Nhl 24 the game for everyone and anyone.

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@llamaverox wrote:

@EA_AljoI just completely disagree with your assessment the reason pga tour 2k21 sold was because it was the dark souls of golf games I heard. "Man this game is tough" and went damn let me play it. They catered to the casual audience made 2k23 and the sales went down not up.

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This makes sense though. If 2k1 was too difficult and someone saw 2k23.. they'd just assume 'those 2k golf games are too hard' and not buy 23. Plus EA put out a Golf title last year - that would easily chew into 2K's market share and result in lower comparitve sales.

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@llamaverox wrote: A hardcore game like Elden ring made the most money ever for Fromsoftware. By not abandoning what got them there but opening up the systems that are still hardcore.

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It's incredibly easy to put out a non-competitive game based around 'hardcore' controls. When you remove the ego of winning/losing, people are more apt to spend time understanding the nuance.

In a game like NHL where online players just want to win at all costs, they want success instantly. They want to instantly be able to wheel snipe celly right away and these forums provide perfect examples of what making things too difficult can do to a player-base. 

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@llamaverox wrote:

Let alone the fact EA made a golf game this very year that was more casual driven and it sold worse than the casual first 2k23 at what point is EA going to realize catering to everyone caters to no one?

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Yes, when a new game enters a certain sport genre, it stands to reason that game is going to take some market share from others. With there only being 1 name in the game (2K) - it should come as no surprise that EA releasing a title would a) not sell as much as the established leader and b) the stolen share of the market would impact said leader's sales. 

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@KidShowtime1867 wrote:

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@llamaverox wrote:

@EA_AljoI just completely disagree with your assessment the reason pga tour 2k21 sold was because it was the dark souls of golf games I heard. "Man this game is tough" and went damn let me play it. They catered to the casual audience made 2k23 and the sales went down not up.

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This makes sense though. If 2k1 was too difficult and someone saw 2k23.. they'd just assume 'those 2k golf games are too hard' and not buy 23. Plus EA put out a Golf title last year - that would easily chew into 2K's market share and result in lower comparitve sales.

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@llamaverox wrote: A hardcore game like Elden ring made the most money ever for Fromsoftware. By not abandoning what got them there but opening up the systems that are still hardcore.

---

It's incredibly easy to put out a non-competitive game based around 'hardcore' controls. When you remove the ego of winning/losing, people are more apt to spend time understanding the nuance.

In a game like NHL where online players just want to win at all costs, they want success instantly. They want to instantly be able to wheel snipe celly right away and these forums provide perfect examples of what making things too difficult can do to a player-base. 

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@llamaverox wrote:

Let alone the fact EA made a golf game this very year that was more casual driven and it sold worse than the casual first 2k23 at what point is EA going to realize catering to everyone caters to no one?

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Yes, when a new game enters a certain sport genre, it stands to reason that game is going to take some market share from others. With there only being 1 name in the game (2K) - it should come as no surprise that EA releasing a title would a) not sell as much as the established leader and b) the stolen share of the market would impact said leader's sales. 

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The word of mouth is what sells these games. Not the advertising and attempts to cater that you have suggested.

Both golf games did not get great reviews. With EA's attempt being lambasted because of it's inferiority in gameplay to the 2k game.

I'm not saying that EA isn't trying, what I'm saying is that their direction is flawed.

In all of their games people complain about the creative direction.

I'm gonna finish by asking this.

At what point do we look at the sales ramping up from 2007-2014, and declining since and go, what worked in that time frame? Why are hardcore players not buying it any longer? Why are EASHL players quitting leagues and leaving in droves.

The answer I get from every one of them.

"The game is not fun, and isn't going in a direction I enjoy"- Everyone I've asked.

Case and point I'm not buying 25. I'm done being complacent with a horribly designed slog.

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@llamaverox wrote:

Both golf games did not get great reviews. With EA's attempt being lambasted because of it's inferiority in gameplay to the 2k game.

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Agreed on this! I did not enjoy EA's golf game this year. It's hard to top the fun in PGA2k21. 

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@llamaverox wrote:

 a horribly designed slog.

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Well that's not very nice. 

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@llamaverox wrote:
@KidShowtime1867It's not really about being nice and stating my honest opinion. I've bought the game every year. I've spent thousands of hours with this series. I used to stay up til 6 in the morning with my buds because we wanted to get another game in. Now we play for an hour and can't stand it.

I don't know what else I'm supposed to say about it. I've turned off by the game. I play it out of an addiction.

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I hear ya. I mean let's face it: the game is stale. I've been playing since NHLPA on the Sega. I swear, I can still see presentation/animation assets that have been there since NHL 2004.

But the devs are out there trying new things. Pressure System (which I don't like), changes to controls, added some new pre-game intros, new commentary and the addition of female color commentary is awesome. One button dekes are controversial but again - an attempt by the dev team to inject some more fun into the game. I welcomed the hitting changes as it completely revamped that META (holding RS and letting the game guide you magically into a hit) and made risk/reward on defense refreshing and different. 

I'd like to see less emphasis on HUT and WoC gimmicks, but I get it. Those aren't meant to appease hardcore gamers. What's weird to me is that hardcore players take those attempts to expose the game to more people as some kind of afront to them and their investment into this series. 

Remember; you're not forced to buy the game year after year. As the old saying goes, "vote with your wallet". When people buy this game year after year and then spend time on social media lapping up likes and retweets for dunking on the game while simultaneously still playing it religiously every day - you're just telling EA 'Yep, we like this one. more please'. EA knows the echo chambers don't reflect the overall reception of the game.