So GM Connected is largely a swing and a miss

[Minus 80]

I'm running a GM Connected league with about 10 friends. So far, I'm really disappointed in how it has been set up.

First, the menus are a joke. EA does not have a server load that can account for accessing the server for every single click in the menus. It's a sloggy waste of my time to find anything.

And that assumes what I want is there. We have games set to two weeks. I have five games to play. Right now, I can look and see that I have one game left versus a human. That's great. But the league has been super active so far, and I think we are close to being ready to roll. But there does not seem to be a single menu screen that tells me what games each owner has left. Seriously?

There is not a decent way to really check out my friends box scores, schedules, and other stuff. Overal, the GM Connected menus feel very isolated. We had six of us playing games at the same time the other night, and there was no good place to look at results and see what was being done. Huge missed opportunity for providing what has been a staple of playing in online leagues since the 90's.

When I set up the league, I sent invites to folks on my friends list that had said they wanted to play. But in the forum the league is based out of, there were also guys joining that were not on my friends list yet. So I figured I woud add them later, and then send invites. But no, once the league is set-up, there is no longer a way to invite more users in to play. Huge fail.

Basically, we have been enjoying paying each other casually. But this would be a nightmare if this were a more hardcore league. I have no interest in dealing with the sloggy menus to deal with free agency and trade blocks. And I still don't see a good way to do so, even if I wanted to.

Seriously, there are better ways to create leagues than what EA has been trying to pull off with NHL and Madden. It's like they have spent zero time looking at the thousands upon thousands of online leagues in various games and sports to see what people actually do and what they need.

It's functional. But I see this becoming less and less mangeable over the coure of a season. How often will I roll before people are done? How often will people be done, but I fail to roll because I don't know? How long will it take before people just get sick of the god-awful lag in the GM Connected menus?

I think EA's reach was much, much farther than their grasp here.

[bradigor]

Quote:

But no, once the league is set-up, there is no longer a way to invite more users in to play. Huge fail.

Yes there is, we have had players join since it was set up. Even after some games have been played. Did you make sure your settings were there to allow join request?

Agree with a lot of your other points though. However we are running the game through a Facebook group, so as not to spend too much time in the menus.

[Minus 80]

Quote: Originally Posted by bradigor

Yes there is, we have had players join since it was set up. Even after some games have been played. Did you make sure your settings were there to allow join request? Agree with a lot of your other points though. However we are running the game through a Facebook group, so as not to spend too much time in the menus.

People can join, but I have to tell them to search for our league instead of just inviting them.

[robbie24]

i agree, the menus are BRUTAL. And there seems to be a lot missing. The iPhone app is a great idea, but lacks major functionality too.

I wouldn't call it a swing and a miss though... it needs work, but I'm having a BLAST with about 20 friends.

[bradigor]

Yeah, we've got about 13 of us at the moment, hoping it will grow still (based in the UK).

We created a facebook group so we can post banter and updates there. Which has helped loads.

One issue I have though, especially with random rosters. There doesn't seem to be a player search function, so to find a player I need to literally go through each and every roster one by one. Which is a pain. I took over Detroit and decided I would want a couple of real world Wings back in my setup (Helm, Howard, Kronwall) it became a real pain in the arse to look for them.

However baby steps, I still see this as a great first effort and believe this can grow over the next few year to something major.

[dsk]

I agree with a lot of the comments above and hope EA does something to fix the menu system.. Clunky and slow doesn't begin to describe it.

Last night a buddy and I started a GM Connected co-op league with the flyers. Great fun to be able to play co-op vs AI. Nothing easy.. we earned every goal and started the season 2-5-0.

My only complaint was slight button delay during most games. Not a game killer by any means, but it was noticeable.

[ManiacMatt1782]

Being unable to see who still has games left is making it rough on me as a commish. I have been trying to adhere to a schedule. But people are upset their game got simmed. I can't tell who still has games left.

[rellix1]

In one word: embarrassing.

As both a commissioner and a GM in a few leagues, this is an absolute joke. They've made it unbearable just to go through menus, and the commissioner absolutely MUST have some form of dedicated outside communication with his GMs, otherwise the mode is a waste.

Really disappointed. It's terrible execution of great ideas like this that make me regret purchasing this game.