IneffableLeafs

Looks like a northern and southern conference would be more appropriate for this league. A theoretical current Conference standings for Fishbowl gold would be something like this:
 
(x indicates playoff position)
 
Northern Conference
 
1.x Wildwood Violent Rush
2.x Montmorency Vortex
3.x Larson Knights
4.x Sellwood Spirits
5.x Hawkeye Revolution
6. Pinewood Lumberjacks
7. Wolfe Wolves
8. Batchawana Battlin Bears
 
Southern Conference
 
1.x Urbancrest Comets
2.x Horn Lake Hooligans
3.x Jolly Rattlers
4. Portland Cyclones
5. Cuba City Eagles
6. Cedar Rapids Panthers
7. Blenheim Pirates
8. Mississauga Masons
 
However, if playoffs were determined by conference standings instead, 6th place Hawkeye would miss the playoffs in favour of 9th place Portland.
 
Clearly the Northern Conference is the better conference on paper, boasting 5 out of the eight current playoff teams. However, historically the Southern Conference has been much better, with Jolly, Blenheim, Horn Lake, Cedar Rapids, and Cuba City awarding the South seven out of only nine cups ever awarded in Fishbowl. Larson and Wildwood have two cups representing the North.
 
Sigh, just like in real life, Canadian teams seem to completely struggle in the playoffs. Perhaps Canadian cities are cursed?

Been there, done that.
 
Your team most likely has many high rated players for division iv (or IHL), I'm assuming. I myself was able to win a lot of games despite having only good teamwork. Since I don't know what type of players make up your team, I'll try to help.
 
1. Your team's confidence is only ok or uncomfortable because your players are not suited to your tactics. Check your offensive and defensive tactics, and see if the majority of your players match your tactic's player characteristics section. Some tactics require high physical players in relation to the rest of the players in your league, while some require good skating, and others good puckhandling. Scout the rest of the teams in your league that have good confidence and see if their players all have specialties, or one or two stats that seem much higher than the first. You can also read the thread in help files for further help.
 
2. Your winners instinct from what I understand does not significantly change based on your game results. It is based off of your player traits, such as friendly, cocky, determined, anxious, etc. I personally find the winners instinct the hardest to increase, but in general, here are some tips.
 
Limit the amount of nervous players on your team to below 5. Same with anxious players.
 
Fill your team with determined and heroic players, but make sure they make up no more than 2 thirds of your team (around 7-12 players is good).
 
Don't be deceived by the compassionate and friendly traits. These massively increase your teamwork, but too many of these players, and your winners instinct will fall into the toilet. It takes a lot to drop your teamwork once it is high, so don't be afraid to dump some of those players for cocky and arrogant players.
 
 
I found it a bit confusing myself when I was a new manager, but yeah, basically teamwork and confidence are based off of game results, but confidence is mainly based off of how your players find your tactics. Winners instinct is hard to get high, but you should master it with a bit of experimenting.
 
Hope this helped.

Hi everyone,
 
Been playing for over 2 years in Biscuit now and I've created a new team in Fishbowl, Miami Walkers.
Best of luck to all.
 
Cheers,
 
Kim

I'm reading through this thread and from what I can see, an "RFA" will basically be a 21 year old too good for his league that is willing to negotiate in a lower league because that is the team that drafted them.
 
Yes, this will undoubtedly increase the amount of homegrown players, but it will also be very much abusable by top GHL and SHL teams who are able to stockpile talent, especially with the new affiliate team system.
 
It's simply not feasible or realistic to have one of your prospects automatically sign with you just because you drafted them, if they are way above your league. 
 
Two realistic suggestions/solutions to this is either:
 
Force "RFA's" to sign with you no matter what, but for a fixed salary above the league average (basically an overpriced entry level contract)$1,000,000 in Gold $500,000 in Silver $250,000 in Bronze $100,000 in Iron $50,000 in Lower Iron When a player is drafted by your team, increase their loyalty so that their interest in signing with you increases Otherwise, I can't see RFA's working in this game.

I'm reading through this thread and from what I can see, an "RFA" will basically be a 21 year old too good for his league that is willing to negotiate in a lower league because that is the team that drafted them.
 
Yes, this will undoubtedly increase the amount of homegrown players, but it will also be very much abusable by top GHL and SHL teams who are able to stockpile talent, especially with the new affiliate team system.
 
It's simply not feasible or realistic to have one of your prospects automatically sign with you just because you drafted them, if they are way above your league. 
 
Two realistic suggestions/solutions to this is either:
 
Force "RFA's" to sign with you no matter what, but for a fixed salary above the league average (basically an overpriced entry level contract)$1,000,000 in Gold $500,000 in Silver $250,000 in Bronze $100,000 in Iron $50,000 in Lower Iron When a player is drafted by your team, increase their loyalty so that their interest in signing with you increases Otherwise, I can't see RFA's working in this game.

Hi, it would be nice to have notification about injuries/recoveries in affiliation teams. I just recall player form there just to realize he is injured, which I did not know about (also not for how many matches until I counted it). Since there is no IR, I'm sending injured 2W players from my A team to affiliate and I think I will not get message that they are healthy again. That would be great thing to add.

Hi everyone,
 
Just a minor suggestion.
 
How about a cooldown period for managers that want to change teams? For instance manager X taking control over team A, 10 days later when team B is available he/she wants to take control over team B. Maybe because that team is in a higher league or has better players or whatsoever.
 
I have seen this happen a couple of times with the same manager. Don't get me wrong, I like the addition of extra managers but I think it would be better if there is a cooldown period for changing teams. This way we give everyone else the chance to change teams and avoid teams getting badly managed or making it a mess.
 
Cheers,
 
K

+1 to the waiver idea, you guys can work out the details though.

Been there, done that.
 
Your team most likely has many high rated players for division iv (or IHL), I'm assuming. I myself was able to win a lot of games despite having only good teamwork. Since I don't know what type of players make up your team, I'll try to help.
 
1. Your team's confidence is only ok or uncomfortable because your players are not suited to your tactics. Check your offensive and defensive tactics, and see if the majority of your players match your tactic's player characteristics section. Some tactics require high physical players in relation to the rest of the players in your league, while some require good skating, and others good puckhandling. Scout the rest of the teams in your league that have good confidence and see if their players all have specialties, or one or two stats that seem much higher than the first. You can also read the thread in help files for further help.
 
2. Your winners instinct from what I understand does not significantly change based on your game results. It is based off of your player traits, such as friendly, cocky, determined, anxious, etc. I personally find the winners instinct the hardest to increase, but in general, here are some tips.
 
Limit the amount of nervous players on your team to below 5. Same with anxious players.
 
Fill your team with determined and heroic players, but make sure they make up no more than 2 thirds of your team (around 7-12 players is good).
 
Don't be deceived by the compassionate and friendly traits. These massively increase your teamwork, but too many of these players, and your winners instinct will fall into the toilet. It takes a lot to drop your teamwork once it is high, so don't be afraid to dump some of those players for cocky and arrogant players.
 
 
I found it a bit confusing myself when I was a new manager, but yeah, basically teamwork and confidence are based off of game results, but confidence is mainly based off of how your players find your tactics. Winners instinct is hard to get high, but you should master it with a bit of experimenting.
 
Hope this helped.

Simple, make possible to send 1 way contract player in AAHL if they clear the waivers. Otherwise if a two way player need clear waiver, it ridiculous and I totaly disagree.

+1 to the waiver idea, you guys can work out the details though.

It really depends. Your players may the problem, the way your setting them up may be the problem or it may just be the tactics as you suspect. If you go to a better tactic from a bad one it actually is possible to see immediate improvements but that is rare. Typically initially there will be a drop off but, so long as you chose the right tactic, you will inevitably see improvement eventually.
 
In regards to PP and PK tactics if you want a good PP and PK you need to know the ideology behind what is going on or you will be finding success via blind luck and it likely won't be consistent.
 
First PK since there are currently only 3 tactics in game. I am going to go in order from safest in real life (and thus most common in the NHL) to aggressive.
 
The Box: This tactic tries to prevent the opposing teams power play from being able to get a shot from the most dangerous part of the ice. The middle. The negative is that due to emphasis on keeping the middle of the ice unavailable the outside is open for use making it weak against power plays that try to create scoring chances via one timers. So why is this the safest? Because the middle of the ice is by far more dangerous than an outside shot save rare great shooters like Ovechkin.
 
Diamond: This tactic is basically the box set on one end to counter the outside shooter situation however it opens up a lot of opportunity for seam passes to and through the most dangerous part of the ice. This is the other popular PK in the NHL however it has two major weaknesses compared to the boxes one. 1. The middle of the ice is much more vulnerable due to it being more open. 2. A distinct lack of defensive coverage low in the zone.
 
Wedge: This one you pretty much don't see in the NHL. Well you do and you don't but I will explain later. This tactic has one player aggressively challenging the opposing player with the puck trying to force them into a mistake. In game wise it works as an aggressive cross between the first two. However in working as a cross it pretty much carries the weaknesses of both of the others at the same time while having its own as well. This is basically an all or nothing PK tactic and if you want to even consider using it you need to have players with high speed, defense and spirit. If you are a GHL team all 3 of those attributes pretty much needs to be in the 90s for this PK to be effective. In terms of seeing this in reality it is all about how aggressive the PK is rather than this being its own PK tactic. A very aggressive box or diamond is going to have one player constantly pressuring the puck carrier on a PK whereas a more passive PK will stay more confined.
 
As for PP in game there are 4 options here.
 
Umbrella: This is the first outside shooter PP set. 3 shooters with 2 guys in front for screens, deflections and rebounds. While this set up is great for creating scoring chances this one also is weak in that it has limited options for moving the puck making it weak against aggressive PKs.
 
1-3-1: Most common PP in the NHL by far because it can easily blend into a down low set up or up high set up or even into different PP sets with relative ease. Great for highly skilled players but you need highly skilled players for it to work.
 
Overload: The down low PP tactic with a focus on quick player and puck movement. While the two above struggle in game (the 1-3-1 in reality doesn't care as it is reliant on player skill alone but if it were that way in game it would be the only used PP due to having no weakness outside of the lack of your own players flaws) with more pressure this one is the in game counter to a high pressure PK.
 
Spread: This one doesn't even exist in reality. At least anymore. Maybe it existed in the 80s to early 90s when a team had a lack of skilled forwards. It also has a silly name to go with it in game. This should be called crash the net (since nobody is spread anywhere on the ice) since all 3 forwards go to the front of the net and the 2 point players just throw shots at the net looking for deflections and rebounds with a few lucky shots hopefully finding their way through everything into the net. Technically this is the worst PK listed due to it having no out from an aggressive PK and it would be incredible luck to get a shot through to net in a passive one even though it doesn't work that way in game. If you want to use it have high strength ratings in all 3 forwards and high shot ratings on your point guys. I really think this one exists solely so the wedge can be properly considered good against a PP.
 
Personally I wouldn't mind seeing the PP/PK system go to something like this: 3 PP systems and 2 PK systems. The PPs being overload, 1-3-1 and umbrella and the 2 PKs being box and diamond. Umbrella is strong against the box but weak against the diamond (say +10% and -10% respectively. Overload being the opposite and 1-3-1 being neutral. Say all things being equal a 1-3-1 will score 18% of the time on the PP. With the umbrella the rate would be 28% against the box but only 8% against the diamond and vice versa with the overload. I am not trying to say that my idea is better than what we have in game currently. I am actually not sold myself that it is better but this idea is an entirely different conversation.

Can we get a send message button in the action bar of a teams page. I find it a little bit annoying to have to go to a teams page to check a managers name and then to go to my own page to send a new message as soon as I can find that managers name in a big list of a million managers.
 
I imagine that this would take minimal time to install, so can we please get it? Pretty please!

Sounds like you need to work on your penalty kill eh?

I'm not trying to offend anyone with this post, but I understand that I'm probably walking on thin ice.
 
I don't think he's meaning to take offense. He mentioned that he was living in czech, so I don't think his english is his first language and is probably still learning it.
 
I think you are misusing the word "lie". He hasn't said anything that he knew was untrue nor has he said anything false so he is not a liar. If you just disagree with him and are arguing your opinion, it's not the right situation to call ineffable's points lies as it can be somewhat insulting. If your listing arguments, it's better to use small phrases such as "first of all / my first point / my first argument/ etc." It just comes off as less rude and prevents everyone from feeling offended.

I want to point out that I agree that the relegation playoff make no sense. Why not let the 3rd to 6th team battle it out for the "cup" and why give playoff games to teams who finished last in their league? Also, the power level is not comparable and it makes for very one sided games.

My best guess would be that lazy players give away the puck the most. Basing this on logic as well, snipers and playmakers (who do the most with the puck) would be more prone to giveaways than players with simpler assignments, such as enforcers, two way forwards, and grinders. Again based on logic, arrogant and cocky players would be selfish and thus give it away instead of pass, for example.
 
In terms of takeaways, the opposite. You'd probably want purposeful players or ambitious players. Grinders comes to mind as that is their job, to takeaway the puck by any means necessary.

Does anyone in fishbowl GHL have any interest in acquiring my first round pick for a high quality forward or a decent performing bottom 6 center? 

I'm all in for an alteration of the system.
 
I had actually made a thread like this a while back, pretty much for the same reasons, but with a slightly different format.
 
You can check it out here:
 
http://forums.gmgames.org/topic/7529-alter-promotionrelegation-playoff-system/

As the title shows, I'd like to see a change in the promotion/relegation playoff system, specifically for the GHL-SHL playoffs.
 
The main reason I want this is because of the immense talent gap between the average silver and average gold player. The talent gap is really massive. If I were to guess, it would be something like this:
 
GHL: 88-90 overall on average, however in some game world's this is a bit less, maybe 86-88 average rating.
 
SHL: 78-80 overall on average, where you'll see a lot of tough competition due to the smaller talent gap.
 
BHL: Roughly 75 overall on average, but can range from low 70's to high 70's. 80's are quite rare at this level.
 
IHL: Roughly 70 overall on average, stars can range around the mid 70's, while fringe players are in the high 60's.
 
LIHL: Roughly 65-68 overall on average, it's probably the easiest to promote from here to the IHL and be competitive for promotion to BHL first season.
 
My request is to alter the promotion playoff from SHL to GHL. But I'll get to that later.
 
As you can see, the talent gap between GHL and SHL is huge. On average, the talent level is increasing by minimum 6 overalls, compared to roughly 2-3 overalls in every other division, in which some players can increase 3 ratings per season.
 
My Montmorency team started in the IHL, and I've built up from there. Do you know how many players I'm taking with me from that IHL season from the GHL? 0. My best player in the IHL grew from a 73 to an 83, and he would most likely play on the 4th line at GHL level, and because you don't get your extra cap before the end of the season, I'm more than likely losing him.
 
It all comes back to the fact that it's super tough to take players from the lower leagues to the higher leagues and maintain a significant level of success.
 
My suggestion is, especially for the GHL relegation ayoff because of the talent gap:
 
Scrap the relegation playoffs.
 
Quite simply, the amount of teams that are promoted both in real life (as seen in the German Bundesliga) and in this game from the lower leagues thanks to a relegation playoff is next to none. Maybe 20 percent.
 
I think the rage of finishing 3rd and losing to a higher level team in this game frustrates many, and due to the talent gap, winning is just too difficult.
 
From my experience, I've finished third in the SHL, sweeping by 6th place 3 games to 0, only to lose to a GHL team much better than me 2-1, with the GHL team absolutely dominating me when they were at home. Not to mention my only win was in a shootout. In the playoffs. A shootout.
 
I'm proposing a format like the English Premier League does.
 
3 teams are automatically relegated from the Premier League to the Championship.
 
2 teams are automatically promoted from the Championship to the Premier League.
 
The teams placed 3-6 in the Championship play in a 4 team playoff in which the winner is promoted to the Premier League.
 
A format like this could easily to translated into GPHM logic, and I feel like it will get rid of some of the rage in this game.
 
Let me know your thoughts.

I don't mind the current format, but it is difficult to move up thru playoffs.
How would it be if 15-16 auto relegate, 13-14 play to see who gets to stay in current league and loser plays loser of promotion playoffs.
And for promotion 1-2 auto promote, 3-6 play for auto promotion with loser of finals playing loser of relegation playoffs it will give one team 2 chances of promoting.
This format will guarantee 3 teams get promoted with the possibility of 4 promoting and will extend playoffs a bit also.

In my league I have two prospects on my shortlist that I want to trade for.
 
It would be cool if in the action tab you could compare two or more players, specifically their traits, ratings, stats, and development chart.
 
That way I would be able to choose easily between the two said players and make a good trade.
 
I assume a comparison screen would work in other situations such as comparing players on your team to see which ones you should trade.
 
Let me know if this is in the game already because I think this would be very helpful.

I'd like to see these two player stats in the game:
Shooting Percentage (S%): To help people see who can score with limited ice time and who needs big minutes. Ex. Steven Stamkos has the best S% (17.3%) of active players who have played at least 100 games. While Nathan MacKinnon has the 273rd best S% at 8.5%. To see if a player is over preforming with an inflated shooting %. Can help you find true snipers. Help you to make trades.  
Game-Winning Goals (GWG): Helps you figure out who is clutch, and can log big minutes, and who can't. Ex. Logan Couture and Cam Atkinson have more GWG the past 5 seasons than captains Claude Giroux and Henrik Zetterberg.  We'll all see if the 'heroic' and 'stable' traits really make a difference. Can also help you make trades. I think they'd be a nice addition to a game based on numbers.
 
Thoughts?

As per Keskustankeisari's request, here are Game World Fishbowl's GHL Power Rankings for season 9.
 
I calculated the averages the exact same way that Erzac did in his post, so if you want the calculation rules, visit this thread: GHL s10 power rankings.
 
This is based on the lineups after the first preseason game, or early day 5.
 
A Couple of Notes:
Pinewood doesn't have 12 forwards, I assume they sign an 84 rated center/forward. I may have missed someones forum name, if I have, post below and I'll add it. All predictions are unbiased, no prediction I made or calculation is meant to favour any team, including mine. Simply my opinion. Any star (*) indicates a tie in position in terms of overall. The team rated higher in the power rankings had a stronger finish last season. Alright then, the teams are listed best to worst in terms of overall:
 
1. Larson Knights (GM: Kelvin)
      OFF: 89 DEF: 92 SG: 91 OVR: 89.8
Previous Finish: 1st, Eliminated first round 
 
2. Cedar Rapids Panthers (GM: Mauri Nieminen)
      OFF: 88 DEF: 87 SG: 88 OVR: 87.9
Previous Finish: 8th, Eliminated semi finals 
 
3. Horn Lake Hooligans (GM: Mike Grubb - Mickg34)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 96 OVR: 87.7
Previous Finish: 3rd, Eliminated semi finals 
 
4. *Hawkeye Revolution (GM: Marcel Proust - Haradrim)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 88 SG: 90 OVR: 87.5
Previous Finish: 4th, Lost Golden Cup finals 
 
5. *Cuba City Eagles (GM: Mare Maro)
      OFF: 87 DEF: 89 SG: 87 OVR: 87.5
Previous Finish: 2nd, Eliminated first round 
 
6. Jolly Rattlers (GM: Jaryn Barnes - JBizzle)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 86.4
Previous Finish: 7th, Golden Cup Winner
 
7. Sellwood Spirits (GM: Misco Grossi)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 87 SG: 89 OVR: 86.1
Previous Finish: 13th, Survived relegation playoff 
 
8. Montmorency Vortex (GM: Peter T. - IneffableLeafs)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.9
Previous Finish: 1st, SHL
 
9. Wynyard Wildfire (GM: Matthew Berntsen)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 87 SG: 86 OVR: 85.7
Previous Finish: 12th
 
10. Canuck Mighty Rhinos (Computer)
      OFF: 86 DEF: 85 SG: 84 OVR: 85.6
Previous Finish: 9th
 
11. Pinewood Lumberjacks (GM: Matthew Henke - MattLumberjacks)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 89 OVR: 85.4
Previous Finish: 2nd, SHL
 
12. *Wildwood Violent Rush (GM: Juho Kainulainen - Keskustankeisari )
      OFF: 84 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.3
Previous Finish: 5th, Eliminated first round 
 
13. *Blenheim Pirates (GM: Martin J.)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 86 SG: 90 OVR: 85.3
Previous Finish: 6th, Eliminated first round 
 
14. Urbancrest Comets (GM: Noah High - Noah)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 85 SG: 87 OVR: 85.1
Previous Finish: 10th
 
15. Wolfe Wolves (GM: Marcel Cloutier)
      OFF: 85 DEF: 84 SG: 90 OVR: 84.9
Previous Finish: 11th
 
16. Merrick Thunder (GM: Matt Jaworski)
      OFF: 84 DEF: 85 SG: 86 OVR: 84.3
Previous Finish: 3rd, SHL, promoted via promotion playoff 
 
So there you go fishbowl GHL, use this information as you'd like.
 
8 Predictions for Season 9 in the GHL
 
1. Canuck Mighty Rhinos relegated - The only computer controlled team in the league, is likely to suffer the same fate as the computer teams in season 8, Red River Dragons and the South Township Spartans. Owning by far the worst starting goalie in the GHL, at only 84, they should have a dismal season as human managers pick off their stars.
 
2. It's the same old contenders - The talent gap after the Cuba City Eagles is immense. The contenders: Larson, Cedar Rapids, Horn Lake, Cuba City, and possible Jolly, should all clinch playoff spots due to the talent difference. Expect Larson to bounce back after winning three league titles in a row and being beat by Cedar Rapids, who will likely finish higher than 8th this season.
 
3. Tight battle for 7th and 8th - After playoff runs, Wildwood and Blenheim both regressed, due to old age, and expiring contracts. However, they will both be expected to finish 7th and 8th due to their experience. However, the emergence of the Sellwood Spirits should not be ignored, and the Montmorency Vortex and Wynyard Wildfire both look to make the playoffs as well, possibly the first for both managers in Fishbowl.
 
4. Emergence of new talents - At season 9, the stars that fist emerged in season 1, such as Ivar Lund, Eser Heinze, Dominik Svidran, and Nilo Strinberg, all are on the verge of declining, making room for new stars to step up to the plate, starting with season 4 and 5 draftees: Jeffrey Richardson, Joen Jacobsen, and Bo Welker.
 
5. Emergence of new playoff teams - After teams such as Hawkeye, Wildwood, and Canuck, who came out of lower leagues and established themselves in the GHL, with managers Matthew Henke, Matt Jaworski, and  Peter T. building formidable teams directly after promotion, and Sellwood also having a great offseason, expect new playoff teams. This will be the first taste of human competition to stay in the league for some established teams, and don't be surprised if a formidable team goes down instead of the recently promoted. Also, the Jolly Rattlers' offense is ageing, and will start to regress, and along with a poor defensive corps for a playoff team, even a 90 rated goalie may not save them from a mid table finish this season.
 
6. A decent draft - Analysis of major junior teams throughout the world shows that this draft will be pretty strong, and should have an above average top 10, with okay depth. Early in the season, no game-breakers have emerged yet, but in the USA, goaltender Chris McCready is surprising many scouts with his superb ability, notably his athleticism. He looks like a GHL star for sure.
 
7. Expect Batchawana back - The prime favourite for the SHL title, Batchawana should solidify the GHL as a completely human division next season, assuming Canuck is relegated, and their reputation as a 'battlin' team should pull them a long way, especially in hopes of landing them Chris McCready in the upcoming draft.
 
8. Team spirit will be important - Looking at the league, other than contenders, the rest of the standings will be anyone's guess. Many are expecting that winner instinct, teamwork, and most importantly confidence will greatly influence the table this season, with such even teams.
 
Hope you guys found this useful or interesting 

Draft picks will become more useful!!!
 
Everyone's on an even playing field!!!
 
I definitely support this, it would for sure be enjoyable. I think I may have suggested this myself before or supported it. Either way, it has been talked about by Anders and it would be great to see it implemented.
 
But I don't think divisions should be shuffled every season.
 
Divisions would probably be based on the city you choose.
 
Ex. If you choose Mississauga as your city you'll likely be in the Eastern Conference.
 
Divisions however could be slightly shuffled every few seasons, and everytime a new manager comes in and changes the city it could shift the conferences and divisions around.