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Hattrick (Online Soccer Management Game)

Wakeforest22890 said:
HTTD: where there any good HT press articles or early research on the changes there? I know that it was a big deal and I'm guessing that there were a few. If you could at some point when you get the chance, just brief me on what any key differences there are(midfield's importance was decreased slightly it appears) ?
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I can't seem to access Hattrick, but I'll try to summarize the changes.

Firstly, you can only play legal formations, which consist of having no more than 3 CDs, 2 WBs, 3 IMs, 2 Wingers or 3 FWDs. Unlike before, however, you can gain formation experience in ANY of those formations (for example the 2-5-3 or the 5-5-0, which formerly you could not). It's easier to maintain multiple formations (you can easily keep 4 above excellent), but the penalty for poor formation experience is more stark. Also, Hattrick will not let you set a formation if it has less than 9 players in it, and it won't let you submit an illegal formation.

Related to formation experience, there are some slight changes in the match engine. Simply put, they've made playing 3 IMs not as desirable anymore with a 'crowding' penalty - even playing 2 I believe carries a penalty to your midfield. There's a smaller 'crowding' penalty for playing 3 forwards. Defenders do not receive this penalty, IIRC, and actually gain a boost if you play 1 or 2 CDs. I will find the article once I can access Hattrick. In short, the HT overlords are trying to limit the dominance and widespread use of 3 IM midfields without totally killing the tactic.

There have been noticeable differences in ratings, and the 3-5-2 no longer dominates; however, it has not deterred me or numerous other users from continuing to use it - it's still a viable strategy...there's just plenty of other good alternatives. I think overall it was a good change, as it provided the impetus for many managers to rethink their stratagems and tactics.

And finally, training speeds have changed. The gist of that change is that everyone trains faster.
 
Training PM is still a good option though correct? It shouldn't matter for the first couple of seasons anyways since I'll be fine tactically to navigate my division and even be competitive in Div. V beyond that.

It just requires better players around my IM's and has removed some of the advantage?

And yeah HT has been down for me off and on today.
 
HT is down for me too. Sucks because I am still looking for a new winger.

I still train PM. I've been competing for a D.V title for 3-4 seasons now (and continually getting 2nd place).
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Training PM is still a good option though correct? It shouldn't matter for the first couple of seasons anyways since I'll be fine tactically to navigate my division and even be competitive in Div. V beyond that.

It just requires better players around my IM's and has removed some of the advantage?

And yeah HT has been down for me off and on today.
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It's hard to describe, and the HT article is vague. Essentially, if you play 1 IM, then he will play to 100% of his capacity. If you play 2, because of 'crowding' in the midfield, they won't be able to play towards their full capacity (people speculate that they utilize 90~95% of their skills). Playing 3 IMs makes them even less effective.

Playing 1 or 2 CD actually improves that defenders performance (IIRC), and playing 3 is just normal. 1 forward = improved performance, 2 = normal, and 3 = slight 'crowding' penalty.

With that said, remember that midfield used to be king. Now it's still viable, but the playing field has been leveled by slightly limiting the effectiveness of a stacked midfield and making defensive formations more desirable. If you want to win midfield, you still need to play 3 IM formations; however, you just won't win midfield by as much as you used to.
 
Sweet..I like the change, it makes it more like real soccer.

Even though they keep making the claim that this is a "game, not meant to absolutely mirror real life" it seems like all the recent changes are trending in that direction. I like that a lot.
 
I like the changes because I can still train optimally (I have a hybrid training regimen of PM, Passing, and SP), and maintain excellent-formidable formation experience in the 2-5-3, 3-5-2, and 4-5-1.

That reminds me of another change, formation experience goes above excellent now. Maybe to Outstanding? It still only needs to be solid to not lose any match ratings from formation confusion.
 
Okay..doesn't sound like the changes were too drastic. I'm sure I'll get used to the new facets of the game pretty quickly.

Gonna try to get my trainees before the friendly tomorrow, just need GM to approve.
 
JehovahsWetness said:
I have a team. Jehovah's Wetness. First game 4-0. YES WE CAN
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Welcome to the game! I suggest doing absolutely nothing with your team until you read the advice recently given to ZDeac, who is also just starting out. Congrats on you first win.
 
Once Hattrick is back up, I'll post all of the current posters team names/division/team ids in the original post so that everyone can track each other pretty easily. With all the new users, we've got a sizable contingent again!

I think I'll reprise the Deacon Cup this season.
 
HailToTheDeacons said:
Once Hattrick is back up, I'll post all of the current posters team names/division/team ids in the original post so that everyone can track each other pretty easily. With all the new users, we've got a sizable contingent again!

I think I'll reprise the Deacon Cup this season.
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It was back up for me 20 minutes ago. Put a bid in on a 21 year old American WC winger, with decent secondaries. Did a little digging and he should retain most of his value until about 25.
 
Mine's back up. I'm in for the Deacon Cup but will undoubtedly get stomped since I have only one serviceable good player and am selling him to try to get any additional cash.
 
I've been playing/contributing to the ANCHOR Cup over the last few seasons, so I may stay with that for a little while longer.
 
I updated the original post with all the Hattrick managers who are on this board. Please let me know if there are others, or your name is not on the list.
 
ZDeac said:
If I'm reading that wiki page it looks like passing isn't really a relevant skill for defenders. Is this true? Seems counter to what I've been working off of/others have been saying in this thread.

If so, I've probably been going about this wrong. Seems like I need to be more concerned with playmaking/winger skills for the secondary.

I'm confusing myself - straighten me out if you can!
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Milk and Cookies said:
I'll answer that with two answers:

1. No, passing does not have any direct contribution on the field among defenders.

HOWEVER

2. Cumulative passing skill for all outfield players helps determine the tactic skill your team has for some tactics. **I would suggest not worrying about this for a couple seasons at least. Play normal tactics and continue to learn about them before trying to use them. They involve somewhat complicated tradeoffs that require you to make statistical estimates in order to employ properly.
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Yes, passing on defenders directly affects the Counter-attacks, Attack in the Middle, and the Attack on Wings tactics. Additionally, some recent changes in the game's match engine allow for non-tactical counter-attacks (meaning counter-attack chances that are generated even when you do not use that tactic) - decent passing on defenders would be necessary to convert those chances.
 
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Numbers - a few other changes that occurred while you were away,

-You can no longer train general (which was the only way to achieve excellent form).
-Any player can reach excellent form now.
-Injuries are never worse than a +4
-You can only hire a max of 30 staff members (versus however many you wanted), so you have to make decisions. Also, the system won't allow you to hire more than 10 of any staff type.
 
Finally Numbers, I'd definitely encourage you to read the editorial about formation/match engine changes that I talked about briefly. You can find it on the editorial pages.

A close look at the engine upgrade - 2010-03-19 10:45:00

Try this link
 
Thanks man! I'm just rereading and catching up now since I can't do anything until approval.

Passing is generally something you want all players to have, especially as you move up in the ranks. It contributes to all tactical formations and if you have the option to get a player for slightly more with a level or two better passing (and can afford it) I would go ahead and do it. That's just my personal opinion though.

I remember going through a phase where I needed to go back through and get players with better backup skills simply because I had too many single skilled players. Obviously with the first set of trainees it's hard to get a player with solid/solid or anything, but passable (main)/weak/weak players are pretty good at late 17 and early 18 for an initial training cycle
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Thanks man! I'm just rereading and catching up now since I can't do anything until approval.

Passing is generally something you want all players to have, especially as you move up in the ranks. It contributes to all tactical formations and if you have the option to get a player for slightly more with a level or two better passing (and can afford it) I would go ahead and do it. That's just my personal opinion though.

I remember going through a phase where I needed to go back through and get players with better backup skills simply because I had too many single skilled players. Obviously with the first set of trainees it's hard to get a player with solid/solid or anything, but passable (main)/weak/weak players are pretty good at late 17 and early 18 for an initial training cycle
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No, just for counter attacks, attack on wings and attack in middle
 
Ah yes sorry, I was just thinking the major tactics where you're passing the ball *my fault*.

As I said, I'm rusty and still catching back up.
 
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