NHL 24 Gameplay Tuner Updates - May 23rd, 2024 A new gameplay tuner will be released tomorrow at 1 PM ET. Here are the details: Community Feedback: The current accelerated clock in the last minute of the game and OT reduces some fun, climactic finishes to the game. Updated the final 60 seconds of the 3rd Period and OT to be 60 real-time seconds. Developer Feedback: We want to continue to create more incentives to use underutilized X-Factors and allow players to develop new strategies: Shnipe - Increased Shnipe Zone/Superstar bonus to shot power on settled wrist shots by 50%. Off Rush Slapshots - Increased Off the Rush Zone/Superstar bonus to shot power for in-stride slap shots by 50% Crease Crasher - Increased Crease Crasher Zone/Superstar bonus to shot power on rebound shots by 150%. Total Eclipse - Increased Total Eclipse Zone/Superstar impact to goalie screens by 20%. No Contest - Increased No Contest Zone/Superstar bonus to 50/50 puck battles by 10%.

I can appreciate the concise post but I think it'd be really cool if you guys could disclose what the multipliers actually sit at post-update, rather than just how they've shifted. I'd like to be able to compare the Close Quarters and Make it Snappy multipliers to that of Crease Crasher to see if it's worthwhile, you know? Just trying Crease Crasher for even 5 games isn't likely to demonstrate anything as clearly as the numbers would. Either way, adjustments on abilities at this time of year is a good approach. I just think that there's a good amount of information that should be better communicated. Having the ability multipliers discoverable in-game would especially be better than "Greatly increases" or whatever the descriptions are right now. I would like to add that this would have probably clarified that the update to Truculence was not worth panicking over, as so many did. If we have numbers for Crease Crasher, you'll get less people saying "yeah, I don't know if it really does anything" and the dreaded "Impossible to quantify." I think that's a very effective way of building "incentive" to try them as is your goal

@TTZ_Dipsy wrote:I want the AI to play positionally perfect too. I need them to stop dumping the puck on a powerplay. I crave for them to stop waiting for me to cross the blue line before passing.These frustrate me to no end as well. I play EASHL 5s, though our LD only plays occasionally, so often time we have an AI defender. I try to be realistic, its going to be impossible for them to make AI that--while using the same ruleset as a human player--can read the play as effectively. However, there are definitely some mind bogglingly bad habits that should have been smoothed out of the game ages ago. Some go back a few years:Waiting to headman/breakout pass a puck, even with a wide open lane, until its too late. You know they were targeting you as they will eventually throw it, but by then you are either offside, been covered, or full stopped as they sat there holding it.Flipping or dumping the puck without any contextual awareness. Maybe you are down by 1 late in the game and desperately need puck possession. Lord help you if you are on the PK and the compy gets it. Always throws it down the ice, even if you frantically call for the pass.Bum rushes toward their own goalie with or without the puck that often result in own goals. Not AI specific as it happens with humans too (a slap the puck out of the crease mechanic would help), but at least humans can adapt how they approach.The complete lack of interest in playing defense on some (not all or even most) rushes. Will just back up slowly and stand there. No attempt to angle off. No attempt to hit or poke,And most frustrating, the AI's propensity to leave the LD spot and zip over to within a foot of our RD. We've tried it with all different strategies set and its not a result of him trying to cover for one of us out of position. The RD is there already, the forwards are deep and attempting to stay away from the LD. He should be generally at left point, not glued to our RD.

@KidShowtime1867 wrote:@llamaverox wrote:When trying to defend passing lanes, pucks going right through players, as offense has 100% puck pickup on passes but defense is completely out to dry on it.You can absolutely be in a passing lane and guarantee 100% interception if you properly position your player in order to do so. If you can't, then you engage the intended recipient. Defence 101. Let's not exaggerate. You can absolutely be in good position to pick off a pass and prevent the offensive player from getting a shot off and still get screwed by the game mechanics.This happened just the other night. Defensive player facing the incoming pass, in a glide and in body position such that the offensive player should have no way to get their stick on the puck. Instead of picking off the pass or at least disrupting it with his stick the game chooses to use a kick animation which fails. Then the offensive player quite literally phases his stick through both the defender's feet/legs to get a shot off. The icing on the cake is the goalie failing to make the save because he's trying to stop a completely different shot.And no, I don't think the correct play here is for the defender to turn his back to the play and try to shove the offensive player.

There has never been a sim hockey game, every year the game is arcadey. It's even more arcadey now than it has ever been. People want simulation style games. They want to replicate the sport they see on TV and the assertion that they don't is why this game gets disliked. If you have a passionate fan base word of mouth sells your game as we bring people into it. Making an arcade game and hoping people like it doesn't do that. It's just not correct in what brings people into video games I'm sorry. The highest selling games are hardcore that brings in casuals because the fanbase is rabid. You can see it with every game that gets big. They have arcade visuals with hardcore systems of gameplay.In sports games you cite Madden and FC and for years they have gotten bad community reviews yet they still sell because the sports are popular not because the games are great. You literally own the rights to football it's the only football game people can play. Madden sells because of that. NHL is the same way. You are the only hockey game on the market. You get sales because of that. Not because your gameplay is amazing.

@KidShowtime1867 The community not initially understanding something isn't a reason not to do it. It just means that there needs to be more of an effort to educate players on why things happen they way they do. Doing this in a clear and constructive fashion goes a long way. Nobody's born with the knowledge of how stick interactions work in EA NHL video games. The fact that you and I and many others understand the current mechanics is proof that people can learn.There's always going to be a sub-set of players who either are incapable or unwilling to understand explanations of gameplay mechanics, but I don't think EA's strategy moving forward needs to be based around them.

NHL 24 Gameplay Tuner Updates - May 23rd, 2024

115 Replies

TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
I personally think the bigger issue is just how easy it is to offensively give and receive passes but yes, losing momentum upon collision would make things interesting - Of course that would force an obscene amount of new animations, tracking, and saves to be created to the point it's unfortunately not entirely worth it. Without them I see the goalie becoming even more of a floppy chicken out there.
TTZ_Dipsy
Hero+
2 years ago
The problem with these new builds is the feeling of choice. Yes, of course it was just the illusion of choice back in '14 with "fully" customizable builds, but you actually felt like you could fine tun to your exact specifications; these new ones are much more restricted: Perfect for the 5v5 and 6v6 crowd, but definitely not balanced (or at least fun) for other modes like 3v3.

You've completely forgotten about Ones, Eliminator has an extremely clear meta akin to the old 3on3 Arcade game just without goalie hitting, and Pro-AM really doesn't matter.

It's so strange to me that even after using boosters, some builds still can't even get maxed out stats that actually play into their unique traits/strengths.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
2 years ago
@PlayoffError wrote:
@TTZ_Dipsy The obvious solution to me would to have the offensive player's stick either bounce off or just stop when it makes contact with the defender's leg. Just don't allow shot animations to phase through players.

I'm sure we could base whether or not a trip is caused on the offending player's discipline as well as the overall force of the attempted shot. Regardless, it seems like it would interrupt the flow of the game too much as I could see this happening very frequently. Unfortunately, without more precise control of the stick, we're going to need the stick to pass through bodies and objects at times. This has definitely gotten better over the years. It's just still not at a point where we can have full contact without causing more frustration than fun.
MarvnZindler
New Ace
2 years ago
I think the thing about the sim vs arcade thing is that, at the end of the day, this is still a video game, and so it's not going to be 100% representative of real-life hockey. The goal would be trying to find a balance where the game is still fun and flows very well while also not being cartoonish.
Currently, I think the game looks and feels like the end fight of Captain America: Civil War. Games look like 10 superheroes are flying around with their X-Factor powers. I'm mildly surprised there isn't a giant blue laser beam shining down at center ice.
I'd like to see more diversity in the builds used in the game. Currently, the meta is to use a puck-moving defenseman at around 6'/160 lbs. with gold elite edges and some combination of close quarters/tape to tape/one tee. Most competitive 6s/3s players use some variation of that kind of build, and it's understandable because there's really no reason to use any other kind of build. 6s/3s is all about maxing out your speed and bee-lining until you're in range for close quarters to activate, or forcing a pass. It's incredibly dull.
KlariskraysNHL
Hero+
2 years ago
@SummerOfDekes There will always be metas and plays will always be the same once people figure them out. I remember when people were so excited that LT-ing was finally addressed and thought these top players would stop being great but in the esports it's like the same names who adapted to changes. People will find what works each year and yes they will stick to what works because winning is the goal of the game.

Until Elite Edges gets reworked, changed, and/or nerfed heavily it will probably always be the meta to use because movement is the most important thing in the game.
PlayoffError
Hero
2 years ago
@EA_Aljo wrote:
@PlayoffError wrote:
@TTZ_DipsyThe obvious solution to me would to have the offensive player's stick either bounce off or just stop when it makes contact with the defender's leg. Just don't allow shot animations to phase through players.
I'm sure we could base whether or not a trip is caused on the offending player's discipline as well as the overall force of the attempted shot. Regardless, it seems like it would interrupt the flow of the game too much as I could see this happening very frequently. Unfortunately, without more precise control of the stick, we're going to need the stick to pass through bodies and objects at times. This has definitely gotten better over the years. It's just still not at a point where we can have full contact without causing more frustration than fun.
I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I don't see where tripping comes into it. I'm not advocating for sticks never passing through bodies and objects, it's definitely a necessary evil. But in this case I don't see how gameplay would become more frustrating if a shot animation that causes the shooters stick to pass through a defender's body would result in the shooter not interacting with the puck.
In an ideal world I'd prefer that the shot animation would be interrupted and the stick just stop when it comes into contact with defender's body. This would both stop the shot and prevent the shooter from picking up the puck immediately after the shot animation finishes once their stick is in a position it should never get to in the first place.
That's not likely to be feasible any time soon. My second option would be to allow the shot animation to play out as it does now, but to not allow the stick to make any contact with the puck on the other side. This would at least not allow 'impossible' shots to occur.
In general I'd just like to see more consistency. If I'm skating without the puck my stick will regularly interact with other players as if they're both physical objects. This is good IMO. I've posted and seen other people post videos of defensive plays that don't quite look right and often the answer is that their stick touched another player's stick or body which prevented them from interacting with the puck. A bit frustrating, but it's consistent so it at least can be understood.
But on offence shot animations can phase through bodies and still get the shot off and players with the puck can just move their stick through defenders at will. The slight loss of possession they get is so short that it effectively doesn't matter in far too many cases. I've advocated before that the time between when a player with the puck's stick passes through a defensive player and when they can interact with the puck again needs to be lengthened somewhat. It's just too short right now IMO.
KidShowtime1867
Hero
2 years ago
@PlayoffError wrote:My second option would be to allow the shot animation to play out as it does now, but to not allow the stick to make any contact with the puck on the other side. This would at least not allow 'impossible' shots to occur.
People would be here raging with their zoomed-in instant replay clips of shot animations not connecting with pucks, with no understanding of the underlying logic in why that happens. We see this regularly now with the liberties taken with phasing in terms of stick effectiveness.
@PlayoffError wrote:
I've posted and seen other people post videos of defensive plays that don't quite look right and often the answer is that their stick touched another player's stick or body which prevented them from interacting with the puck. A bit frustrating, but it's consistent so it at least can be understood.
But it's not understood. Many people here see these scenarios play out and insist EA is out to screw them, despite being given an explanation as to why these things happen in today's game.
@PlayoffError wrote:
But on offence shot animations can phase through bodies and still get the shot off and players with the puck can just move their stick through defenders at will. The slight loss of possession they get is so short that it effectively doesn't matter in far too many cases. I've advocated before that the time between when a player with the puck's stick passes through a defensive player and when they can interact with the puck again needs to be lengthened somewhat. It's just too short right now IMO.
This I agree with.
PlayoffError
Hero
2 years ago
@KidShowtime1867 The community not initially understanding something isn't a reason not to do it. It just means that there needs to be more of an effort to educate players on why things happen they way they do. Doing this in a clear and constructive fashion goes a long way. Nobody's born with the knowledge of how stick interactions work in EA NHL video games. The fact that you and I and many others understand the current mechanics is proof that people can learn.

There's always going to be a sub-set of players who either are incapable or unwilling to understand explanations of gameplay mechanics, but I don't think EA's strategy moving forward needs to be based around them.
KidShowtime1867
Hero
2 years ago
@PlayoffError wrote:
@KidShowtime1867The community not initially understanding something isn't a reason not to do it. It just means that there needs to be more of an effort to educate players on why things happen they way they do. Doing this in a clear and constructive fashion goes a long way.
You're not wrong, but in the face of taking a sweaty HUT or EASHL club loss on a play that was affected by EA having to take liberties with physics, the player(s) will always default to blaming the game and insisting it's broken and needs to be fixed.
EA can explain why things happen until they're blue in the face, but if enough people on social media drum up enough hatred and performative outrage over a design decision that adversely affects their current playstyle or, god forbid, requires additional learning of a new mechanic, it gets patched and reversed.
In today's climate of instant "outrage" and the virality of the hivemind - EA can't make huge changes to the game without fear of affecting the baseline of yearly sales. They're at the mercy of the loudest most entitled population of gamers that's ever existed. (And I don't mean NHL specifically, I'm talking the general population of today's gamers)
That said, even on these forums - you have to handle everyone with little kid gloves or else they cry about being "bullied". They can bully developers about how much their game "sucks" and how much it's "broken" and how they're "never going to buy it ever again" and how they "have never seen hockey played in their life" but the second someone claps back and says "hey maybe you could learn this mechanic a little better" it's all "oh stop abusing me".
My point being, the average user doesn't care about under-the-hood design choices meant to keep the game balanced, with the side-effect of having unrealistic sequences play out. All they see and react to is what plays out. Being on the bad side of an outcome, 9/10 users will insist they are playing 'perfectly' and the "game decided" to give the bounce to their opponent. Then they come here, or twitter, or Reddit to find like-minded folks to generate some 'outrage' in an attempt to get their perceived issue 'fixed'. Anyone who disagrees is a shill, is downvoted, blocked and/or reported to moderators for being 'combative'.
EA_Aljo
Community Manager
2 years ago
@PlayoffError wrote:

@EA_Aljo wrote:

@PlayoffError wrote:
@TTZ_DipsyThe obvious solution to me would to have the offensive player's stick either bounce off or just stop when it makes contact with the defender's leg. Just don't allow shot animations to phase through players.

I'm sure we could base whether or not a trip is caused on the offending player's discipline as well as the overall force of the attempted shot. Regardless, it seems like it would interrupt the flow of the game too much as I could see this happening very frequently. Unfortunately, without more precise control of the stick, we're going to need the stick to pass through bodies and objects at times. This has definitely gotten better over the years. It's just still not at a point where we can have full contact without causing more frustration than fun.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I don't see where tripping comes into it. I'm not advocating for sticks never passing through bodies and objects, it's definitely a necessary evil. But in this case I don't see how gameplay would become more frustrating if a shot animation that causes the shooters stick to pass through a defender's body would result in the shooter not interacting with the puck.

When I was talking about tripping, it was in regards to the stick reacting to hitting the skate when they shot at a loose puck. Instead of passing through the skate, one outcome could be causing a trip. I think passing through the body is the better outcome as a high amount of unintended tripping calls would be very frustrating.

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NHL 24 Gameplay Tuner Updates - May 23rd, 2024

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