Updated: NHL Needs a Year Pass With PC Release – The Model That Out-Earns HUT!

One of the big things you have to think about also is from a HUT perspective. Like it or not, HUT is a valuable mode for the franchise and if you did this subscription idea, you would then have to either go away from the entirety of HUT which would not be something people would be happy about as they like to create their own "superteam" of all stars. The other problem you might face is what I will call "the great reset" in that over the entirety of a games lifespan, HUT players are evolving from base mid 80 OVR players to 99s. If you made it a subscription model how do you reset everyone from 99 back to mid 80s to start again? Sure that is what they are doing now but it is a mental thing where it is "The new season update for this game is out and now my entire team and collection of cards is gone and I have to grind back up again." vs "Oh its a new game and it's time to start building my collection back up.". Two statements that have the same meaning but have a way different mentality behind them.

**bleep**!!! ME AND YOU must be brothers from another Mother cause we have similar ideas PLUS I have had the idea of a Personalized Custom Made game and how to implement it each year which would be similar to your idea of nixing the yearly edition!

Great ideas overall!

hiperay​ 

Thanks for your reply and for sharing your thoughts, I really appreciate the feedback. I hear you on the great reset. I do not play  HUT myself, but my subscription idea would not remove the yearly reset at all. You could still start a fresh HUT season every September just like today. The subscription would only replace buying the base game each year but there would still be a September  renewal for your subscription just like the NFL does with NFL red zone and NFL game day.  

In reality it is no different than a yearly release, it is just a fail safe for EA to roll out a better, higher quality game with many more feature missing and for players to continue subscribing if it is worth it. Packs, events, and the HUT grind would stay the same, the only difference is the base game becomes one evolving platform getting better and better increasing game value within the season, boosting new subscriptions, and ensuring current subscribers. If the game keeps improving, people keep the  subscription , if not, they can drop it. That feels like a fair balance for both sides. It gives the fans more value with a higher quality game, and it ensures EA still gets their money every year through subscriptions on top of HUT, which seems to be their main focus right now and part of why so many other features have been left out.

rtwing89​ 

Haha exactly man! thanks!! Glad I’m not the only one thinking this way. A personalized or custom made game would honestly be the perfect mix with the subscription model. Instead of starting from scratch every September with limited changes, you’d just keep building on top of what’s already there while still getting new features, rosters, and modes each season. That way the game actually grows instead of feeling like we’re buying the same thing over again. Like a lot of people say "we're buying a roster update" with a few new small features. Appreciate you backing the idea!

Yes but what I am saying is that by EA doing a reset in HUT while not having a new game to download, it tricks peoples brains and will deter them from wanting to play further because their team just got "nuked" whereas when a new game comes out, people can get over the fact that they are starting their collection over from scratch after having a team of 99overalls. This is because: 

1. They still have their collection on the old game in case they wanted to go back for whatever reason
2. It is a brand new game they are playing on so its a psychological thing that says "okay I can do this as none of my stuff carried over to the new game". 

Its just like my argument for implementing a mercy rule in EASHL vs not having one: A mental game.

1. Mercy Rule game ends after I.E. a team goes up by 5.
2. A team goes up by 5 and everyone leaves, ending the game.

Both options do the same thing but there is a psychological aspect in the second one of you having to physically click the buttons yourself that say "exit game" vs having the game end for you. One you are in control of and saying "yeah I give up, no way we come back from this now", the other says "oh well I guess the game is over and it is on to the next one". The second one is what keeps you playing the game where the first might be followed by a, "yup I am done for the night".

I digress but my point is that its a mental and psychological game that is being played on ourselves and if you were to have the game be the same and essentially a roster update with some gameplay changes, you then have to convince all these HUT guys that even though the game is the same, its time to start from scratch.

Although you have great ideas... 

They do not actually want your feedback - they are Vancouver snobs who have said this for 20+ years and consistently regurgitated the same ideas while presenting them as new and charged you full price for the same game two-years-in-a-row in some cases (NHL legacy), or a half of a game (NHL on PS4).

I wish I could quantify for you how many times people have made lengthy suggestions like this that are logical and earnest, but it's never going to happen. What needs to come first is a good game, with an in-depth career mode and online platform that actually works and doesn't just beg for money at every turn. They could pretty much copy NBA 2k's game modes as a start and be 100% better off.

The team seemingly gets stuck between not responding at all, which people hate, and responding and pretending they are taking your suggestions to heart.  

Either way, they don't think you have any idea what you're talking about or know how to make money. They make boatloads from microtransactions and marketing to children who do not care what the game is (functionally) until they become adults and realize they are getting hosed (which happens to all of us.)

Bigtimetimjim wrote:

 We’re talking about basic features that were already in NHL over a decade ago, ran fine, and made the experience better.

What features? My dude - you need to understand that in order for ChatGPT to provide a response that has some substance, you need to prompt it properly. You're just saying platitudes like "realism needs to be brought back" and "they just need to change their entire business model".  These statements mean nothing without actual examples of exactly what you mean.

Bigtimetimjim wrote:

just bring back the core features that made past games great

like what? provide some actual examples instead of word salad from ChatGPT. 

Bigtimetimjim wrote:

But if it’s really good and you want to keep playing, most people would keep their subscription going year after year

Again with this "If the game was good, people would buy it". Like.. my guy... please understand the vagueness of these statements makes  them drip with insincerity. 

Bigtimetimjim wrote:

it is just a fail safe for EA to roll out a better, higher quality game with many more feature missing and for players to continue subscribing if it is worth it.

How?! Please provide an actual specific example of how a 12-month development cycle would differ under a subscription model. You haven't laid out any specifics other than "if they made the game great, people would subscribe"

We're not starting from scratch every year. Although, there are a lot of people that want a complete rebuild of the game.  As far as a subscription goes, it's hard to see how that's going to drastically change things. It still takes time to develop everything. Moving a subscription isn't going to speed that up.

You also can’t ignore the fact EA has a monopoly on licensed hockey games. There’s no competition breathing down their neck, and they’ve shifted focus to HUT because it’s the cash cow. I get why they do it — it makes money — but pretending that doesn’t affect where time and resources go is just being willfully blind.

Did you see there's a big BaP update coming? There also have been numerous updates to Franchise Mode in recent years. HUT of course gets updates since it's one of the most popular modes. That doesn't mean we're ignoring other modes though. The focus hasn't shifted to HUT. The focus is on the game as a whole. We can't do major overhauls of every mode every year though. 

Old features don't always work as the game moves to new platforms and technology. Only so much can be done in a year. Nobody is being lazy here. This is an unfortunate accusation considering how hard they work. You also have to consider not everyone has the same priorities. So, calling our developers lazy because they aren't handling someone's favorite part of the game, but are working on something they aren't interested in, really isn't fair. For example, presentation is a big deal to many of you, but not to others. Just like the people most interested in gameplay probably aren't going to care as much about players walking out the tunnel and such. We just have to be careful about what gets worked on year to year. Unfortunately, it means some are going to be disappointed because what they wanted got little or no attention.