Forum Discussion
@EA_Aljo wrote:Hey there, @RicochetII
Again, this is a video game. Hits might be over the top at times. There are also times they are very realistic. Regardless, the point of the game is to have fun. Yes, there are some purists that want the game to be a 1:1 recreation of the real sport, but from what I've seen, the more real the game gets, the less it's liked. There need to be player attributes for example that add assistance to shooting, passing, hitting, etc. When we made a change to this a few years back, it made the community pretty upset because it became harder to score and accurately pass. We also frequently get comments saying NHL 14 played better. Which is far more of an arcade style game than NHL 24 as the physics are more realistic than they were 10 years ago yet some that claim they want a full sim game would rather have one that was less sim than what we have now.
I'm in agreement with hipchecks and Lacrosse moves. I'd rather those return to the way they were. Thankfully, the Lacrosse goal is pretty uncommon and the move is easy to defend to begin with.
@EA_Aljo I think you are missing the point when we say NHL 14 played better. Yes, the physics are more realistic now, but the tuning and thus gameplay is far less realistic. Back in the NHL 14 days, both offense and defense had to be played fairly realistically to be successful. On offense you had to move the puck around to find the good shooting spots to be successful. On defense, solid positioning, taking away the passing and shooting lanes was rewarded. Nowadays, you have to play the "meta" to be successful, and it hardly resembles hockey. The game speed is way, way too high. Offense is way overpowered compared to defense. Shot accuracy and power are far too high, and forwards who lose the puck instantly regain control nine times out of ten. On defense, you're penalized far too highly for an ever so slightly mistimed poke (huge loss of speed) or ever so slightly misaimed hit (artificially pulled way out of position), and playing well positionally is penalized by the Pressure Meter and the lack of interceptions. It's become all cross-creases and "glitch goals"... it wasn't that way in NHL 14 days.
Edit: Forgot to mention: In NHL 23, the HUT Rush "Sim mode" that was introduced later in the year fixed many of the issues I describe. The game played far more realistically and most people loved it. Why didn't that become the normal tuning this year? The game would be far better and more "sim" if it had.
@MikeyAU630 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:
Hey there, @RicochetII
Again, this is a video game. Hits might be over the top at times. There are also times they are very realistic. Regardless, the point of the game is to have fun. Yes, there are some purists that want the game to be a 1:1 recreation of the real sport, but from what I've seen, the more real the game gets, the less it's liked. There need to be player attributes for example that add assistance to shooting, passing, hitting, etc. When we made a change to this a few years back, it made the community pretty upset because it became harder to score and accurately pass. We also frequently get comments saying NHL 14 played better. Which is far more of an arcade style game than NHL 24 as the physics are more realistic than they were 10 years ago yet some that claim they want a full sim game would rather have one that was less sim than what we have now.
I'm in agreement with hipchecks and Lacrosse moves. I'd rather those return to the way they were. Thankfully, the Lacrosse goal is pretty uncommon and the move is easy to defend to begin with.
@EA_Aljo I think you are missing the point when we say NHL 14 played better. Yes, the physics are more realistic now, but the tuning and thus gameplay is far less realistic. Back in the NHL 14 days, both offense and defense had to be played fairly realistically to be successful. On offense you had to move the puck around to find the good shooting spots to be successful. On defense, solid positioning, taking away the passing and shooting lanes was rewarded. Nowadays, you have to play the "meta" to be successful, and it hardly resembles hockey. The game speed is way, way too high. Offense is way overpowered compared to defense. Shot accuracy and power are far too high, and forwards who lose the puck instantly regain control nine times out of ten. On defense, you're penalized far too highly for an ever so slightly mistimed poke (huge loss of speed) or ever so slightly misaimed hit (artificially pulled way out of position), and playing well positionally is penalized by the Pressure Meter and the lack of interceptions. It's become all cross-creases and "glitch goals"... it wasn't that way in NHL 14 days.
Edit: Forgot to mention: In NHL 23, the HUT Rush "Sim mode" that was introduced later in the year fixed many of the issues I describe. The game played far more realistically and most people loved it. Why didn't that become the normal tuning this year? The game would be far better and more "sim" if it had.
I also really enjoyed the sim mode in HUT. It would have been nice to see that become the regular tuning. It also made a lot of people unhappy though. So, that's the thing, we have a very diverse audience of players. While there are many of us that want a more realistic game, that's not going to make everyone happy.
I know the team is aware of the feedback you're providing. Changes could be made in the future. The lack of interceptions has been a big one for sure. Pokes going back to the carrier has been mentioned many times as well. I'm on the fence with that one though. Normally, when that happens, it's because the carrier has better positioning and is traveling in the direction of the puck. The defender didn't make good enough contact to send the puck out of reach. Poke checking is my primary for of defense. I use the defensive skill stick a lot as well because I have a lot of success with sweeping the puck away. I'm not saying there are no issues though either. It would be good to make pokes work more consistently. I also hate the slow down from poking. That's very frustrating.
If I recall right, the biggest complaint about 14 was cross-crease goals. That was the go to way to score and you spent all game defending it. Passes still got through, but I really can't remember if it was any better/worse than we have now. It's been almost 10 years since I played that game, but I know cross-crease goals were extremely prevalent then.
Thanks for the continued, constructive feedback. It's most definitely appreciated.
- kKOV272 years agoSeasoned Veteran
I found that this year they listen to us and they move things a lot more compare of last year, And they don't have scare to make them move, I was the guy who were complaining about ea a lot.. and this year i found the ea team are a lot more closer to their community! A lot of work to do again into the game but i think we are on the good way.
- 2 years ago@kKOV27
It does seem to be a little more flexible in at least hearing feedback.
I'm having trouble understanding why a lot of decisions are being made and how they are relevant to the experience, but I feel a sense of receptiveness or I simply wouldn't have bothered posting.
@EA_Aljo it is appreciated. I understand what you have to deal with on a regular basis as the community representative. I am trying to be constructive so please don't take anything personal if we disagree.- kKOV272 years agoSeasoned Veteran
ok yes you want to know and understand the line that they follow? why its a yes or a no? yes i can understand you.
- 2 years ago@EA_Aljo As someone who is involved around the EA NHL community via Twitter, Twitch, and Discord the majority of the players complaining about the Sim Modes were the ones who couldn't cheese the game, going for the same simple plays. They got frustrated because they couldn't find exploitable ways to score and had to make plays.
Now all you have to do because those types of people whined you can literally split the D-man even when controlled by circling lower boards then shoot far side blocker and it goes in because goalies are terrible from further away shots then close quarters.
I play this game frequently and this tactic has become the new META.- 2 years agoWould ofc be intresting if Mr Mike also took the opportunity to give his opinion on this occasion.
But perhaps EA Aljo speak for the whole hockey team at EA.
And if Mike already been spoken about this subject and the future direction, please feel free to put out a link. - 2 years ago@BIGRlTCHY
That's all part of the issues which are affecting the direction of the franchise.
The majority of players simply don't know any better. They want maximum reward for minimum effort. If they are spoon fed rewards they will never learn to earn them. This is catering to the lowest common denominator.
That's a viable strategy for a one-off casual game, but it's more often detrimental to a long-standing franchise if it wants to be taken seriously.
The best franchises don't dumb down the experience to increase appeal, they maintain standards and provide an experience that people want to succeed at.- KlariskraysNHL2 years agoHero@RicochetII NHL been around forever so obviously they don't need. I'd say out of all the sports games only MLB isn't dumbed down. Just gotta accept how EA makes their sports games. Even NBA 2K isn't anything special gameplay wise.
- 2 years ago@EA_Aljo
"Pokes going back to the carrier has been mentioned many times as well. I'm on the fence with that one though. Normally, when that happens, it's because the carrier has better positioning and is traveling in the direction of the puck. The defender didn't make good enough contact to send the puck out of reach. "
Reality is that it doesn't take much to knock a puck out of a player's control when they are carrying. Sometimes they can quickly regain control, but more often they will overskate it before they can do so, unless they stop.
In the game, reacting to the puck being successfully poked is not required. You can simply continue skating at full speed and the game will usually put the puck back on your stick.
You can successfully poke the puck multiple times and the player will not lose control of it for more than a split second each time.
If a pokecheck fails to make contact with the puck, the defender can get burned. If a pokecheck does make contact ... the defender still gets burned. There has to be a responsibility on the puck carrier to either avoid the pokecheck or actively regain control.
Perhaps the faster you are skating, the less chance you have of maintaining control.
You can counter a pokecheck with puck protection by widening your stance, going into a glide, and positioning your body between the defender and the puck.
You can regain control if you slow down and use stickwork or change your route depending on where the puck is going from a poke. A successful poke where the puck goes to the boards/corner still give the carrier an advantage in regaining possession since they are already at speed in the right direction, it just prevents the more immediate direct rush at the goal.
It doesn't feel like any thought has been put into these things from a hockey standpoint. It's just add a pokecheck with an 75% rate of effectiveness, then tune it down to 25% in the face of complaints instead of explaining that this is how pokechecks realistically work and it is up to you as an attacking player to avoid them, use the dump, protect the puck, use passing to avoid active sticks, etc. - EA_Aljo2 years ago
Community Manager
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@MikeyAU630 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:
Hey there, @RicochetII
Again, this is a video game. Hits might be over the top at times. There are also times they are very realistic. Regardless, the point of the game is to have fun. Yes, there are some purists that want the game to be a 1:1 recreation of the real sport, but from what I've seen, the more real the game gets, the less it's liked. There need to be player attributes for example that add assistance to shooting, passing, hitting, etc. When we made a change to this a few years back, it made the community pretty upset because it became harder to score and accurately pass. We also frequently get comments saying NHL 14 played better. Which is far more of an arcade style game than NHL 24 as the physics are more realistic than they were 10 years ago yet some that claim they want a full sim game would rather have one that was less sim than what we have now.
I'm in agreement with hipchecks and Lacrosse moves. I'd rather those return to the way they were. Thankfully, the Lacrosse goal is pretty uncommon and the move is easy to defend to begin with.
@EA_Aljo I think you are missing the point when we say NHL 14 played better. Yes, the physics are more realistic now, but the tuning and thus gameplay is far less realistic. Back in the NHL 14 days, both offense and defense had to be played fairly realistically to be successful. On offense you had to move the puck around to find the good shooting spots to be successful. On defense, solid positioning, taking away the passing and shooting lanes was rewarded. Nowadays, you have to play the "meta" to be successful, and it hardly resembles hockey. The game speed is way, way too high. Offense is way overpowered compared to defense. Shot accuracy and power are far too high, and forwards who lose the puck instantly regain control nine times out of ten. On defense, you're penalized far too highly for an ever so slightly mistimed poke (huge loss of speed) or ever so slightly misaimed hit (artificially pulled way out of position), and playing well positionally is penalized by the Pressure Meter and the lack of interceptions. It's become all cross-creases and "glitch goals"... it wasn't that way in NHL 14 days.
Edit: Forgot to mention: In NHL 23, the HUT Rush "Sim mode" that was introduced later in the year fixed many of the issues I describe. The game played far more realistically and most people loved it. Why didn't that become the normal tuning this year? The game would be far better and more "sim" if it had.
I also really enjoyed the sim mode in HUT. It would have been nice to see that become the regular tuning. It also made a lot of people unhappy though. So, that's the thing, we have a very diverse audience of players. While there are many of us that want a more realistic game, that's not going to make everyone happy.
I know the team is aware of the feedback you're providing. Changes could be made in the future. The lack of interceptions has been a big one for sure. Pokes going back to the carrier has been mentioned many times as well. I'm on the fence with that one though. Normally, when that happens, it's because the carrier has better positioning and is traveling in the direction of the puck. The defender didn't make good enough contact to send the puck out of reach. Poke checking is my primary for of defense. I use the defensive skill stick a lot as well because I have a lot of success with sweeping the puck away. I'm not saying there are no issues though either. It would be good to make pokes work more consistently. I also hate the slow down from poking. That's very frustrating.
If I recall right, the biggest complaint about 14 was cross-crease goals. That was the go to way to score and you spent all game defending it. Passes still got through, but I really can't remember if it was any better/worse than we have now. It's been almost 10 years since I played that game, but I know cross-crease goals were extremely prevalent then.
Thanks for the continued, constructive feedback. It's most definitely appreciated.
We'll just have to see what happens with interference. I don't have any details as it's being looked in to still. It's really not as simple to address as it may seem.
Pokes are a different issue of course. Having them go back to the carrier has been a contact area of feedback for a few years. When I play, the majority of my pokes are separating the puck from the carrier and at at least breaking up the play, if not being turned over. Of course there are those times I get a couple pokes on them and they pick it up each time. Those are for sure frustrating. I also don't think it's completely outside the realm of reality to have the carrier regain control. There are players with exceptional puck handling skills. I get how in a video game though, you hit a button, see the poke connect and then expect it to cause a turnover, but instead you get scored on from the carrier picking it up again. Especially, when this goes against someone, their going to be frustrated and probably complain about it. They don't complain when this is in their favor also. This is why I'm always asking for video. We need to see just what is happening. It's also good to know how often it happens in relation to the successful pokes.
Thanks for all the constructive feedback on this.
About NHL 24 General Discussion
Recent Discussions
- 2 days ago
- 2 days ago