- Aug 24, 2011
- 27,540
- 11,972
Around late July/Early August I was in 3 GM leagues. In every league i noticed the same thing. Everyone trades away nearly half their team. I was completely guilty of this as well. Oddly enough, i seemed to be the only one who thinks picks and prospects have little value in this game mode when you consider we'll only most likely be playing 4-6 seasons for NHL 13 and even Elite Prospects start out in the 60's.
I became weary that in about a month when the winners and the losers start to become more separated that people wouldn't want to stick with a losing team and they'll end up quitting. This isn't including the people who chose the Blue Jackets, Islanders, Coyotes etc...teams that you have to know a rebuild is necessary before you pick them. These people will probably stay regardless. But the guys who chose the average/good teams who trade away large chunks of their roster and either...
a) aren't very good at the game and get frustrated
b) simply get bored with the game mode and stop playing/quit
...well these guy's teams will have to be replaced. Are people really going to want to join a Connected league in December when they chose a team and the roster isn't even recognizable? When all the players they associate a team with are gone? When a team has gone from a Playoff Contender to a team in Rebuild? Everyone might as well be doing random rosters if thats the case. I've also seen A LOT of really bad/lopsided trades (again, guilty myself) that while seemingly fine to the GM's currently involved, might not be ok and might even be terrible for the next GM to pick up the team.
When i created this league almost 2 months ago, i had all of these things in mind. Now, 2 months removed from then, i've seen a lot, if not most of these HF Boards GM Leagues either terribly inactive or completely shut down. I wanted to make a league that was immune to these processes. That offered a realistic experience for everyone. That kept things fresh for all 30 GMs involved through offering challenges and consistency day in and day out.
Drop outs are inevitable. These leagues probably wont be as fun for the people who are in the bottom 10 and realize they'll be stuck there 30 games into the season. My goal with limiting trades is that so when people do drop out (which will happen) the new people who join will still have a team they are semi-familiar with instead of a fantasy roster with NHL jerseys. If people dont drop out and decide to stick it out, they'll be rewarded with higher draft picks (obviously) but they'll also be rewarded with time to see their high draft picks become useful NHL players due to the amount of games i'll be simming. This means that there is usually a constant influx/outflux of GMs to this league. Which in turn means that anyone on my reserve list is nearly guranteed a team in a very short period of time. I only want the most active GMs in my league of course so i'm constantly weeding out inactive GMs.
If you're an aspiring member to The Bluth Company, this is my league. Welcome to it. Below are the rules that separate The Bluth Company from the rest...
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RULES:
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-Game Schedule: 2 weeks=3 real days schedule, games will be played for 4 weeks, 6 real days, and then i will sim the 3rd 2 week, 3 real day period. This means that roughly 1/3rd of our season will be involuntarily simmed. This will be done so we can fit in a few more seasons and hopefully play about 7-9 seasons instead of 4-6. It has become a great blend of being both a talented player, and intelligent GM. With this extra seasons that are now allowed, growing your prospects for the future is now equally as important as utilizing your current players to their full potential.
Playing Your Opponent's CPU: In the Bluth Company we have a 3 day sim period that covers 2 weeks of NHL Games. GMs have 2 days to schedule their games. On the 3rd day, ONLY if you have made a honest effort to schedule a game with your opponent, either through HF Boards messaging or Xbox, can you then play your opponent's computer.
Messaging your opponents: Message your opponents! Its an almost statistical certainty that if you message all of your opponents you will get all or most of your games in that block and it is a Requirment for League Participation
2) When you message your opponents, all you need to do is the following...
-Go to the 1st page of either this thread or the Trade/Lineup thread
-Click the HF Username of your opponent, its a hyperlink to their PM Box
-Send them a message that looks like this...
This is a league requirement. GMs not doing this will be subjected to other, active, GMs playing their team's CPU and/or be removed from the league due to inactivity. This is a League Rule because i automatically sim 1/3rd of the season already. That is the amount of games i've decided is the appropriate blend of actual skill at the game vs skill of managing your team. When you dont play your games, and force me to sim them, you're adding to the amount of simmed games per season, which disrupts the "Balance" of Play Skill vs GM skill.
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DNF vs CPU: From now on, your DNF vs CPU is never allowed to be higher than 0%. If this happens, you'll be given 1 warning. After that warning, i'll kick you from the league again, resetting your DNF vs CPU back to 0%. If it goes above 0% again, you lose the privilege to play CPU games for the rest of the season. If your DNF vs CPU goes above 0% at any point after that, you'll lose the ability to play CPU games for as long as your in The Bluth Company.
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TRADE RULES:
-No trade can involve more than 4 Roster Players (combined from both teams)
-No trade can involve more than 6 total pieces (combined from both teams)
-GMs are allowed Two Trades Per Season. The specific Injury, Offseason, Regular Season, and Deadline moves have all been removed. Yes, even the Injury Trade. These two trades can be used at any time from Day 1 of the Offseason until the Trade Deadline.
This is the rule that both directly and indirectly separates this league from the rest. Trades are supposed to be a big deal. A trade is the literal removal of assets from your team in place of other assets in order to make the team better. Its not something that real GMs take lightly. The success of their team and their jobs depend on how well their decisions pan out. One of the major reasons so many other leagues unfortunately dont work out is because people get so excited about making trades that they forget their team needs, how close their team is to a cup, how these deals will impact their present and future. This isn't the case in The Bluth Company because of the above mentioned rules. GMs will have had two seasons to shape their team, to manage their cap, and plan for a Cup run or Rebuild.
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Tanking: Any GM caught "Tanking" or trying to lose games on purpose, will be removed from the league, no questions asked.
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Additional Bluth Company Rules: Effective Immediately
1) PLAYSTYLE: What is and Whats Not Allowed
Anything and everything is allowed in the Bluth Company. Shortside dekes, backhand-forehands on the breakaway, rebound goals, tying people up on faceoffs, wrist shots from the slot, etc...Its ALL 100% OK with me as Commissioner of The Bluth Company.
What is NOT ok with me is Excessive Use of anything mentioned above or anything not mentioned above. This league is about having fun. There aren't leaderboards, no Cash Prizes, no special recognition. Hell, even when you win the Stanley Cup the only thing you get are moderate bragging rights between 29 other people and one special post from the Commish congratulating you. This league is about having fun and doing any one sort of tactic over and over and over again takes away the fun from your opponent. If you're confused about this, just keep the word "Diversity" in your mind. Mix your playstyle up. Nobody should be scoring all of their goals from doing the same thing over and over again. Nobody should be attempting to be doing the same thing over and over again (even if it doesn't result in a goal). If you've scored two breakaway goals doing the same move, try something else next time you get on a breakaway. If you've scored a few goals from wristers in the slot already, mix it up and work in some one-timers and rebounds. DIVERSITY people!
I want GMs to enjoy playing their games. This league should be about having fun, not putting up as many goals as you can. NHL 13 has a lot of flaws so lets not make those flaws worse than they already are by playing like some top 100 VS player schmuck. Mix things up, try something new, have fun! Its a videogame afterall.
Backup Goalie Rule:
Effective immediately, All teams are required to start their backup goalie atleast 10 Games in the regular season. EA didn't take goalie fatigue into the equation and as it is now, its extremely easy to have your goalie start 82 games without consequence. Goalies can be put in during double advances or be used in actual games.
Failure to do this will cost a GM a 2nd round pick in the next draft.
Franchise Player Rule:
In my first two seasons of Bluth i was eager to have an active and fun league. My eagerness made me be a little too flexible with who was traded. There were over 20 big name players traded in two seasons. This is NOT realistic. In the NHL, GMs try and build a core of players that can win them games and championships. They dont just swap out star players every year and hope that it works. This is what i want the Franchise Player Rule to accomplish. It will force GMs to establish a core of players and use them for many seasons.
-Each team will have 3 Franchise Players and 1 Franchise Prospect
(if you feel you truly dont have 3 players and 1 prospect worthy of the tag then speak to me)
-No player/prospect on this list can be traded for 3 seasons
(any ammendments to a GM's list must be approved by myself)
*The ONLY Exceptions...
1) If a Franchise player is 37 years or older.
2) If a Franchise player is a pending UFA, not an RFA however
Flipping Players:
Any player acquired via trade can not be traded for 3 seasons AFTER they are acquired.
(Only exception to this rule is if they are a pending UFA, not RFA)
This rule, like the Franchise player rule, is meant to give teams an identity. Its also meant to force GMs to make smarter trades. No GM flips players from year to year. This rule is meant to simulate that.
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The Bluth Company (360) GM League Discussion/Signup PT 1
The Bluth COmpany (360) GM League Discussion/Signup PT 2
The Bluth Company (360) GM League Discussion/Signup PT 3
The Bluth COmpany (360) GM League Discussion/Signup PT 4
The Bluth Company (360) GM League Discussion/Signup Pt 5
All Trade/Lineup Discussion will be done in the Universal Trade/Lineup Thread PT 1
Universal Trade/Lineup Thread PT 2
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