Be A Pro is unplayable with multiple large issues
The developer team was on the right track with the changes made this year to the game mode but ultimately fell short in the execution. In this thread I will go over the issues I have noticed with many hours of play time as a multiple year experienced player. 1. The health feature. After each game your player gets fatigued or exhausted and you to spend 2-4 energy points to recover. That would not be an issue if we received more energy points. On average you play 3-4 games per week and you only get 6 energy points. Quite often you will find yourself running out of energy points before your last game of the week, forcing you to play super fatigued. This is very frustrating as you always fall behind the 8ball and it drops your speed, acceleration, endurance, agility and durability by 10-20 attribute ratings. During the season you never have any energy to spend on trait points, X-factor points, or the likability options. A good comparison of a health system that works is in EA's College Football games. In those games you don't have to spend all your points on health as you only play 1 game per week. They pretty much copied the same feature in NHL26, except it's the same amount of energy points but with way more games per week. It just does not add up... 2. Form score. The form score seems to only go by point productions from your player. It possibly may be ever so slightly tied to the coach feedback score, too hard to tell. Your player can play extremely well and get an " A " grade for the coach feedback, but since you did not score a goal or an assist, your form score will be only 20/100. If you are on a line with grinders (like an NHL 4th line), or just don't "finish" the play, you get penalized. The game requires you to have a high form score to make the NHL team, or move up the lineups. This also is a big problem for Defenseman or a 2-Way forward who doesn't prioritize a purely offensive game. 3. Gameplay sliders. The sliders that are set in settings get reset every time you play a game. Even if you set the sliders in settings before you start your Be A Pro, it will not work. Each game they have to be edited. 4. Draft stock media interview. The media interview right before draft day is absurd. It is not realistic at all to be able to drop 20 spots in the draft from answering questions that seem like a good response. A simple fix would be making the worst answer -1 draft stock, the best answer +1, and the 2nd best/worst being 0 change. Also, make it more apparent what your goal is (to answer questions closest to your higher likeability- being management, teammates, and brand). 5. Chapter challenges/lineup challenges. Unless your player goes on an offense masterclass in the pre-season, you will not make the NHL team. This goes back to #2, where I spoke about form score. It is not realistic to require such a high production to make the team. Second which, once sent down to the AHL, you have 8 games to maintain a 65 or higher line score. If you make the NHL team, you are stuck on the 4th line where you play only a few shifts per game (even on 20 minute periods). You do not have enough ice time to produce at the rate required to make the 3rd line. It's at the point where you need a higher points per 60 minute stat than the top players in the league to progress. As a defense player, this makes it absolutely impossible to move forward. The coach grade feedback also needs to be adjusted per ice time. You can have all your 4 shifts where you play well and go from the C- starting point, to a C+, which is never high enough to grow. If the developers can make the correct tweaks, this game mode has such good potential. I recommend either adding more energy points per week, or reduce the fatigue you gain per game you play. At the least, have a setting to turn off the health feature like in other EA sports games like CFB25/26. There also needs to be adjustment on the form score. It needs to be more related to your coach feedback and your player role/position. They needs to be tweaks for both of those metrics for the ice time you are allocated. Those simple fixes will make a massive difference in this game mode. I have not seen any player, YouTube, or Streamer happy with how this game mode plays and I have not heard any response from the EA team on this topic. Please give us hope for this game!
Get Rid of Elite Edges/Wheels in EASHL
I've owned every single EA NHL game. I still have my Sega and all of those original games going back to the NHLPA Hockey days. To say I'm a devoted fan, and sometimes an apologist to this franchise, is an understatement. I lead by saying this because I'm not some sweaty, whiny kid who can't stand losing. I just want to enjoy playing hockey (particularly EASHL with my beer drinking buddies). Bringing back Elite Edges and Wheels has largely ruined EASHL. EVERYONE is now making super fast small players, turning the game back into a track meet, and it's simply becoming who can do the nearly automatic "forehand-backhand deke" goal the most. Tons of new goalie animations and yet they still can't simply hold the post/cover the short side on the same move, over and over. 25 had its issues but it forced teams to play way more as a unit with a purpose to be successful. It took a stronger unit to win. Now, 26 is forcing defensemen to use either EE or Wheels, which limits the depth of cool builds you can create because 1 of the 3 slots has to be dedicated to EE or Wheels. EE and Wheels was an obvious problem the devs and EA recognized in the past and wisely removed from the game. Bringing them back has ruined the EASHL experience. Our club has been together over 10 years. We win at about a 75% rate. This isn't a win/ loss issue. It's an immersion and fun issue. It's a replayability issue. Regardless of our usual success and loyalty to playing over the years, no one wants to continue to play this track meet, and slow "menu simulator", where locker rooms freeze and players get dropped left and right. Overall, just very disappointed. Remove Elite Edge and Wheels from competitive EASHL.Fix Form Score
So, I’m trying to find nice and easy, low effort ways for you guys to fix the currently unplayable Be a Pro. And I think it boils down to the form score system. To get a good form score, you NEED to score goals. And to maintain the form score, you need to score goals literally every game. I’ve had streaks of 4 straight games of a 100 form score, then I have one game where I don’t score, and it drops below 70. Let’s just make this very clear. Not everyone wants to play a career mode where they score every single game and are the Jesus Christ of hockey. Some of us want a realistic career simulation where we score every now and again and slowly work our way up the lineup. BUT, to even be on the 4th line, you need A GOAL A GAME. The way you have Be a Pro designed, the players HAS to be the best player in the league every game or you get demoted. Fix. Your. Game. I refuse to wait until NHL 31 when you decide you fix a broken game mode and slap it on the cover as a new feature.
What Do we Gotta Do?
EA_Aljo What Does the Community Need to do to get results? I hate to be this guy who Just complains but my god man this game just isnt fun anymore. Unfortunately it the only hockey game out there and I love Hockey and Getting online and Playing some game with Buddies who live in other parts of the country/world. Listen I'll be the first to tell you I dont play every mode. I mostly play EASHL and Ones. EASHL is Just Absolute Garbage this year. Xfactors ruin the game. Xfactors Make the Attributes Irrelevant. Most the Attributes are OP. I love to hit and even I think Truculence is a Joke But it helps against players who use Wheels and Quick Edges but then to counter Truculence you Need to Use Warrior. But if you Use Truculence and Spark Plug you can launch Warrior so if you use warrior you should use Big Rig. I have 95 hitting Just Pure Attribute no truculence everytime i go to hit a guy with warrior i bounce off but once I add truculence I crush the dude. Proving that Attributes are irrelevant to some degree. Xfactors are ruining EASHL mostly because Xfactors need to be Adjusted and Tweaked and there will never be a good balance. Xfactors will continue to wreck havoc on this game. Remove Xfactors and replace the with Boost Packs +1+3+5 seen on NHL 14. Way easier and Makes Attributes relevant. Prebuilds. Another Thing Ruining this game. There are Now more Prebuilds than Custom Builds. And You Keep adding another Prebuild every Month. Get this Garbage out if the game. Add More Custom builds such as Hitting Sniper Back or Make One Universal Build where we get to Build our guy from the ground up. I cant Use The Tier 3 Truculence But multiple Prebuilds can what a joke. Skins another Dog💩 Add on that literally No one Asked for. How to Make Hockey Feel like a circus add Beaver,Moose And A Shark to the gameplay. How Lame. People are so sick of the garbage they come on here complain Share Ideas. Yet None of what Anyone asks for seems to get answered. Every year we get the Deep Dive videos. Where the start out saying. We've listend We hear you and we've worked on this ...... But in reality Nothing Changes. Its More and More added Trash. Its the removal of Features that work. WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO TO GET OUR IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS HEARD? HOW DO WE GET BACK TO HOCKEY? THIS IS THE 11 STRAIGHT YEAR OF GARBAGE. NHL 14 was the last Good game every year since has been mediocre to bad At best. now I know some people will say oh this game is better than it was last year. That isnt saying much. It might be better than last year but it isnt better than a game from 11 years ago. Fix the Game!
Updated: NHL Needs a Year Pass With PC Release – The Model That Out-Earns HUT
NHL should drop the outdated annual release with trickled out features and move to a Year Pass model that updates all season across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. One yearly payment, not monthly. Crossplay. Weekly updates and three big drops tied to the hockey calendar. Franchise and Be A Pro finally grow because there’s no yearly reset. Money Talk: Why Year Pass Beats HUT Assumptions Year Pass price 99 dollars Base case assumes 1.2 to 1.3 million Year Pass buyers Conservative case assumes 600 thousand Year Pass buyers Seasonal Pass is three drops at 20 dollars each per buyer These figures are illustrative and separate from HUT, which continues Base case, conservative math Year Pass subs 118 to 130 million Seasonal Passes three by twenty 21 to 24 million Creator Marketplace cosmetic mods broadcast packages goalie masks 15 million Team Partner Packs licensed intros songs jerseys 4 to 6 million Esports and sponsors 5 to 8 million Total 163 to 183 million before any HUT spend Conservative case Year Pass subs 59 to 60 million Seasonal Passes three by twenty 12 million Creator Marketplace 7 million Team Partner Packs 2 to 3 million Esports and sponsors 3 to 4 million Total 83 to 86 million before any HUT spend HUT continues as a primary driver. If current HUT brings in roughly 100 to 150 million on its own, the Year Pass model adds a new guaranteed revenue stream on top. In the base case it likely exceeds the annual model before counting HUT, and in the conservative case it meaningfully supplements HUT. Safe PC Release and Customization Freedom Fans want mods and editing. EA wants guaranteed revenue. Both can win. Unlocked editing attributes body size hair equipment all editable. No more grey silhouettes. Mods allowed for offline and presentation while the game requires an active Year Pass license to run. Server validated license. On boot the title checks EA servers. No sub equals locked title screen. Offline token grace period. Thirty days for legit offline play then a reconnect is required. Physical copies if sold are just installers. Subscription required to play. HUT remains server authoritative and protected with weekly ban waves. EA still gets paid every year even from offline only players who mod. Fans finally get the customization freedom they have asked for. HUT stays protected. What Fans Get This is not just about revenue. It is about finally delivering the hockey game fans have been asking for across forums Reddit and Discord for years. With a Year Pass model features stop disappearing and start stacking. The result is the most complete NHL game ever made. GM Connected returns. A true online franchise where up to 32 human GMs run teams make trades draft and play through multiple seasons without crashing or server issues. Because the Year Pass updates year round you experience the real NHL calendar. The Entry Draft in June. Free Agency in July. Training camps in September. Draft boards prospect interviews and live trade chatter between human GMs make it authentic. Roster share and full player editor. No more grey silhouettes. Every attribute equipment piece body size hairstyle facial hair and goalie mask editable. Unlimited created players. Community roster sharing allows NCAA KHL World Juniors Legends or Historic seasons to be uploaded and downloaded instantly. All Star international and specialty events. The hockey calendar finally feels alive. World Juniors in December. Olympic hockey every four years. PWHL integration for women’s hockey. Outdoor games like the Winter Classic and Stadium Series with unique crowd behavior and ice conditions. A fully playable All Star Skills Competition with hardest shot fastest skater accuracy shooting and breakaway challenge. Franchise mode depth and off ice culture. Practices that actually matter. Coaches with unique personalities and systems that affect morale and chemistry. Players with rivalries friendships and leadership qualities that impact performance. Realistic contracts including no trade clauses taxes and player mood. Off the ice NHL Network and TSN style studio panels debate your trades highlight rivalries and call out playoff collapses. Cutscenes show your GM at the draft table in pressers or in tense contract meetings. Player charity events award shows and trade deadline specials bring league culture to life. Be A Pro that feels alive. Draft day presentations locker room interactions and press conferences matter. Post game interviews affect reputation and endorsements. A social media feed filled with fan chatter highlight clips and TSN rumors responds to your play. Get traded and analysts debate it while fans boo or cheer. Award shows and off ice storylines give real progression. Smarter AI. No more lifeless teammates. AI runs real systems hockey. Penalty kill units collapse into diamonds versus a 1 3 1. Neutral zone traps finally look real. Puck battles net scrums and board play feel organic. Authentic skating and player identity. AI driven animations built from NHL EDGE and broadcast footage. McDavid’s hunched acceleration Eichel’s glide Matthews’ quick release Sorokin’s explosive pushes. Every player looks and plays like themselves updated throughout the season. Dynamic broadcast and presentation. Multiple commentary crews ESPN TNT Sportsnet regionals. Pre game panels preview matchups intermissions show highlights from around the league and post game wrap ups react to storylines. If Ovechkin is chasing Gretzky the studio debates it before puck drop crowds buzz when he hits the ice and broadcasters celebrate the record when he breaks it. Legends and Era modes. Relive Gretzky’s Oilers the 90s Red Wings the 2000s Devils with retro overlays and authentic commentary references. Entire historic seasons or drop Legends into Franchise. Fighting emotion and atmosphere. A fighting engine with context. A fight after a dirty hit boosts energy. Players smash sticks after bad calls chirp in scrums and pull off signature celebrations. Crowds chant boo rivals and erupt during milestones. Why Fans Stay Engaged Year Round With a Year Pass model NHL does not go dark after the Cup Final. Instead the game stays alive through the entire off season. NHL Draft. A full authentic draft experience in June with cutscenes draft boards prospect interviews and trade chatter. Most first round prospects are face scanned and in the game at release with updates for the new class added immediately after. Free agency and off season moves. In July live updates roll out for big signings and trades. Studio panels and commentary debate roster moves like TSN or NHL Network. Training camps and rookie showcases. September brings prospect tournaments pre season camp battles and cutscenes around players making or missing the team. Season kickoff buzz. The NHL and NHLPA marketing push in October ties into the game. New intros presentation updates and live content drops make it feel like a fresh new season starting not just a stale roster update. This way fans stay hooked all summer. Franchise players immerse themselves in the league calendar. Be A Pro players live through the draft and free agency drama. Online GMs in Connected Leagues negotiate and trade through the off season. When the puck drops in October the game already feels hot with buzz from real world hockey. For the first time NHL does not just feel like a video game. It feels like being inside hockey twelve months a year. Why This Works for EA Guaranteed revenue. Every player must renew each year. PC adds new markets. Even 300 thousand PC subs equals about 27 to 30 million extra at 99 dollars. Offline depth improves retention. Franchise and Be A Pro players stick around longer and are more likely to try HUT. No cracks or free play. License validation with offline tokens controls piracy while respecting legit offline users. HUT strengthened. Bundled cosmetics and event rewards increase engagement without breaking the economy. Bottom Line This model makes more money than the annual release alone brings in new fans through PC and finally delivers the complete hockey game. EA wins with guaranteed revenue a bigger player base and a stronger HUT. Fans win with full customization mods offline depth and no more resets. This is how NHL stops feeling like a side project and starts leading sports gaming again.WOC Defense
Nonexistent. Kinda getting ridiculous at this point. Poke Checks rarely work, stick-lifts are non existent. maxed out d awareness with quick pick and force passes are going through two defensemen. Shouldn’t have to be right on the guy either to defend them. Defense is almost unplayable. Shouldn’t have to run truculent to make an impact.Be a Pro Unplayable
EA, as a loyal player who buys your game at launch every year, I am BEGGING you to take a look at this new Be a Pro mode. This has been my favorite mode in the game for over a decade, and I was beyond excited for this new overhaul. I've put about 8 hours into it so far, and it has been the most agonizing 8 hours of any EA sports game I've ever played. Here is why: After scoring 12 points in the Memorial Cup championship, my draft stock tanks to 8th in during the draft interview for choosing very basic answers like "I look forward to playing at the NHL level" and "I want to go to a team with a broader fanbase". For some reason, choosing very normal answers to general questions destroys your draft score. With your new energy points system, the player HAS to spend all 5 points on Health unless they want to take 15 second shifts before running out of energy completely. Even with health on full, the player's stamina runs out typically around 20 seconds. After scoring 8 points in 7 games in the preseason, I am demoted to the AHL. Look up playthroughs on YouTube. Almost every player experiences something similar. The player has a better preseason than Bedard or Celebrini, and gets sent down to the AHL. After getting promoted back to the NHL, despite playing with 10 minute periods, each game I have been given no more than 2 SHIFTS A GAME. And, because you've made stamina decrease at an utterly ridiculous rate, my 2 shifts are each 15 seconds long. I get about 30 seconds of time on ice per game. After only getting 30 seconds of time on ice per game, I go back to the menu where I get barraged by audio clips and headlines of how I'm playing so poorly and have no excuse. Gameplay sliders, the one hope for fixing some of these issues, DO NOT SAVE in be a pro. They reset every game. To even be able to PLAY Be a Pro in NHL 26, you have to play at least 2 difficulty levels down. If you are not scoring multiple points a game, you are given no ice time and will get demoted to the AHL. Even if you ARE scoring multiple goals a game, if you also get scored on while you're on the ice, congrats, AHL. EA, please fix this. Your be a pro in its current state is borderline sadistic. It is downright hostile to the player. I'm not asking for much here. Making stamina somewhat realistic could be a simple step to fix all of these issues. Even if you fix nothing else, just being able to make my 2 shifts per game 40 seconds long as opposed to 20 could give me the opportunity to do well enough to earn realistic ice time.
Penalties still not fixed
It is kinda unacceptable that a hockey sim, which has a base code that is anything but new, has been out nearly 2 months and the dev team can still not figure out something that its predecessors have had figured out for years. Why, 2 months in to a hockey sim's release, do we still not have any idea why penalties and stick infractions will not be called? Why are the gameplay sliders constantly resetting? Why is there a conflict between the main menu settings and the settings you experience in individual modes like BAP? Why does a person with literally 1 step of skate distance absolutely obliterate someone with a body check? Why did you sell us NHL Hitz. We bought NHL 26. What is the timetable for this to be resolved? When do you start issuing refunds? You didn't give us what you promised. Why is this ok?
More Issues With NHL - 26 Edition
What are we at now, part 14? 15 spanning 5 or so years? I dunno. My team's interest (and hope) is at an all time low and that twinkle in our eye has dulled but I'll still continue to make these for the foreseeable future. No edits or stickers or timestamps this time, nice and simple #1 - Clip is specifically about the goalie - I don't care about missing a hit or the turkey defenseman doing what it does. Why do the goalies need to just lay there? If I was a professional I would be breaking my back trying to shift over for that puck. I don't like this goalie, I wish I could trade him or just throw him in a wood chipper. Please, EA, we need goalies with at least two brain cells to rub together and enough stamina to at least make it look like they are doing something. #2 - Fantastically stupid pass as usual from the CPU. "Erm well playing with all humans will fix this 🤓" Not the point here; that would just be a bandaid for the game like I've been saying for years. The engine and cpu players haven't been updated for over a decade now and they just keep making more and more braindead plays like this. They wait for the absolute last second to do something and it breaks the play and momentum. #3 Now we got a lot of SSS tier defenseman on these forums who I know will have a lot to say about this goal but it still really rustles my Jimmies. Sure I could have perfectly poked him better but I cut off passing lanes, I kept him to the outside, he was at a terrible angle and IT STILL WENT IN and it. What more do you want me to do with my sniper that isn't min/maxed yet? Like, give me a break, man, ho-LEE! You can't rely on these goalies to do anything and the worst part about this is the AI goalies are still better than human goalies most of the time. #4 - This is what everyone is complaining about - literally useless AI defenders (and goalies). I had no energy and it's like they don't even exist. I know I said before I thought goalies were better at these sorts of cuts across but I must have had a lot of gin and Sanpellegrinos (seriously try the orange+pomegranate with Tanqueray and a little bit of soda water, yum) that day. Why is the team so adamant on not upgrading the AI? This is one of those issues that's been around for a decade plus too, no excuse for this. A 2v2 mode isn't the answer here but at least that would fix some matchmaking issues and visually trick our brains into setting up different plays. #5 - I complained about me getting penalties for this in the past and even though I benefited from this here I'll say it again! That guy got the puck off me at first contact and shouldn't have been issued a penalty. He held the passblock button down extra long sure, but it's not like it would have made a difference considering how long it takes to transition back -- I've brought this up with multiple EA people for years now too, just sayin'. #6 - Sloppy play by the AI (surprise surprise) but no, obviously the issue in this clip is the insane interference at the boards. No penalty? We were laughing our butts off at the absurdity of it at the time but that was a complete joke and it's not funny now. #7 - Clear pick/interference and, of course, no penalty... If someone wants to argue they didn't initiate a body check or whatever, their Truculence and my Warrior activated so either they did or there is a huge problem with how the game calculates collision - Either way it's messy. #8 - Didn't see anyone call for it so I'd love to hear what Kid or Aljo have to say about this one. Even if someone did and it didn't show (which would just be another issue), the goalie should have never decided to do that anyway. It was funny at the time but this is no way I want to win games and i'm sure those guys were freaking out too. Playing G as a human is already a nightmare but thr AI hasn't had any meaningful changes in years and it really shows here. They've been "aware and investigating" this for ages and I know it'll continue to happen. #9 - Yuh huh, the AI is totally working as intended 👌. Sigh, if they didn't have 0 stamina because of the awful pressure system they totally would have scored there. #10 - So then.. lol, so then, he actually makes a good play and snags the puck right? What does this buffoon do? Just skates forward and does NOTHING! I've brought this up years ago and you continue to do nothing to fix this. #11 - I'm not gonna talk about how game breaking the x factors can be or the fact there are actually people out there buying players for an extra edge but just look at that play - what was the goalie doing and why did the AI decide to just blast it into the net? He's on my team not theirs :( Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot all about the stupid white box in the bottom right corner that was there ALL GAME in clips 6-9 (heh nice). Why can I mute the in-game soundtrack but I still get notifications when it switches songs? Why can the box stay on my screen not allowing me to see strategies? Why has this been a known issue for more than 5 years? Anyway, that's it for now, see ya. Video + Feedback 2 Video + Feedback 3 Video + Feedback 4 Video + Feedback 5 Video + Feedback 6 7 8 Site won't let me load my other posts so I'll stop it here for now. Crazy - I've only gotten 2 responses and Youtube analytics lead me to believe none of the devs are even bothering to watch and/or take noteSo there's been updates, but haven't fixed the most glaring issues. When?
Two updates and you haven't fixed any of the HUGE issues everyone is complaining about: 1 - Poke Checking is broken (opposing players skate with impunity, and even if they are successfully poked, 90% of the time they get immediate possession back.) 2 - Wheels (absolutely ludicrous, turns the game into an arcade fest. Coupled with a passer with "Send It", game resembles nothing like the sport) 3 - Truculence (if the hitting couldn't be over-the-top enough, let's add in a boost that makes it even more ludicrous AND let's not call any interference, charging, or roughing penalties) 4 - Stick Lifts (in real life, when you pop a player's stick up, that means your stick is now closest to the puck. In EA NHL 26, you just take yourself out of the play so the offense can get the puck immediately back) 5 - Goalies (in some respects, there are improvements. This is a difficult thing to get balanced right so I almost didn't put it on this list. But, overall, they seem more sieve-like this year than last year.) At least in NHL 25, if you were the more skilled, disciplined, and organized team, you were winning 90% of your games. NHL 26 rewards incompetence, carelessness, and mediocrity. FIX. THE. GAME.
NHL26: Philosophically Bankrupt
As a long-time (20 year) player of the NHL series, I’ve grown used to the ups and downs that come with each year’s release. I love CHEL, but feel it has gone downhill literally every year. The focus is on finesse scoring, but in practice, it feels like shopping carts with 90 mph wrist shots. It's obscene. NHL 26 feels like a breaking point. It’s not just a matter of constant bugs or tuning issues — the gameplay itself feels fundamentally flawed. Many of the features EA promised to fix, such as reverse hitting and skating animations, have somehow gotten worse. The result is a game that looks less realistic, feels less responsive, and plays like a downgrade from previous years. I spent $150 between Xbox and NHL to skate this year, and it was not worth it. I will not for the first time in my life be purchasing next year's NHL game. The first major issue is reverse hitting. EA highlighted this as one of the improvements for this year’s version, but in practice, it’s completely broken. Players either miss hits entirely or glitch through awkward, unrealistic animations that destroy immersion. Reverse skating is equally frustrating. When players move backward, they lose all control and momentum, making it feel more like steering a shopping cart than controlling a professional hockey player. These are basic gameplay mechanics that should feel smooth by now, but instead, they make every match feel clunky and disconnected. This is not their first attempt to fix this, and I'm tired of giving chances. Another major problem is the scoring balance — or lack thereof. Scoring in NHL 26 is unbelievably easy, to the point where it doesn’t feel earned anymore. There are several cheap, predictable goals that players can pull off from any side of the net, and they work almost every time. It’s not about skill or creativity anymore; it’s about memorizing the same three broken moves that the goalie AI simply can’t stop. That brings me to the next problem: the goalies. Goalie AI has somehow regressed again this year. They’re slower, weaker, and more predictable than ever. It feels like the goalies have only one or two programmed reactions, and once you recognize their pattern, scoring becomes automatic. This completely kills the competitive integrity of the game. Instead of adapting or reading plays, the AI just repeats the same lifeless movements over and over. Finally, one-timers have completely taken over scoring. The power and accuracy behind them are unrealistically high, and they’re far too easy to execute. Nearly every online match devolves into a one-timer fest because it’s the most reliable — and broken — scoring method in the game. When every player is forced to play the same way to win, the variety and strategy that make hockey exciting just disappear. In short, NHL 26 feels unfinished and unbalanced. It rewards people who dont know anything about hockey and cheap tactics for cheap goals versus dumb goalies. The core mechanics that define the series — skating, hitting, and goaltending — are all in worse shape than they’ve been in years. Instead of improving realism and depth, this year’s game feels like a shallow, arcade-style experience built around exploits. EA needs to stop relying on cosmetic updates and start listening to the community’s feedback about gameplay fundamentals. Until then, NHL 26 will stand as one of the weakest entries in the series.Slowly becoming pay to win
Title says it all. Some of the new premade builds coming out are just too good. Jean Spectre Sniper anyone? What a joke. They are slowly making this a pay to win in WOC but are doing it very sneakily. Well maybe not so sneakily if you have half a brain. I've been playing World of Chel since NHL '09 and if this continues, I can no longer grudgingly buy the game year after year. It's gone too far now. The broken match making. Broken defense. Broken forward skating. Broken menues. Meaningless updates. Fortnite style garbage. The list goes on and on. This franchise is a complete joke and desperately needs new direction and leadership. Unfortunately it won't happen.Why is the community not making a bigger deal about horrible matchmaking?
Matchmaking has become unbearable. As soon as we started a club this year in D10, immediately playing Elite players/teams while we’re silver/gold. It’s not fun when games are lopsided. Win or lose I want to be in competitive games. Not blowout losses. I’ve seen the reasoning for current state of matchmaking. It seems EA believes player pool is too small for NHL to base matchmaking on skill level. That we would rather have shorter wait periods (play the first team available regardless of skill level) instead of waiting a bit longer. My club disagrees. We’d rather wait longer to play an evenly skilled team. It’s gotten so bad we’ve been using a 3rd party website to look up the opposing clubs record before the match starts. And we decide if we want to back out or play. Some of the teams it matches us against have 500+ wins and 90%+ win rate. It’s ridiculous. We constantly back out of matches, and wait to find a team that has a similar skill. This disproves EA’s logic. Doing our own matchmaking takes longer. It would be faster if EA would do it properly for us. Also, I know this has been brought up before as well, why can’t we search for a game with the same amount of human players anymore? Specifically for 3v3. 3 humans vs 2 humans and an AI is a major disadvantage. This is another instance where I see clubs backing out of matches until they find a team with an even amount of human players. So can we get a real reason to why matchmaking hasn’t been improved? Because the excuse of a low player pool doesn’t seem accurate. Not if you have clubs pretty much having to do their own matchmaking. Backing out of multiple matches until you find an even one. I imagine we’re not the only club doing this. Does EA realize if they improve matchmaking, then possibly more people will buy the game. Making the player pool larger. What does the community have to do to get matchmaking improved?Form score after patch
Form score still sucks, I hate playing a decent game and getting a 50 form score and failing a challenge because of it. I don’t want to be “hockey’s chosen one” and score a goal a game as an 80 ovr rookie….. this is the biggest issue with be a pro and needs to be figured out, I want to play this game mode so bad but can’t crack the roster unless you’re scoring every GD game.
EA NHL 26 CHEL WOC IS A JOKE
I'm a franchise player who now tried CHEL because franchise mode is completely forgotten... nothing worth it cuz no one BUYS anything there. Well tried CHEL and got run over by overpowered "enforcer" all the time, got mad and created the worst enforcer you've ever met… ran over EVERYTHING, hit someone and when I still had the puck I continued to run over him again and again when he was on his way up without penalty 😂😂😂 Reverse hit players on faceoff, reversehit everybody that come close to me, if they try to poke check me RUN OVER THEM 😂Late hits all the time no penalty, if you got penaltys you can almost run over everybody without extra penalty minutes (yeah sometimes but not often)😂 this game mode is soooooo BAD!!!!!! Reverse hit big players so they just fly away like kids… soooo realistic woooow EA New update hitting is nerfed…. BUT i pay so i win, ”taaaadaaaaa” Sudden death enforcer 92 speed 99 in all power just kill everybody, how dumb can a game be??? Pokecheck and sticklift helloooooo are you there?!?!?!??!? NOOO not at all but we have alot of glitch goal 😂😂😆😆🤮🤮 ICE-Q blaaa blaaa blaaa goalie can’t save anything i score bad backhands on them with 73 in shooting accuracy CHEL 3v3 Is that a floorball mode that is completely useless? full speed upp, full speed down… glitch goal, glitch goal, glitch goal 🤮🤮🤮 every game has to end like a Mighty Ducks movie…. two seconds left “he shoots, he scores” Welcome to NHL fortnite hahahaha EA has completely lost it, X-factor is everything ooooh yeah and money of course, They no longer care about what people want. Bought the expensive version of the game because I wanted to play Franchise mode... then the game mode was broken for three weeks, when I complained I was treated badly. No compensation not even an apology!?!?!? THANK YOU EA!!!! Last time I spend money on an EA game. For six years I have written realistic wish lists for franchisemode, things that I have also seen others ask for…. but nooooooooo it is more important to give us “state and federal tax” Well well hope you HUT and CHEL players "invest" your money well 😂😂😂😂😂 BAP was almost perfect five years ago but they change it too crap and now they try to save it but it gonna be this bad now for five years again. 3-4 games going to overtime 3-3 games can be a win or a lost you join they show as a 16 year old kid WOOOOOW EA GREAT JOB 💪🤘👍👍👍
We Need Communication From Devs
Kind of regret even getting NHL 26 for free as this games so buggy and these updates to fix all the issues take up so much space. We have more ongoing problems within this game and no communication from our dev team has been conducted? Currently the servers keep crashing costing many of us games and nothing is being done about it? Where is our production leader? Consumers paid for this we should have something done or does the EA NHL leadership not care anymore? Absolute disgraceIssues with the AI "balance"
The in-game AI feels as though its consistently manipulating gameplay in ways that break immersion and fairness, tilting matches in its own favor. Instead of providing a fair challenge, these behaviors create frustration by undermining player skill and consistency. Including various behaviours such as; AI defenders frequently engage in consecutive shoves that escalate into clear cross checks, yet no penalties are ever really called—even when these actions could not be anymore exact on what the rule is for(cross checking and tripping are the seemingly most egregious offenders, countless times a poke has tripped me on or close to a breakaway and no call, let alone a penalty shot like it should be). Defensive AI recover far more quickly from contact than human players unless laid right out, and are seldom slowed down by actions that would impede a user-controlled skater or cause them to stumble in similar situations. AI opponents display abnormal, nearly instant acceleration to cut off problematic movement or passing lanes deemed severe threats, with no reliable warning or visible pattern for when this will occur. The AI abuses movement priority, intentionally maneuvering to block or mirror player movement, often actively bodying into and shadowing the user in ways that feel unnatural and excessively obstructive. Light shoves from opponents reliably knock the player off the puck or stun them, while forceful contact from the player has little impact on the AI under similar circumstances. None of these behaviors “make the game harder” in a skillful way—the AI shifts in responsiveness or aggression with no consistent logic, making its actions not necessarily "unpredictable", but "enough to predictably ignore various methods to strip them of posession The AI’s skating logic is especially problematic: CPU players will suddenly skate full tilt directly into walls, abruptly hard-stop, then accelerate backwards with the same momentum they hit the wall with, especially when the user gains control of a nearby defender. Attempting to mix up defensive or offensive approaches—including feints and direction changes—has very little effect, as the AI matches every movement in perfect unison regardless of pattern or number of changes. The AI’s skating agility while moving backwards seemingly suffers no penalty, letting it perfectly maintain gap control and mimic player actions from optimal distance with no visible disadvantage. Lunging the opportunity a player makes a move or crosses an arbitrary threshold Rather than introducing fair errors or realistic unpredictability, the AI “compensates” for its rare mistakes by inconsistently draining player stamina or otherwise handicapping the user, which feels arbitrary and unnecessarily punishing or frustrating. AI contact often feels as if players are treated like + and - magnets; whether or not “magnetic” attraction results in a successful hit or separation is determined by the AI’s arbitrary decision of what constitutes an acceptable collision. Heavy hits rarely result in lost possession and sometimes several defenders are needed to stop a puck carrier, with possession conveniently transferring to nearby AI attackers afterward. Puck battles in crowded areas seldom feel authentic—instead, entering a scrum typically means unsuccessfully trying to shove opponents out of the way or waiting for a player to locate the puck in his feet and get a stick on it. Predictably, the nearby AI immediately anticipates this and your stick gets lifted immediately. While opponent AI routinely uses logical man-to-man defensive systems, AI teammates on the user’s side routinely fail to provide this same support, especially during HUT Challenges; defenders instead allow attackers to breeze past them repeatedly with little to no attempt at coverage or resistance. A fair and sensible experience would involve AI behaviors that align with realistic hockey dynamics and give an equitable sense competition, without having to erode a level playing field. Physical contact should consistently impact puck possession and player stability regardless of which side initiates it and if minor shoves carry stun/slow effects on them, they should apply both ways, with both AI and human players equally vulnerable to momentum shifts, mistakes, and recoveries. Defensive AI should properly execute man-to-man coverage as an option for both teams that provide support and prevents attackers from repeatedly breaking through uncontested. Player skill and strategic variations—such as feints, positioning, and timing—should meaningfully influence gameplay outcomes, rather than the AI reacting with robotic precision or arbitrary stamina penalties. Overall, success should feel earned through authentic effort and less "luck based" feats, predictable hockey logic that rewards anticipation, smart decision-making, and adaptability, making gameplay challenging but transparent.
WOC Pay to win now
Has anyone else noticed that there are pre-made loadouts only available for purchase? There was the shark-enf and now there is a new pre made loadout only available for purcahse. This is only going to get worse if people dont speak up about it. Only a matter of time before they add a sniper build with 99 speed or something insane. Cosmetics can be for purchase but you cant do that with loadouts. This is not right…..
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