EA_Aljo
Community Manager
Community ManagerHitting acceleration reverted today 2/5
Hello, NHL Fans. The change that was made in last week's update regarding the accelration with hitting being removed, was reverted.
Forum Discussion
Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
EA_AljoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:
Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
- @EA_Aljo I can see that you reply faster then i wrote it. Maybe try different way. You mdecide switch off hybrid and tune this hitting to be more simulation. Dont revert this updates, because this updates only change gameplay to be more realistic. And yes always low players which been used to only click buttons will cry, that they need to learn something new. But literally, they can play hybrid in versus modes and offline modes, but dont understand why hybrid should be allowed in HUT, when hybrid gives you big advantage.
- Oh, great news! Thanks.
@EA_Aljo Well, thats for a deeper discussion. This game will never be "realistic", it just cant be. The thing is, that hitting is a good way to compensate other defensive methods that are not perfect. And when it was nerfed (and it was nerfed too much, dont know if it is possible, but the change should have been minor, not that big), it was again favouring offense which is already favoured too much, so defending became even more frustrating. If position play and stickchecking worked perfectly, then nerfing bodychecking would be a good step.
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
I’ll just quote something I recently said in another post:
“I completely agree. I’m happy they toned down the hitting; it was out of control and so unrealistic. Like you said, it was more like NHL Hitz, and I think many people like myself expect a more realistic representation of the game.
The problem is that defense isn’t given many better options in this game.Take a look at some of my other posts on these issues and tell me what you think:
Hitting
Sim vs Arcade
New Control Suggestionshttps://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-News/REAL-Total-Control-Not-Arcade/m-p/13161058#M7851
“
The main point is we wouldn’t feel the need for arcade-like hitting if we didn’t need to compensate for a lack of proper stick checking and bodying/battling controls.
@ssoliz91 wrote:
The main point is we wouldn’t feel the need for arcade-like hitting if we didn’t need to compensate for a lack of proper stick checking and bodying/battling controls.You're not wrong and I like your idea, but adding complexity to the controls appears to be non-negotiable from very vocal parts of this community. They don't want more responsibility, especially when it comes to defending. Some users want their button presses to do exactly what they expect at all times, regardless of what responsibilities they're abdicating. Of course, there are instances where people are positionally sound - they understand the controls - but still get hit with a bug or a misfire in an animation sequence. That's why I begged people to post clips of the hitting not working the way they wanted. Because in spite of the favorable view some of us had on this change, there will always be room for improvement. But like clockwork, the social media voices get amplified and the airing of grievances for clout, likes & retweets gets the game trending for the wrong reasons, and boom - changes reverted.
EA is being captured by the audience a bit here. When they make changes, they're not going to see celebrations about it on social media because a) people don't typically do that and b) saying anything positive about this game on social media is a recipe for getting flamed and trolled, regardless of whether your observation is valid or not.
So of course, every change that has this much of an impact is going to be met with resounding negativity - especially in the cesspool that is Twitter. Every "competitive" player will simply fall in line with the rest of the hivemind and insist the changes are "broken" because they took a few more L's than usual in their favorite pay-to-win mode.
In any case, regardless of what my view is on this change - all of us should be on the same page in giving EA some credit here. They're listening to us. They're making important changes and doing so quickly when they're met with enough feedback to warrant it. That's a good sign, no matter what side of the debate you're on when it comes to hitting.
- @KidShowtime1867 Totally agree with you.
Gotta give EA some credit for doing changes.
I also believe I'm in the minority for not liking this change today but gameplay wise, I believe it is more fun to do big hits than playing positional and smart defense. I prefer playing smart defense when playing online but it is nice to play big hits offline games. So I understand the change today but still prefer not having the sudden acceleration.
@EA_Aljo is it more 'realistic' or less 'arcadey' to be 5'8 160 and accelerate full tilt into 6'4 220+ defensemen without needing hospital attention? I thought so.
It isn't a secret EA has favored the dipsy-doodle ADHD playstyle to an overwhelming degree. There's almost no repercussion for taking huge physical risks in game because injuries hardly do anything. The meta is being as tiny and quick as possible for a reason. The hitting can look ridiculous because it's representative of the average EA NHL forward's hockey IQ and you aimed to provide these people yet another crutch.
You guys mapped the michigan to a button press but defensemen lunging at incoming forwards is too arcadey? You people seriously needed this reality check to get your priorities in order.
- @EA_Aljo The game used to give you the ability to choose which tuner you want to use. For example, 1.00, 1.01, 1.02, etc. It currently shows “Latest” and the second choice it’s blank. Why did you remove the ability to use previous tuners?
- @EA_Aljo Again, the root cause is a lack of direction.
You don't get much more directionless than running in circles and this is about as circular as you can get.
Making contact was fine either way really, mostly a timing adjustment, but the reactions to that contact are too extreme.
If you don't flatten the player they simply pick up the puck again and continue moving.
Contact should have variable outcomes depending on how well a hit connects.
The majority of hits should simply result in separation from the puck. The players stop while the puck keeps going.
A glancing blow can allow the player to shrug off a hit and chase the puck down.
A big hit should be square contact with a minimum combination of speed between the two players. If someone slows down to brace for a hit, they should at least have the ability to keep their feet. If they try to beat a big hit by keeping their feet moving (and fail to avoid contact), they should be knocked down.
Those elements in combination (maybe not perfect as defined, but generally) should give a clear overall picture as to how these interactions take place.
Something like: (Where X is attacking player's speed and Y is defending player's speed)
Scenario 1: Good contact
If X + Y > 100 = Big Hit
If X + Y < 100 = Small Hit
Scenario 2: Bad contact
If (X + Y) > 100 > Small Hit
If (X + Y) < 100 > Glancing Blow
There would have to be modifiers for things like strength, checking, balance, etc., and the threshold of "100" would have to be determined, but that should give an idea.
Then there's the aftereffect of a hit. The puck's speed and direction at contact should be maintained regardless of the result of the hit, resulting in more pucks being knocked loose, while the physical effects of how long a player is down or how frequently they are injured, should be reduced and limited to when Good contact AND Big hit are established.
Regardless, the point is to map out the expected direction and then work to implement it.
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
Because majority play HUT and the money is in HUT. It's no different than FIFA or Madden. This hitting affected HUT to a point where periods would go by without a hit from either side. Find a middle ground. I appreciate their efforts to fix the hitting speed boost but if the fix kills hitting then how do you expect players to defend?
- @phomi99 Hey, they are tailoring changes for CHEL too (because of battlepass)
@RatedxPGxEnigma wrote:
@phomi99Hey, they are tailoring changes for CHEL too (because of battlepass)Not much though, it was fun back then when guys had to grind to a higher level and the equipment had attribute boosts. The preset attributes that you can bring up and down a bit still doesn't offer much creativity and it's lazy feature from the old team.
This is the best team we have had in a long time so hopefully they do put more effort into it next year because we have had the same format for how long?
Back out for truculence, but watch every single replay. What a time saver. 😆
@phomi99I had no problem with hits even after patch. Depends how you hitting, if you just pressing buttons i understand hits was not working for you. But if you will wait for right time, in front of player, you should always hit. But if you count that you will only clcik on button no matter in what position you are, yes you will not hit him. Imagine situation what happens before this patch was released. Two players skate side by side, one player hit button and in that speed, he kill player with puck, but its so unrealiastic. But undertand, its easiest way to defend, only with clicking buttons and dont need to think, if its right time to hit him..
@sirajs wrote:@phomi99I had no problem with hits even after patch. Depends how you hitting, if you just pressing buttons i understand hits was not working for you. But if you will wait for right time, in front of player, you should always hit. But if you count that you will only clcik on button no matter in what position you are, yes you will not hit him. Imagine situation what happens before this patch was released. Two players skate side by side, one player hit button and in that speed, he kill player with puck, but its so unrealiastic. But undertand, its easiest way to defend, only with clicking buttons and dont need to think, if its right time to hit him..
The issue is this new "hitting mechanic" it's been a giant fail. There shouldn't be a slow down or speed up in hitting now you hurt players who play online with 30-60 pings going up against 5 pings in Montreal.
It's a cheesy animation to watch in game when we miss a hit. What players throw their hands like that when delivering a hit.
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
Sorry @EA_Aljo, but this is a gross oversimplification and highly misleading. You omitted the part where EA intentionally nerfed already clunky defensive stick mechanics in an arcade way in order to aid arcade offensive puck possession. We know this to be true because poke check and DSS did not used to be this slow and penalized (speed penalties and actual penalties). As has been stated multiple times in the last couple years, it is absurdly arcade to give a player carrying the puck more ability and agility with his stick than the player without the puck. You compound that when you also allow that puck-carrying player the arcade ability to rather easily shed body and stick contact with no or little impact to maintaining/quickly regaining possession. As a result, puck possession in this game nowhere near resembles the NHL (and neither does defensive stick use/abilities). I personally have made numerous requests for the game to be more "sim" in this regard. So to characterize the revert as “less arcade” without acknowledging the overall context or balance issues created by the devs decisions towards offensive arcade in the first place is an irresponsible message to send to the community in my view.
I never doubted for one minute that the hitting wouldn't be reversed ,after all the twitch streamers and most top players were losing their minds that they couldn't AI launch anymore, once again proving that they matter most
- EA_Aljo
@Treatmentworke66 wrote:
I never doubted for one minute that the hitting wouldn't be reversed ,after all the twitch streamers and most top players were losing their minds that they couldn't AI launch anymore, once again proving that they matter most
It wasn't just streamers and top players. Unless everyone that complained about this on these forums are also top players and Twitch streamers. We pay attention to feedback as a whole. Not just those that are more visible.
@GrundleDemon333 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
Sorry @EA_Aljo, but this is a gross oversimplification and highly misleading. You omitted the part where EA intentionally nerfed already clunky defensive stick mechanics in an arcade way in order to aid arcade offensive puck possession. We know this to be true because poke check and DSS did not used to be this slow and penalized (speed penalties and actual penalties). As has been stated multiple times in the last couple years, it is absurdly arcade to give a player carrying the puck more ability and agility with his stick than the player without the puck. You compound that when you also allow that puck-carrying player the arcade ability to rather easily shed body and stick contact with no or little impact to maintaining/quickly regaining possession. As a result, puck possession in this game nowhere near resembles the NHL (and neither does defensive stick use/abilities). I personally have made numerous requests for the game to be more "sim" in this regard. So to characterize the revert as “less arcade” without acknowledging the overall context or balance issues created by the devs decisions towards offensive arcade in the first place is an irresponsible message to send to the community in my view.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
- EA_Aljo
@GrundleDemon333 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
Sorry @EA_Aljo, but this is a gross oversimplification and highly misleading. You omitted the part where EA intentionally nerfed already clunky defensive stick mechanics in an arcade way in order to aid arcade offensive puck possession. We know this to be true because poke check and DSS did not used to be this slow and penalized (speed penalties and actual penalties). As has been stated multiple times in the last couple years, it is absurdly arcade to give a player carrying the puck more ability and agility with his stick than the player without the puck. You compound that when you also allow that puck-carrying player the arcade ability to rather easily shed body and stick contact with no or little impact to maintaining/quickly regaining possession. As a result, puck possession in this game nowhere near resembles the NHL (and neither does defensive stick use/abilities). I personally have made numerous requests for the game to be more "sim" in this regard. So to characterize the revert as “less arcade” without acknowledging the overall context or balance issues created by the devs decisions towards offensive arcade in the first place is an irresponsible message to send to the community in my view.
I didn't omit anything. This is just my personal opinion from being on these forums since well before I even worked here. When we make something more difficult and widen the skill gap, we get a lot of negative feedback. Poke checks causing too many penalties, having pre-made builds and making hitting less affective are a few examples. These were all very negatively received and ended up being changed.
I think we have a good balance now of pokes not causing too many penalties, but I'm very much not a fan of the slow down from it. I'm also not claiming that the game doesn't have arcade elements. I'd surely like to see those reduced as well. It would be good to see the carrier not have as high a success rate with picking up the puck after contact. I'd rather the puck be dislodged more so the defender has a better chance of gaining control. Defense could use a boost in general. At the same time though, it's a position that takes skill to play well. Good defenders are going to be able to defend against the puck carrier. Whether that's poke checks, hits or just good positional play, it all takes skill to succeed at. Yes. It's a challenge. Maybe too much. I'd certainly like it if that were balanced better without making either side overpowered.
My own personal sentiment is very similar to how most of you feel. I want a game that leans sim, but not completely. That would be a lot more frustrating than fun. However, not everyone has the same definition of fun. There are those here that say the game is ruined because they don't like the hitting mechanics. I like the changes to skill stick for hitting and prefer that over 23. I'm just not a fan of the Total Control method of hitting and one button controls in general. It feels more natural to "wind up" for the hit. This is just an example of how fun isn't the same for everyone.
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@GrundleDemon333 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
Sorry @EA_Aljo, but this is a gross oversimplification and highly misleading. You omitted the part where EA intentionally nerfed already clunky defensive stick mechanics in an arcade way in order to aid arcade offensive puck possession. We know this to be true because poke check and DSS did not used to be this slow and penalized (speed penalties and actual penalties). As has been stated multiple times in the last couple years, it is absurdly arcade to give a player carrying the puck more ability and agility with his stick than the player without the puck. You compound that when you also allow that puck-carrying player the arcade ability to rather easily shed body and stick contact with no or little impact to maintaining/quickly regaining possession. As a result, puck possession in this game nowhere near resembles the NHL (and neither does defensive stick use/abilities). I personally have made numerous requests for the game to be more "sim" in this regard. So to characterize the revert as “less arcade” without acknowledging the overall context or balance issues created by the devs decisions towards offensive arcade in the first place is an irresponsible message to send to the community in my view.
I didn't omit anything. This is just my personal opinion from being on these forums since well before I even worked here. When we make something more difficult and widen the skill gap, we get a lot of negative feedback. Poke checks causing too many penalties, having pre-made builds and making hitting less affective are a few examples. These were all very negatively received and ended up being changed.
I think we have a good balance now of pokes not causing too many penalties, but I'm very much not a fan of the slow down from it. I'm also not claiming that the game doesn't have arcade elements. I'd surely like to see those reduced as well. It would be good to see the carrier not have as high a success rate with picking up the puck after contact. I'd rather the puck be dislodged more so the defender has a better chance of gaining control. Defense could use a boost in general. At the same time though, it's a position that takes skill to play well. Good defenders are going to be able to defend against the puck carrier. Whether that's poke checks, hits or just good positional play, it all takes skill to succeed at. Yes. It's a challenge. Maybe too much. I'd certainly like it if that were balanced better without making either side overpowered.
My own personal sentiment is very similar to how most of you feel. I want a game that leans sim, but not completely. That would be a lot more frustrating than fun. However, not everyone has the same definition of fun. There are those here that say the game is ruined because they don't like the hitting mechanics. I like the changes to skill stick for hitting and prefer that over 23. I'm just not a fan of the Total Control method of hitting and one button controls in general. It feels more natural to "wind up" for the hit. This is just an example of how fun isn't the same for everyone.
I enjoyed the speed of the game with prior update and the goalies was a welcomed change but I do hope there is a middle ground to be found with hitting. I don't think anyone here wanted the speed boost hit glitch. Personally I think some aim assist would have helped with that update tremendously.
Passing currently is pretty arcade like. At the moment I can turn my back away from the play twist my body to it's back hand a launch a laser beam pass impossible angle pass right for my Ovechkin one tee perk.
Hybrid controls poke checking is still broken and doesn't function like the skill stick controls does. You can test it out yourself and you be shocked how bad it is.
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:Obviously I'm in the minority on this, but I'm uncertain how anyone who wants this game to be sim would agree that accelerating from a body check attempt is favorable to a more nuanced and positional approach to body checking.
I don't consider the hitting mechanic to be perfect, but the recent change did add responsibility to the hitter which opened up the game a bit more. But I'm outgunned on this one and the community has spoken. Looking forward to abusing the heck out of this again.
I agree. I preferred the changes to hitting, but obviously much of the community did not feel the same. I'll say it once again, we get requests for the game to be less arcade and then get complaints when that happens.
I can't help but to think you guys are trolling sometimes..
Most people do want more Sim. I see what you're trying to do by suggesting if you want hitting you don't want Sim but that's simply untrue lmao! Offensive players puck handling is arcade, offensive players being unable to be knocked off the puck is arcade, offensive players puck possesion priority is arcade. Players that want more of a Sim style don't want hitting the way it is but it beats not having ANY advantage. You can't have the defense playing Sim style and the offense playing arcade and then when people complain you get upset/ say they don't want Sim lmao! The balancing in this game is atrocious.
Defense the poke check is in a really bad place and what is expected out of the defender to make a play is FAR more than what it takes for an offensive player to beat them.
A big problem with WoC is I'd say 80% of the community plays forward (I get it, scoring goals is fun) but then 80% of feedback is suggesting offense should be easier and defenders should have even less tools. To pass you can now simply press a button and it will have perfect accuracy now. The forward that the puck is going to does not have to turn to face the puck, he has no chance the puck will go through his legs, meanwhile both of those things can happen to the defensive player, often times even with a quick pick xfactor. This is why even people who have an interest in playing defense lose interest EXTREMELY fast in this franchise or switch to forward. Playing defense in this game is just trying to play the percentages, put yourself in a position, and pray you get the right animation. You're essentially an NPC doing a job.
If WoC is to get any better/ we WANT people to play with full clubs.. we need to make defense feel fun/ our skill gets rewarded more often/ a skill gap exists beyond positioning. I mean I think it helps some that CPU defenders are so bad but people STILL don't want humans because many humans are STILL worse. Humans are still worse because most players with any skill/ smart positioning are playing forward because it's just simply FAR more fun/ rewarding. Playing defense is just stressful in this game. You either get an animation or not. You don't feel like you're improving. You don't feel like you did something really good very often.
The easier and smaller the window of skill gap you have in this game the less fun and rewarding defense is gonna feel. Icon passing seemed REALLY uneeded. Lacrosse goals being so easy? Passes directly in front of the goalie being so easy? All uneeded.
The game also has an issue with attributes. Currently many players can deke with an avg deke rating. Defensive zone passing doesn't matter if you shoot the puck up. Close passing seems extremely hard to intercept when using the icon passing, even more so when it's on your forehand/ backhand. Hitting doesn't actually seem to matter very much at all. Strength? So offensive players are just min/ maxing what matters (speed) and able to do almost everything haha. I think adding attributes may help some.. maybe puck handling could allow the puck to roll off someone's stick a bit easier if they're doing a lot of backhand/ forehand or their shot accuracy coming off of that isn't as good? This could force players to be even more so pigeonhold to play a particular game or to be slightly less effective at having an all around game.
- @rsandersr47 Defensive attributes in particular don't seem to have the impact you would expect from maxing them.
This is all anectodal of course. I play defense almost exclusively (in CHEL clubs). I've tried numerous builds and combinations to see how they perform and I've reached the following conclusions:
- 92 (*or higher?) Defensive awareness (DA) offers no better performance than a lower rating. (*I haven't experimented with this one in a while because it was so ineffectual, so I can't remember how high I was able to put it, but I maxed it).
The offensive player almost always picks up loose pucks (like they have priority) despite having a significantly lower offensive awareness in comparison.
We all know how easily passes get through a well positioned defender. DA seemingly offers no assistance there either.
- 95 Stick Checking (SC) does appear to decrease penalty risk but is seemingly no more effective at actually dislodging a puck from a player than a lower rating.
I can cleanly poke the puck 2-4 times depending on how direct a player is approaching the net, but the puck will only be briefly knocked off their stick before they immediately regain possession (with no action or deviation required, the game does it auto-magically for them).
- 95 Shot Blocking does have an apparent effect when employing the crouch. Outside of the crouch it's no more effective than a lower value.
There's more of course, but these are the primary defensive attributes.
The argument against poke check effectiveness is that it's too effective and can be spammed.
Of course it's going to be effective if you are trying to carry a puck through a defender in good position. That's why you have all those dekes, passes, chips, and maneuverability as tools at your disposal.
You shouldn't expect to skate in a straight and predictable path with the puck and expect to maintain possession.
Except EA has fed into that expectation by continuously catering to it instead of addressing the issue with a reasonable approach, which should include education on using different tools to counter what is simply good defensive play.
Every instance where good defense should result in the advantage to the defender, is countered by design to tip the advantage back to the offense.
As for the poke check being spammed, that's a separate issue but only made necessary because it takes more than one to get a successful result. It would be simple to give the defenseman the advantage on the first pokecheck attempt (considering positioning and timing), then have a delay before they can make another attempt and/or increase the risk/decrease the effectiveness on subsequent attempts, because they no longer have the advantage of being in good position and reading the play with full control of their stick.
Defense gets the initial advantage but when the offense is able to overcome it, they gain the advantage. That would be a better balance and incentivize both sides by rewarding them for their ability to read and make a favorable play.
There have to be legitimate defensive threats to prevent attacking players from simply skating past unimpeded. They should be required to put as much thought, skill, and timing into their attack as required of the defender. @rsandersr47 So here is my take on this...
I do think that if you want the hitting advantage, you are indeed looking for a more arcade based game. Hitting numbers are way higher than the average game of hockey. As I stated in a different topic (Here ). Summarizing what I wrote the number of hits for my last 5 games before and after the nerf to hitting decreased by 30% (98-67) for Away and almost 50% (116-60) for home. When I took the games right before the allstar break (14 sample size) it was on average 18.5 for Away and 18.2 for Home so hitting for a 60 min hockey game was on average 36.7 hits for that night. If you divide that by 5, the TOTAL number of hits we should be having per 12 min game is roughly 7-8. Anyways its not supposed to be 30 per side. So yes Hitting is quite arcadey and should be not often seen in my opinion.
Personally I think the poke check gets most stuff done in the game right now. The stick can poke the puck away most times and I rarely have those moments where I poke the puck away from the carrier and they pick it right back up and skate past me. As long as you are skating backwards and maintaining good gap control, you can control what that skater does. Now the WoC statement I can totally agree with, majority of the player base is offensive and wants to play forward because scoring goals is fun and there have been certain things (spamming up on stick for one timers for example) that I have adamantly been against for awhile in these forums. That being said, you say that...
"The easier and smaller the window of skill gap you have in this game the less fun and rewarding defense is gonna feel."
But didn't reverting the hits like you want reduce said skill gap?!? If everyone can hit again, does that not mean that it takes less skill? the hitting nerf did create a skill gap in that you had to be much more precise with your hitting. Again stated elsewhere, I had no problems with hitting after about 10 or so games of play. It required an adjustment where you couldn't go for those big ice hits every time, and instead had to as I call it "tell a story" to set up the hits along the boards or in the middle of the ice but it was possible and still happening. What you couldn't do is blindly charge at someone who then tries to deke you only for the checking assist to hit said player when he and the puck have past by you and the game auto corrected the hit to be to the side of them to push the carrier off of the puck.
"Icon passing seemed REALLY uneeded. Lacrosse goals being so easy? Passes directly in front of the goalie being so easy? All uneeded."
Icon passing unneeded sure, but also ineffective. Most players are not using the icon passing as there is a delay and its not even 100% accurate since it is based on attribute rating so it doesn't even matter. I personally think it should get buffed to allow for easier one touch passing plays but another topic for a different day. I have maybe been scored on a lacrosse goal twice this year, and one I remember was completely my fault. It is very easy to defend against despite it being one button and they nerfed it so only the upper level danglers can really keep it on their stick the whole time. Passes directly in front is the only one I can agree with here as a defenseman as it is infuriating but in the end, it is the "path of least resistance" which humans will always seek out. It requires way less skill to just "send" something across the ice 100 times over because as long as it gets through one time, its a good chance to be a goal and that is the mindset of the people that play this way and their reasoning behind doing it. I would know since someone told me one day when I finally asked them why force so much. "The defense is never gonna be in perfect position and all it takes is that one pass to go through for a goal to get scored". He also stated that the game has a lot of randomness to it that it may just go in anyways. I was baffled by these statements from an above average skilled forward. I remember one game I played a team whose winger tried to do that to me the whole game just force it across to the other winger and also try to straight line over the blue. That person was shut down so hard I got a message from him calling me a pain in the * (former Teammate in a previous season of league hockey so it was in good fun but still). This was also a top guy that played in esports and who's team does place well, not enough for brackets but still solid.
" So offensive players are just min/ maxing what matters (speed) and able to do almost everything haha."
Yes they are indeed because that's the only way they can get separation in this game and speed is king. Part of that reason is because of how strong hitting currently is. That is why many people kiss the boards and use EE to ballerina skate back and forth, because the ice is so restricted in what you can do with the puck along the boards. Deking is barely an option as any time you deke you are stuck in the animation and therefore cannot do anything until it is completed (exception being toe drags). This allows the defender to get close up to you and knock you off the puck before you are able to pass or shoot. Deking also doesn't have an "assist" feature like hitting where it recognizes and adjust how to send the puck around the checker resulting in the stick blocking some dekes that should have been effective against your missed hit. Everything on the offense side is just as rough at times in fairness.
"The game also has an issue with attributes."
I couldn't agree more with this. The two biggest problems IMO is that we are playing NHL but have the attributes of a mid 70s player. The other issue I was going to mention in the speed comment but felt it applied more here. The categories that these attributes are grouped in make for only one play style to work. Now I may be in the minority on this one but having Speed and acceleration on separate categories makes it easy to create all builds. Max out speed, max out accel, max out agil, bring down all balance and shooting stats because they don't really have a point to them in comparison. I would love to see next year the grouping of them like it is in HUT. Accel/Balance/Agil/Spd/End all in one category and Wrist and Slap power/accuracy in its own. Than you can make up more choices. Do I sacrifice a little End for Accel? do I drop Bal for Spd? Am I going to be a wrist shot or a slap shot, or an even balance of them?
Anyways I am getting off topic here.
Just like you say "most play forward because SCORING GOALS is fun", I counter with "and others play defense because HITTING is fun".
Many people claim they want a "sim based" hockey game until they get it and then are immediately calling for the developers to be executed. When the stick check was so often causing penalties in the beginning of 19 or 20 people were outraged because they "cant poke anymore" meanwhile, we had been so programmed for years to close our eyes and poke the puck away with ease that we were not ready for such a change and didn't want to adapt to it. Many people claim they want a bigger skill ceiling but when something is implemented
Passing in 23 - made charged passing less effective and so you had to light pass when closer and charge when further... Community riots.
New shoving mechanic - Allows for opportunities to push players off the puck while maintaining your position when a hit is not the right option... People still want it removed completely.
One timers - Being more skill based by forcing players to wait for the puck to touch their stick, rather than up spamming... Again look here and see the anger despite the LT change to help.
Goalies Tether control scheme - requiring constant attention from the goalies to stay steady on the thumbstick while players cycled or be sniped on when caught... Goalie discords uproar.
Body checking being nerfed - requiring a more methodical attack to it and less of just full sending into a player.... topic of discussion right now.
These above are all changes to improve the skill ceiling of the game which I want nothing more than to see and it was met with nothing but constant criticism from the community. It's sad really because the community has made it impossible for a developer of this game to do any types of changes and it makes me wonder if the previous developers were right in not making any changes to their game. It makes me understand why the NHL24 discord has been scrubbed entirely. In the end you cannot please everyone so maybe the idea is to come out with a game and stick to it. Make it more arcade or more sim, pick one and stick to it because again you can't make everyone happy.
@hiperay Are you playing clubs or HUT? Because on HUT with the hitting nerf you could enter the zone with ease and ragg it in the corner with a 6ft6 forward and wait till the AI opens up. On HUT it was boring because the skill gap was essentially gone. Only form of defense was poking and blocking shots. If the hitting nerf actually worked like intended there wouldn't be a revert back.
I just play HUT so I can't speak on clubs but on HUT it was comical lol.
