SturmWolfe wrote:1. LT - Can't hit players unless it's perfectly lined up. Can't stick check them unless it's a perfectly angled sweep check.
I don't understand how this doesn't compute for some of you. "Can't hit unless perfectly lined up" or a "perfectly angled sweep check" is the result of a skilled puck carrier employing methods to limit or null the effect of a hit. Playing againg stiff competition, your skills are going to need to be close to perfect. I'm not sure how the argument of "I need to be able to knock people off the puck easier" is a legit argument when you consider that people such as myself are actually able to defend this.
I'd also like to point out that if a puck carrier manages to generate the speed required to make a defender susceptible to the evasive mechanics of the LT - that's a defensive lapse. You should be angling the puck carrier wide to discourage the use of the LT to begin with:

SturmWolfe wrote:There is absolutely no reason for it to be in the game.
https://youtu.be/9idZ-3rKbys?si=HOwsuUpzPaBq2HXw
I outplay my opponent and I lose because of this garbage.
There is zero way for us to know you outplayed this opponent. Further more, this clip begins with the puck carrier already at top speed in your D-Zone. Your D-Man is already behind a step. There's nothing unrealistic about this movement:

Here is a clip of one of our defenders handling this move aptly. Sticks out DSS to discourage a move to the slot. Puck carrier reverts to LT abuse. Has a small step on the D, but not the speed required (thanks to the D). Gets a close chance, but ultimately snuffed out by a well timed manual poke check (DSS and R3)



SturmWolfe wrote:2. Every time I deke and my opponent misses their poke / sweep check. I can't be tripped. Doesn't matter if it's toe drag, between legs, windmill, toe kick, or even a basic holding forehand or backhand. My skate will flop sideways or my leg will lift awkwardly. No trip.
If this happens every time you deke, it should be very easy to capture a simple video of this to help the developers narrow in on a possible issue.
SturmWolfe wrote:3. Stick lifts. You'll get a penalty when you barely touch your opponent or miss them entirely but when your stick literally goes through them or you hook them. You don't get a penalty most of the time.
You need to learn the body position required to use stick lift with no penalty. I very rarely take any high-stick or slash calls because I know when and when not to use it. Hooking calls are a known issue.
SturmWolfe wrote:4. Manual switching to players needs to be adjusted. I don't care if my player is closer to the puck carrier. I want to switch to a dman and backcheck because a lot of the time my dmen don't move until the opponent is beside them skating faster already. Then it ends up a two on one. Even if you have a NZT set up and conservative offense.
There is a mechanic for just this. Hold RT and click R3. This is a fundamental skill for anyone who's serious about improving their defensive game.
Manual player switching with Right Stick is also quite accurate. Here's a clip of me controlling just my high wingers in order to put pressure on the point. This is all done with manual switching. Holding RT and moving flicking RS in the direction of the winger I want (left or right)

SturmWolfe wrote:5. Players should not be able to glide around without being able to be knocked off the puck.
If a player is effectively using body position and momentum to brush off flagrant body checks, I don't see how this is an issue? If a player is gliding around you seemingly able to avoid every body check, it means you're chasing them. Use DSS more and angle puck carriers to where you want them to go rather than be focused on a big hit.
SturmWolfe wrote:6. Players shouldn't be able to glitch their stick into the boards or play the puck into the boards without losing possession. That needs to be fixed and it hasn't been fixed ever.
This is just how sports videogames are. Clipping is a fact of life and has no bearing on the outcomes of any given scenario. I understand you expect people to lose the puck when getting close to the boards, but there are a lot of animations while in control of the puck (such as skating stride) where you have zero control of where your stick goes. It would be incredibly frustrating to just lose the puck while screaming up the side boards because the stride animation made your stick contact the boards.
SturmWolfe wrote:Computer forecheck is a toss up. My players will only seem to check my opponent if they're the only one in the offensive zone. The moment I leave they will hit. If I am forechecking with my computer. They do nothing. Same goes for defending. It's rare they will check with the human player.
The Ai will make body checks if the human controlled player is in their forecheck position. A LOT (and I mean A LOT) if online players are trying to forecheck with their defencemen because it's just the last player they had control of when the dump-in happened. Doing so means your AI is in recovery mode and they won't take any actions until everyone is back in their position.
SturmWolfe wrote:. Reverse hitting is broken. You shouldn't be able to reverse hit when you're stick checking or poke checking your opponent with space. On the flip side, hip check should not be an alternative to counter a reverse check at slow speeds.
No, it's not. And yes, if you've mistimed a poke check, you should be susceptible to a reverse hit. A hip check can absolutely be nulled with a reverse hit as well.
Here is what a well timed poke check looks like against a reverse hit

SturmWolfe wrote:Hip check has been broken for about 3 years. Even the smallest slowest hip check can know the opponent off the puck. Especially in WoC with a small player with low hitting and strength. I do it all the time.
A reverse hit can negate the hip check. Also, hip checks are quite easy to see coming and are easily avoidable.
SturmWolfe wrote:Poke checking is too accurate. You can press it multiple times and it doesn't loss effectiveness. I have been told the more you poke check the less accurate it is. You can even poke check accurately without even looking at the puck. I have also asked poke check to be included against non puck carriers. You can take interference calls without the puck. Tripping shouldn't be the exception. Intelligent defending should be a thing.
This is incorrect. Every subsequent poke is less accurate, slows your player down and increases penalty probability.
I agree that players can execute an accurate poke check with no visibility on the puck. That can be frustrating when playing against someone who knows how to capitalize on this.
Intelligent defending IS a thing.
Here is a clip of how I'm utilizing Right-stick player switching to stop my opponent from abusing the one-tee.

Here are some Defensive Skill stick examples which, IMO, is the elite-level skill many don't seem to want to master.
Not many people use it to deflect shots, but it works great:



Not to mention using it to break up passes:

Utilizing it to freeze your opponent and force them to make decisions they don't want to or simply separate them from the puck and getting the perfect angle so your poke check doesn't cause a trip:








SturmWolfe wrote:Passing the puck when you're infront of your opponent's goalie. I can place two of my players on both sides of my opponent's goalie and they can manage to pass through my players more than half the time. It should be an easy empty net goal.
Not always. The close proximity to your teammate when executing a pass will dictate your teammates' ability to receive it cleanly. If you're holding pass too long and your opponent is too close - the speed is too high, they won't react and the puck will seemingly go right by them. This is a skill issue. You need to learn when to use soft, short passes and when you utilize heavy passes.
SturmWolfe wrote:The menu UI in the game has been absolutely awful for years.
Agreed 1000%
SturmWolfe wrote:"Skill based one timers." There is absolutely no skill involved in holding the right stick up when making a pass. It is extremely easy to score from point one timers.
There's a misunderstanding that every one-timer is a skill-based one timer. They're not and there are still a lot of one timers that get saved, blocked, directed wide, etc. You can still utilize the old method described above, but when you stop and try to actually time your shot action - and you do it right - the increase to accuracy is obvious. At release, it was awfully easy to nail it. EA has adjusted and I think it's in an okay place right now.
SturmWolfe wrote:Puck bounces are predictable when a player shoots blocker side via snap shot or one timer. The puck goes into the down low corner 90% of the time. Allowing your opponent to easily grab the rebound and set up point one timers perpetually. If you preemptively set yourself up down low to get the rebound you still chance putting yourself out of position to make a block.
You should be able to see these shots coming. Take control of last-man-back (Hold RT and click R3) and guide the defender to where the rebound will go. This method of shooting for a rebound for a puck into the corner is a real-world strategy too. Although I will concede it's rather predictable in EA's NHL, however - as a defender that just means you need to be ready for it to happen and you'll be just fine.
SturmWolfe wrote:Passing - Icon passing is still not fixed. Passing to players at the point is also needing adjustment. You make a pass without any player in the passing lane and the pass goes no where near your teammate. Then you get to play fetch.
Only in World of Chel do the icons not come up unless the setting is adjusted. It still works. Icon-based passing is literally always accurate. If you're icon-passing to the point and "the pass goes no where near your teammate" this indicates you're likely not pressing the right icon or you're trying to execute a pass with your back to the receiving player.
One thing I've picked up on with icon passing is that if you hold RT even after a pass is made, the icons persist, so you can make quick passing plays like this:

The other cool thing is that when you hold RT after an Icon pass, the icon for the player you just passed to will be the same icon for the passer. This means on a 2-on-1 situation, you utilize the same icon for a quick back and forth: (notice how the Y icon quickly changes to the B icon once we start the back and forth:

SturmWolfe wrote:Over skating the puck. I have a new controller. I have tested this in online and offline. There are times when you're controlling your player to get the loose puck and your player will just simply skate over the puck or away for no reason.
Would be good to see some video of this. usually if a player ignores a loose puck, it's because the human is throwing some kind of input at them which interrupts the puck pickup.