Hockey news

Hi friends,

It is almost playoff time and before we know it, season 7 will be here and with it, the new and improved game engine and tactical options. The engine is now going through rigorous testing so that we can bring a well-rounded product that everyone can be satisfied with. I am sure you are all curious what these changes will bring and how you will need to adjust your strategies. We tried to avoid changes that would require drastic changes in your approach to player training. However, one slight adjustment might be needed on your part.

I am talking about the shooting attribute. We wanted to make it a little more prominent. Nothing will change for players who have a decent shooting attribute. However, players whose shooting training has been neglected will be penalized and their shot efficiency will reflect that. If you have such players, you should probably re-think your training schedule.

Another important change concerns the way penalties are calculated. Under current system, a small advantage of 1 team in the technique to aggressiveness ratio results in a much bigger advantage in the number of power plays. As of season 7, this advantage will be proportionate to the advantage in the ratio (in the long run). Also the number of penalties in a game will be influenced by the combined tec-agr ratio of both teams. The attribute ratio calculation will not change at all so there is no need for you to adjust your training.

As you know goalies are an essential part of a team's success in hockey. The key to their success is confidence. As you probably know, goalies can have good or bad days in real life and on PPM as well. The only way to defend against such cases, is to have a decent backup who will step in if the number 1 has a bad one. Right now this is completely random phenomenom, but in season 7, this will change. The goalie will enter every game with neutral confidence and his confidence will grow or diminish based on his own performance. If he plays poorly in the first period, his confidence will drop and chances are he will play even worse in period 2. On the other hand, if he stands on his head, his confidence will grow and it will be harder to beat him in the next period. Same thing applies for the second period. Of course, if the goalie has a poor first period, but comes back and steals the show in the second, his confidence will go back to normal for the third period. The amount of confidence gained or lost will depend on the performance as well.

A short info for tournament organizers. You can now forfeit games in your tournament in advance (i.e. before they are played) if a team breaks tournament rules. Please do not abuse this option because that would not go unpunished.

Apart from the engine improvements, we are also preparing a puck collecting feature which will work the same way as pennants in soccer.

A new rule has been introduced yesterday:

It is forbidden to lie about the qualities of a player or a staff member on the market

You find all the rules here.

Have a nice day!