WOC Defense

Would love to run it against you. What’s your ea id.

Yet everything else is based on attribute. Make it make sense 

KidShowtime1867​ ill gladly watch your stream in chel and see what you're saying is true. I'll even play alongside you in some pubs just to test if you are so confident that there isn't a problem ill stream it or you can. I don't need a clip we can do it LIVE! we can even dissect the stream afterwards and see what is and what isn't. just you and me and randoms (we both play defense)

I’m too old to stream lol but I’d gladly team up together and play some D

ea id is forum usernameBranFerg17​ 

KidShowtime1867​ I got a NHL league today.  I'll add you we can roll tomorrow you will be getting invite from Timba101

you cherry picked some clips against nobs congrats show a full game against 3 160lbs waterbugs 

Sounds like KidShowtime1867​ and BranFerg17​ need a 6v6 to see how everything works first hand. 👀

My club wasn't around last night, so I played some drop-ins. I know this won't satisfy anyone who thinks only they play stiff competition, but drop-ins can be filled with sweats too. Here are some more examples of how poke check works

Below are a few examples. I didn't want to grind this thread with GIFs, so I've put plenty more examples in this album of GIFS: https://imgur.com/a/liz3nld

Here I am getting burned, just to show you that mistakes happen

Here are more poke check examples:

I think this is larger an issue than just a couple of xfactors or weak pokes. The whole pressure meter system is frankly stupid and should be taken out altogether. It's artificial as heck. If you have good offence going, lots of cycling the puck and shots, THAT is the pressure YOU create, by playing the game well. You don't need to have this pressure gauge. You don't need xfactors that raise the pressure just by having it. And the pressure system doesn't even work properly, especially when you finally get the puck out of your zone, you are magically drained out of your remaining stamina by passing the center line. Plus, getting hit constantly (and late) drains your drained players even more, so sometimes you spend the entire period out of gas. This is especially bad in Threes.

The second thing is that the builds are crazy this year, and funnily enough it's easier to create an OP forward than it is to create an OP defender. It's about how the skills are grouped, and secondly about how attributes like shooting don't really matter that much, so you can just drop them down and add everything to skating and agility. The back hand forehand works too well against CPU and human goalies, because they just can't match the lateral speed of the opponent. Add to this how OP some offensive xfactors are compared with defensive xfactors. It's not very good. I would say last year's game was better than this year at this point.

And then finally the mechanics of the game, how easy it's to spin and deke without losing the puck, how pokes and stick-lifts barely work at all. And I think tying the stick in front of the goal seems a little more difficult than it used to be?

On the plus side? Well, hip checks are more rare, and tipping the puck happens less. So that's positive, at least for now.

But it's no fun to play defence, and I expect it's not much fun to play goalies either. You have to be way better player in these positions, whereas forward players get everything handed to them on platter. But I guess 6v6 gaming is not a priority with EA?

These games have always been tuned around forwards, because they almost have to be. Scoring is fun, and for a young or casual fan that's probably what they notice most about the game, because it's what gets the most attention. Can't really fault them for that. If you pick up the game as a casual fan and can't score, you probably won't play it very long. 

That said, you're not wrong about the attributes. You can safely dump ten points out of each of your shots and have 95 speed on any build, and you pretty much have to, because if you don't, it's not going to matter how high your shot is, you'll never get in the zone to use it. A one-timer in the slot will almost always go in if the angle is right. Sometimes I can pick the short side corner over the goalie's shoulder with 73 WSP and WSA. Passing is dead easy, you can bomb a breakout pass two zones tape to tape with 80 passing. Stick checking isn't that good right now, you can safely leave it low and just get in the way with decent awareness. Sometimes you take it from a guy as he's turning without even having to stick check him. 

I just played a game at center where the opposing center was using the Hammer Grinder loadout. Never even got to see if any of his stuff was worth it, because he never lined me up for a hit and once I got a step on him I was gone. Kicker? It has 92 speed and acceleration! I think my build has 94, but with Wheels it's like I had 100 and he had 80. It's like turning the sliders all the way up in Be a Pro. Just seems like maybe they need a more dynamic range in there. I can tell in the first minute of the game if the opposing team is going to be able to knock me down or not, or whether they're going to be able to catch me or not. 

Honestly, any time there are "loadouts", there's going to be a meta. It's like playing WZ using the starting perks. They all do something, but if you run into someone using the standard meta perks, you're probably going to get hosed. I like the idea of build variance, but speed is always killer and right now there isn't a very good counter aside from thugging them every chance you get and hoping you injure them.