@NeonSkyline21 wrote:@Jagavekov while I agree with some of the things you mentioned (like Michigan attempts being through the roof and hip-checks being auto-explosions), I think some of the things you mentioned wanting to see ARE in fact in the game.
I only play Online Versus so I can only talk about that mode but I utilize the following things in every game I play:
- Dump ins: A lot of high-ranked versus players use the 1-4 neutral zone forecheck and are really good at taking away your carry options. Usually the best tactic in this case is to dump the puck with speed.
- Defense: Obviously the game has defense. I'm averaging a AGA of exactly 1.00 right now.
- Loose pucks: I utilize the "puck-chop" to quickly move the puck along whenever I'm in a race to the puck in my defensive zone. Works very well.
I think one thing you need to come to terms with is that, even in real life, dump-ins (which you seem to be in love with) aren't "fun" to use as a strategy. We get frustrated with dudes at IRL pickup/beer-league when they just dump the puck instead of trying to make a play or playing it back to the defense. While they ARE effective in the game if used at the right time (the neutral zone trap I was talking about earlier), they're not as fun to use and can be risky if you don't use them correctly.
So, I get that you're frustrated at the moment, but I urge you to open your mind a bit. Maybe you're only playing WoC modes, in which case, idk!
First of all, you might have used dump-ins to beat the 1-4 in previous years, as did I, but not this year. The players in this game have a hard time getting enough power when dumping the puck to get it from the redline to the opponent's blueline, never mind getting it all the way to the opposite corner. And the defencemen with the vertical reach and catching ability of Megatron make dump-ins even less viable this year.
Second of all, the game absolutely doesn't have much defense or loose pucks. It is one controlled possession after another, like basketball. I find that boring, I don't like basketball, I like hockey. If you are only giving up one goal per game its because you probably control the puck in the opponent's end most of the game.
Dump-ins are not fun in this game because it is so difficult to forecheck. The odds are so against you making a turnover that it is just giving possession away. It could be fun if some of the defensive tools were more useful, and not every mechanic (and the momentumless skating) blatantly favored the puck carrier.
There are multiple times in this gif where in real life, either possession would be lost or a player would dump the puck off the glass or into the zone:
The first player who gets the pass and sprints to just before the redline with two opposing players in pursuit then stops and hovers horizontally with no momentum being accounted for whatsoever would have probably chipped the puck along the boards and taken a hit (or at least tried to avoid one) in real life.
The second player who did the Hokey Pokey in the neutral zone (again with momentumless skating physics) to avoid two opposing players then makes the pass to gain the zone would have probably either dumped the puck in.
These may seem like small plays to most people but they add up to the game being way too in control, with players and teams maintaining complete possession of the puck for too long. Again, it resembles basketball or 2010's Barcelona soccer more than hockey. What makes hockey fun is the constant changes of possession, loose pucks, the physicality, the effect that skating momentum has on the play, etc. This game is way too in control like basketball, its boring and not realistic.
Does this look like hockey to you:
One team controlling the puck for 20 seconds with a barrage of gliding with the stick held out to one side, backhand passes, and extremely passive defending with no contact or physicality whatsoever? It looks like basketball, not hockey.
@Jagavekov wrote:Does this look like hockey to you:
I don’t know what it looks like, but to me, if I squint my eyes a bit, with everything lighting up on the screen, it looks like a Christmas tree 😳😂😫
Now, I don’t know if I should laugh or cry 🤔
Community ManagerWhen I look at that, I see hockey. Yes, you don't get passing icons or a pressure meter when you watch a broadcast game on TV, but this also isn't meant to look like you're watching hockey on TV. It's a video game and exceptions are made to improve playing the game. Which is the intent to begin with. That people are going to actually play the game and not just watch 2 AI teams play each other so they can replicate watching a TV broadcast. The last thing I would think about when seeing that gif is a Christmas tree. I get you're exaggerating, but the complaints that this game doesn't resemble anything like real hockey seem pretty ridiculous. I think anyone can look at the game and recognize it's hockey.
I know the added elements that help with gameplay are distracting to the purists and hope we have an option to disable them at some point in the future.
@EA_Aljo wrote:When I look at that, I see hockey. Yes, you don't get passing icons or a pressure meter when you watch a broadcast game on TV, but this also isn't meant to look like you're watching hockey on TV. It's a video game and exceptions are made to improve playing the game. Which is the intent to begin with. That people are going to actually play the game and not just watch 2 AI teams play each other so they can replicate watching a TV broadcast. The last thing I would think about when seeing that gif is a Christmas tree. I get you're exaggerating, but the complaints that this game doesn't resemble anything like real hockey seem pretty ridiculous. I think anyone can look at the game and recognize it's hockey.
I know the added elements that help with gameplay are distracting to the purists and hope we have an option to disable them at some point in the future.
Good thing you’ve noticed that I was exaggerating 😉
I know it’s a game also and I also know some people like having all of these stuff on the ice while playing. I don't. I play with nothing at all on 23. So that’s why all the ''non removable'' stuff on 24 are a major pain to me and for people I know. For myself it’s all about immersion.
I mean the only thing missing from that clip was the trainer and there would have been no more room to put anything else 😆
Yes it’s a hockey game and it doesn’t reflect reality, but why can’t it be ? Or at least give the end user the option to turn them OFF like they did for that said trainer.
Thats all I’m asking and maybe then I won’t be seeing any Christmas tree 😉
Community Manager
@PernellKarl027 wrote:Yes it’s a hockey game and it doesn’t reflect reality, but why can’t it be ? Or at least give the end user the option to turn them OFF like they did for that said trainer.
This is just how this year's game was designed. Again, it's possible this could change in a future release. I wouldn't expect that to happen with NHL 24 though.
@EA_Aljo wrote:When I look at that, I see hockey. Yes, you don't get passing icons or a pressure meter when you watch a broadcast game on TV, but this also isn't meant to look like you're watching hockey on TV. It's a video game and exceptions are made to improve playing the game. Which is the intent to begin with. That people are going to actually play the game and not just watch 2 AI teams play each other so they can replicate watching a TV broadcast. The last thing I would think about when seeing that gif is a Christmas tree. I get you're exaggerating, but the complaints that this game doesn't resemble anything like real hockey seem pretty ridiculous. I think anyone can look at the game and recognize it's hockey.
I know the added elements that help with gameplay are distracting to the purists and hope we have an option to disable them at some point in the future.
The fact we have to use the term "resemble hockey" in 2023 in an age where AI is creating 1 to 1 animations in 2K tells us how far behind EA is.
Can you show me 3 clips of goalies Flopping like a fish in the NHL this season? Last season? This decade? In the history of the NHL? I can hop on now and get a video within a half hour. Can you show me 5 clips of a Michigan being scored in the NHL this season? Last season? This decade? In the history of the NHL? I scored 2 in my first 6's game. Can you show me how many times this season 1 player has performed a hip check? I'm gonna guess I have more in 1 night than ANY player will get this season. I get your job is to defend this game at all costs and if the aim is just to "resemble" hockey that seems like a pretty low bar for a game that costs as much as a game that does SO much more.
@EA_Aljo wrote:When I look at that, I see hockey. Yes, you don't get passing icons or a pressure meter when you watch a broadcast game on TV, but this also isn't meant to look like you're watching hockey on TV. It's a video game and exceptions are made to improve playing the game. Which is the intent to begin with. That people are going to actually play the game and not just watch 2 AI teams play each other so they can replicate watching a TV broadcast. The last thing I would think about when seeing that gif is a Christmas tree. I get you're exaggerating, but the complaints that this game doesn't resemble anything like real hockey seem pretty ridiculous. I think anyone can look at the game and recognize it's hockey.
I know the added elements that help with gameplay are distracting to the purists and hope we have an option to disable them at some point in the future.
you rotinely see puck carriers sprint at 90 mph of .2 seconds then hold their sticks out 8 feet away and do 270 degree pivots that have the same effect as an explosive powerturn then whip a 200 mph backhand pass from said outreached position with no momentum? that's hockey to you?
All while the AI are constantly spritning around around and "filling in" during the man advantage which kills any sort of flow, passing play, spacing, etc?
We have very different definitions of hockey. This isnt even close. This makes NHL Hitz Pro look like a sim experience.they actually had a possession poweturn animation in their game that triggered contextually. So do did 2k actually.
