I really think they should update WOC into where we can grind for something like a rep system or some sort instead of just being a max level title so it’s not the same thing we grind for every single year. Another cool thing would be if they add overalls so we can see our teammates and opponents overalls.
I think a lot of people would like to see a large update like this. The problem is this game seems to be spiraling downward. Every year we have a smaller population of players, the team gets less money, the team gets smaller and less experienced. All of this stunts development and I dont see how that changes. Updates like these are less and less likely. Theoretically this game SHOULD make the same money as a larger game over the course of several years but we typically dont see the same progress of other games over the course of them having only 1 year. EA just isnt putting a fair number of resources into this title. I believe it was 4 or 5 years now that they mentioned gm connected being a multi year project. I'm less and less sure we will ever see that. Even when we do, the first few years will likely be plagued with issues of which we will have to wait until next year to see if they decide to address. BAP hasn't changed for 5-6 years. HUT and WoC have only had micro changes. Visual, audio, presentation have all had micro changes, same outdated fan models for as long as Ive played. Other games are creating entire interactible neighborhoods, while we're 5 years into having the SAME bug in a WoC lobby. After years of grievences we got a new store, the loading time is so bad that I dont ever open it after I bought a new change of clothes. I'm not saying you shouldn't suggest these changes but I think we need to lower our expectations and suggest really simple changes and expect those changes to have issues of their own if theyre ever heard or implemented. The hitting mechanics were updated and they're probably better but they probably need to fully overhaul it and try again. Full pressure was a miss, and not asked for by anyone as far as I know. Most people dont like the new 1T mechanic, D2D 1T were made to be too powerful, puck protect was also unable to be updated all year, a lack of match room size was unable to be addressed for the whole year. I believe EA mentioned porting a version to PC would take from updating this game through the season but ehat have they updated? With the lack of population and the lack of development.. its probably the best way they could spend their time during this fownward spiral. GM connected, WoC development, making HUT "fun" updating BAP and getting rid of the same recycled line about "pricey pond hockey" are things we all want and are asking for but I'm just not seeing them do any of these things with how little we've seen the last 4-5 years. For a lot of us hockey is our favorite sport but for EA profits its not important enough. If you look at the NHL developers on X its likely not even THEIR favorite sport. We are stuck getting what we get. Most changes aren't what we want or what we ask for. We are in the dark about what they're working on. They're in the dark about what we want, and they dont seem to care to bridge that gap as its taken over 3 years to make a discord, that lack of timeliness has become expected though.
I don't think the Full Pressure system as an idea was a miss. The problem with it, IMO, is that the meter does not deplete as fast as it was in 24 when you were out of the zone so what you saw were people leaving the zone and coming back 10 seconds later to have it still be at around 80% instead of it being completely emptied and one shot would then fill it back up all the way. If they make it so when you leave the zone, the meter starts to drop and after 10 seconds (Preferably 6 I think) it goes from full to empty, then it won't activate nearly as much as what people have been able to do. I also think it should end on any stoppage in play except for an icing.
My biggest issue with it is how it fills maybe. Ive played against teams that enter the zone and immediately take a low danger shot at the goalie the second they enter. Sometimes this fills the meter almost all the way up. They then look for a rebound.. or if the goalie catches it and they win the faceoff you could be looking at full pressure (when in reality they did nothing to pressure you apart from win a faceoff) I'm not saying it's a huge miss, It does help teams that keep putting pressure on a team and are generating offense, I just think people game the system. The biggest issue of all with it, is that it offers very little to improve the game and how many man hours did it take to implement. I feel that time could have been better spent doing SO many other things. I am happy that it simultaneously created a system that punished players for ragging the puck in their own zone though!
Overall I don't hate the gameplay in NHL. I think most of it could use fine tuning I try to be fair and point out all the issues I see. The biggest issue we are dealing with now is a lack of development and that leading to a lack of interest in the title for people. The game is falling further behind every other major sports title. When they do add something it just seems so out of touch with what fans want. I think a 1T system was suggested but it was to make them harder to pull off and not to have ANOTHER artificial boost to offense. I'm not suggesting we need a whole neighborhood to walk around.. but better lobbies.. better store.. better player creater/ developer, online franchise, updated HUT challenges, a new BAP or one integrated into WoC.. these are all STANDARD practice for every other sports title. When one game makes a new world, story, franchise story, deeper ultimate team, stores, etc EVERY single year and even recycling youre behind.. that's really bad. They need to just take a loss one season. Make all the necessary updates to catch up with the other franchises and then (imo) throw this up for the game of the month once so lots of people get it for free and try out the game and hope it creates interest in the franchise.
