Some news are bigger than others. And the Supporter news (together with the second team option) from last week was definitely that. Bigger than others.
It was a busy week. So to say.
And on the forums (and facebook) a lot of things was said about the new Supporter tiers. About the second team option.
Many did like the news with the new Supporter, many showed interest in the new Platinum tier and some were really looking forward to re-play the game with a second team. Then there were some who did not really like it, some that would’ve wanted other solutions than the one we’ve opted for, some arguing for us to protect smaller leagues related to second teams. And a whole lot more. All in all some 3000+ posts only in the Global forum. Which is a remarkable amount of posts.
But what’s even more remarkable is that despite our news being quite controversial the atmosphere on the forums has been fantastic. The tone in all these posts has been friendly and very respectful, including those who disagreed with something. For an internet forum of this size, that’s actually something out of the ordinary these days and it just makes me feel very glad. And proud.
You guys and girls are really something extra. You really are. Respect! (And thanks for showing there’s still hope for the human race. :))
So, there was a busy week last week. But it was also a really great week, it really was. I know there are some posts we haven’t been able to answer on and some that we can’s answer on yet. But as I mentioned on the forums, there will be more information about the second team rules closer to the launch. Where league restrictions and distribution information will come sooner, and other technical details (such as promotion/demotion rules if both teams are to play in the same league) will come later.
Moving on, our focus for the coming weeks is of course the second team feature. And wrap up the ladder competitions project, too. My main personal focus for now is to make a final decision around the rules how second teams should be able to join leagues and then the distribution around that. Which is a challenge, especially as more users than I expected showed interest for really small leagues based on a poll in the Platinum Supporter forum and that some users want us to “protect” small leagues at the same time.
And psst. I hope you also noticed we have a new shop, and that you enjoy it (in the way you can enjoy a shop, that is). It’s been a really big project in itself and as it was released together with all the other news I guess it lost some attention it’s probably worth. And I don’t know, but it can have feelings as well – so make sure to at least notice it a little bit. Ok? Ok.
Tjecken
Surely this was the most bombastic ad in all these years of my Hattrick. I confess that I liked a lot of new possibilities that will arise starting this implementation.
I really just do not like what you mentioned as “clans problems” or transaction between partners. If there’s one thing I like to do within the HT is to sell and buy players from teams partner (obviously respecting market prices). It’s that kind of relationship I like to grow the game and do not really understand how this goes against the spirit of the game.
First of all, glad you like it. 🙂
About “clan problems”, I think you misunderstood me a bit. I’ve nothing against buying players from friends at normal market prices, but with second teams there is a potential abuse that people systematically use their second team for the sole purpose to buy players that their friends primary club get mother club money for. Any normal “use” of this is not a problem at all, but we can’t escape that there is a risk that some few people will try to put this into systematic (ab)use. This doesn’t mean we’ll introduce any limitations or restrictions on the transfer in order to prevent this, but there should be a rule in place about this and we also have to make sure GMs look for this kind of cheating.
Still catching up reading the [MyHT] topics on global, but I must admit that HT is developing very well lately.
About a year ago I doubted the chances for HT surviving in the online world for the years to come. Sure, there are no guarantees, but in my opinion you guys found the right track to optimize chances. Keep up the good work!
Cannot wait to see if there will be more new developments in the coming future (and what they will be, if so…).
Again, great job, keep it going!
Thanks!
Congrats on the rollout! You can’t please everyone, but you can make everyone pleased (if that makes sense). Hopefully through communication, mutual respect, and our shared love for the game, we can continue working together to make HT grow and improve.
Nice to read this blog post keeping us updated on what’s going on. And I agree with your analysis of the forums – it’s been quite pleasant, especially for Global!
I’ll just throw in my two cents on the whole “second teams joining leagues” problem which you are making your final decisions on. I’ve seen a lot of suggestions on the forum the last few weeks and the best one for me has been having a second team wherever you want, but you actually “play” in a separate league. So everything is the same in terms of the team – it’s whatever nationality you choose (YA players, flags still awarded, etc) but the games are played against other second teams in another league. That way those who want teams to help small countries’ U20 teams, for flag chasing, for a new challenge, etc still get all that, but the integrity of each countries’ league structure remains in tact (as you won’t have 8 Italians in Syria’s top league for example).
Those are just my quick thoughts, but good luck with the decision making and I look forward to seeing what you eventually decide on, whatever it may be 🙂
Oh and btw, games in the second league would be played at the time of the home team’s country. They’re still based in that country after all – they just participate in a separate competition.
Respect to you and to Hattrick too. I’m really glad to see HT developing soooooo good and I really plan to be here for a long time. On Saturdays and when the NT plays I have the same excitement as I do when I watch Champions League. So this has to mean something.
Keep up with this wonderful job 🙂
Calin
Can’t wait for a second team!
As you do the distribution of teams rule, I would suggest a few factors.
1) Leave 10% slots open in a country for new users.
2) A user who wants to pick their own country should get first pick for second team.
3) After that, I have no idea 🙂
Very interested in money / starting attributes of coach. I would prefer more money a terrible coach since I don’t want to start with a passable coach (that will just make me raise money and replace him with solid). More money/worse coach gives people more options.
I have a strange feeling about the idea of having a “foreigner” team in our league and maybe even winning our first tier…don’t like the idea, but really hope that I am wrong and it turns out to be a good idea.