Community Manager
@DoctorDeuce39 wrote:Man, you hit the nail on the head. Yearly releases don’t make sense and haven’t for years. They made sense back with actual discs to update rosters and players year to year. Today, that’s a simple 2GB update or patch every calendar year (or more frequently with trades and the draft).
The framework, player builds, and customization are 90% identical each year, with 10% in new (usually bad) concepts. EA needs to stop peddling half-baked games year in and year out and ride one out for 3-4 years with roster and gameplay updates periodically.
I’m a numbers guys, so I dug into the EA NHL ratings on the Microsoft store since 2017 (when you could make the case the “copy and paste” concept at EA really started being the norm). It’s comical.
2017: 3.1 stars (actually decent)
2018: 2.3 stars
2019: 2.1 stars
2020: 2.1 stars
2021: N/A on the MS store
2022: N/A on the MS store
2023: 1.9 stars
2024: 1.6 stars (actually awful)
People give bad ratings to a game when they lose a sweaty HUT battle and take a few L's in a row. How have you accounted for these salty reviews? And don't say they don't happen, because they do.
Is it just pure coincidence that user-ratings decline as competitive modes such as HUT become more popular?
I agree with @KidShowtime1867. Skill issue for sure.
I’m sure some people are simply outplayed and, in turn, write a bad review.
But, aside from the NFL Blitz-like hits that this new game offers, you can’t pretend that the defensive toolset is anywhere close to the offensive toolset.
The puck handler has an arsenal of dekes, simplest of which are most effective (i.e. backhand, forehand, toe drags, quick deke, protect puck).
The only things a defender can do (again, aside from smashing hits) is sweep their stick around with one hand (which inexplicably slows their speed down after starting with a lunging poke that you may not even want) and stick lifting which cannot be aimed and is simply assisted to fly uncontrollably towards the puck handler.
Why can’t the defense have a Skill Stick that actually puts the user in control of the players stick positioning with two hands without needing to be a sweep and without slowing the player down? This seems like a reasonable ask.
Instead of giving defense such tools, however, EA gives us the ability to hit big, which is OK except for the fact that the hitter is never effected by the collision like in real hockey. And honestly many of the hitting mechanics are just not physically realistic. Mike Inglehart was on the team of NHL Hitz, Mario Strikers, and Punch-Out, so this really is no surprise. Unfortunately, I think a big part of the community is looking for a more realistic version of a hockey game than Hitz/Blitz/Strikers.
Big Hits Should Impact Hitter Too (Sometimes)
REAL Total Control (Not Arcade)
https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-News/REAL-Total-Control-Not-Arcade/m-p/13161058#M7851
Is Mike Inglehart at Risk of Taking the EA NHL Franchise in the Wrong Direction?
@couture2fat2fly wrote:
@KidShowtime1867Ratings are declining because everyone who plays eashl thinks the game is trash and most other players as well. You keep beating that drum about how it's user error and not broken defensive mechanics despite all the video evidence and literally everyone agreeing but you is a meme at this point.
I don't equate people on this forum "agreeing" with the posts about broken mechanics with that actually being the case. Many people will 'agree' with a clip showing "broken" mechanics because it fits their belief that everything is broken or they don't understand why things are playing out the way they do. Doesn't mean it's right.
I've shown countless clips proving there's a skill issue in most cases. Those are ignored because I'm a 'shill', etc. I'll keep going because I don't want this game to be dumbed down due to some people who can't grasp the nuance that the developers intend. Again, not saying the game is perfect (although I'm accused of saying that daily) and I'm not saying everyone who posts a clip is wrong. In fact, there've been some awesome clips posted that have resulted in things being fixed. That's fantastic.
But there's a lot of 'oh man this game sucks look at this clip' only to see someone out of position, chasing the puck carrier, mashing poke check, etc.
@LuGer33x wrote:I agree with @KidShowtime1867. Skill issue for sure.
aw man, I miss seeing this name around these parts!
@KidShowtime1867 wrote:
@couture2fat2fly wrote:
@KidShowtime1867Ratings are declining because everyone who plays eashl thinks the game is trash and most other players as well. You keep beating that drum about how it's user error and not broken defensive mechanics despite all the video evidence and literally everyone agreeing but you is a meme at this point.I don't equate people on this forum "agreeing" with the posts about broken mechanics with that actually being the case. Many people will 'agree' with a clip showing "broken" mechanics because it fits their belief that everything is broken or they don't understand why things are playing out the way they do. Doesn't mean it's right.
I've shown countless clips proving there's a skill issue in most cases. Those are ignored because I'm a 'shill', etc. I'll keep going because I don't want this game to be dumbed down due to some people who can't grasp the nuance that the developers intend. Again, not saying the game is perfect (although I'm accused of saying that daily) and I'm not saying everyone who posts a clip is wrong. In fact, there've been some awesome clips posted that have resulted in things being fixed. That's fantastic.
But there's a lot of 'oh man this game sucks look at this clip' only to see someone out of position, chasing the puck carrier, mashing poke check, etc.
@LuGer33x wrote:I agree with @KidShowtime1867. Skill issue for sure.
aw man, I miss seeing this name around these parts!
Not saying you are right or wrong, but you DO realize how it sounds when you summarily dismiss collective agreement on others clips while simultaneously touting your own clips as "proof", even when you have no corroboration....?
Also, why are you OK with offense being dumbed down, while defense and goalie are even harder to play?
@IceLion68 wrote:Not saying you are right or wrong, but you DO realize how it sounds when you summarily dismiss collective agreement on others clips while simultaneously touting your own clips as "proof", even when you have no corroboration....?
I'm not dismissing collective agreement on all clips. As I've stated many many times before - there are clips here of things playing out that need fixing. However, there are clips posted with claims that something is 'broken' - pages of 'agreement', tons of XP being handed out only to find that there's a GLARING skill issue. Again, I am not saying that this happens every time. But it does happen often.
@IceLion68 wrote:Also, why are you OK with offense being dumbed down, while defense and goalie are even harder to play?
How is defence being made harder to play? We've been given some decent new body checking tools (being able to control whether I make a BIG hit or a shove is a huge deal, although someone has rightly pointed out that the 'shove' is currently being abused in front of the net). The skill stick is still an essential tool that I don't see utilized very often on defense. Knocking the puck loose is much easier this year and if you have good body positioning you can easily strip the puck from a less-than-skilled puck carrier.
Goalie is always a difficult position to play but If goalie was such a broken position, you wouldn't have people dominating there. Everything would be a gamble and that's just simply not the case. I know people who play goalie in 6's exclusively who can dominate a game with their patience and positioning but can still make mistakes (and are willing to admit to them) and learn.
I wouldn't say I necessarily agree with "offense being dumbed down". I've always encouraged EA take a Golf-Club-Swing style approach to shooting (where movement on the right stick directly impacts the accuracy and power of the shot while factoring in attributes) which would force offensive players to be more careful when shooting. Controversial as this may sound, I welcomed the changes to dekes being mapped to buttons. As someone who spent time mastering the Michigan in previous years, I'm actually happy that it's more accessible to more people. Sounds like EA is going to patch it so that there's a higher requirement of attributes to pull it off, and that's progress! Being able to decide whether to pass or shoot from the deke animations is also huge. Using these animations to fake players out (hold X for the Datsyuk and press LB to cancel it for a sick move) or shoot or pass.. this is actually amazing and opens the door for a lot of creativity.
As it stands now, aside from bugs/glitches where a puck finds an impossible route to the net - there's still responsibility on the puck carrier to get to an open spot with time and space to score. That's hard to do against someone who is VERY skilled at defending. EA hasn't removed that requirement (except for HUT where attributes are wildly affecting shot success rate and an absurd level)
Dumbed down? Like the Addition of Total controls?
Year after Year you defend EA . This is probably the worst game since 15 if not the worst game they've ever made. Theyve made changes to the game that were never needed. Theyve Added stuff that either didnt need to be added or doesnt work properly. There have been issues for years that have been ignored yet they have had the time to add. Most people would work on one thing till its right. EA tends to work on one thing till its kind of sorta complete and then they move on the next thing. I get EA has to "Add" to make people want to buy it . But for most players who've been playing this game for years if they came out and cosmetically this game will look better and we went out and fixed the Problems that have plagued this game for years. I think youd get alot of happy people.
