NHL Team
Community Manager
@thebrazenhead75 wrote:
@EA_Aljo wrote:
What's your point? We get requests for features to return very frequently. Which often, doesn't happen. This time it did though. Seems like a win for the community as it's been requested since launch.
I meant what was the point of EA changing it the first time?!
It wasn’t a problem before and the community liked it so EA thinks they know best and changes it. Then the community says they want it back so EA changes it back. That’s the problem a lot of the community has with EA. They “fix” things that aren’t “broken” all the time instead of fixing the things that actually are broken.
The new control system is another example. Nothing that wrong with the old one besides maybe a couple of adjustments that were needed. But let’s make it all about accessibility. I rather have something that is harder to do but is more rewarding than something that is easy to do yet unfulfilling.Obviously it’s a video game but imagine if in the real NHL every player had the same abilities to do all the same skills, dekes and whatever else? That would make it a very unrealistic and unsatisfying league IMO.
I don't know if it was a bug or if it was intended. If it was intended, why not try it out? We've had a lot of comments over the years that the game is just a copy and paste with updated rosters. Then again, we also hear how NHL 14 was perfect and we should just release that again and update those rosters. The sport of hockey is largely unchanged over the last 20 years. Yet, we're expected to either rehash a game from 10 years ago or recreate it and make it feel like a brand new game every year. Both of those scenarios are unrealistic. What is realistic is changing things up. That can mean removing features, modifying existing ones or adding new ones. Changing mechanics, updating modes, updating graphics and audio, etc. Yeah, it isn't always well received. We have to take some chances though.
Accessibility is huge. We need to make a game that appeals to as large an audience as possible. You want the game to grow? Making it more accessible and drawing in a bigger playerbase is going to do that. Look at Madden and FC. Those have a huge, worldwide following. Hockey has a worldwide following as well. On a far smaller scale though. If you want the truly brand new game that represents a 100+ year old sport that sees little change year to year, it's got to grow. Limiting ourselves to the hardcore, sim, veteran crowd is not the way to do that. I've made it well known that I'm not a fan of the changes to controls. However, I'm glad we also made the game more accessible and drawn in players that otherwise wouldn't have been there. We all adapted when the skill stick controls were introduced. We can all adapt to the new controls. And if those new controls are unfulfilling, use the old ones. It's not like you're forced to use Total Control. Yes, Skill Stick had it's own changes, but it's also harder to use so maybe they would be more fulfilling for you.
The online community that asks for a sim game doesn't realize there's a bigger audience out there. If we only made a game that catered to that community, you'd see far less change year to year as the much lower sales wouldn't allow us to make the changes we do each year. Most likely, we'd be limited to fixing bugs and updating rosters. And if that's all you want, then I go back to my statement of the demands for a new game are more the demands for a rerelease of NHL 14. Today's casual, one button Michigans are tomorrows hardcore players. We all started with easy controls on a casual level and look where we all ended up? Some turned that passion into a career as an influencer. Some became world champs. In my case it put me here every day talking to you all. A lot of the people that make this game are here because they started playing it when they were kids. These forums are full of people that were once casual fans that have grown far beyond that.
I get this years game isn't exactly everyone's bag of pucks. There were a lot of big changes. We've had a huge amount of feedback from you all and that is going to help shape the future of this game. We'll keep trying to find ways to keep you all having fun regardless of being a grizzled veteran or someone stepping onto the ice for the first time.
@thebrazenhead75 wrote:
Keep that easy stuff to offline modes. For online modes that are competitive, maybe make new users pass some basic tests to be able to play. It would only help them rather than them drop into a game and embarrass themselves. Easy one touch dekes etc aren’t going to help them with that.
Drop-in games are where you're meant to learn those skills. That's where a huge amount of us learned how to play going back to NHL 09 with the first year of EASHL. It takes a lot more than mastering one touch dekes to be good at this game.
I think the thing with people complaining about each release being a glorified roster update is that it's a self-inflicted wound. Nobody's forcing EA/NHL's hand to release a game every year that they can't make fresh and new. Those two corporations do that because it's an avenue to make more money every year. Kinda like how back in the day you'd get a new Saw movie every Halloween. Was the new sequel warranted? No, but it made money, so we got it.
Really, I think sports games should just be live service games. It makes way more sense than a yearly release imo. But, I'm sure there's profit considerations that would need to be made to do that.
I think a lot of frustration comes not from EA not making any changes to the game, because they do. Rather, I think it's that seemingly a lot of time gets allocated towards secondary, trivial, window dressings instead of important, game-changing issues. Like, I can only hope that maybe next game, goalies will be able to cover pucks that are sitting right next to the outside of the post, though I won't hold my breath. However, I sure as hell know that we'll get some idiotic cartoonish animated skates, or some fancy new glow-in-the-dark warewolf costume that nobody will ever use.
Idk, I'm sure the dev team works hard and is trying to make a good game. But, just as a fan, I feel like so many important issues just don't ever get addressed while nonsense that doesn't matter gets priority.
As far as the sim/arcade issue goes, I feel that's very easily resolved. Just make EASHL be a more hardcore, realistic, slower paced sim mode for the competitive 3s/6s communities, and have a second mode that's fast paced action with all the cartoonish abilities and perks, gigantic hits with guys flying through the glass and into the parking lot, etc. I think trying to blend the two is where you run into issues and leaving every unsatisfied.
@SummerOfDekes wrote:Really, I think sports games should just be live service games. It makes way more sense than a yearly release imo.
Ding ding ding! This is something I've agreed with forever. I would love it if NHL's model was something closer to Rocket League with just one version across years and platforms. Some benefits:
Look, I already know that I am just day dreaming. Monetization is the conundrum here and if EA is already getting a large chunk of the fanbase to buy the game annually and for HUT players to buy new cards annually, there is no business incentive to switch to live service. Still would be nice though.
Sports games are much harder to go as a live service because of the Sport Licenses and the fact they would need to remove players here or there when they expire. So it greatly would affect things like HUT and offline modes. People's saved files would end up getting corrupted because players would be removed from games each year for offline play. And if it did become a live service I would think it would be a subscription model And that could be a slippery slope.
They aren't going to make 2 different EASHL type modes. They aren't about to split the community up even more. I mean look they combined Drop-Ins to essentially be EASHL because of complaints of no one finding games. So they addressed that. Even traits are linear among all the modes.
I'm fully expecting NHL 25 to either give us an online franchise mode or they gonna give some life back to HUT with changes. Of course there will be gameplay changes too but I'm not expecting anything special to World of Chel.
@KlariskraysNHL wrote:Sports games are much harder to go as a live service because of the Sport Licenses and the fact they would need to remove players here or there when they expire. So it greatly would affect things like HUT and offline modes. People's saved files would end up getting corrupted because players would be removed from games each year for offline play. And if it did become a live service I would think it would be a subscription model And that could be a slippery slope.
They aren't going to make 2 different EASHL type modes. They aren't about to split the community up even more. I mean look they combined Drop-Ins to essentially be EASHL because of complaints of no one finding games. So they addressed that. Even traits are linear among all the modes.
I'm fully expecting NHL 25 to either give us an online franchise mode or they gonna give some life back to HUT with changes. Of course there will be gameplay changes too but I'm not expecting anything special to World of Chel.
I'm not talking about two different EASHLs, I'm talking about a mode separate from EASHL. Some of the older games had the kind of mode I'm talking about, but I forget what it was called. It was a 6s online mode, tho. You could have EASHL be the gritty sim mode and have the other mode be the cartoony superhero hockey mode.
Or, they could just leave the game be and continue to lose players. Tbh, I don't necessarily care too much as I myself barely play this game anymore because of how poor it is.
@KlariskraysNHLI think it's possible. You just need to remove the offline component of the game completely. Realistically, I know it has been mentioned that down the road they will look at offline modes, but it doesn't make sense seeing the focus is solely on what they can sell (hence the cards, season pass, operators and fortnite type store for your player) You can build a model around selling a season pass and then have an ultimate pass for stuff like online franchise give you access to a server for you and your friends. You wouldn't need much else from the offline side of it.
Is it good... No... but with how the direction has been to make it more of an online/fast paced experience, goofy over the top celebrations and making it overall more flashy, to catering to the average player. I can't see it really going any other way.
Btw these thoughts are coming from a solely offline player (franchise and once be a pro) going back to NHL 94.
@SummerOfDekes wrote:
@KlariskraysNHL wrote:Sports games are much harder to go as a live service because of the Sport Licenses and the fact they would need to remove players here or there when they expire. So it greatly would affect things like HUT and offline modes. People's saved files would end up getting corrupted because players would be removed from games each year for offline play. And if it did become a live service I would think it would be a subscription model And that could be a slippery slope.
They aren't going to make 2 different EASHL type modes. They aren't about to split the community up even more. I mean look they combined Drop-Ins to essentially be EASHL because of complaints of no one finding games. So they addressed that. Even traits are linear among all the modes.
I'm fully expecting NHL 25 to either give us an online franchise mode or they gonna give some life back to HUT with changes. Of course there will be gameplay changes too but I'm not expecting anything special to World of Chel.
I'm not talking about two different EASHLs, I'm talking about a mode separate from EASHL. Some of the older games had the kind of mode I'm talking about, but I forget what it was called. It was a 6s online mode, tho. You could have EASHL be the gritty sim mode and have the other mode be the cartoony superhero hockey mode.
Or, they could just leave the game be and continue to lose players. Tbh, I don't necessarily care too much as I myself barely play this game anymore because of how poor it is.
You're talking about OTP (online team play), you play 6s with NHL players instead of your created player in club. OTP is also where they gave in and let us try out full collision physics for a week back in the day.
