After last year's success, we've decided to bring the NeoGAF GM Connected League back for NHL 14!
SIGNUPS ARE OPEN
If you're interested, please either PM me (Smiley90) or simply post in this thread!
What is GM Connected?
Like the original Be A GM mode, you take control of a team as the General Manager and Coach. You're responsible for setting your lines, deciding who makes the roster of your NHL team and who gets demoted to the farm team, scout for prospects, draft them, make trades, all to go on and win the Stanley Cup! The fun part? You can do this... with GAF! Every member who signs up will be responsible for managing a team through multiple seasons! No more taking advantage of trading AI, this time you'll have to be able to rip off your fellow gaffers!
Highlights for this year's game:
Optimized GM Connected Functionality – GM Connected will be more user-friendly and allow you to spend less time on loading screens, thanks to improved speed and performance in both menu loading and simulation behavior
Other updates include:
- Commissioners can now accept & decline trades on mobile devices.
- Counter trades can be proposed directly from the mailbox.
- The ability to accept trades directly from the Trade Details Screen.
- Users can invite others to a league.
- All games in the league can be seen on the Master Schedule.
Deeper Be a GM Progression and Trading Intelligence – Be a GM game mode is all about creating an authentic hockey management experience. New scouting features, realistic ice-time simulations and adjustable trade difficulty settings create a deeper, more customizable experience in Be a GM mode.
Other updates include:
- Potential is now affected by the number of scouting visits, creating a more organic experience.
- Difficulty can be scaled to make it more (or less) challenging to trade with the AI.
- CPU can sign and re-sign players during the off season for the user.
- Player swapping is easier with just one transaction in the Roster Management Screen.
- Players develop during the season, making for a more authentic gameplay feel.
Manage your team from your iOS device with the free NHL 14 Companion App - Companion App Features
- Make trade offers and sign free agents.
- View your player and team schedule, statistics, scoring leaders, injuries and more.
- League Messaging: negotiate big deals, smack talk opponents, and discuss strategies from anywhere.
- Stay up to the minute on the latest league news. You can view scores, standings, schedules, trades, roster moves, injuries and stats for each team in your league.
League Details
(subject to change)
Team Rosters initially will be RANDOMIZED. This means that you will end up with a mostly randomized assortment of players that EA hopefully creates in a roughly equal way. More equal than the real NHL, at least. The only players that stay true to their real life team are prospects.
Games will be SIMULATED ONLY. This is to be able to advance the league as fast as possible and get as many seasons in as possible. The more seasons, the more your actions, such as trades or drafted players, will affect your team's performance! HOWEVER, you will be allowed to play up to FIVE regular-season games per season against the AI, to check your team out in action!
The league will advance 2 weeks per day, simulated every evening at roughly 11pm PST. Exceptions to this are the Trade Deadline and start of Free Agency, at which an extra day of rest will be in effect, as well as a special advancement schedules for the entire offseason in general. You will have multiple days/simulation periods to resign players and sign free agents, as well as prepare for draft day.
The league will start September 18, 2013. This will allow most people to buy the game, sign up, check out their rosters and start strategizing. Late Signups are allowed.
One team per person. If you don't like the composition of your team, switching of teams may be allowed after 1 season.
AI trading is ALLOWED. However, all trades are subject to Commissioner approval, and if I see something blatantly ripping off the AI, I will decline the trade. If you fill a need for the other team and don't take away their only good player at a position for nothing, you should be fine though. Keep that in mind.
Waivers are OFF. We had huge trouble with Waivers last season where the AI would send your players down the waiver wire against your will and we won't let that happen again, because it ruins the fun for everyone. That does NOT mean that you're allowed to simply bury your contracts in the minors as you want, we'll pay close attention to team management. Please don't take advantages of this.
Intentional Tanking/Sabotaging your own team is NOT ALLOWED. Regardless of the reason for doing so (wanting to drop the team anyway, or tanking for a low draft pick), if we notice that somebody is doing this, they will be dropped from the league.
Stanley Cup Champions
Season 1 -
Season 2 -
Season 3 -
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Season 14 -
Season 15 -
Links:
Official EA NHL 14 website
EA NHL 14 Companion App download link