aqualizard

Welcome back, Lupz. I will be on tonight (Wed Sept 28) 10pm EST hoping to see you. Note: I am on starting at 8pm, but will stick around to see if u arrive at 10...

The truth is I love them. And I am proficient at neither. They have not "ruined the game". They are are the game in its highest form. Among my friends in real life, back in the day, I was one of the better players. (And probably put more time into playing, which is usually related.) Then I started online play, and got my ass kicked. Seriously. I have played online for a year, and am now a mid-level B player. Maybe. I have done zero pass shots in a game, and rarely CB check. Though at least CB is on my radar now! The A level guys, most of whom do pass shots and CB, are the best players in the world. I am glad that pass shooting and CBing exist, and that they are difficult skills to master. That is what gives this 25 year old game so much depth. Both of these "glitches" may be happy accidents that were not intended by design, but they make the game better, because they require real skill. I look forward to the day when I can pull both off like the pros. Note: And I know that neither is required to play well. Lately playing exis with Kingraph I requested he not pass shoot, just to see what happened, and he handed my ass to me all the same.

Er, ok, you look waaaay better. Nice.

Ok, thank God! Didn't know they had such an operation. Would love to see your After pics...

Dude, is that pick in 1st post really you?

I am very interested, too. Especially if, once again, the Packers have a home game the next day. Cost was prohibitive for me this time around, but next year I should be in better shape. (Just got a credit card that gave me 25,000 Air MiIles as a bonus, so I have a "free" return flight anywhere in U.S. or Canada, supposedly.) Final note: What you have done looks inspiring! Especially that Manley Cup. Hats off to your effort. I do believe in a "Field of Dreams" approach: if you build it, and put real effort in -- like you obviously have -- they will come! And I will, too! I salute you, Troy! Nice work!

This is strong material, Plabax. If you choose to go to college I strongly recommend you try out for the debate team. You may be right. But, my feeling is you are not. My feeling is there were some newbs in that C Tier that would have stayed, but the Community and the Vets failed them. We need to nurture our new players. When these C tiers happened, my feeling is not enough Veterans reached out to them, and made them aware of forum posts, and how the different leagues work, and engaged them appropriately? And my fear is the interactions they had with Vets were few and far between, if any, and sometimes unpleasant. (You are aware, Plabax,, that there are some people here that are considered "difficult", right? ) Anyway, I do try to engage newbies currently, and if there were a C league, I would be happy to continue to do so, and happy to do my part to help the community grow.

Pretty sure you know this, Coach, but you can count me in.

The thing is, as I mentioned above, I think part of why we don't have more members is *because* we don't have a C tier. It's like the chicken and egg (which came first, No C tier or not enough players to have one?) If we made a small C tier (newbies only) I believe more would stick around, so more would graduate to B and A, and we would have more players overall.

We love rants! My main angle on this -- which may be different than others -- is I think there should be a C level for newbies, to play against other guys that won't trounce them. (And possibly put them off staying.) I have only been playing online for a year, and can name many players that were new and didn't stay. A softer start would help with this I think. Even if it had only 5 or 6 players. Also, I would be fine playing in a 6 player Tier if it was made up of all solid players that get their games in. In fact, I would rather play with As and Cs that are accessible, than my own level (Bs) that are hard to connect with. (I am not implying Bs are hard to play with, just saying "I want to play" with any level. Many As and Bs are unicorn-style players. That is, hard to find. )

Imagine if Classic had many Tiers in it. Like A B C or even A1 A2 B1 B2 B3 C and in some cases only 6 participants (in a particular tier). Are you fine with that? Or do you strongly prefer to have a bigger League or Tier with more than 6 participants? Note: This poll stems from this thread: http://forum.nhl94.com/index.php/topic/17722-there-needs-to-be-a-revamp-of-how-leagues-are-run-and-get-back-to-playing-this-game-the-way-it-was-meant-o-be-played/

So just to be clear, plenty of people want to play in 6-man leagues! In this thread, the people that say they are fine with it are: Pearate, Coachmac, sonoffett87, and aqualizard, (4) People that say not fine: You. (1) Hokkee and Brutus didn't weigh in. Bottom line is -- although the sample size is small -- people like a well run league, that has high participation, and size is not a big factor. Note: I just made a poll to ask if people will play in a small league: http://forum.nhl94.com/index.php/topic/17723-would-you-play-in-6-man-league/

I do not agree that pass shots and CB check should be banned. However, I do think that we should do more for our new people. I do think that there is a natural progression that happens, and if you are Tier B, you probably don't do many pass shots or CB checks. As you learn and get better, you may advance to A, and then you probably will encounter a lot more of them. So in a way, there already is an (unofficial) "ban" on pass shots and CB: They don't happen in the Tier a newbie will be playing in! However, I am a little afraid that some new guys decide not to stick around when they get trounced by Vets. A solid B player can still kill a newbie (who really is C level), and some guys may leave after a few of these beatings. Perhaps there should be a C tier, only for newbies? Maybe we will only get 4 or 5 guys, but it might be more encouraging for them to play at their own level? Then if they stick with it, they can go to B? (It is worth noting according to the Classic Waiting List, there is a ton of B players, and not so many As. It might be better for Bs to have the new guys taken out, so the B league isn't monstrous again?)

Tonight (Thur Sept 22) I will be online from 8pm EST onward, checking in and available.

It has been over a week since I posted this and did not hook up with anyone to finish games! (Robro and I tried, but had technical difficulties.) Skip, I need you more than anyone! (4 games!) Please throw me a bone, guys! If we schedule a game, I will be there 100%. I have never missed a scheduled game. It is easy to do.

For the record, I put myself I am in a similar situation to AJ, except I am on even more than he is. I have been trying to schedule games, through the forum and AIM, but I am also online at least 3 nights a week playing exis (but looking for games!) from 9pm EST onward. I need: Skip, Robro, Frey and Lupz. I hope I do not get penalized with DNPs if I don't hook up with these guys because I am making a ton of effort and am online frequently. Note: Yes, I was away for 3 weeks, but I was not AWOL. A good chunk of that I was literally in a tent on vacation, and Brutus and others knew. Before my vacay I was easy to access, and since I have been easy to access.

I am not a hockey fan, and don't know much about anything, but!! Isn't there, or wasn't there, a "reverse jersey" night now and again, so the home team could see the away jersey? Come to think of it, what I am saying probably doesn't help. But! I am with you, that Donatelli probably got added. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if these entire graphics are cut and paste jobs; maybe everyone is pasted in or tweaked to some extent...

BUMP! Let's schedule, guys! Note: Robro gets credit for trying to schedule with me... we had technical difficulties...

I love these "conspiracy theories".... The long/short stick thing seems easy enough to prove. Let's see some screen caps and compare? If you are seeing something, it should be visible in a screen cap, right? Until I see it, I don't believe it.

Ok, I will check in 9pm EST Friday. Can't stay long so hopefully you will be on close to then. Thx for reply. Is 9pm Monday ok? If not, can you name a time and I will get back to you? Also, I have the day off Monday so day time is possible, too. Thx for reply.

I aim to hit another 100% completed season! I need: MIN (Skip) NJ (Robro) QUE (Freydey) SJ (Lupz) Please schedule games with me here! After 9pm EST M-F is best, but I can be available at odd times on the weekend if we schedule. Thanks! aquaman

Just wanted to add, I do confuse the French guys, sorry. But one of you got new internet recently a league or so ago, and it was much better. Also, Darko (which may well be the one with new internet) played me recently, and I was worried because the ping was quite slow: like 110-130 ms. Yet, surprisingly, the games were smooth, and with no desyncs? I could tell it was right on the edge of getting laggy -- it was not 100% crisp -- but it didn't go "over the edge", if you catch my drift. It was actually better than games I have against Brutus, for instance. (I have smoothing always set to "If near UV (+4ms)", btw, for everyone.)

Wasn't Raph another team already? Edit: Nevermind, I see what happened (Frey is back for QUE)... Kinda glad I got my games in against Flatcrusher before Raph jumped in!

Got my games with Ice. Now I just need Skip. Skip, I will reach out to you on AIM. (Not sure if you are getting these here...)

You mean tonight? (If not, please name the day and I am there!) Thx!