EA_Aljo wrote:It was pretty uncommon that I saw someone ragging. Not to mention, you slow down a lot when ragging so I think that deterred this. It was also very satisfying to pressure them, cause a turnover and score.
This is only true when the player retains possession in their own zone. All one needs to do is skate the puck to the neutral zone, make a few passes and then return to their own zone. Rinse and repeat, you've got the grief.
EA_Aljo wrote:when it comes to public consensus, that's actually a pretty small portion of the overall playerbase. There is a FAR higher population that doesn't partake in community forums. This means there are also a ton of people that either like or aren't concerned enough with the presentation style to complain about it online.
Why do the indifferent opinions of the rest of the player-base supersede the desperate cries from your most loyal players? The thing about listening to the "pretty small portion" of the player base is that they're trying to ring alarm bells about the foundational aspect of the game that casuals (the 'ton' of people) would otherwise be impartial to. They're imploring EA to take a more realistic approach to everything and deviate from this Fortnite path. It's alienating the precise portion of the player base that would make this game go viral for the right reasons (depth of realism, engaging broadcast style presentation, etc.).
EA_Aljo wrote:Complaining online is practically a pastime for this game and pretty much any other. People are less likely to go to online forums just to praise something.
You got that right. I can't argue with this LOL
EA_Aljo wrote:So, of course it looks like everyone that plays doesn't like the current presentation style.
Regardless of the reactionary cynicism, this should tell EA something that they're currently not listening to. Once you filter out the noise of the casual cynics out for online validation, you're left with a growing base of yearly customers who are trying to scream from the rooftops that the style of presentation (among other elements) is becoming less palatable for the most loyal portion of your fanbase. Casting them off as a 'small portion' of the user base in favor of appeasing casuals in the hopes they'll dump $$$ into HUT is painfully obvious to those of us who've been around here longer than we should.
EA_Aljo wrote:We get complaints that the game is copied and pasted every year. Then, we change stuff up, give it a new presentation style and what do we get requests for? The same look we had previously.
Although EA rightfully recognized there was an appetite for modern presentation, they took a turn into a presentation style that was obviously meant to capture the Fortnite style theme of hyper individualism. They took a team game with team-based presentation elements and chopped it up in favor of individualized scenes with 'emotes'.
It's not that people always want EA to revert back - it's that people want the essence of what made that presentation good and for it to be improved upon rather than ripped out, chopped up and re-introduced as 'new'.
EA_Aljo wrote:I get people would want new cut scenes that are more representative of the sport. However, there is a much flashier look to TV broadcasts now. It's been going in this direction for awhile.
You're not wrong, but those flashier presentations build upon the already established flow, camera shots, stat presentations, etc. They haven't stopped giving a goalie matchup screen. They haven't starting using on-ice drones to capture replay angles that a normal broadcast wouldn't be able to capture. They're still providing quick replays and color in between whistles without flashy graphics (for the most part).
EA_Aljo wrote:It's not all just hardcore players just wanting a rerelease of NHL 14
No, but there's a very good reason why EA is acutely aware that this title is held above all others by the most ardant critics and loyal devotees alike. All we wanted was for this game to be built upon.
None of this is directed squarely at you and I'm sure you know that. This is just a general commentary on the direction of the franchise and in no way am I chastising the developers or community managers who keep it together in the face of such criticisms. I just feel that whatever data EA is looking at whether it be telemetry data gathered during the life cycle, social media comments, survey results, etc... I don't think the extrapolating of this data is accurate.