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

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Well at least I solidify the goalie opening...

Lots of fun last night. Was good to get back into the swing of things. Goalie is harder then last year so I'll have to either practice a bunch or just concentrate on winger. Woo.
 
[quote name='Vulcan2422']Did you fall asleep again Destro while playing?[/QUOTE]

huh? no.. I was there when it broke up for the night.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']huh? no.. I was there when it broke up for the night.[/QUOTE]

The reason he asked is because there was a sizable amount of time where you went AFK. We kept having to push you back onside. This lasted at least a full period, then all of a sudden you were back. Fortunately, we were only playing private games, so it wasn't a big deal. But everybody was wondering what the hell was going on.
 
That's weird, I had to run upstairs to help the wife but I am pretty sure I said something about it, but I also had mic issues but had the hard-wired one on for most of the time. Even when I got back from that I didn't think it was a full period, and I didn't think anyone said anything on mic after, I didn't think anyway. In any case, my fault.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']That's weird, I had to run upstairs to help the wife but I am pretty sure I said something about it, but I also had mic issues but had the hard-wired one on for most of the time. Even when I got back from that I didn't think it was a full period, and I didn't think anyone said anything on mic after, I didn't think anyway. In any case, my fault.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we definitely didn't hear anything. In instances like that, it's really just best to quit out of the game. Even if it had been a ranked game, at least we could continue on with an AI player instead of having to push you out of the zone every time there's a faceoff and then play shorthanded.
 
^Yeah I totally agree, too bad there isn't a kick option for people in the game, again, my bad. Not fair to you guys.

I checked my player profile and I think it counted the private matches as games my player has played, is that possible? I know you said they don't count, but I know I haven't played 43 games without those counting.
 
Sorry I wasn't around on Friday. Not sure if he saw or not, but when Alan invited me on the other day, I was playing a Madden online franchise game. I wouldn't have been on at all if not for that, and wasn't really for a couple days, because of something that happened to someone I know that put me in a bad mindset. My heart wasn't in it, and I felt I would have probably brought the team down. Then I was out most of the weekend.
 
All right, who's playing tonight? I'll be available for 8 PM EST if that works for anybody...or 10 PM EST is fine too. Hope to get some wins that count tonight and get people working toward their next card.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Sorry I wasn't around on Friday. Not sure if he saw or not, but when Alan invited me on the other day, I was playing a Madden online franchise game. I wouldn't have been on at all if not for that, and wasn't really for a couple days, because of something that happened to someone I know that put me in a bad mindset. My heart wasn't in it, and I felt I would have probably brought the team down. Then I was out most of the weekend.[/QUOTE]

Read that on your faceobook, I hope everything is alright. Always here if ya need me.

[quote name='n8rockerasu']All right, who's playing tonight? I'll be available for 8 PM EST if that works for anybody...or 10 PM EST is fine too. Hope to get some wins that count tonight and get people working toward their next card.[/QUOTE]

10 PM EST as usual for me.
 
Thanks Gary. I guess I should check for you guys around 10 Eastern. If I ever hear back from my opponent, I'm supposed to play a game for CAG Madden at 9 Eastern.
 
Well, as most who showed up on Tuesday discovered, Hockey Night was brutal. For whatever reason, goaltender play seemed to be right back down to its epic 66% levels. Granted, some of the teams we played were flat out ridiculous (I remember Alan mentioning that a guy on one team was shooting in the 30% range for his career). Because of this garbage, and my endless quest to get my legend card, I tried tweaking my stats last night.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me sooner, but I decided to just go all the way and boost my faceoffs to 99 to help with my team play grade. EA is full of shit if they claim faceoffs are anything but directly stat related. It seems like whoever has the higher number wins and that's the end of it. There are just too many games where you either win all the faceoffs or lose all of them. And even with my faceoffs at 90, I'd have games where I was just getting owned.

It may have been a coincidence, but I've only played one game since re-doing my stats, and I won 33 out of 41 faceoffs, my team scored 6 goals in the first period (human goalie, haha), and we ended up winning the game 11-2. I finished with 2 goals and 7 assists, lol. It was somewhat atypical for a drop-in game though because we were passing the puck a lot. It's really crazy that so many people don't realize you score more goals by moving the puck. I'm going to try to play some more today to get a bigger sample size, but if me being at 99 in faceoffs can help us control the puck more, it should lead to better things.
 
[quote name='DestroVega']I thought the three games I played with you guys were solid, the middle one was brutal.[/QUOTE]

I don't really remember specific games. I just know the night overall was pretty rough. Also, I think standards tend to be a little different among players. To call any game a "good game", the things I expect are a 1.5/1 advantage for us in shots, faceoffs, and time on attack, a 65% or higher passing percentage, and two or less penalty kills. Those are attainable numbers that often lead to wins.

Also, I don't think anybody on the team can claim that they play "good defense" unless they're able to kill off a penalty. If you're not good on the penalty kill, then your defense needs work. That's not directed at anybody specific...just something I've been thinking about. I almost think it would be smart to run shorthanded practices to let people work on this. The faceoff thing is basically all on me though, and I feel like the games where I can control that, we stand a good chance of winning.

On that note, I played about 5 games earlier with my new set up and won no less than 75% of the faceoffs in every game. I actually think faceoffs against the AI are harder because they'll try to tie up a lot of the time. In my last game against a human opponent, I won 23 out of 24 faceoffs. It's definitely helping my skater grade because all I really need to do is win faceoffs and get a point to pull in A's and B's in team play and stats. I'm back up to a B+ already.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']I don't really remember specific games. I just know the night overall was pretty rough. Also, I think standards tend to be a little different among players. To call any game a "good game", the things I expect are a 1.5/1 advantage for us in shots, faceoffs, and time on attack, a 65% or higher passing percentage, and two or less penalty kills. Those are attainable numbers that often lead to wins.

Also, I don't think anybody on the team can claim that they play "good defense" unless they're able to kill off a penalty. If you're not good on the penalty kill, then your defense needs work. That's not directed at anybody specific...just something I've been thinking about. I almost think it would be smart to run shorthanded practices to let people work on this. The faceoff thing is basically all on me though, and I feel like the games where I can control that, we stand a good chance of winning.

On that note, I played about 5 games earlier with my new set up and won no less than 75% of the faceoffs in every game. I actually think faceoffs against the AI are harder because they'll try to tie up a lot of the time. In my last game against a human opponent, I won 23 out of 24 faceoffs. It's definitely helping my skater grade because all I really need to do is win faceoffs and get a point to pull in A's and B's in team play and stats. I'm back up to a B+ already.[/QUOTE]

how do you want the PK setup? center covering up top on the opposite side of the wing? or lone wing covering both points?
 
[quote name='DestroVega']how do you want the PK setup? center covering up top on the opposite side of the wing? or lone wing covering both points?[/QUOTE]

Well, Alan probably knows better than me since he watches more actual hockey. But yeah, I think the center basically covers for whoever took the penalty. If it's a winger, he stays on the point. If it's a d-man, he covers the front of the net. And I think if they have a 2 man advantage, we've been saying "screw the point", and just try to cover the slot and sides of the net. That's at least been my understanding.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Well, Alan probably knows better than me since he watches more actual hockey. But yeah, I think the center basically covers for whoever took the penalty. If it's a winger, he stays on the point. If it's a d-man, he covers the front of the net. And I think if they have a 2 man advantage, we've been saying "screw the point", and just try to cover the slot and sides of the net. That's at least been my understanding.[/QUOTE]

yeah I play hockey, the way we play the PK is have the winger guard both points, sliding to the side of the ice where the puck is, back and fourth between them. But, since we play a "zone" style defense, splitting the ice up into 4 squares instead would probably work better I guess. so there would technically be no center...
 
[quote name='DestroVega']yeah I play hockey, the way we play the PK is have the winger guard both points, sliding to the side of the ice where the puck is, back and fourth between them. But, since we play a "zone" style defense, splitting the ice up into 4 squares instead would probably work better I guess. so there would technically be no center...[/QUOTE]

In real life, I would say that the way you play the PK is one of the better ways, but in this game, for simplicities sake, and like you said, we play a zone D anyways, a box would be better. IMO, a collapsing box fits our style best. It's like our zone D, minus the chasing center. Each person takes a corner, leaving the middle wide open for outside shots (so the goalie doesn't get screened). If the puck is around the perimeter, the box should be fairly big. As the puck moves closer to the slot, then we collapse/shrink the box. There's an animation in the team strategies somewhere in the menus iirc, so give that a look.

On a 3-man PK, I prefer a small triangle; no matter where the puck is, the "center" plays the middle of the high point, and the two D-men play on each side of the net right in front. No rotating, no chasing, no shrinking/expanding. Let them take shots from the outside (because if we are playing the slot, they should have to shoot from the outside anyways since we should be checking them if the puck gets to the slot).

Of course, if anyone feels we should play it differently, bring it up so we can discuss it.

It seems like we have our overall defensive strategy down now, so it's just a matter of addressing minor issues. Right now, it seems like the biggest thing we need to work on is hitting. Not avoiding the hitting, but dishing it out. We give up too many drag writers that should be interrupted by checks. I know many of our forwards have low checking, but knocking the puck carrier on his ass isn't the priority. It's bumping him off a little so his shot isn't as accurate, or making him take the shot later then he wants to. It also hopefully deters a team from taking it to that area too much if they realize that shot isn't there anymore. A few other minor things can be solved with more physical play, but I think taking the high slot physically is a good start.
 
[quote name='moojuice']It seems like we have our overall defensive strategy down now, so it's just a matter of addressing minor issues. Right now, it seems like the biggest thing we need to work on is hitting. Not avoiding the hitting, but dishing it out. We give up too many drag writers that should be interrupted by checks. I know many of our forwards have low checking, but knocking the puck carrier on his ass isn't the priority. It's bumping him off a little so his shot isn't as accurate, or making him take the shot later then he wants to. It also hopefully deters a team from taking it to that area too much if they realize that shot isn't there anymore. A few other minor things can be solved with more physical play, but I think taking the high slot physically is a good start.[/QUOTE]

I agree about those drag wristers. For me, I think I have a tendency to jump down to the low slot just because of how frequently we run into teams that spam cross creases. Other times, if I'm helping dig a puck out of the corner, and it gets kicked to the high slot, I kind of get caught in between. I don't know if the wings should be stepping up in that case, but it is something I want to work on too. One good thing is, to get my new set up the way I wanted it, I switched to a playmaker (which lowered my offensive stats a little..but not by a drastic amount). So, now my body checking is at 60 instead of 40, and I'm not quite as much of a pushover.

Of course we want our defense to be solid, but a big issue too is not playing defense so much. The less time the other team has the puck, the better. This starts with winning faceoffs, which I've hopefully improved (last drop-in game I played tonight, I won 41 out of 50). After that, it's about making good passes and hitting people in stride. And then it's recognizing when a play is there to make a pass vs. when you should just put a shot on vs. when you need to get rid of the puck because you're going to get crushed. We usually have the most success when we're able to keep constant pressure on a team, and those things will help us do that.

Hoping tomorrow night goes better than Tuesday.
 
Just discovered the patch has been released, as well as a new tuner set. Here's the official release notes for the patch. Putting it in spoilers because it's obscenely long.

Gameplay
-Fixes for several rare crashes during gameplay
-Fixed problem that resulted in attributes of players who drop from OTP/EASHL games not being reset to the default attributes for AI players
-Prevent push puck while holding the pass button (prevents an exploit)
-Prevent the face-off deke move from being done on a backhand face-off grip
-Eliminated several situations where the puck could be poked out of the goalie’s glove as he is getting up or covering the puck against the side of the net
-Allow shots that are blocked without using the shot block control to count in shot block stats (but they do not contribute to team play)
-Fixed some situations where a puck off the skate was incorrectly being considered a deliberate kick and resulting in goals being disallowed that should not have been
-Fixed for cases where the goalie would sweep the puck into his own net attempting to clear it
-Fixed problem that prevented the opposing team from being able to pick up slap passes in some situations
-Prevent fake shot from being used when doing protect puck
-Force self-pin to have a minimum duration (prevents an exploit)
-Fixed for a case where broken or dropped sticks would disappear from the ice
-Fixed problem where the first PP fwd line way always being put out following a delayed penalty, regardless of what line the user selected
-Prevent stick lifts from working on a player while he is doing the “jump over” deke
-Fixed problem where injured players weren’t getting off the ice
-Fixed problem allowing hard passes off of a face-off
-Fixed problem that sometimes caused a defenseman to be positioned on the wrong side for short-handed defensive zone face-offs
-Increase the effect of the stick checking attribute on stick lifts
-Prevent flip dump from being used directly on a face-off
-Prevent situations where a player could go directly from being down on the ice into a slapshot windup
-Improve defensive awareness attribute effect on interceptions
-Cause players to slow down more while skating using protect puck control
-Add additional pass error to the AI players to balance the fact that humans players have imprecise controller input
-Shots that result in a broken stick can no longer be deflected
There are also several bug fixes made possible by the patch that will be activated through the next tuning update, these include:
-Enabling auto-backskate setting to work in online games
-Reducing the ease of losing an edge while skating without the puck
-Fixed problem where players will fall easily again immediately after losing an edge a first time
-Increase how aggressive AI defenders are on the rush making it less easy to go wide on them
-Increase friction when diving and reduce the effectiveness of diving poke checks at knocking the puck away from the puck carrier
-Increase the acceleration and top speed of a player using push puck, which had been lowered to prevent a push puck exploit (mentioned above).
Audio
- (Fixed) Pittsburgh Intro sometimes mentions Mellon Arena instead of the new Console Energy centre.
HUT Mode
- User is no longer able to edit their player card’s overall stats by editing that player in Creation Zone and then discarding the HUT card for more pucks than initially worth
(Note - it was only a small increase to the value of pucks gained and also this had no effect in the auction house or in gameplay. Also this is the reason why we now reset your roster when entering HUT from the main menu.)
- Fixed a crash that sometimes occurs during the loading screen
- Fixed issue where users were getting two goalies to appear in HUT games.
- Fixed HUT initial line creation so the 4-man lines are C-RW instead of LW-C
- Fixed a HUT problem where user “A” disconnects very early in the loading screen which will cause user “B” to get a DNF and lose contracts
- Changed the default minimum age for North American discs to 10 instead of 16.
(Note - This coincides with our ESRB rating of E10+ and does not apply to any European regions due to different age ratings in those areas)
- Fixed the Time Remaining strings, they will now show properly for card pack sales
- Fixed Rare crash backing out of the search screen of the Auction Hall
- Fixed the bug where the current bid disappears on the search results screen.
- Fixed an issue where game will crash if the user is browsing coaches in the auction hall where a previous bid is won
- Added the ability to lower the minimum starting price for HUT auction (server side control)
- Fixed issue where user was put into an unplayable state after attempting to buy an expired Promo pack.
- Fixed issue where Deal and Promo tags were being displayed incorrectly in the store.
(Note - with promo packs activated in the HUT store, the incorrect “Deal” tag displays. One deal/mega-deal packs should have that description. Everything else that is not sold at a discounted price during promos should have the “Promo” tags.)
Online
- Fixed issue where PS3 users who match up on the side select screen rarely have”GAMERTAG” text will be displayed.
- Fixed issue where host migration did not work for Versus and Shootout quick matches
(Note - Backing out of the side select in Versus or Shootout will now allow you to stay in the side select while another user attempts to join your session)
- Fixed EASHL Bar graph that shows where the club sits in the league standings does not show the correct position when the divisions house more than 100 teams and the club is not within those 100 teams.
- Fixed EASHL - User must select Submit in the GM Options in order to save any Custom Jersey changes, backing out of the screen doesn’t prompt a save and you lose your progress
(Note - Now just backing out will warn the user that they have unsaved changes and if they continue to back out that they will lose those changes. The user would still have to select Submit on the screen to save)
- Fixed EASHL - Game rarely crashes when entering the Clubs Play Game screen
(Note - This is likely the crash that occurs when users advance into the side select and then having the other team back out. Sometimes when selecting OK to the session has ended going back into the dressing room would cause your console to lock up.)
- Fixed issue where PS3 VoIP is very poor quality, especially when using Bluetooth headsets
(Note - This is a code side improvement, we also made a server side change to help improve the quality. We found that there was less background interference and less echo when talking with this change. We also found that lowering you microphone’s volume levels in the XMB helps reduce the background noises)
- Fixed issue where Posting a new Tuner Set during a server reload will cause users to Desync
(Note - Previously we had to do a full server down when posting new tuner set updates, which usually happened at 2AM PST. With this change we will be able to do tuner updates without taking the servers down. We initially found this problem a few days after launch where everyone entering game would Desync immediately (Desync = faceoff loop). Technically this could still be a possibility after this fix if a game session is created and the tuner is immediately uploaded and someone else joins that session with the tuner update already downloaded. The game would then Desync at the start, no stats tracked or games lost if this happens, and once you go into your next session you would be prompted to download the tuner update. We will still be uploading tuner updates during non peak hours to avoid the likelihood of this affecting a lot of people.)
- Fixed issue where Sometimes wins count as losses in Online Shootout
(Note - We made a fix for this issue and were not able to get this to occur after the fix)
- Fixed EASHL - User will be frozen in the Recent Games screen if they select to view a game before that team’s logo finishes loading
- Fixed Online Leagues - Users are not able to create a league with 32 teams with unique rosters ON
(Note - Online Leagues were defaulted to a max of 10 teams, however they could create a 32 team league if unique rosters were off)
- Fixed Lobby - Everyone’s Player Module Rank and Record isn’t showing correct stats, either 0-0-0 or nothing at all
- Fixed EASHL - Users who drop out of an EASHL game are not replaced by a CPU player with base attributes
(Note - When user drops, their stats drop to base level CPU’s stats. The player likeness and name will remain the same, however their skill and rating will drop in game.)
- Fixed issued where sometimes certain users will lose connection while loading Game Modes save files
(Note - Only applies for Be a GM/Season/Be a Pro save files)
- Fixed issue where sometimes users will hang when selecting Drop-in Game
(Note - This was fixed server side a few weeks after launch and not in the actual patch itself)
- Fixed crash in OTP at coach feedback screen when using controller 2
Hockey Shop Boosts
- Fixed issue where Strength +5 and Slap Shot Power +5 do not unlock correctly when trying to unlock by participating in an EASHL Playoff game
(Note - It was only unlocking for the player locked to center during a playoff game but no one else. This was fixed to allow everyone to have the boosts unlock)
- Fixed issue with Boost pack being improperly applied to a player
(Note - This was the issue that some people were seeing with the pre-order Bauer Anniversary Pack. It actually had nothing to do with the pack at all because the bug would occur when you went to Edit your pro’s equipment (any equipment) and then go into the Hockey Shop. A Boost Pack would sometimes be unlocked and applied even if the user didn’t have the boost pack unlocked.)
- Fixed exploit where User is able to duplicate boosts so they have up to +15 in each equipment type
- Fixed issue with Store continually showing ‘Retrieving Hockey Shop Information….” status when accessing the store while a non-XBL profile is signed into controller 2
- Fixed issue where Wrist Shot Accuracy +3 wasn’t unlocking after you made your NHL team’s top line in BAP
- Fixed issue where Slap Shot Accuracy +1 wasn’t unlocking after you scored 2 goals in the Memorial Cup
Be a GM
- Fixed issue where players will get stuck at 1500 xp and will not purchase ratings
- Fixed issue where wingers are growing too much in Faceoffs during in season growth
- Fixed issue with created player do not have a UFA year when they are taken into Be a GM
- Fixed issue where players get trapped in the minors if the preseason games are played after waivers go into affect
- Fixed issue where user can get two RFA players to accept an offer that involves the same compensation picks
- Fixed issue where game will crash when trying to view the draft info for Petteri Simila of the Montreal Canadiens
- Fixed issue where unsigned players are not staying on their teams when starting at the Draft with Default rosters
Be a Pro
- Fixed issue where autosave is disabled within a BAP career if User plays any Online modes before playing BAP
- Fixed issue where blocked shots are improperly recorded in the Last Game Performance and Career Performance screens
- Fixed a rare crash in BAP during a faceoff, also occurred in EASHL
- Fixed issue where Be A Pro- User’s camera perspective will be facing down the ice when they play an Away game, after playing a Home game with any non-Be A Pro camera type and perspective Prefer Up
- Fixed issue where Controller disconnection causes camera change for ‘Be a pro’ Goalie causing the title to hang after any cinematic in game.
Season Mode
- Fixed issue where CHL team will reject trades due to too many prospects
- Fixed issue where game will crash when entering gameplay with the Saskatoon Blades or Swift Current Broncos
- Fixed issue where settings are not saved when using controller 2 as the lead profile in season mode.
Front End/Creation Zone/Rosters
- Fixed issue where game will crash when viewing Player info for P.Simila or P Murphy

Note that double/triple boosting is now fixed, so we'll all have to take a look at our skaters again. Should make for an interesting Hockey Night tonight.
 
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Tuner info as well:
All online modes
-Enable auto-backskate off setting to take effect.

EASHL/OTP and offline Be A Pro
-Changes to increase teamplay scores:
-More reward for completing passes and takeaways.
-Less penalties for icing, taking penalties and getting hit.

EASHL/OTP
-Reduction in hitting power.

All online modes and V2.00 tuning set offline
-Reduce effectiveness of diving poke checks.
-Increase friction in diving poke check slide.
-Small decrease to shot accuracy.
-Slightly lower chance of penalties for tripping, elbowing and charging.
-Higher chance of hitting from behind penalties.
-Decreased time to finish a check without getting an interference penalty by 0.25 seconds.
-Slight increase to poke check effectiveness.
-Increase the effect of high defensive awareness on ability to intercept passes.
-Reduce stick lift effectiveness by decreasing how fast a player can pivot to make the check.
-Tuning to falling from losing an edge:
-Less easy to fall without the puck.
-Full recovery after a fall (used to be very easy to fall a 2nd time).
-Greater effect for contact with other player, based on their relative size and strength.
-Stopping hard can lead to a fall.
-Balance attribute and fatigue effects are more significant.
-Small increase to human goalie acceleration.
-Small decrease to CPU goalie acceleration.
-Changes to backhand shot tuning, overall result will be a slight increase in their effectiveness.
 
Alan beat me to it. :)

Good to see the changes for team play grade. Hopefully the change in diving poke check will stop the ankle diving on breakaways. You should pay a price for letting people get behind you instead of just being able to dive at them from behind and knock the puck away.
 
Haha, everybody's on the same page here. :) I'm almost scared that all the changes appear to be good things. Even to the point of fixing freezes and making team play less brutal. It's almost like they've been listening.
 
[quote name='DarkTower80']Alan beat me to it. :)

Good to see the changes for team play grade. Hopefully the change in diving poke check will stop the ankle diving on breakaways. You should pay a price for letting people get behind you instead of just being able to dive at them from behind and knock the puck away.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it punished those who managed to make a good defensive play and beat everyone out of the zone with the puck.

I think the box works well for us on the PK, as our forwards are adept at taking the puck away from the D-men/blocking the pass to the point.
 
-Slight increase to poke check effectiveness.
-Increase the effect of high defensive awareness on ability to intercept passes.
-Greater effect for contact with other player, based on their relative size and strength.

Yay!

What time tonight? I didn't play Friday and I was unable to play Tuesday due to nobody knowing how to be on fucking time when they have something scheduled, so I wasted half the night.
 
Well, I'll be available for 8 PM EST. If nobody is on, I'll just play drop-in games until we get 3 people on. 2 man games are just too rough with the way the AI plays.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']It's almost like they've been listening.[/QUOTE]

C'mon Nate, let's not get ahead of ourselves! This is EA after all... :p

Lots of great changes. Looking forward to some hockey tonight.

Go Abdominal Sharks!
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']
Note that double/triple boosting is now fixed, so we'll all have to take a look at our skaters again. Should make for an interesting Hockey Night tonight.[/QUOTE]

No worries here, I havn't been triple or double boosting since I came back to the team. :D

Only thing I'm weary of is Small decrease to CPU goalie acceleration.

I just hope this doesn't mean he can't make it to the other side of the net in time to save a puck. Like we saw in our few games.
 
[quote name='n8rockerasu']Well, I'll be available for 8 PM EST. If nobody is on, I'll just play drop-in games until we get 3 people on. 2 man games are just too rough with the way the AI plays.[/QUOTE]

Oh, so that's why you played drop-in instead of inviting me last night. :p
 
[quote name='Vulcan2422']Only thing I'm weary of is Small decrease to CPU goalie acceleration.

I just hope this doesn't mean he can't make it to the other side of the net in time to save a puck. Like we saw in our few games.[/QUOTE]

I hear that. But I can only hope that it will be offset by the defensive awareness boost and defensemen being able to intercept cross creases better. If the cross crease isn't defended, then yeah...they should score. But we usually defend it pretty well and only get burned when the puck goes through someone's skate/stick/etc.

One thing I saw in a drop-in game I played earlier that stood out is a guy scored on back to back slap shots from the faceoff circle. I don't know if that's a goalie acceleration thing and "the spot" is back, or if he just got lucky, but it's something to keep an eye on.

So far, it's looking like we'll have me, Alan, Brandon, statnut, Destro, Matt, Shady, and Gary tonight. Assuming we're all playing at the same time, we'll definitely need to split up into two groups. We could definitely alternate playing and practicing and maybe even work on some penalty kills in practice against the CPU.
 
As usual, I'll be on my usual 10pm. Just need a solid B and I can get my next card. By time I get my card, I'll be almost ready for Legend card lol.
 
Okay, so Gary will be on at 10 Eastern, Nate's available at 8, and Alan will be a little late. I'm available whenever... I have some stuff to do, but I can stop at any time to play hockey. I just probably won't be on the Xbox itself till hockey time.

I'm nervous about tonight due to my lack of participation in this current November season, as well as the fact that I missed my dose of ADD medication this afternoon. Also, I was kind of hoping to channel my current rage toward the WBC into aggressive hockey, but maybe I'll be able to think more clearly once I've calmed down, anyway.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Okay, so Gary will be on at 10 Eastern, Nate's available at 8, and Alan will be a little late. I'm available whenever... I have some stuff to do, but I can stop at any time to play hockey. I just probably won't be on the Xbox itself till hockey time.[/QUOTE]

Darktower's on now, Shady's on now, statnut's on now (though he's in Netflix), and I'm on now. I'd say we're starting now, haha.
 
Me with my pants off...

img00198201011122150.jpg
 
[quote name='Vulcan2422']Some reason, I couldn't get back onto the serves last night so I just gave up after the 10th try.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I think we played one more game and then called it a night. The AI players are so worthless. When you face a team that knows how to bum rush them and take the puck away, the game's not even worth playing. After pulling A's and B's in grades for most of the night...and having overalls of A-, B-, A- (which I figured was a high B+), the last two games dropped me back down to a B overall again. I feel like I'm going to have to be a douche until I get my legend card and only play games that meet the conditions to "have a good game".
 
I think running five man teams is going to be the only way to beat other teams anymore. It's like they honestly dumbed down the AI. It's fucking worthless now.
 
[quote name='Vulcan2422']I think running five man teams is going to be the only way to beat other teams anymore. It's like they honestly dumbed down the AI. It's fucking worthless now.[/QUOTE]

Yeah you are dead on Gary. five men minimum if we want to have even ( and fun ) games.
 
I don't think 5 people is really a necessity but I think 2 human defensemen probably is. The AI is okay at playing wing, it's just horrible at being solid D-men.
 
I agree with that for the most part, but we're still at our best with 5 of us. You all heard me say how much it sucked playing with an AI defenseman, though.
 
Normally, I'd feel the opposite, since having 2 AI wingers is basically worthless because they skate head on into defenders or carry the puck into the corner and then force a bad pass. But in my endless quest to get my legend card (I played for like 5 hours last night and have an A, B-, B+...I've gotta be close), playing drop-in games, I've started to "cherry pick" more. Well, really it's more just trusting the defensemen (when they're human) to defend the net and not do something stupid when they get the puck. Basically, I've just been playing tighter along the point to help jump start odd man rushes. It's been working pretty well, so I wouldn't mind trying it with the CAG team.

[quote name='Vulcan2422']Actually, it broke it's self this time. So mad. Stupid DRE's.[/QUOTE]

That's crazy. And it's a slim, right? You keep it well ventilated don't you? It has to still be under warranty, no?
 
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