Just want to touch base with this thread as a hardcore base community player involved in numerous areas such as the Twitch community of EA NHL. Vast majority of clubs have disbanded from EASHL due to lack of authenticity. I get EA is trying to bring the younger generation but very little have interest. Hence why my nephew and his friend already uninstalled NHL 24 and went back to NHL 21. There just isn't much interest in arcade other than Eliminator and 3's modes. Keep 6's authentic and the population will be better, My club buddies already gave up yesterday since we spent 6 hours with cross-play on from 9pm finding a game. On a Friday/Saturday night we spent longer and got 2 games where we got errored out.
Majority of the " Hardcore population " has moved on to other games because NHL 24 just isn't a great overall experience. This is happening with HUT competitors also, even the top tier players are losing interest and it's showing not just in the game but in our Twitch community also.
I don't mind the direction but there needs to be balance between Arcade/Simulation otherwise the series is hooped! Hate to say it but this is exactly how it is right now. Drop-in has hardly a community anymore because none us want to play using the same 2 teams and hoodies in 6's. Like I mentioned in NHL 22/NHL 23 threads we need something better than this.
