Here are more details on how the game works. I know it seems like a lot but it is actually very simple and just involves creating a player and then posting your weekly mentality (although, as you will see below, you don't have to post a mentality every week if you don't want to). The role of Team Captain is also very straightforward; they just have a little more control over the team.
Teams
There are a total of six teams. This means that there are currently 36 playing positions available. If there is sufficient demand then I can increase the number of teams to eight or ten but this will mean each team will only play each other once. Here are the teams:
- Chicago Black Hawks
- Hartford Whalers
- Minnesota North Stars
- Montreal Canadiens
- Quebec Nordiques
- Winnipeg Jets
Attributes
How you choose your attributes defines how your player will play and will greatly affect how well your team performs. You need to choose your stats wisely. No one attribute can exceed 20 points.
For the skaters (defencemen & forwards), you have a total of 40 points to spend on four sets of attributes:
- Checking
- Pokecheck
- Passing
- Shooting
Each attribute contributes to the individual's and team's performance in a different, but equally important way. A team needs to have a good spread of all four attributes in order to succeed. Thus, when choosing which team to join you will need to make sure your style compliments the skills of the other players already on that team. On the other hand, an interesting tactic might be to concentrate solely on just one or two sets of attributes - but this could potentially backfire in a big way: In a test I did, Team A had all of its players with a rating of 2 for Checking & Pokechecking and 18 for Passing & Shooting. Team B had a more balanced set of attributes. Team B won 11-5.
The meaning of the attributes is self-explanatory: Checking & Pokecheck affect how well you the player and the team defends. Passing is needed to build-up plays and create goal-scoring opportunities. Shooting is the ability to score from these opportunities.
As for goalies, they have a total of 22 points to spend on two attributes:
Both are equally important, but you may want to specialise in one area. You can then take advantage of your speciality when setting your game mentality (see below).
Mentality
Before each game you can set your player's mentality. This determines how offensively or defensively your player will play. You will need to coordinate your mentality with your team mates' in order to ensure that your team plays as well as it can. Here's how the mentality affects play for skaters and goalies:
Skaters:
- Aggressive - Plays offensively. Will create more goal-scoring opportunities but could leave gaps in defence.
- Balanced
- Conservative - Plays defensively. It will be harder for the opposition to get to the net but the disadvantage is that you won't create as many goal-scoring opportunities yourself.
Goalies:
- Aggressive - Will use their stick more, tying to play the puck more and poking it away from oncoming attackers.
- Balanced
- Conservative - Will stick to the goal line and have greater use of their glove.
You will be able to post your mentality on a game-by-game basis in a separate thread that will be used solely for posting this information. If you forget to post your mentality for a game then your previous game's setting will be used.
If a player hasn't posted a mentality for more than six consecutive games then their player becomes "at risk". This means that a new user can join the game and replace the player. He will have to keep the attributes mainly as they are, but he can move up to five attribute points between skills. If the "at risk" user starts to post mentalities again before a new user has applied to take the player over, the original player keeps control of the player.
Team Captains can become "at risk". In this case, the player can be replaced but this new player doesn't automatically become the new Team Captain. Instead, the normal procedure for replacing Team Captains applies (see below).
If a player states that he's going to be unavailable for a number of weeks then it at the discretion of the Admins/Mods as to whether the player is protected for that period from being declared as "at risk".
Team Captains
Each team will have a Team Captain. If you opt to be a Team Captain, you will be placed on a team that doesn't yet have a Captain. You can still choose which team to go with but if there is already captain on the team you choose then you will be assigned a different team. If more than six users wish to be Captains then the six with the highest number of posts will be given preference.
The Team Captain has a number of small responsibilities:
- If one of his team mates has not posted a mentality for a game then after that game, he has the power to set that user's mentality until the user returns. Additionally, players can delegate their mentality settings temporarily to the Team Captain. Unless previously agreed by the Admins/Mods, a user cannot delegate for more than five games because his player will become "at risk" (see above).
- If a team loses a game, the Team Captain is allowed to alter the attributes of up to three players on his team (including himself). For each of the three players, he can move up to two attribute points from one or two skills to one or two other skills. Attributes cannot be moved between players. Teams may want to discuss how they move attributes, but the Team Captain has the final say.
- At the end of each season, the Team Captain must choose one defensive player (either a goalie or defenceman) and one forward to put into the Draft Pool. Team Captains may nominate themselves but this will mean that they must step-down as Captain after they have nominated the two players to enter the Draft Pool. More information about the Draft can be found below.
- A Team Captain may step down at any time. His team mates can then apply to become the new Captain. The applicant with the highest post count becomes the Captain. The same procedure applies if the Captain is replaced with a new user as a result of his position being "at risk".
- If a Team Captain stands down or is replaced after their position becomes "at risk" (see above) and none of his team mates apply to become Captain then any player from another team may apply (again, the applicant with the highest post count becomes the Captain). If a player from another team becomes the Captain then they are automatically traded to their new team in exchange for the old Captain.
If the old Captain plays a different position (in terms of Goalie, Defence, or Forward) then the new Captain is traded for the person with the same position on his new team (e.g. if the new captain is RD then he is traded for the RD on his new team) rather than in exchange for the old Captain.
End of season draft
At the end of each season, the Team Captain nominates two of his team to be entered into the Draft Pool. One of the nominees must be either a Goalie or Defenceman, and the other must be a Forward. Team Captains can nominate themselves.
Over the course of two round, the teams take turns to draft a player from the Pool. In the first round, the pick order goes from the lowest placed team to the highest placed team (according to where they finished in the league standings). The second round starts with the highest placed team and goes in position order down to the lowest placed team.
The Team Captain is responsible for drafting players. Teams must draft players according to what spaces they have in their roster (e.g. if the team doesn't have a Goalie then they must draft one. If they don't have an RW then they must draft a Forward (but it doesn't specifically have to be an RW)). Teams can draft players they originally put in the Pool.
End of season Bonus Points
At the end of each season, the players of the league winners are each awarded one attribute point. They may add this point to any of their skills.
Additionally, the highest stats scorer in the following categories are awarded one point:
- GAA - one point to be spent on either Glove or Stick.
- +/- - one point to be spent on either Checking or Pokecheking.
- Points - one point to be spent on either Passing or Shooting.
A player cannot have more than 20 attributes for a skill. Additionally, skaters cannot have a total of more than 45 points and Goalies cannot have more than 27 points. This is so that there isn't too great a gulf between the best and the worst teams.
A final word
I have been testing the Excel spreadsheet for the past two weeks and am confident that the game in its current form will be a lot of fun. However, I think the first season is still going to be a bit like a beta season in that I'm still looking to develop the game and introduce new features if I, or anyone else, comes up with any good ideas. I will avoid introducing new rules/features during seasons unless it is imperative - I'd much rather introduce them in between seasons.
I will be creating a thread that will be used solely for posing mentalities and attribute changes (i.e. when you lose a game) in due course. This thread will be used for signing-up.
