NHL 24 Presentation Deep Dive

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@EA_Aljo wrote:

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We make changes with the intent to improve the game for you all. Obviously, we're not going to make everyone happy. We have acted on a lot of the community feedback and we're also adding our own design presentation elements. I really don't think we're ever going to add everything that's being requested. In no way does that mean we're ignoring you. There are a ton of requests and it's impossible to make everyone happy. Gameplay is always going to take priority over presentation. As I mentioned before, with most people wanting to play the game rather than watch it, we have to have that as the bigger focus. That doesn't mean we can't achieve both, but it means those finer details with presentation have to wait.

Personally, what I am wondering about though is, do you want a game where everything looks the same as you see on TV? This is just a personal curiosity. For me, I already watch a ton of hockey on TV. I guess I want the game to offer something a bit different that gets me more immersed in an activity that I'll never play out in the real world such as playing hockey on TV, on the NHL level, being a superstar, etc. I already know what it's like to sit on the couch and watch a game. I'm more interested in trying to live out the on-ice action. Adding something like the flex cam amps up that excitement and adds another layer of immersion. 

I'm not saying an authentic, true to life broadcast wouldn't be cool though. I really dug the intros with Doc and Eddie with the arena fly-bys. I'd love to see teams coming out of the tunnel and taking the ice as well as goalie stats, real on-ice projections, etc. We'll just have to wait and see what happens in the coming years.

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I won’t comment on what I want from presentation as it’s not a feature I personally care about. I watch it once or twice and hammer the skip button every time after that.

I just have a bit of a sour taste as this years theme of listening to feedback is a lot of just reinstalling features that either should have never been removed in the first place or should have been reintroduced in last years $90 game.

Using ignore in my statement was incorrect and misleading, so I apologize for that, I know it’s not possible to add everything or please everybody. This year is probably the best example of trying new things that some will love and others will hate and I am 100% ok with that even if I would have liked to see a different direction myself. I'm not looking for an authentic version of the game like I see on TV, but I also don't want the features that make it look like an arcade game being overpowering either. So when I said ignored it was meant as not everyone wants to play this one way and keeping in as many options as possible should be the way to go. 

The goalie tethering addition is a good example of the team trying to improve something and maybe missing the mark a little with its players.

Removing hybrid controls, true broadcast camera (I don’t use either of these) and locking out customizable settings in offline modes are examples of features that had no reason to be removed and I cannot see how they were intended as “trying to improve the game”.