided on a "playoff roster" for these games.

LW - statnut28
C - n8rocker82
RW - DarkTower80
LD - X Matt Young X
RD - moojuiced

Like I said, this isn't anything permanent. These are just the people we feel have performed the best at their respective positions. It could totally change next month. Anybody who is upset to not be included in the playoff games, over the next month, show us why you deserve to be included, and when October playoffs roll around, you may get your wish. Otherwise, cheer on your teammates and hope that we can win four straight. Apparently, teams that win a playoff tournament get a special animation that plays before each of their games the following season...letting their opponents know they are reigning champions. That's pretty freaking bad ass in my opinion.
 
Are you seeing these stats online, or do you have to be in the game.

Also, I'm a little disappointed that you seem to have overlooked my hits/turnovers ratio. It was at least 1:1.
 
[quote name='ChunkyB']Are you seeing these stats online, or do you have to be in the game.

Also, I'm a little disappointed that you seem to have overlooked my hits/turnovers ratio. It was at least 1:1.[/QUOTE]

I compiled stats from the club website + game leaderboards in a sortable spreadsheet that can be found here. Some stats are skewed though. FO%, OFF, Give and Take include drop-in games...meaning your per game average could be off depending on how many drop-ins you've played. I wanted to keep stats restricted to club play, but those ones aren't tracked for club as far as I know.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just responded to your PM, Nate, so I'll be saying mostly the same stuff here:

Thanks for including me on the playoff roster. I'll do my best to hold up my end of things. I haven't been able to practice much outside of our official nights, but I'm glad to know that I'm considered good enough for the playoffs.

Tonight, I already have plans for the Monday Night Football game since the Packers are playing and I have some people coming over, but I can get on probably soon after it ends, and the game should end before midnight Eastern. I guess that's before Alan will be available, anyway, so at the very least, we can practice as you mentioned.

I'll definitely be participating tomorrow as well. Are we still starting at 8 Eastern? Also, what would you think about possibly recording some of our playoff games the same way you record CAGFC fights? I'm not sure how much work is involved in the process, or if it would be too much trouble. Just throwing hat idea out there.

Well, I guess I'll see whoever is on tonight, and hopefully we can kick ass in the playoffs and I can use my bonus check (You are paying us, right Nate?) when I go to Vegas this weekend for Frozen Fury. ;)

EDIT: I also got a couple 10 packs of Duracells, so hopefully I won't have to worry about any further controller issues.
 
Thanks guys, I'm excited to be part of the playoff roster, and this team in general. I'm hoping to be home from work tonight around 2 am EST, in which case I'd be able to play.

I'm working tomorrow night, but hopefully from home, so I might be able to jump in then. I'll know more tomorrow afternoon. Also, recording the game's would be pretty cool.
 
Good luck with the playoffs, I doubt anyone can argue with the roster.

Nate is correct in saying "Whoever plays the best hockey each month will make the squad. As I've mentioned before, the more you put into the game, the more you will get out of it." I wish I could play a lot more than I do now, but I'm just not in the position to with everything going on in the personal life. Hopefully I can just be the strongest player possible and maybe I'll be good enough in the sample size I have to make it there one time at least, haha.

after going over my stats, I definitely need to work on turnover ratio. I am going to play a bunch of drop in games to just get my player boosted up, which will effect my stats in those categories, because you know how people just don't play correct in those games. I also have to improve on the scoring %... easier said than done.

Hopefully I can play some games with you guys Friday night? last night before tying the knot (or noose as lots of people like to say to me).

Go get em boys.
 
Are we still playing at the usual time tomorrow, or will we be starting a bit later? I know the possibility of a change was discussed, but I wasn't sure what was decided.
 
Damn, that playoff roster looks promising, hope you guys can show us a banner on Friday! I just have one question about the roster, did you assign positions by how someone played there or did you assign it by the person's playstyle?





Looking around, seems people are arguing about how useful certain setups are. Just a couple of things that I thought stuck out, figured I'd post them here. Just so you guys know, I'm not trying to start any fights from posting this.
  • It looks like the best say to assign skill points is something along the lines of speed>endurance>acceleration>agility(last tuner set made agility one of the most useless stats unless you ONLY skate left/right)
  • Height/weight seems to affect resisting checks more than balance(unless you plan on standing in front of the other net for rebounds and such).
  • Barely moving the Left Stick to aim shots is actually accurate this year (best for aiming under the blocker/glove but above the pad).
Last but not least, today's tuner set:

-Increase post-whistle penalties when the post-whistle rules are set to Authentic.

-Small increase in goalie acceleration (part way between previous tuner and original values).

-Increase CPU player fatigue when hustling to correspond with human players.

-Increase effect of the shot accuracy slider at the bottom end (offline games only).

-Stop CPU goalie from passing the puck out sometimes even when nobody was calling for it. (OTP/EASHL only).

-Reduce tendency for aggressive goalies to skate out to play the puck in dangerous situations (HUT and Versus only)
 
[quote name='Magicking610']


-Stop CPU goalie from passing the puck out sometimes even when nobody was calling for it. (OTP/EASHL only).
[/COLOR][/B][/QUOTE]

I guess that explains how this happened last night: http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/38346039

I'm working from home tonight, so I'm hoping to be on no later than 1 AM, and maybe even earlier, depending on how things go.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top