Forward builds/ Defense Builds

No lol that’s not it. If you play forward, use a forward build, if you play defense use a defensive build. It’s that hard. 

The WOC class system as a whole needs to be rethought.  I'm not sure there's a silver bullet but the current system where most of the player base ends up using more or less the same two or three builds because they're that much better than everything else is clearly not working as intended.  And up front I want to say that I'm talking about how most of the player-base plays the game.  Yes, a small amount of elite players can make non-meta builds work for them, but the vast, vast majority of players end up railroaded into the meta builds just to keep up.  I'll also say that while having a meta play style is to be somewhat expected in video games, the build meta for WOC has been pretty much exactly the same for years without any meaningful balancing.

Comparisons to real-life players probably isn't useful.  It inevitably leads down the same rabbit hole:  McDavid is big and super-fast so my WOC build should be able to do that.  Ovechkin is big and can shoot so my build should be big, as fast as McDavid and shoot like Ovechkin.  Lindros could hit so I should be able to have a build as big as Lindros that can hit, skate like McDavid, and shoot like Ovechkin.  etc, etc, etc.   Might as well just give everyone the same big, fast, hard-shooting, hard-hitting build.  And who knows, maybe that would be the best thing for the mode.  This is probably going to be considered blasphemous to a lot of people here, but for me one of the best post-NHL 15 year for builds ( not necessarily gameplay ) was NHL 16.  Fixed builds and most importantly everyone had the same skating attributes.  With no arms race to keep up with max speed builds people were free to run with a build that fit their style of play the best.  I kind of miss it at times.

But fixed builds are a thing of the past,  everyone wants customization.  And unless customization is just going to mean "I want to be good at everything"  there needs to be trade-offs, which makes sense from a video-game/RPG perspective.  This is where the EASHL custom build system has always failed.  There are trade-offs, but there aren't meaningful trade-offs. 

Consider speed and acceleration ( ignoring the yearly "does acceleration do anything?" debate ).  Almost every build I see completely strips the four shot attributes in order to pour everything into speed and acceleration.  And why not?  The skating attributes have a meaningful impact on the game while the difference between mid-80s shooting attributes and low-70s is so insignificant as to be unnoticeable.  It's the same reason why people run with lightweight, short builds.  The trade-off of balance, checking and strength don't matter enough to counter the upside of being fast and agile.  

It creeps into other areas too.  Every year I start out trying a more defensively geared forward build for center.  Usually TWF or Grinder.  And every year I end up running some waif of a sniper because I don't notice a meaningful difference between high and low defensive awareness and stick checking attributes.  So I end up going with the build that can best keep up with the other speedsters.

And the list can go on.  There's so many attributes in EASHL that don't seem to have enough impact to the average Joe that they aren't just fodder to be stripped and dumped into the handful of attributes that matter.

I wish I could offer a perfect solution, but I don't think one exists.  If the current system is going to continue I do have two suggestions.  First, make attribute choices matter.  If you max out in one area you should be equally terrible in another.  And the downside needs to have as much in-game impact as the upside.   Second, maybe don't have the system set up so the builds with the highest important attributes ( skating as things are now ) are also the builds with the highest base offensive attributes. 

As I write this I keep circling back to fixed builds in my head.  I'd be really curious to see a WOC mode where everybody played with the exact same build.  I wonder how that would play out?

@PlayoffErrora big part of the draw for me in eashl/woc has always been making my build/builds my own. I understand where your coming from by saying fixed builds are better for a competitive environment and that there will always be issues with balancing otherwise but I don't see how that's any different than the best of the best all running the same meta build anyways.

My club quit after 15 with the direction eashl took as far as builds and the whole game mode went. I'd be open to more progression with builds again myself but also don't have as much time to invest anymore but still would have obtained a legend 3 card by this point or whatever the system is.

I agree that EA needs a new idea for player progression in woc that has meaning throughout the games life cycle besides simply unlocking boosts and perks by level 50, it's all over after a month or two of release. The whole plus or minus 5 points per attribute never sat great with me but seemed better than what was on offer when I bailed after 15 so it drew me back as I figured I can put my own spin on things again but in reality find myself doing the same cookie cutter approach on most builds as almost everybody.

As far as the original topic is concerned I am one of those players currently running a dman on the wing though I prefer the offensive dman, I think the more freedom we have to find what we like for the position we're playing is better than not having options. Not to say that all builds are balanced perfectly currently but I'd rather we have more options that are viable than a singular meta or one build for all approach.

@PlayoffErrorGreat write-up and so true. I feel a big problem is the superstar abilities require too little of points to activate.

I've written some of the stuff how I would like to see it done going forward.

Speed (built into size and weight)
Balance (built into size and weight)
Agility (built into size and weight)
Acceleration (built into size and weight)
Endurance (built into size and weight)
Offensive Awareness (built into build)
Defensive Awareness (built into build)
Strength (built into size and weight)
Durability (built into size and weight)
Faceoffs (built into position) (If you are a center position lock it's 90 and the rest are 80)
Fighting Skill (built into size and weight)

(15pts per category, max improvement 8pts in 1 stat)
1.)Wrist Shot Acc
Wrist Shot Pwr
Slap Shot Acc
Slap Shot Pwr

2.) Puck Control
Passing
Hand-Eye
Deking

3.) Body Checking
Stick Checking
Shot Blocking
Discipline

Offensive Builds need moderate improvements to offensive side of stats, but moderate defensive stats
Defensive Builds need moderate improvements to defensive side of stats, but moderate offensive stats
TWF/TWD Builds need slight improvements in both areas ever so slightly

Example Offensive Build-
Playmaker
Wrist Shot Accuracy 82 --> 84
Wrist Shot Power 78 --->82
Slap Shot Accuracy 82-->84
Slap Shot Power 79-82

Puck Control 88--->88
Passing 90--->90
Hand-Eye 84--> 85
Deking 83 ---> 85

Body Checking 81---> 75
Stick Checking 78---> 75
Shot Blocking 78--->75
Discipline 82--->78

Example Defensive Build-
Grinder
Wrist Shot Accuracy 80 --> 76
Wrist Shot Power 82 ---> 80
Slap Shot Accuracy 80 --->76
Slap Shot Power 82--->80

Puck Control 83 --->82
Passing 80-->80
Hand-Eye 86--->87
Deking 75--->72

Body Checking 83-->87
Stick Checking 88-->90
Shot Blocking 90-->90
Discipline 88-->90

Example Two-Way Build
TWF
Wrist Shot Accuracy 83--->83
Wrist Shot Power 81-->82
Slap Shot Accuracy 82-->82
Slap Shot Power 81-->82

Puck Control 84-->85
Passing 85-->86
Hand-Eye 83--> 85
Deking 80--->80

Body Checking 82-->83
Stick Checking 85 -->87
Shot Blocking 85 -->86
Discipline 84-->87

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Then I believe we need to change the whole Zone Ability and Superstar Abilities up. They need to be tiered depending on points put into the stats required. We need a Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Bronze = .5% improvement to function, Silver = 1.5% improvement to function, and Gold = 3% improvement to a function

So let's the way too popular build of Elite Edges.

Bronze Requirements - 82 Agility and 82 Accel
Silver Requirement - 85 Agility and 85 Accel
Gold - 88 agility and 88 Accel

Obviously these are just ideas but it's how I'd like the future of the WOC builds to go. Many of the stats should just be tied to your height and weight without anyway to change besides adding a boost. That might make more builds viable for the future.