My Thoughts On NHL 24 reveal and What Changes Could Be Made In The Future.
Starting this early. So far the reveal trailer looks more focused on gameplay which I think needed some major overhaul and so far it looks interesting. The fatigue factor is very intriguing as I'm curious to see how effective this will be on human goalies, especially those who are good at carrying their team when lack of defense is abrupt.
The new changes that were readded such as glass/sticks breaking and hits over boards is awesome to see. Mike and Kris seem to moving things in the right direction. My only concern is will the offline modes see any further changes such as BAP which has essentially been the same for 3 years straight with no preference to play a full junior career like previous years prior to 21 where you could grind your way a junior player to the NHL draft. Along don't do well in pre-season and play in the AHL to season up. Also the option to turn off cinematics/cutscenes is needed wholeheartedly because it is painful to get through a game when interrupted. This was a major reason Live The Life flopped and got switched back to BAP.
Next is the online casual community. which after watching the trailer looks very much the same as it did since NHL 21. Most concern is with the 6's drop-in part since the population isn't as big as used to be since OTP/Community lobbies were removed. Many of these members have given up on the franchise which includes majority of my friends. Back then they had families and jobs but this was essential for them to get quick games.
I find now with the current matchmaking for casual mode it becomes very difficult to find a quick game. I myself have found using discords or signing up for banana leagues just doesn't work either. I tried playing with my club but we have lives outside of this game so getting everyone on at the same time is unrealistic. This is what drove me to play more HUT since the time to play current EASHL just isn't there for a person who has a busy lifestyle. I think EA would benefit and have a bigger r population in EASHL if they returned lobbies since that was always full from morning to night. I get the text chat was unwanted and lobby trolling was a thing but there are ways to think outside the box and problem solve to make it work.
Hoping for the best with NHL 24 as it could be my last unless some big changes have happened.
