If WoC stays P2W

(Something I wrote a while back, also seems worth pasting here) I didn't take a massive amount of time to create these numbers and someone with much more time in the game could probably find things that cost too little/ too much. 

When I made this post a while back I believe I was using points per season rather than overall.. either system could work.. either stats like speed raise your overall FAR faster or you just get so many attribute points per season and speed is extremely expensive but your ovr could end up being lower. Again, players who are better than me could talk more on balance, this is just a starting point. 

-------------

I will throw out suggested attribute costs.. every attribute besides faceoffs (which will just coincide with player overall or 99) will start at 60. 

Height and weight could somewhat influence these multipliers by making them slightly more or less expensive. However, a 6'4 220lb guy could still get 99 speed by game end... it will just leave him very unskilled in nearly every other department. There are players like this in real life.. there are players that are blackholes defensively.. this should be possible here.

Speed x15 (an argument for this costing even more could likely be made)

body checking x8

endurance x3

puck control x3

passing x3

slap shot power x8

slap shot accuracy x8

wrist shot power x8

wrist shot accuracy x8

agility x8

strength x3

acceleration x12

balance x3

faceoffs -- 

durability x3

deking x5

hand eye x3

shot blocking x1

off awareness x5

Def awareness x8

discipline x1

fighting skill x1

stick checking x5

Multiplier thresholds, after a stat reaches these thresholds the cost increases

after 70 x1.5

after 80 x2

after 90 x3

after 95 x5

So one speed attribute (from 95 to 96) would cost 15x5= 75 points making it by far the most expensive attribute. Future games can see if we still see many players maximizing their speed. 

maybe we are given 800 points to build out our guy (from having all 60s) to start out. we are given more points as we level up, but the points are capped as we progress through each season. our overall is based on this new rating system. we start out around 60 ovr. in season 1 you progress to around 80 ish. season 2 80-85 season 3 90 season 4 95-99

1275 or so odd points to max speed at 99. I would have to play with a skater builder to really decide how many points should be possible to gain each season but if 800 more were added each season, this would give you 4000 by game's end giving you the ability to max speed and acceleration but you would essentially be using around half of your attribute points to do so and your overall game would be severely lacking. 4k may be a bit too low, it would likely need to be higher but I also don't want it so high that our custom builds aren't all 99 in too many attributes at the end. Someone's build should be unique to them.. and attributes should be balanced on value. 

We would know we have good balance when we begin to see less youtube videos showing off the exact same meta builds. Once the cost of speed becomes so much that players start to choose other attributes over the cost of speed, and the "meta builds" aren't all 5'7 169 lbs with the same xfactors etc.. and it's a little more like 2k where lots of builds are "meta builds" and viable, then WoC could really be fun.

X factors would have their own cost pool. You could also have far more than 3 xfactors if they're less desirable/ low tier.. a good high tier could use most/ all points. 

The old CM and I discussed this sorta thing a while back and while they argued giving players free reign to just make whatever build they wanted would result in the "meta" taking over, they couldn't deny it still happens today with the pre-builds.

I personally prefer the illusion of choice with making my own custom guy but there isn't anything inherently wrong with being provided a list to choose from per say - What I take exception to, however, is how diluted they have become over the last few years; Gone are the days of vast peaks and canyons in stats where you could more closely get in-game what you were cooking up in your head.

NHL 14 is considered peak in terms of gameplay and the amount of options given to the player but there were also issues with stats. We could complete challenges for eventual boosts (or buy them outright since the requirements were absolutely ridiculous), but they were either bugged (i received many without completing the requirements), or could be outright glitched and stacked onto eachother (I remember getting at least 99 speed and wrister, probably strength too holy moly), and it was the beginning of helmetless players too!

I don't think anyone will be able to agree on stats anymore. Personally, I think X factors should just be removed and/or everyone should just be maxed out - You know what they say...

I dont think pre-builds should only be accessible by buying them and those builds should not go above the AP limit that our custom builds have.

I think the attribute cap for builds should.be lower than this year. For example, Our skating stats reaching 96-97 is way too high imo.

Unfourtinately 14 was just before my time. I can't argue that giving free range will still turn to meta builds, but I will say that in NBA 2K there are LOTS of videos and guides on meta builds and many of them are different. What I believe they've done is balanced the attributes, at least better than NHL. Speed is absolutely THE most important stat in this game. If they are able to find a value for speed in relation to every other attribute to the point some people choose NOT to max speed, we could see a lot of diff builds (again, I could be wrong)

X factors being gone would likely be best for the game. This is also something I don't think they will get rid of though, so I just try to discuss how to improve the system. If they must exist I wish they only effected things that attributes can't, a specific move, a specific shot, etc. They need to have smaller impacts and less arcade-like mechanics. 

14 basically used a combination of your method with the current one where you have total points to spend and they significantly increased the higher you went. We didn't have a give and take system where you could squeak out a few extra but I remember the points getting near impossible to want around low-mid 90's (which was what the other boost slots were for).

Speed is certainly king in the current product so while we can nickel and dime over a few stat points, I think the biggest hurdle for the team is balancing the AI and stuff around the stats. We are using PS3 era logic against human players who are significantly better/faster/stronger than they once were. I think there was more control with human goalies back then and nothing seems to be able to keep up with our current speed. That said, I absolutely loathe sloooooooow drawn out plays and games