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beeq76's avatar
beeq76
Rising Rookie
7 months ago

Please Add Resume Function for Bot Games

Hey EA Sports team and fellow NHL 26 players,

I need to talk about something that's been grinding my gears (and I'm sure many of yours too). We all know that sweet, sweet bonus reward you get in Cup Chase mode when you manage to go undefeated through the entire tournament against bots. It's like the hockey equivalent of a perfect game - rare, satisfying, and totally achievable if you pick the right difficulty and bring your A-game.

Here's the problem: You're cruising through your tournament, maybe 5 games deep with a perfect record, feeling like the next Wayne Gretzky... and then BAM! Server disconnect. Not because of your internet. Not because you rage-quit. Just because the EA servers decided to take a coffee break at the worst possible moment.

And what do you get for this technical hiccup? A lovely loss on your tournament bracket and a one-way ticket to Disappointment City, because that bonus reward just became impossible to achieve.

The Solution Should Be Obvious

Look, I get it - online multiplayer games can't have resume functions because you can't exactly pause a real human opponent and ask them to wait while you reconnect. But we're talking about BOT GAMES here, people! These are AI opponents that exist purely in the game's memory. They're not going anywhere. They're not getting impatient. They're literally just waiting for someone to tell them what to do next.

Please, EA, give us a resume function for bot-only modes like Cup Chase. When a disconnect happens:

  • Save the game state (score, time, tournament progress)
  • Let us reconnect and continue where we left off
  • Keep our perfect tournament run alive when it's YOUR servers that caused the problem

This isn't some impossible technical feat - it's basic game state management that should be standard for any single-player or bot-based mode. The technology exists. Other games do this. Even mobile games figured this out years ago.

Why This Matters

Some of us actually enjoy the challenge of going undefeated in these tournaments. We plan our gaming sessions around it. We pick our difficulty carefully, we play strategically, and we invest our time in pursuing that perfect run. When server issues rob us of rewards we legitimately earned, it's not just frustrating - it's genuinely unfair.

I'm not asking for participation trophies or easier gameplay. I'm asking for basic technical reliability in a game mode that should be completely immune to server connectivity issues.

TL;DR: Please add resume functionality for bot games in Cup Chase and similar modes. When I lose because I got outplayed, I'll take it on the chin. When I lose because your servers sneezed, that's a problem that needs fixing.

bug
connectivity
playstation
technical issues

3 Replies

  • EA_Aljo's avatar
    EA_Aljo
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    7 months ago

    Hello. Thanks for the constructive feedback. I agree it would be great to pick up where you left off. I really don't know all the technical details behind that. It's probably not an easy thing to develop that works perfectly every time. There's also the issue where this could be manipulated. For instance, we couldn't have it just connect you to the previous faceoff since that would be used to manipulate the outcome. It could get you out of getting scored on, for example.

    We're investigating the disconnects. However, no online game or mode is ever immune to connectivity issues. You won't even find an ISP guaranteeing 100% uptime. There's just too many variables that can't be controlled.

    Is Cup Chase the only mode you're disconnecting in?

  • beeq76's avatar
    beeq76
    Rising Rookie
    7 months ago

    Thanks for the thoughtful response! I completely understand the anti-cheat concerns - you're absolutely right that preventing manipulation in online games is incredibly challenging. I've seen how quickly developers have to disconnect players when anything unexpected happens, and I actually experienced this firsthand when one of my players got stuck in a toe drag animation. The game continued normally for a few seconds before the disconnect kicked in, which makes perfect sense from a server stability perspective.

    Your point about connectivity issues being complex is well taken too. It's easy to blame game servers when the reality is that disruptions can happen anywhere along the chain from console to server.

    Here's a thought though: would it be possible to make Cup Chase a completely offline mode? The game could report results after each individual match rather than maintaining constant connection. For example, the server could receive notification when a game starts and then wait for the result within a reasonable timeframe. If no result is reported within that window, it could automatically register as a loss. This would eliminate mid-game disconnects while still maintaining anti-cheat integrity - players couldn't manipulate results by disconnecting since a disconnect would simply count as a loss.

    I know that might create other technical challenges, but it could solve the core issue for legitimate players while keeping the mode's competitive integrity intact.

    To answer your question: Cup Chase definitely has the most disconnects for me, by far. It's actually become my go-to mode this year because ranked has been pretty disappointing - the rewards are practically non-existent, especially when you're stuck in Silver 1. Cup Chase was a nice alternative that actually felt rewarding, which makes these disconnects even more frustrating.

    On Cup Chase, I've  experienced a freeze bug, many times actually, where the game gets stuck between the second and third periods. You can spam X all you want, but the players just stand there frozen on the ice (though menus still work). I understand that particular issue has been addressed on your end.

    Thanks again for looking into the disconnect issues. Even if a resume function isn't technically feasible, just having more stable connections would go a long way.

  • EA_Aljo's avatar
    EA_Aljo
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    7 months ago

    Thanks for the response.

    Here's a thought though: would it be possible to make Cup Chase a completely offline mode? The game could report results after each individual match rather than maintaining constant connection. For example, the server could receive notification when a game starts and then wait for the result within a reasonable timeframe. If no result is reported within that window, it could automatically register as a loss. This would eliminate mid-game disconnects while still maintaining anti-cheat integrity - players couldn't manipulate results by disconnecting since a disconnect would simply count as a loss.

    Since this is a mode in HUT, it will require an online connection since all of HUT requires this. So, we'd need this mode to be outside of HUT. 

    On Cup Chase, I've  experienced a freeze bug, many times actually, where the game gets stuck between the second and third periods. You can spam X all you want, but the players just stand there frozen on the ice (though menus still work). I understand that particular issue has been addressed on your end.

    This issue is currently being investigated. I personally haven't had it happen yet, but I imagine it will at some point. I know I'm going to have some choice words when I'm struck by it. Disconnecting frequently in Rivals though might be a connection issue. We could troubleshoot that if you like. Unless you're on a wireless connection. If that's the case, most likely that's the reason for the disconnects.

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