CHEL lobby wait times

Another website has a few subjects on this issue, not very happy people, not everyone comes here.

Wait times am have been atrocious for 5+ years... How is this not something to look into and put at the top of the list... They act like this is first year we've said something about ridiculous wait times to get into a drop in game.. only kinda bright side is, that the search times are better when searching with a club.

This is just ridiculous, we waste so much time just waiting, Just be honest and tell us it's really being looked at , if not, we can just move on. The games been out far too long for this to continue,  How long did that investigation patch come out, 5 weeks ago and still nothing? The TOS needs to be changed to say wait times may exceed 20 minutes or more, likely more.

I feel the new game intentionally makes the game difficult for anyone who has played and NHL game in the past.  

They forced a new set of controls on everyone.  These new controls and “mechanics “ or “ animations “ greatly reduce a players overall control of their characters actions, primarily he goes from one “animation to another.  

the new controls have obvious glaring problems and poorly mapped locations for reverse hit etc.  they offer a player no option for cancelling a big hit.  When a character has a big hit button pressed  but can’t deliver he also can’t poke check or pick up a lose puck, furthermore when he finally does release the button he better be by himself on the ice otherwise he will inadvertently take a penalty.  

All this to say

it appears that EA has made the decision to ruin the game for the physical players.  To allow the no defence playing 160 pnd dangler to skate around unimpeded.  Since EVERY good teammate and CHEL player knows how to play both sides of the puck, they have decided to level the playing field.  You don’t need to be good or proactively defend.  Just stand around and wait.  If you start dominating too much physically they give you made up penalty’s like Elbowing, or Boarding.  Who asked for that?  More penalties?  Not the good players who play both sides of the puck I promise you that.  

in short the community is dwindling because they are catering to casual gamers.  This is not a casual gamers title.  Give the people back their game.  

Fix the controller scheme !!!! Offer the old layout!!! We.  Know you won’t do that though.  This was done deliberately.  Fix the controls!!! Fix the controls!!! Fix the controls. 
it worked fine last year now fans of this franchise are furious and leaving in droves 

@kayak_V 

Those aren't made up penalties. They only occur under specific conditions. Elbowing has a greater chance of happening when being called for a charge if you have lower discipline. Boarding is nothing new and has always had a chance of being called when smashing a player with their back turned to you on the boards. Lower discipline makes this more likely as well.

There was no decision made to specifically ruin the game. I don't like the new controls myself. That doesn't mean the game is ruined for me. I've had to adapt. Just like everyone did when the skill stick controls were released. 

You're able to cancel hits using the skill stick controls, but I know this isn't possible with Total Controls. 

I don't think WoC players are just standing around and waiting to defend. Being proactive is always the better approach. As someone that exclusively plays defense, I know I'm much better at this position when I don't just stand around and wait for opposing players to skate in to me. I'm playing physical without taking a elbowing and boarding calls. Mainly because I'm not just trying to to smash everyone and I'm boardplaying instead of hitting someone when I'm facing their back up against the boards.

How do these penalties mean we're catering to casual players? They should be the ones taking them more since they're not aware of these rules and actively avoiding taking them.

Yes. The controls were changed deliberately. Part of that was removing protect puck since we had a huge amount of complaints about this.

Yes board play is so fun and hardly ever leads to penalties.  You suggestion that I not hit opponents is laughable.  You suggestion that elbowing is somehow exceptable when it hasn’t been in the game in years.!!’  Laughable.  This is excuses, and addition that the new controls are flawed.  

the ability to protect the puck is a real thing in hockey, the fact that we can’t protect the puck is a demonstration of deliberately dumbing the game down to casual players.  

puck protect or not in the old controls a solid body check separated the player.  Again appears to me that a more experienced or physical player had no problems with the old ways.  Cateringg to the casual 160 pnd sniper build is catering to the casual gamer.  Simple

Who plays as 160 pound snipers???? Not team players, not defenders, 

I will tell you who, the casual scrub who thinks he needs high offensive stats in order to score.

Every experience player knows it takes a lot more to succeed than a hard wrist shot.  

a big guy protects the puck. .  Little guy cant get puck from big guy.  Little guy cry’s and cry’s.  Devs change game so little guy has advantage, which runs contrary to real life, hockey, humanity in general.

I’m sure it must be obvious to the people with the actual stats of sales, online population etc that this game is a dud.  Why not give people what they want instead of insisting that we are wrong. This game is flawless etc.  Don’t believe you lying eyes and shared experiences.  

sometimes you have good intentions and things don’t work out.  The new controller scheme which seems flawed and almost deliberately counter intuitive is a great example.  By trying to fix one problem you’ve created fozens more, and worse ones too.  

I have a friends list filled with CHEL buddies of years past, they won’t even install the game again let alone play.  I can’t be the only person seeing this.  

Give us back our game!!! We paid our money too.

@kayak_V 

I'm not saying not to hit. You just have to do it without breaking the rules. Holding your hit for too many strides will cause charging. Hitting players facing the boards can cause a boarding call. I don't see how this means you can no longer hit. Elbowing has been in the game in the past. It was removed from online play, but obviously has returned.

You can still protect the puck. I don't like the new controls for it either, but it can be done still. This game is not being specifically dumbed down for casual players. Skill still matters. A casual player isn't typically going to be better than someone that plays far more.

I play a 160 pound D man. I need the speed to keep up with quick forwards. However, I'm not a big hitter. I defend with poke checks, angling them to the outside, cutting off their lanes for passes and shots, stick lifts, boardplay, shoves, etc. While I don't hit often, I haven't had any problems with it. I also see plenty of good style teams that love to just hit everything that moves. So, hitting is still a viable way to defend if that's how you want to play. Bigger forwards are also plenty capable at being successful. Regardless of the size of your build, teamplay and skill are what is going to win you games. Even a tiny, speedy forward isn't going to automatically get past defense due to their size. A good defender is going to stop them. Just like a good forward is going to evade them.

You say I'm insisting players are wrong. I'm not doing that at all. I'm saying the game has changed. I'm sure it will change in the future as well. People don't like the controls. Like I said, I'm one of them. I'm not debating that and I'm not calling you all wrong. We all can either adapt to the new controls or wait and see if they change. If the controls change, it won't happen until a later game. They are locked in for NHL 24.

I’m also fully aware of the new puck protect mechanics, how poorly they work, how ineffective it is and how counter intuitive it feels.  I feel like I need to dislocate my thumb or cross my hands to do it and it doesn’t even work half as well as the vision button to use body positioning to protect the puck… ie hockeying 

So your teammate hit the guy who you were gonna hit.  Now what.  You pressed the b button and now you’re stuck holding it in.  Because of this you can’t collect the puck, poke check, block a shot, nothing you are essentially a pylon.  Now if you don’t want to take a penalty you have to locate some empty ice where you can release the b button, wait for your digital self to do his little spasm where he attempts to decapitate his shadow and nearly falls down, then provided no part of your dudes spasm touched another player you may renter play.  

again, explain to me, how is this fair?  How is this not punishment for those of us who would rather defend our blue line than back up and contain?