Game built to minimize Skill Gaps

So I'm gonna guess you don't play with human G's which definitely questions skill gap complaints.

There is nothing wrong with hitting if you invest into the builds and play a smart game.  I will say in 3s the late hits seem to be a thing though and should have been addressed.  I don't believe charging or boarding exist for whatever reason.

As for poke checking there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  It's the most forgiving thing ever and you gotta be doing really bad stuff to be taking penalties enough to complain about it.  I can't count the number of times I go "Oh S" because i know i poked at a bad time and get away with it.  I also run a player with sub 70 poke check because I truly believe the stat isn't all that important.

I'm sorry but playing 3s has so much room just maybe your opponent isn't dumb enough to let you play run n gun.  I play a big dman in 3's with actual human G's and my 2 friends rock a playmaker and sniper.  Both use One Tee and move the puck around forcing the big boys to chase and get walked.  The gap exists if you use all the games tools whether they be legit or not.  You just seem angry because of a potential meta you don't like.  But hey don't worry in NHL 24 when they nerf hitting down the complaints will be about players bouncing off hits from LTing.  Because that is how the series has always gone.

---

@KlariskraysNHL wrote:

So I'm gonna guess you don't play with human G's which definitely questions skill gap complaints.

There is nothing wrong with hitting if you invest into the builds and play a smart game.  I will say in 3s the late hits seem to be a thing though and should have been addressed.  I don't believe charging or boarding exist for whatever reason.

As for poke checking there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  It's the most forgiving thing ever and you gotta be doing really bad stuff to be taking penalties enough to complain about it.  I can't count the number of times I go "Oh S" because i know i poked at a bad time and get away with it.  I also run a player with sub 70 poke check because I truly believe the stat isn't all that important.

I'm sorry but playing 3s has so much room just maybe your opponent isn't dumb enough to let you play run n gun.  I play a big dman in 3's with actual human G's and my 2 friends rock a playmaker and sniper.  Both use One Tee and move the puck around forcing the big boys to chase and get walked.  The gap exists if you use all the games tools whether they be legit or not.  You just seem angry because of a potential meta you don't like.  But hey don't worry in NHL 24 when they nerf hitting down the complaints will be about players bouncing off hits from LTing.  Because that is how the series has always gone.

---

Listen I respect your opinion. But you’re making a lot of assumptions about my skill level and how I play without having no clue who I am. 

This is a hockey sim. Tell me in what real world hockey is there as much hitting in three on three as there is in this game? In what 3 on 3 hockey are slow big guys effective to the extent they are in EA’s version? 
In what version of real hockey is skating backwards with the puck to initiate tripping a viable way to play the game? 

They have numbers for attributes for a reason. The speed is less impactful than the size and hitting are. 
A big player can keep up with a speedster in any given game. A small guy can based on speed cannot knock a big guy off the puck or stun them ever. 

There are scaling issues at 3 on 3 with the space that actually should exist. And there are weighting issues to the attributes. 

Yeah I am upset at the Meta because it’s not hockey. It allows mindless play that isn’t hockey at all. There were enough exploits in this game coming into 23 that you could cover off using skill. But the size and back skating is at a whole new level. 

I'm with Follisimo on this one. 

I respect that. And I’m aware there are ways to be successful. We’ve played 250ish games as a squad and at least 125 of them we’ve allowed less than 2 goals and 50 or so shutouts. 

You can figure out the game but that’s not figuring out how hockey is actually played. 

In three on three it’s a skill game. Hitting is next to non existent. Position is key. There is no clogging up the ice in 3 on 3 or copious amounts of hitting but there is in EASHL’s version of it. 

The idea of icing a player that is a 6”5 brute in a 3 on 3 game is completely foreign in anything other than this game. Some teams may try to balance but others have 3 guys of this stature and you see danglers, snipers, and playmakers with truculence on. There is a reason for this……it’s OP

Skating backwards to protect the puck is ridiculous and not hockey but it works in the context of the game. 

And that’s fine people can like it but this is supposed to be a sim not NHL Hitz 2002. 

@ML87showIt's not a true sim and NEVER will. Way back in the day a dev that went by RedShirt said the series is like 80% realism with 20% other sprinkled in. I used to have the link til they nuked the old forums. So if you take it like that then there is lots that looks like a hockey game with things like LTing, hitting, certain goals working pretty much all the time, not having full control of our stick, and some others as the 20% arcade sprinkled in.

Yeah I hear ya. And that makes sense and something I also expect. I just think it’s gone a little too far in the unrealistic/ridiculous style of play. I know there are ways to play it and have success but in the past that hasn’t meant abandoning traditional hockey tactics. It just meant that you had to deal with/ cover exploits. 

I think the really change has been the X factors as well. Like if you have unstoppable force on you can with stand a hit but without it you get rag dolled constantly. Same with the hitting and how ineffective it is with out truculence versus how over powered it is when it’s on. And that’s why you see almost everyone with these on. 
These imbalances cause everyone to shift and play this way more than ever before and compounds the problem. 

So I’m not suggesting for a ground up rebuild. The balancing is the real issue and that is completely fixable. 

Side note: I do think the small builds are way too weak and easily knocked off the puck. Should have a bit more resilience. 

@ML87showSmall builds tend to be inferior in the offensive zone because they are less likely to have speed to get away from bigger players. Small builds are just fine overall you just have to keep moving in the zone getting open or creating space for your team.

The esport scene banned these perks/traits from use at all in their games.
This means that both the Gold and Silver traits/perks will be banned from play for the following:
Truculence
Unstoppable Force
No Contest

So don't be shocked if these aren't nerfed for NHL 24.  

I get how a small build works but it doesn’t change how rag dolled they get. What you say can be true and hitting can also be OP. Both things are true. 
And I’m successful at it but I also take more hits than I should especially the late hits they allow and the copious amount of winded get ups. 
It’s still imbalanced because of how effective it is in the scope of a 3 on 3 game where there should be better spacing and less hitting. 

That’s really good to know about the e sports. Speaks to the fact that the X factors are having a negative impact on the game. 

Like 95 hitting is used less without truculence and at that point you don’t need to have as many points into hitting. 

I have a dangler with 95 deking and unless I have the highspeed zone ability on he loses the puck whenever attempting deked at speed. 

In any case if it went back to the attributes alone this game would be the best one they’ve made to date. The X factors and zone abilities are awful.

---

@KlariskraysNHL wrote:

@ML87showIt's not a true sim and NEVER will. Way back in the day a dev that went by RedShirt said the series is like 80% realism with 20% other sprinkled in. I used to have the link til they nuked the old forums. So if you take it like that then there is lots that looks like a hockey game with things like LTing, hitting, certain goals working pretty much all the time, not having full control of our stick, and some others as the 20% arcade sprinkled in.

---

NO WONDER THAT'S WHY NONE OF THEM USE IT! I was wondering haha because they're so good at protecting the puck that they could completely abuse that system and I wondered why they didn't. Makes sense now. Wow. 

Surprised they didn't add close quarters to that list though but they need goals.