NHL 13 EASHL[X360]: DSP Ice Dragons Roll Call

[Gangrel]

I wish I had been on last night for the wins instead of getting hammered after my softball tourney......


Er, no, never mind.

[TheTruth]

yes it took 3 nights of hard work to get that plus 1 in Acceleration and speed.

Yeah but how sweet it was!

Sorry, this may be a stupid question. But does everyone in the club get this boost? Or are you talking about just the normal leveling up placing attribute points?

[XXXIV]

yes it took 3 nights of hard work to get that plus 1 in Acceleration and speed.

Yeah but how sweet it was!

Sorry, this may be a stupid question. But does everyone in the club get this boost? Or are you talking about just the normal leveling up placing attribute points?

Just talking about the normal leveling. Now with wins so involved in it, what the club does matters even more.

[10spro]

It's going to be hard matching up with games around my created player, when I see guys already in the mid 70's in attributes.

[XXXIV]

It's going to be hard matching up with games around my created player, when I see guys already in the mid 70's in attributes.

Ya. Im just getting to 60

[pk500]

The game has been out less than a week, yet I feel like I'll have no chance of being competitive if I don't play this mode every single night. Hell, I haven't even created my player yet.

Feel free to open my roster slot for another interested party if there's a limit. I don't have time to work on building up a player every night. Just not that serious about this whole thing.

[vader29]

PK, the club size limit is 50 and we only have about 20 now and have never come close to having to turn anyone away because of the club size limit so please join and play when you feel like it.

[FifaInspected]

The game has been out less than a week, yet I feel like I'll have no chance of being competitive if I don't play this mode every single night. Hell, I haven't even created my player yet.

Feel free to open my roster slot for another interested party if there's a limit. I don't have time to work on building up a player every night. Just not that serious about this whole thing.

In regards to PK's comment above. Is it still possible to play OTP using regular NHL guys? I get the big picture "club" concept, but we may have enough guys to to set up a great night of DSP private games.

[webdanzer]

The game has been out less than a week, yet I feel like I'll have no chance of being competitive if I don't play this mode every single night. Hell, I haven't even created my player yet.

Feel free to open my roster slot for another interested party if there's a limit. I don't have time to work on building up a player every night. Just not that serious about this whole thing.

In regards to PK's comment above. Is it still possible to play OTP using regular NHL guys? I get the big picture "club" concept, but we may have enough guys to to set up a great night of DSP private games.

If this is possible, and there are enough guys here into giving it a shot, I'd like try to participate in 'NHL games' as well. Like PK, I'm not really going to be doing the 'grind up your guy' thing with this game this year.

I'm mostly just enjoying season mode, before they remove that from next year's offering like they did with Madden.

[pk500]

I would LOVE to play OTP games as an NHL player as an occasional change of pace for the hardcore, create-a-player OTP dudes at DSP.

[FifaInspected]

I like the OTP idea. Between madden, NHL an a soon to be released soccer game I won't have the time to build my be a pro to a reasonable skill.

[Zeppo]

What's all this about grinding? There's no grinding in this game.

You gain points by playing games, that's it. That's all there is to it. There's no grinding where have to do some activity that is not fun or is not related to anything other than playing games. When you've played 5, you unlock the next card and get points to add to your player. Yes, you also need to have won two games to unlock that card, but it's not that big a deal. When you've played 15 games, you unlock your next card assuming you have 5 wins, and so on. It's not that big a deal, and it's nothing at all what should be termed "grinding."

The bonus is that if we have enough guys, for me that means at least six, we can play in games that count towards our advancement against only each other. Practice or private games don't count for that.

Yes it sucks playing against teams full of higher rated guys, but I guarantee they beat us more often because they play better hockey as a team than we do. They space themselves better, they move the puck better, they get the puck deep and send it back up to the high slot to create shots, and they defend much better as a team. It's not solely that they have higher rated dudes, although that doesn't help us either.

We can always play real player OTP any time, but the problem there is that you get issues with line changes because people don't ever think to go to the bench and so you end up with dead tired guys all the time. But it can be fun. I've threatened for years to start those kinds of rooms, but it's always been easier and more fun to just use our club guys in the end.

And let's give up on PK finally for club games. Those of us who like this mode would all like him to join us and enjoy the mode, but neither is going to happen. It's already set in stone.

[pk500]

And let's give up on PK finally for club games. Those of us who like this mode would all like him to join us and enjoy the mode, but neither is going to happen. It's already set in stone.

It's set in stone because I don't have -- or want -- to spend the time to make this game the epicenter of my evenings for the better part of a week. I'm not going to devote that kind of time to a video game, especially now that I realize that's the kind of time commitment it takes to avoid getting steamrolled by other teams or being a boat anchor for your team if it's full of devoted, regular players.

I would enjoy this game if there was a way you could just jump in and play without having to dedicated most of your social life to playing games to build up the skills of your imaginary player. If I could jump in as Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff or Ryan Callahan, for example, that would be cool. But I don't have -- or want to spend -- the time to create some sort of Skyrim fantasyland on ice in which I play for hours to build up the skills of my player.

I had the same beef with Tiger Woods. If you didn't play the game for hours and weeks on end, you never built up the XP needed to create a good player, and it became impossible to compete in the Country Club after it was open for about two weeks. The XP system works great for EA, as it encourages loyalty to the game as people don't want to be left behind in their Country Club or team. But it doesn't work entirely well for people with a wife, three kids, a full-time job, kids involved in youth sports, coaching youth sports, Curriculum Nights, parent-teacher meetings, weekend freelance work, teaching 7th grade religious education, trying to stay in some kind of shape, sing in a rock band, read, go out on Wednesday nights with my buddies at the local bar, listen to music and watch a smidge of sports and other shows on TV.

So, you're right: I don't want to devote my free time toward becoming an Ice Dragon. How much time does 15 games take? If it's more than two or three hours per week to stay competitive, I'm not interested.

If you're pissed that you took plenty of time to write a primer to teach me how to build a player, fair enough. I'm sorry to waste your time. But if you're pissed that I don't want to devote my free time to the cause of the Dragons, I shed no tears.

Good luck with your team.

[10spro]

I absolutely understand the family demands and your points PK. Just feel free to drop by in a game among DSP'ers when time allows, but to build a dude and face the every day 12 year old kid that has already attributes in the mid 70's and will only get better, is tough.

[Jimmydeicide]

I here you PK loud and clear, bottom line is tho , its not that bad with your guy right now ive only played one night that we where out matched for skill and i think that was due to having 6 guys , it seems the full teams are full on hardcore team hockey.
Out side of that we have been somewhat competitive in most games ive been involved in.
Its not as bad as it seems .

[pk500]

I absolutely understand the family demands and your points PK. Just feel free to drop by in a game among DSP'ers when time allows, but to build a dude and face the every day 12 year old kid that has already attributes in the mid 70's and will only get better, is tough.

Thanks. I'd enjoy some head-to-head games some night, man. That would be fun. You could teach me a few lessons.

[pk500]

I here you PK loud and clear, bottom line is tho , its not that bad with your guy right now ive only played one night that we where out matched for skill and i think that was due to having 6 guys , it seems the full teams are full on hardcore team hockey.
Out side of that we have been somewhat competitive in most games ive been involved in.
Its not as bad as it seems .

But it will be within a couple of weeks if I don't get on the stick. Just like Tiger Woods. I could hang for about three weeks in the DSP CC and then got engulfed by guys with much more skill who put much more time into the game.

Zeppo can call it whining; I call it reality. I'm not devoting this much time to a video game. Full respect to those who do. I'm glad it freezes your pond.

[XXXIV]

Zeppo can call it whining; I call it reality. I'm not devoting this much time to a video game. Full respect to those who do. I'm glad it freezes your pond.

He just wants you to play.

We miss you man!

[Zeppo]

Zeppo can call it whining; I call it reality. I'm not devoting this much time to a video game. Full respect to those who do. I'm glad it freezes your pond.

I never called anything whining. But your multi-paragraph fantasy post of pure fiction makes an intersting point all on its own.

You made up your mind on this mode well before you ever even tried it. In fact, you still haven't tried it in any honest way. You certainly haven't tried it this year, and yet you seem to have completely made up your mind. You seem to have zero idea what this mode is about. You seem to be reacting to an OS-style effect that comes when a few people complain about the few things that bother them in what is an otherwise very enjoyable, camaraderie filled, fun mode of online sports game team play. You have no actual direct evidence as of yet on which to base your opinions.

I am not pissed in the least about putting in the time to try to help you along with the initial online be-a-pro set up because I had hoped you would be enthusiastic anout joining us. I wanted to do what I could to avoid what happened last year, namely you showing up one night with no idea what Club mode was about, no concept of what "creating a guy" meant, not having given your dude a name or a height or a weight, not having distributed the initial large number of points for your guys, etc. and then after about three minutes of understandable frustration, deciding the mode sucked and never trying it again.

I do hope that you will change your mind, or more precisely, keep your mind open until you give the game a chance and only then making your final judgement on its value.

It's a super fun mode. No one on our club plays because we want to be the top team. No one in our club bitches and moans about teammates that suck. Ask XXXIV. No one cares outside of just wanting to have fun and enjoy each others' company. If you had any idea of our club's win / loss record the last however many years, you would understand that those of us who play like nothing more than just jumping in from time to time when we can and getting some games in with DSP friends with whom we enjoy chatting and playing online together. No stress, no complaining, no crying about so and so being "an anchor," no whining. Just fun online sports game team play. When we have enough guys, we prefer to play against each other. Some guys go for months without checking in and playing, and we are always happy to see them when they decide to drop back in. And we play the mode continually for months and months, not just for a week or two after the game comes out. There's a long road of DSP Ice Dragons struggles to come, no need to make a final call about your fate so soon.

Please join us and try the mode out sometime soon, and I'd ask you to try your best to do so with an open mind. A lot of us would be very happy about it if you did.

[Danimal]

I have to say PK I only drop in once a week and my guy is low rated and no one makes me feel bad, nor do I feel I am dragging the team down. I really don't care if we lose either so that may be an issue but I am just their for the fun.

[pk500]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

[Spooky]

So...I have to be honest and say that I am (or was) feeling he same way PK was. I created my player last night and then realized how it would take me a loooong time to get him up to snuff. But I am willing to give it a go on any night that I can possibly join you guys.

I created my player last night and played one game. So...what do I do now to be a part of DSP's team? Does our team need any more of a particular position? I am a "tough guy" defensive player (as of now).


Oh and where is that write up that Zeppo wrote to help get started with this mode? Was that a PM because I might find it very helpful as well...?

[pk500]

So...I have to be honest and say that I am (or was) feeling he same way PK was. I created my player last night and then realized how it would take me a loooong time to get him up to snuff. But I am willing to give it a go on any night that I can possibly join you guys.

I created my player last night and played one game. So...what do I do now to be a part of DSP's team? Does our team need any more of a particular position? I am a "tough guy" defensive player (as of now).


Oh and where is that write up that Zeppo wrote to help get started with this mode? Was that a PM because I might find it very helpful as well...?

I'll send it to you, dude. Thanks.

[Zeppo]

So...I have to be honest and say that I am (or was) feeling he same way PK was. I created my player last night and then realized how it would take me a loooong time to get him up to snuff. But I am willing to give it a go on any night that I can possibly join you guys.

I created my player last night and played one game. So...what do I do now to be a part of DSP's team? Does our team need any more of a particular position? I am a "tough guy" defensive player (as of now).


Oh and where is that write up that Zeppo wrote to help get started with this mode? Was that a PM because I might find it very helpful as well...?

You should at least set up one forward as well so that there is flexibility as to where you can play.

Over time, you should try to keep all four skater positions leveled up so that you can just pop in whatever position. It's super easy to level all four as you earn cards, because each card only gives you a few points, but for the initial setup, you are given a large number of points to customize your guys, so it can be tedious at first.

Remember you can always re-roll any position simply by changing the player type in the attribute screen and thus resetting your attribute distribution to zero. For Drop-In games, where you use your dude with randoms in games that count towards earning cards, you want to have all positions ready to go so that you can just play whatever is available. Randoms often tend to be picky and jump quickly to the spot they want to use.

For our games, we are all flexible and like to make everyone happy and often have discussion before each game about "are you sure you don't want to be Center? Go ahead, be Center!" and so on. So we tend to accommodate whatever especially for relative newcomers.

[Gangrel]

The only guy that intimidates me is 34. I see the penalties he takes on the other teams, and I think "man, I hope I don't piss him off".