NHL 11 Ultimate Hockey League Q&A
Submitted on: 08/17/2010 by
Chase Becotte
We recently had a chance to speak with NHL 11 producer Andy Agostini about the newly minted EA Ultimate Hockey League mode. Check out the interview below.
Operation Sports: Is there anything in place to keep two people from making a ridiculous one-sided trade?
Andy Agostini: There is a limit on the amount of assets that can be traded in any one deal. What those assets are can be anything. With a salary cap in place getting an incredibly one-sided deal isn’t as useful, as you might have trouble fitting everybody you received under the salary cap on your team. We have also focused on the matchmaking, so we try to always match you up against a team with equal skill to yours. So as your team increases in skill your opponents in the EA Ultimate Hockey League will be stronger.
OS: Do playoff games count against the player's contract? For example, I could see a situation where I have a player with only one game left going into the playoffs. In that case, wouldn't it be kind of odd not being able to use him in the playoffs?
AA: Playoff games do count against your player’s contract. This is because the playoff games also count towards the next season's games. The playoffs overlap with the next season. You will have to manage your team's resources to give you the best chance at the EAUHL championship such as taking a guy out of your lineup so you can make sure you have him available during the playoffs. So training players to be ready to step into the lineup is a huge aspect of the EAUHL, and as with any franchise in real life, you should always have an influx of talent coming through the system.
OS: Aside from contracts, which you can renew, does the player really have a career length that cannot be altered? I would hate to develop my player into a superstar and then just lose him. And if players do "retire" will his career length reset if I put him up for auction? It would be kind of tough to get someone to buy a player with only two games left in his career.
AA: The player’s career length cannot be altered. Just like in real life players only play for a certain amount of time. Once this player has retired, he will still be part of your collection and you can then find another card of this player to replace your retired one. Any real NHL GM would be aware of a player with very little left in his career as he would be pretty hard to trade or sell. So deciding when the right time to make a move with that player to get the most value out of him in the market is going to be very important. So picking up a player with five games left on his career might be just enough to help your team win the playoffs. Every player in the EAUHL has value, it’s a matter of when you make the move to maximize that value.
OS: Do the downloadable roster updates tie into the card system? Or are the cards locked into their launch date settings until the feature is updated for NHL 12? To be a bit more specific, will the cards update their info after the rosters are updated?
AA: The card set for the EAUHL is locked into our launch date roster. This is so that every team would have enough players on them to have a full squad. We are always thinking of new features to put into the game and this is definitely something that we will be looking into for future iterations of the EAUHL.
OS: Will there be "private" online leagues where only friends and/or only certain people can join?
We do not have ‘private’ leagues because we really wanted to make this league be the biggest online dynasty ever. We want you to always have an opponent to play and no preset schedule so it’s always pick up and play regardless of what time you feel like doing this. With the focus being a global league, we do have a friend’s leaderboard so you can see how well your friends are doing and compare their records to yourself.
OS: Any chance there will be legendary players like in FIFA UT?
AA: There are no legendary players in the EA Ultimate Hockey League set.
A big thanks to Andy for answering the questions, and another big thanks to the OS community for posting so many good questions that could be asked.
Operation Sports: Is there anything in place to keep two people from making a ridiculous one-sided trade?
Andy Agostini: There is a limit on the amount of assets that can be traded in any one deal. What those assets are can be anything. With a salary cap in place getting an incredibly one-sided deal isn’t as useful, as you might have trouble fitting everybody you received under the salary cap on your team. We have also focused on the matchmaking, so we try to always match you up against a team with equal skill to yours. So as your team increases in skill your opponents in the EA Ultimate Hockey League will be stronger.
OS: Do playoff games count against the player's contract? For example, I could see a situation where I have a player with only one game left going into the playoffs. In that case, wouldn't it be kind of odd not being able to use him in the playoffs?
AA: Playoff games do count against your player’s contract. This is because the playoff games also count towards the next season's games. The playoffs overlap with the next season. You will have to manage your team's resources to give you the best chance at the EAUHL championship such as taking a guy out of your lineup so you can make sure you have him available during the playoffs. So training players to be ready to step into the lineup is a huge aspect of the EAUHL, and as with any franchise in real life, you should always have an influx of talent coming through the system.
OS: Aside from contracts, which you can renew, does the player really have a career length that cannot be altered? I would hate to develop my player into a superstar and then just lose him. And if players do "retire" will his career length reset if I put him up for auction? It would be kind of tough to get someone to buy a player with only two games left in his career.
AA: The player’s career length cannot be altered. Just like in real life players only play for a certain amount of time. Once this player has retired, he will still be part of your collection and you can then find another card of this player to replace your retired one. Any real NHL GM would be aware of a player with very little left in his career as he would be pretty hard to trade or sell. So deciding when the right time to make a move with that player to get the most value out of him in the market is going to be very important. So picking up a player with five games left on his career might be just enough to help your team win the playoffs. Every player in the EAUHL has value, it’s a matter of when you make the move to maximize that value.
OS: Do the downloadable roster updates tie into the card system? Or are the cards locked into their launch date settings until the feature is updated for NHL 12? To be a bit more specific, will the cards update their info after the rosters are updated?
AA: The card set for the EAUHL is locked into our launch date roster. This is so that every team would have enough players on them to have a full squad. We are always thinking of new features to put into the game and this is definitely something that we will be looking into for future iterations of the EAUHL.
OS: Will there be "private" online leagues where only friends and/or only certain people can join?
We do not have ‘private’ leagues because we really wanted to make this league be the biggest online dynasty ever. We want you to always have an opponent to play and no preset schedule so it’s always pick up and play regardless of what time you feel like doing this. With the focus being a global league, we do have a friend’s leaderboard so you can see how well your friends are doing and compare their records to yourself.
OS: Any chance there will be legendary players like in FIFA UT?
AA: There are no legendary players in the EA Ultimate Hockey League set.
A big thanks to Andy for answering the questions, and another big thanks to the OS community for posting so many good questions that could be asked.
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