Lack of Direction - What is the EA NHL series?

@EA_Aljo

First I want to reiterate that I'm speaking from my own perspective. There may be others who want different things and I accept that. 

WOC/EASHL with the arcade modes and alternative presentation are fine, on their own. The box doesn't say WOC however, it says NHL. As such, I don't believe it's unreasonable to expect the experience to be NHL-centric.

HUT I'll give a pass to. It's essentially an NHL card collecting game, but it still has NHL presentation. 

BAP gets a pass for presentation as well as Franchise, but those modes seem like an afterthought with the attention given to them. 

I don't think it's a stretch to suggest that the EASHL is the flagship of the series however, so why is NHL branding being used to market what is being described as a "fantasy league". I would be wrong to expect a fairly realistic representation of the NHL in an "EAGames - World of CHEL" product. That could be just about anything. This series however, is "EASports - NHL".  

Again, I don't know if I'm in the majority, but I expect a 6v6 experience that is reasonably similar to the NHL. Club was close at one point and drop-in was still reasonable, but the "fantasy" elements are increasing and degrading the experience. You could avoid most of the outdoor play in "casual" attire in Club, but now we have things like Werewolves. 

The hope from the playerbase was for the experience to improve with time and future iterations, but that doesn't appear to be the goal for EA. 

The issue with other game modes isn't simply detracting from the playerbase. They are also taking away attention and resources from the primary game mode(s) before it has the refinement and population to warrant additions.

There's also a side effect of players "learning" arcade elements and then expecting those in "realistic" game modes. Regular 3v3 for example, develops players to play as individuals and gives them time and space. Then they go into 6v6 and they are unable to adapt to having less room or playing as a team, so they perform poorly and go back to 3v3. 

This game is killing its own 6's playerbase by actively promoting bad teamplay and poor development of players. 

The players aren't interested in authenticity because you make them feel "special" in diluted representations of the sport instead of emphasizing or promoting the knowledge and skills which will allow them to succeed in a realistic setting. 

I don't think we necessarily are far apart on the technical/physics aspects. I realize it is more complicated than the "Pong" analogy to have everything function realistically without obstacles. My point was that paddles (sticks) and ball (puck) are the most rudimentary requirement. Get that right first, then build on top of it without destroying the fundamentals of using a stick to move a puck. 

There are "cheats" in use that direct the puck, where the movement of the puck should be pure and it should be the sticks determining the direction and velocity, while everything else is modified or adjusted around it. If that means an arm clipping through a body, it is preferable to a stick clipping through a puck or a puck clipping through anything at all. An arm looking weird isn't ideal of course, but it doesn't affect the gameplay and make you feel "cheated" like an unexpected physical interaction with the puck does.  

" I don't think we'll ever have a game that gives you that feeling of stepping on the ice and putting professional hockey skills to the test."

Perhaps not, but should that not be the goal? There should be a steady progression towards something, and that's kind of my point.

Which leads me back to, What is EA's goal? Where do they see this series heading?

To me, as long as it says NHL on the cover, it should be heading in a sim direction which is exactly what you describe, "The feeling of stepping on the ice and putting professional hockey skills to the test". 

If they put CHEL on the cover with a stated goal of creating "The most entertaining hockey game" or similar, I'm perfectly okay with that as well.

People can make educated decisions in either direction, I'm only saying the direction should be clear. 

Many are holding onto hope of getting that sim experience. If there's never going to be movement in that direction, be open about it.

There's a market for a sim game and there's a market for an arcade game, but you aren't going to please both with the same product and you don't have the playerbase to do each separately. 

I hope that was clear and again, not intending to rant or complain. 

I want one of two things: 

1) EA works on improving the NHL presentation and realism

2) EA works on making a fun but not necessarily realistic hockey game

I'm good with either as long as I can make an informed decision and temper my expectations accordingly.

What I don't want is simply a muddled middle ground with no indication in either direction.