aqualizard

If AJ said he was "done", and "done" means he forfeits, so be it. But! I propose that the commish proposes a time, like "AJ/Plabax can you play Friday Nov 18 at 10pm EST". Sadly, I think the commish HAS to get involved because these two can't figure it out on their own, and they are both too good, so for the integrity of the league, special effort is necessary. Edit: I see I am in alignment with Pearate mentioning agendas in his closing remarks above. So I concur with Pearate.

Ok, noted. I am confident we will hookup without a big effort. If we don't organically in next several days we can set a day/time.

You make the movie as you see fit, Mikey! (Gawd knows you can never please everyone in every way; in anything, really.) I will say I personally have no interest at all in what NHLers have to say, but am very interested in what the programmers and designers have to say. But I am a hardcore fan, and probably not your target audience. But... Specifically, in the DVD extras, will you have the entirety of the Jim Simmons interview? (I am interested in all the guys that helped develop this game, but as you know, I think Mr.Simmons is the main dude.) Thanks, man! Love that this is happening and thanks for the update!

Sure. Size doesn't matter. Playing guys that are eager to play is what counts. Let's do it!

Season done. Special thanks to Pearate who honored the many times we scheduled our games. Really helps. (Also, for the record, we had a "good enough" conneciton at noon EST between France and Toronto.. will note this time for future games.)

If B guys are allowed I will take Toronto.

New guys should be clearly indicated as such. When someone is brand new, in the Draft thread it should indicate this beside their name. Like: Protology (brand new) Then helpful vets will be aware of their status, and reach out more. I know I would. If I saw this I would check in with these guys regularly. Related to this, there should be an AIM group that is: "Tech Support", or "Tier C" (if we ever have a Tier C) where the new guys can post issues they may be having without (hopefully) feeling stupid. (I am convinced we lose a ton of guys due tech trouble.)

Here is an idea specifically for retaining new signups in Classic. Let them draft first. The worse you are, the more a team matters. Have new guys draft in order that they join. If we have 4 new guys, they draft 1-4, and then other B League vets draft in random order as normal, form that point on. New guys with CHI and DET will not get clobbered, and more likely to stick around. (If we have a C Tier this idea is not necessary, obviously.)

All good ideas, especially having the right kaillera right off the bat. (Pearate mentioned this before, as have others.) The Discord bit sounds good too, as long as no serious roadblocks have been found. If we are moving with Discord, maybe the next leagues should not have an AIM group at all,to force this.

Can you be specific? Are you saying "shorter leagues"? Or enforcing checkpoints better? Both? Something else? More? I want to add your points above but "No more catering to slackers" is too vague.

What does a "guy like beavers" mean? A level only?

There is a now thread to post retention ideas: Player Retention Ideas

The player base isn't growing anymore, so we need to work on attracting and, in particular, keeping new players. Let's come up with some ideas. Are you a new player? We especially want to hear from you about what will keep you playing. Is there anything making it difficult for you? So here are some ideas, and I'll try to link them to the post in the thread about them. "C" Leagues We already have "A" leagues for top players and "B" leagues for guys who haven't hit that level (yet). Maybe we need a "C" league for new guys to play against guys who they have a chance against and make friends with people in the same situation as them. I think it was CoachMac who had the idea of hybrid leagues, where you have A/B/C divisions which mostly play in their division but also play some games outside of it. Bridge Technology Gap Streamline the installation process. Find better software. Make it easier for users to get help. Game Nights Make a couple nights of the week specified as game nights. So those nights tend to be busy and you know you'll have some people to play. Ladder I've been meaning to make a ranked ladder integrated with the nhl94online.com site but haven't gotten to it yet. Streams Watching people play is fun... I think a 2on2 stream would be fun. Having a couple "Game Night" would help with this. smozoma says: I have this idea to make a ROM hack that allows kaillera server play with 3 or 4 players but the 3rd and 4th players don't actually play the game, they are just observers. This would allow someone to jump into the games and stream them without being a player. They could do commentary, too. Chat room We used to have live chat integrated into the website, but it was a virus avenue. There may be ways to integrate Discord chat into the site safely. Crack Down on Slackers Shorter seasons / enforce milestones ... More ideas will be added as users contribute ideas....

Agree 100%. New thread with all ideas at improving retention. Edit: There is now, see 2 posts below...

Brutus, what you and Raph do is very much appreciated. And Chaos and smozoma. Without you guys we have nothing. But!..... As a (relative) newcomer, there does seem to be some "insitutional thinking" that goes on here. The "powers-that-be" and the lifers here are not always receptive to trying new things. (Look at AIM for a good example.) And when they do, they are small, baby steps. This may be because lifers have seen it all before and know better. But..... it is possible that the lifers are wrong, too. Why not try the C tier? What is the harm? If we have 5 new guys, I say put a C tier in. If less than 5, yes, add them to B, but lets make a note somewhere about who is truly new, and who is returning.

Raph, I appreciate all you do. Without you, this whole thing would probably collapse. That said, I am firmly in the camp that says there should be a C Tier, for total noobs. When people are new -- even in they are good -- they need nurturing. Having a C league -- with Vets checking in to help -- would help a lot, IMO. Heck, just having the AIM group dedicated to C would help. It would broadcast right away that these guys are new and need extra help. I also think that Noobs do leave because they get throttled. But that is not the only reason. Why noobs leave: 1. get throttled 2. have technical problems 3. feel lost or unsupported 4. decide they don't playing after all 5. have less time than they expected 6. other things I can't think of, but I am sure exist.... It is hard to show examples because when people go, we rarely find out why. They just go. But looking at your list: Protology -- Possibly could have been helped more. Lupz -- n/a Sublime -- n/a D.T. -- Possibly could have been helped more. LABS -- n/a If I knew Protology and D.T.s situation, I would have loved to help more. I can help with technical issues or just making people feel welcome. But someitmes guys in B have played before (like Danglicious) and I never know who is really new and who is not. Having a C Tier for noobs only would be a safe zone, where they could ask anything, without the need for feeling stupid. And Vets that dropped in, like me, would be friendly. These are just quick thoughts I put together... back to work for me.

Sooo... you managed to get things set up at work, and you are pulling all nighters there for a week? Getting paid to play? Nice!!

Hey, this is cool! I found Raph's first post on the forum, when he was a bright eyed noob. Ok, can someone elaborate on the one-timer passing bug? We want the stats on nhl94rocks.com to reflect the true passing attempts and passing percentage. Soooo... 1. If you pass and do a one-timer and do not score, does it count as a missed pass? 2. If you pass and do a one-timer and score, does this also count as a missed pass? Or do I have this wrong? (Not sure what a "successful one timer" from above means...) Also, can someone confirm that a one-timer that is on goal does count as a SOG? Thanks!

Hey Coach, sorry to see you go. And I think if you want to quit, you should honor the season, then quit. But! If it is ok with you, and Raph, I can swap teams with you. You can have CHI and I will take EDM. (CHI has more games played than EDM, but I am fine with that. It will give me (EDM) more games in regular season, and you (CHI) more games in the playoffs, so it may even balance out.) What do you think?

Nice work, Pearate! Great contribution.

The people have spoken. Case closed and welcome back, Tex!

Pearate, I have to respectfully disagree: 1. Tex is brand new to A... he is not a veteran A player. In fact, he could have stayed in B if he wanted. 2. More importantly, Tex is more accessible and plays more games faster than anyone. So he is an ideal replacement. Finally, he has Dallas. They are a decent team, but not a top tier team. So his skill level will be offset by his team, to some extent. Similar to JV, also A, taking over Rangers. It is not as bad as when Brutus took over with Montreal. (Which I didn't mind, actually.) Now that I think of it, I actually don't care how good someone is. I only care if they finish their games. So I think Pearate and I just have different opinions.

Yeah Skip, I wouldn't blame you for pulling the plug. Kinda fizzled out. But if you do keep doing it, I would make the season half as long and have less players (no slackers)... Thanks for all your effort either way...

Oh ok. WTH, I will still take DET. (Unless someone else wants them. Not a huge deal to me.)

Yeah, Plabax, sign up! I think B guys with CHI and DET would be competitive against A guys with EDM and PIT... Or, maybe as a point of honor some A guys would try to run the field with an even lower tier team, say a TB or SJ?