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
@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.
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.
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