LA Robbie

I wasn't saying Plabax was responsable for the death of 94. lol I was using the example Tomkabs put forward of how someone turning up for a test game, getting smashed by a vet & possibly hearing a bunch of negative comments wouldn't motivate too many to continue afterwards. On the other hand, picking a horrible team for a test game & not making weight bug or positional changes (I always used to go with NYI) would give a noob a more competitive game. If you can be a nice guy while you're doing it & encourage them I would imagine it would probably be the more fruitful tactic.

Failure to recognise other people's motives for playing is a big part of the problem. A noob turns up, gets spanked 15-1 by Plabax & may well think "Wow. I wanna learn the stuff he's doing", but others may react by thinking "Man I really suck. Not gonna waste my time with this". Everyone's different but some people think their opinion that "Beating new players 15-1 should inspire them" is the only option. Fortunately it's not. Most noobs need to be eased in gradually so it's an enjoyable experience & a slow learning curve. Getting a measure of success early on is just as important to learning & gaining confidence as watching a one-trick pony score 15 pass shots past you. Playing at your level & winning as many as you lose is vital to make for an enjoyable experience & getting noobs to stick around & become good players & valuable community members. That's how the community will grow. Fortunately the way A league has died seems to have switched the focus to fun & people being committed & playing their games. Being the best player in the world means nothing now if you never get online & play. Add to that someone taunting you & telling you how crap everyone is when you've just turned up for a test game & it's pretty obvious why the community has struggled the past year. I think the new classic format & new focus on playing & having fun instead of whining about skill level & whether people are good players or not is exactly what was needed. Hopefully a new era is beginning.

Quebec

Winnipeg

Welcome. I agree with Tomkabs. Great to see a lot of excited noobs leading up to this Classic. Hope a lot of you stick around & become dedicated community members. Hope your Gens connection issues work out OK. As Tomkabs said, a cheap PC for a couple of hundred dollars is all you need so no great outlay. Good luck this season!

When will you be on for Blitz Chaos?

Just thought the members of Blitz B were worth a shout out. It's been a great start to the season with a lot of stories making it probably the best Blitz season i've been involved in so far since joining in season 06. First of all the B guys are actually playing, which seems to be a bit of a novelty for a 94 online league. 6 players are up over 20 games with Brutus already having played 30, Probob on 29 & myself on 28. Chaos is the only guy not to have shown up yet. Again showing that B is the best level for guys committing to the leagues they play. Big story has definitely been Probob's start to the season with Ottawa. Had gone 22-4-0 before falling to Donnybrook 3 games in a row. Bure & Shanahan with Ricci looks incredible & he would seem to be the favourite right now. Donny's wins over Ottawa looks to be the start of Boston's season and a strong challenge from him seems imminent, whilst Brutus with St. Louis & Sicarius with TB have also been solid. My Redwings have also recovered from an average start to climb the standings. I think that's the most exciting thing this season. I said it after the draft but the top 5 in the league can all beat one another, so then when you remember that Fitzo & Minpind have yet to rack up games & last season's B runner up Chaos has yet to start you realise just how tough a winner this season is to pick. Very exciting when the competition is so tight. On top of all that is the battle between the league's top stars. I'm delighted with Dino's 74 points in 28 games so far. He was averaging about 1.800 a game after 16 games but has since exploded & currently averages over 2.600 per game. Bure has the exact same points for Ottawa after 29 games & Hull has been a sensation for St. Louis. The Lafontaine/Neely combination for TB looks very special & Courtnall & Sandstrom have racked up 45 points between them in 8 games for Fitzo's Quebec. At the other end Patrick Roy has been his usual miracle-worker self for Ottawa with an incredible .736 save average after 29 games & Detroits Barrasso over .740! Boston's John Blue is at .781 after 14 games! Amazing. Can he keep that going all season?! It's all these little things adding up to a great season so far at a time when the community has been suffering. 94 a long way from finished yet, & hopefully this is a precurser to a strong classic season & an upturn in activity in the community. Congrats again to the B guys!

Exactly. Plabax can't have any complaints if people have just got fed up with the childish games, whatever you think Kings motives may or may not be etc

Whilst Raph has clearly benefited from Plabax quitting or being banned from leagues in the past, and yes it probably doesn't look good that on those occasions Raph either took the decision or was involved in it either as a commissioner, mod or strong influence you also have to accept that Plabax is a cause of a lot of drama & problems. Unsporting, arrogant & often just plain rude. Both sides have valid points in terms of whether or not Plabax should be allowed to play in leagues as well as whether a competitor in the same league who stands to benefit from throwing out his main opposition should have the power to make that decision

Odd man. Obviously other computers are letting you in to connect but your computer is not letting certain others in to connect with you. The method most foolproof is to set up port forwarding on your computer so you can host direct. There's a thread somewhere but if you're not sure talk to donny or smozoma for expert advice

Very sad but Ice, Zalex, Eggink, Dcicon & Hokkee I wud expect to get involved. The community needs a real shot in the arm. Really its time to focus on the noobs & the committed B players. They're the life blood of the community now. Its no longer about the skill level anymore

Can anyone help? Skeletor & I have been tryin to play his Blitz home games but whenever he hosts at my end everythin seems normal but at his end the rom is not loading up. After the connection sequence on Ham he just gets a black screen. We played my home games without an issue & we had played loads of exhis b4 the season with no problem. We tried to play via a server but the same thing happens there too. He can connect to me but I cant connect to him. I noticed that a couple of weeks ago my ip changed ( dont know why but it changes regularly every month or so). Cid this be the root of the problem? If any of the tech boffins in the community can help we'd really appreciate it

I thought after the hack you couldn't edit it, something like that?

.....................Let's Blitz

Did draft penalties ever get applied b4 this season? There were guys who never completed & still seemed to have decent draft position

http://www.gamesradar.com/12-most-stressful-games-you-ever-play/

Any update?

id just like to start, CB check or no!

1. Theres already a drop off in A. No one plays TDL elite is largely B players now. B league is the best league in the community now purely for the spirit amongst players & their commitment to play their games 2. The lamest of all goals is the floater to make the goalie flap & fall over so you can tap in the rebound. Such a bullshit way to score. Why the goalies have such a problem with that puck is beyond me. I respect the pass shot a lot more cos its a real skill to master it & is a spectacular scoring method

Have been thinking about a new format for a league, thought i'd think out loud here to see what people think. Was thinking of a "Skill Cap" draft league. Basically each team is allowed a certain amount of points on their team for: Speed Shot accuracy Shot power Weight And whatever other key in-game skills people care to identify. You then draft your team but you have to consider how many points you're using in each skill category while you're drafting so you take Mario but you've used up a big percentage of your Shot accuracy & power points as well as a fair bit of weight. Take Krupp & a big chunk of weight allowance has gone. Mogilny occupies a lot of your speed etc etc etc. You'd have some guys who beef up their starting 6 but have a really weak bench. Others might share the points around to have a solid roster without any big stars etc. Just an idea right now. Anyone think it has legs?

OK, lets get this going now! I think the success of Kupuck's TDL has given the community a buzz again. Important to get Blitz started now & keep that going. As Probob said, do we need a new roll call to make sure guys are still around?

Kupuck's disappearance & subsequent spectacular comeback has definitely been the most incredible since Gandalf!

good idea

Search 4 me 2nite & tomorrow because Thursday I go away on a business trip & wont be back til Saturday. Likely wont b around until sunday

Sensible Soccer & Madden there too. Decent sports collection