barneyg
Registered User
- Apr 22, 2007
- 2,383
- 0
Hey, here to post about Metroho - a free online hockey game - because other online sims like Hockey Arena and PPM never quite did it for me, while Metroho has. I thought about describing the game first and then concentrating on the differences with other sims but I kept talking about the differences so I'll sprinkle them all around this post.
In Metroho, you manage your own hockey team by signing and trading players. When you sign up, you're given a list of expansion players which you offer contracts to, giving you a taste of one of the aspects that differentiate this game -- it's a salary cap management game first and foremost. Compared to other online sims, player value is extremely easy to figure out, so you can concentrate on contract strategy: long contracts can become bargains (as players improve) or burdens (as players decline), short contracts mean more turnover and you may lose guys to free agency, etc.
Part of what makes player value easy to figure is how players themselves are characterized: instead of a laundry list of 10-15 attributes like stickhandling, endurance, skating and whatnot, players have (a) an overall rating (out of 100, think NHL EA Series), (b) a playstyle (forwards: sniper, playmaker, checker, two-way forward, power forward; d-men: offensive, stay-at-home) and (c) an age (duh). For example an 80-rated power forward won't score as many goals as an 80-rated sniper, but he'll have more hits. an 80-rated checker will score even less but will have more hits and blocks. All this makes it easy to assess a player's worth and figure out line combinations and team makeup.
Once your roster is set, you can join a league (10 or 15 teams) and compete in a regular season and playoffs. Compared to other sims, Metroho's flexibility and fluidity is a huge plus here. A 72-game regular season is 20 days, plus 10 days for the playoffs. For each regular season day, your team plays 2 or 4 games, 1-2 home games and 1-2 away games. Here's what makes this game fun too -- you can actually play your home games! You can play (or quick-sim) every home game round-by-round with line changes, player instructions (all-out attack vs. shutdown etc.), complete with penalties, big hits and fights (which you can control).
Here's part of what makes this game addictive: drills. Instead of other sims which sometimes have training camps or money investments as a way to improve your players, every day you're in a league you get 10 drills to spend on players. If you donate to Metroho, you can get more, and through playing, you end up upgrading your arena and you can also get more drills (up to 19), but everybody starts with 10. When you spend a drill on a player, that guy may increase, or he may not, randomly.
During the playoffs there is also a 3-round draft with junior prospects (which you can scout). So at the trade deadline, you can trade away pending UFAs to contenders for a pick. Or in the off-season, you can trade a couple of guys for a prospect and a 1st rounder. Trading is a big part of this game.
(I'll add more to this later.)
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When you sign up, please use the following link so that I receive referral credit.
http://www.metroho.com?reference=3083
P.S. My user name in the game is barneyg and my team name is The Tiger Williams.
If you don't want to use the referral link above:
http://www.metroho.com
In Metroho, you manage your own hockey team by signing and trading players. When you sign up, you're given a list of expansion players which you offer contracts to, giving you a taste of one of the aspects that differentiate this game -- it's a salary cap management game first and foremost. Compared to other online sims, player value is extremely easy to figure out, so you can concentrate on contract strategy: long contracts can become bargains (as players improve) or burdens (as players decline), short contracts mean more turnover and you may lose guys to free agency, etc.
Part of what makes player value easy to figure is how players themselves are characterized: instead of a laundry list of 10-15 attributes like stickhandling, endurance, skating and whatnot, players have (a) an overall rating (out of 100, think NHL EA Series), (b) a playstyle (forwards: sniper, playmaker, checker, two-way forward, power forward; d-men: offensive, stay-at-home) and (c) an age (duh). For example an 80-rated power forward won't score as many goals as an 80-rated sniper, but he'll have more hits. an 80-rated checker will score even less but will have more hits and blocks. All this makes it easy to assess a player's worth and figure out line combinations and team makeup.
Once your roster is set, you can join a league (10 or 15 teams) and compete in a regular season and playoffs. Compared to other sims, Metroho's flexibility and fluidity is a huge plus here. A 72-game regular season is 20 days, plus 10 days for the playoffs. For each regular season day, your team plays 2 or 4 games, 1-2 home games and 1-2 away games. Here's what makes this game fun too -- you can actually play your home games! You can play (or quick-sim) every home game round-by-round with line changes, player instructions (all-out attack vs. shutdown etc.), complete with penalties, big hits and fights (which you can control).
Here's part of what makes this game addictive: drills. Instead of other sims which sometimes have training camps or money investments as a way to improve your players, every day you're in a league you get 10 drills to spend on players. If you donate to Metroho, you can get more, and through playing, you end up upgrading your arena and you can also get more drills (up to 19), but everybody starts with 10. When you spend a drill on a player, that guy may increase, or he may not, randomly.
During the playoffs there is also a 3-round draft with junior prospects (which you can scout). So at the trade deadline, you can trade away pending UFAs to contenders for a pick. Or in the off-season, you can trade a couple of guys for a prospect and a 1st rounder. Trading is a big part of this game.
(I'll add more to this later.)
---
When you sign up, please use the following link so that I receive referral credit.
http://www.metroho.com?reference=3083
P.S. My user name in the game is barneyg and my team name is The Tiger Williams.
If you don't want to use the referral link above:
http://www.metroho.com
