Forum Discussion

Seasoned Newcomer

4 months ago

NHL 26 WOC is now pay to win

To start off, I have loved playing NHL for years on xbox. I've taken a break from playing since NHL 24, which was an absolutely great time. My favorite game mode was WOC since it was so much fun to c...

New Veteran

3 months ago

I hear you on this. What is the point of a season pass if it doesn't have a reward the players are going to want? I think the old salts don't really care as much about cosmetics. I also don't know how much having them really brings in the Fortnite crowd. I do appreciate attempts to increase the playerbase as its win-win for EA and the online players.

The pre-loads don't kill my enjoyment as much as I originally thought they would, but its also tough to judge because I don't have a consistent baseline. We match up against teams of all skill levels, with the pre-builds and without. But what I can say I am still more concerned about things like speed being king, unlimited reverse hit, too large a hitting window ruining the game no matter what build you use.

It is groan-inducing loading into a lobby and seeing the other side entirely rocking McDavid, MacKinnon, and Chara. Instead of meta game x-factors we now just have meta game pre-builds as they allow exploiting higher level x-factors. EA saw it fit to rebalance the cost of equipping the meta x-factors, so there is a tacit acknowledgement that something there is wrong. That line of thinking should extend to the pre-builds then.

EA_Aljo

Community Manager

3 months ago

But what I can say I am still more concerned about things like speed being king, unlimited reverse hit, too large a hitting window ruining the game no matter what build you use.

Yes. I 100% agree with you on this. People exploiting OP XFs and mechanics are the things that drive me nuts. I couldn't care less about the pre-made builds because all of them have been absolutely beatable. The teams that are challenging are the ones that play well together. They find the open lanes using snappy, tic-tac passing, they just know where their teammates are, they use set plays, they have team chemistry and just know how to use each other's skills. That is how you win games. Pre-made builds are only going to give you so much of an advantage. Which is why they really don't bother me.

It is groan-inducing loading into a lobby and seeing the other side entirely rocking McDavid, MacKinnon, and Chara. Instead of meta game x-factors we now just have meta game pre-builds as they allow exploiting higher level x-factors. EA saw it fit to rebalance the cost of equipping the meta x-factors, so there is a tacit acknowledgement that something there is wrong. That line of thinking should extend to the pre-builds then.

It is, but in most cases they really aren't as challenging as they may seem. I think a lot of people hope those builds are going to make up for a difference in skill and team chemistry. If they are relying on the higher numbers and XFs for wins, I don't think it's going to really play out as well as they think. Granted, I almost exclusively play 6s. Pre-made builds are probably a bigger threat in 3s where you have more open ice.