Customer Point Of View On The EA NHL Series
It really sucks as a paying customer year after year to feel disappointment. Last few years it has felt like things haven't progressed very well for the EA NHL series. NHL 23 unfortunately became of the worst releases in a very long time. I get the whole wanting to get NHL 24 production in early motive but the current game has many unaddressed issues reported by members in the community, including myself, along EA's own Gamechangers. This apparent reasoning of having to wait until next release is very upsetting considering this is a full priced game. There is a big tournament hosted by the NHL for a grand prize of $150,000. It's going to be very frustrating when a broken gameplay bug ruins a competitors chance of qualifying or winning the tournament all together due to it being the deciding factor. It will be a huge disappointment when considering a professional hockey league is hosting this tournament.
Currently competing myself in Open Play and already lost my 3rd game due the wrap glitch. I defended it well for most of the game, but you can only do so much until it works. I'm wondering now is this all worth the stress when the game is in such a terrible place? It sucks when I paid over $100 for this product and it's not an enjoyable experience to say the least.
I understand this whole the community enjoyed the BETA tuner debate so the gameplay was left alone since NHL 22. Although this isn't even a BETA anymore, it's a closed technical test you have to sign up for a be lucky to get a code on time. Technical issues like many of us are experiencing can occur! They have to be addressed in the current product when consumers are paying for it. I have 70+ broken gameplay videos on my PC currently I could upload but is it worth my time at this point? Probably not! We haven't had a significant gameplay fix throughout this release at all that makes it to a point unplayable. The only ones who enjoyed the BETA tuners are the same toxic cesspool of people who abuse the broken mechanics and thrive off them.
The gameplay needs to compensate for the lack of intriguing content we have in this game. Sadly it hasn't met the AAA standard and is why so many longtime consumers are leaving the series. It's going to take a toll on future releases, but that is the reality unfortunately. For years we have been asking for certain content to be brought back ( unsure why it was removed tbh ) and most of the time we get very little in return.
EA needs to take accountability for their mistakes! Instead of let their community managers take the heat for their screw up. The suits need to speak up about their broken product. There is ignoring the backlash from the consumers, and then there is business etiquette. Doesn't matter what industry, it can be gaming, sales, food, etc. When customers are upset then action is needed. I work kitchen at a pub: If I mess up on an order, the server is going to come to me and let me know that the customer wasn't satisfied. I then have to do something to make sure they feel like coming back. Coding/Scripting for a video game is difficult, especially when the series has a small dev team. That is when the higher ends need to provide employment stability to help make sure things go right. At this point the business needs to issue a statement in regards, to releasing an unfinished product apologizing for the inconvenience towards their customers.
As a customer myself the want to support this series is becoming no longer. I have lost hope that things will ever change. The doubt in my mindset is very telling and I have played these games for a long time. I grew up around this sport and play it myself IRL. Had many family members play on organizations. I had a cousin who was in the AHL/NHL and went to finish his career with Modo in Europe. Another currently is on the Allen Americans in the ECHL. Even that can't bring my motivation to buy another game, unless NHL 24 is good quality. We just want to feel like the consumers matter. Sadly it doesn't feel at all that way.
This will be my last publication on this forum but here are some feature ideas this series is in desperate need of. See ya!
Presentation: Back in previous years we had some good presentation, it was awesome to see and brought an atmosphere into the game. I bought NHL 23 because the trailer caught my eye when the presentation looked really interesting. Then due to a design issue it was removed from full to condensed never to be brought back... That really upset many customers.
BAP: since NHL 21 it just feels like another Live The Life mode with no option to turn off the cinematics or cutscenes. A nice thing added was the Euro teams but very limited. For 3 years now much of the community, including myself have been requesting full juniors seasons/ AHL returned to the mode. The grind to the draft it something I miss the most, not this little tournament scenario. Also no injury tracker is available so when we get hurt there isn't an indicator to let us know the time or what the injury is...
Franchise mode: This isn't too bad but has some minor things that need to be tweaked. Full presentation is highly needed in this for starters. Return of the all-star/prospects games. Option to go from the 25 season limit to unlimited for those of us who want to play longer. GM office customization ( from NHL 2004 era )
Creation zone: Give us more creative content, especially for our female characters. Add more hairstyles, faces, etc. Create a coach would also be cool to add.
Custom goalie helmets where you can place a created team logo on it.
EASHL: Return of community lobbies for 6's! This whole they were toxic is a huge misconception. I played on both Ps3/Xbox 360 back in that era. Only bad part was the text chat that doesn't need to be there tbh. Back then we had like 2 trolls who did it for YouTube content. Now we have way more than before, including someone who once was never a troll until the lobbies were taken away. Now he sits on Playstation in drop-in just to play LD and hang offside. At very least let us who have no time to commit for club or LG to play a casual game in an indoor arena w/ jersey selection. This used to be so much fun to pick a jersey during tournament or playoff season and do a matchup.
Just give us a good quality game for our money.
