Fix the goalies in eashl

17ZxxzxxZ17 wrote:

The game hasnt been fun for sometime. We play because we've played for 15 years and its how we B.S after working all week. Its fun to connect with your Buddies.

Nobody is stopping you from connecting with your buddies. Thousands of us do this every night. 

Not sure if you played last years game but there were patch notes where they intentionally cut the AI goalies stats down and made them worse, and then decided to keep them that way.  They claim people were complaining about scoring and by that they mean their favorite YouTubers and streamer personalities weren't scoring their regular cheesy BS with overpowered X-Factors on every play..  Real hockey fans want the goalies re-tuned for the games to be closer and decided by smart hockey plays and not HeatSeeker/One-Tee going in from the blue line and Close Quarters going in from the red line on every shot.  The problem is they'll have an even smaller player base if little kids AND sweat-lords can't pick up the game and score from everywhere on the ice to feel like McDavid, it strays further and further away from actual hockey play every year but that's the case when that's who you have to cater to keep the lights on, they don't care about the people that actually understand and play the sport and want the game to function like that, that doesn't sell, why do you think they added stuff like one-touch button Michigan's and a stupid silver ability for them instead of actually addressing the core mechanics of the game?

The YouTubers really aren't the ones doing the complaining. It's the bigger part of the community. Changes are more likely when we get a high amount of feedback from the community as a whole. So, putting the blame on the YouTubers really isn't accurate.

There already are close games. Close games happen due to good play from everyone. Good goalies only go so far. And, the goalies are normally saving the vast majority of shots. Otherwise, the average goals per game would probably be 10+. People get upset when they make a partial save and it goes in. These happen in reality as well. The goal Draisaitl scored the other night in OT, if that happened in our game, we'd probably get someone sending in a clip saying this wouldn't happen in the real world.  So, I don't agree that real hockey fans want goalies re-tuned. No matter how they're tuned, people will always find the cheese. That's the nature of video games. Every single game has something about them that can be exploited. We will never change the human nature of finding shortcuts. The thing we all can change is how we play. Yes, goalies could be better, but even if they were, we'd get the same complaints that we always have from the community as a whole.

If you want point shots to stop going in, break up those passes or block those shots. It's easy to tell when a team is setting up for these. My forwards are protecting the points and our D is keeping their positioning so they have the best chances at blocking these. Teams that actually play as a team are getting a more authentic hockey experience. Rather than the ones chasing everything that moves for a hipcheck or forcing cross-crease one Ts, shots from the point, far side/short side wristers, etc.

The playerbase isn't a bunch of kids and sweat-lords. The average player is an adult. And if by sweat-lords you mean being competitive, yeah, you'll find those in every competitive game. I hate that people resort to using exploits. However, what they're exploiting the most is the gaps in their opponent's play. They're going to exploit a bad defense just like a real team would.

If you can't stop a one button Michigan, that's on you. You can see it coming from a mile away. And if you're getting beat by silver abilities, that again is on you. Every build can be defended. I'm not saying the game is perfect by any means, but people will go to just about any length to not take accountability for their own play and put it solely on the game and everyone else that plays it. Yeah, the game has its issues and I'd love to see changes to make it more authentic. When it comes down to it though, it's a game of skill and teamwork that not everyone excels in.

Nation87 wrote:

  Real hockey fans want the goalies re-tuned for the games to be closer and decided by smart hockey plays

In no way whatsoever should EA re-tune goalies just to make games closer.  Goalies should be re-tuned to make goalies have better reactions to loose pucks, more save animation choices, etc. Their agility, balance, etc has always been determined by attributes which creates parity among goalies while playing HUT, OVP, BAP, Franchise, etc. In WoC, the goalies all share the same attributes across the board and artificially adjusting this so that "games are closer" would be an absolute travesty and nothing that any 'real hockey' fans should want.

What you're saying is that if a team is down 6-1 but is making "smart hockey plays" - the opposing goalie should become a sieve until they make it 6-5 or 6-6 in an effort to "make games closer". That's absolutely ridiculous.

Nation87 wrote:

HeatSeeker/One-Tee going in from the blue line and Close Quarters going in from the red line on every shot. 

Learn to defend the One-Tee. It's easy. Tight Point/Contain Puck or High Pressure. Learn to utilize manual player switching so you always take control of the high wingers covering the D. 

Close Quarters does not go in on every shot. 

Nation87 wrote:

they'll have an even smaller player base if little kids AND sweat-lords can't pick up the game and score from everywhere on the ice to feel like McDavid

Little kids playing Play Now or other offline modes can absolutely adjust the difficulty to score from everywhere if they want. 

Sweat-lords can kick rocks if they can't 'McDavid' everyone in an online environment. EA does not cater to this mindset either, as you claim. They provide balance (could be better, but it's in an okay place right now) and naturally, skilled players who excel at this game will find ways to make sure the balance always leans in their favor. That's the nature of competitive gaming and some of you would be best served to remind yourself that, at the end of the day, this is a videogame. Expecting it to be some infallible representation of a real-world sport and holding EA to task for every single frame that doesn't jive with your personal idea of what 'realism' entails is just absurd.

Nation87 wrote:

they don't care about the people that actually understand and play the sport and want the game to function like that

I can assure you most people who play this game yearly have played 'real hockey' at some point in their lives and 'understand' the sport just as much as you do. They make what they think are 'real hockey' plays. Some people think seeing the same goal scored against them means their opponent "doesn't understand hockey". They seem to 'understand' it enough to continuously exploit the poor defending that's allowing them to score with impunity though.

Nation87 wrote:

why do you think they added stuff like one-touch button Michigan's and a stupid silver ability for them instead of actually addressing the core mechanics of the game?

What 'core mechanics' do you think need to be addressed?

I've posed a challenge for people to post a clip here of them scoring a single Michigan goal in an online competitive environment and nothing but crickets. Ya'll make it seem like kids are just running around tapping Y/Triangle and scoring michigans at will and I just want someone to demonstrate that. Don't forget to include all the times you failed too.

I never said we couldn't defend against a one-touch silver ability so don't phrase your replies like you want people to argue with you so you can ban them. The point is that's it's not something that needs to be in the game when you have your AI goalies already falling over CONSTANTLY in game from un-screened shots from the point or one slow, hilariously readable move below the circles. No one gives a **bleep** about trick shots yet someone had to waste time putting them into the game, we just want the basic stuff like goalie to make a save on the easiest, low danger shots. They used to, and just like always, you guys changed it and made it worse. 

I'm very regularly seeing them make saves on low danger shots. Yes, they will get through occasionally, but it's not happening at the frequency being claimed.

Nation87 wrote:

I never said we couldn't defend against a one-touch silver ability so don't phrase your replies like you want people to argue with you so you can ban them

You said:

Nation87 wrote:

HeatSeeker/One-Tee going in from the blue line and Close Quarters going in from the red line on every shot.

This implies an inability to defend. I'm not baiting you into arguing, just pointing out your inaccuracies. 

Nation87 wrote:

it's not something that needs to be in the game when you have your AI goalies already falling over CONSTANTLY in game from un-screened shots from the point or one slow, hilariously readable move below the circles.

Ai goalies do not "fall over constantly". Yes, there are times (especially when fatigued and under pressure) where a goalie will end up on the ice, still attempting to make saves. I think we can both agree that the length of time for the goalie to return to their feet is too long, but I will disagree that goalies fall over from unscreened shots "constantly" just for the sake of it.

Nation87 wrote:

No one gives a **bleep** about trick shots yet someone had to waste time putting them into the game

Being able to execute these moves in conjunction with the other abilities we have as a puck carrier is fun. God forbid EA introduce elements into gameplay that are fun. What are they even thinking?!

They're not as deadly accurate as some of you imply, and they still require time and space to execute effectively - which is entirely dependent on the defensive skill of your opponent. 

Nation87 wrote:

we just want the basic stuff like goalie to make a save on the easiest, low danger shots.

I mean... I could post an endless stream of GIFs showing that goalies do in fact make saves on low danger shots, but I don't need to. I think we all know what you're saying here is pure hyperbole and not indicative of the gameplay whatsoever. 

I agree with most of what you said here, the only thing I would have to say is that I believe most people arent looking for a complete dismantling of goalie. I think goalies are actually very close to what we want as far as save capability, the change (at least for myself) is a small increase in saves overall. The best goalies average sv% in the game currently sit in the low .800-.810s and to mimic a more authentic experience I would like to see those "best" goalies average sv% be closer to .900 so in reality this is just under a 10% increase in what we already see. The only other fixes I would like to see are things more along the lines of floating goalies where the puck is going under the goalie when hes in butterfly, Id like to see post interactions be cleaner, I'd like to see the hug post be made more viable, for example when using a standing hug post and attempting to release it, it places the goalie on a very aggressive 45 degree angle  instead of a more centered look, or when using the rvh hug post with the puck behind the net a goalie can completely cover 80% of the bottom of the net like goalies do irl. Being in butterfly seems to make goalies extremely small. I'd also like to see the cover animations be worked on so that my goalie doesnt throw the puck into the net. I don't think were that far off but obviously when you point out the issues we do see its gonna make it seem like a larger issue than it is.