NHL 20 Feedback Discussion

@EA_Aljo 

You're going to have different results playing with more humans. My team would rather win games so we don't use human RD's anymore; I probably could have gotten you a ton of clips before but those had to be deleted to make room for my next video... Honestly though, is there some secret button combo to tell your ai to reposition that I don't know about?

Are you able to explain about stock vs custom branding? I can get not wanting to model mascot jerseys but don't understand why we'd lose the center ice logo, or why our gloves constantly change colours. Obviously I'm missing something here but i'd assume combining stock and custom would be one of those "flip a switch" type deals...

@TTZ_Dipsy 

It would be great to see this in action. Like I've said, I've been playing RD for years and the LD is never in my way. I only had time for one game last night, but it was just myself at RD, RW and center. The LD stayed on his side the whole time. 

As far as the issue with branding goes, I really don't know, but I'm trying to get some more information on this. I rarely ever touch customization personally. I let other guys on my club handle that.

@EA_Aljo 

It's only been a problem this year and we were only playing with 2 people. In any case, the team has decided to just call it quits since nobody is really having fun anymore so I guess I'll be back here when the true PS5 version hits. Good luck and have fun

@TTZ_Dipsy 

I hate to see you guys go, but that's understandable. If I weren't having fun, I'm sure I'd play something else as well. Take care and hope to see you again in the future.

@EA_Aljo 

While in between games I've been also trying to finish up offline - there are a few issues.

1. Threes - Swapping out players should be done via a drop-down menu, not a slider where you can't see beyond +-1 card. This will be a big QoL fix.

2. Threes - Remove the coin toss or just allow us to pick and save preferred settings in the main menu please - I can restart the game and try again faster than it takes to finish even one period when the other team chooses it; please give us the option to choose between money pucks and goal caps for winning and playing until periods run out.

3. Threes - Way too many button presses to leave a match (it was around 13 or so iirc); unlock tiles take extra time to show up when you try leaving without manually checking them first. There is enough room on a single screen to show all stars, points, and unlocks you earned.

4. Threes - Personal gripe but I don't like being the "Fridge Raiders"

5. AIl modes - Players constantly get tangled with you and it slows everything down to a standstill. Not sure how it could be implemented but being able to brush by/avoid your teammates via tweaks to the momentum system would be nice.

6. All modes - It's easy to manipulate the AI on the ice to stop moving (or just start twitching in place) when you take the puck behind your net with your stick aimed towards the boards.

7. All modes - I completely understand wanting to protect the puck, but not being allowed to pass at all, even when it's safe, is a bit of an inconvenience.

8. BAP - Allow us to save sliders. I like to be done with offline as fast as possible and it sucks having to always change settings for all the different types of feats you want us to accomplish at certain points in the year. It's a personal gripe again, but would just be nice to have the option.

9. BAP - Apparently you can sim to the last few minutes and play the remainder of a game when you're in the NHL but you're unable to do that if you're in the juniors (at least I was for that particular season).

10. A green alien, the Tommy Hawk mascot, and my BaP character all have their own character pictures in the stat screens but my EASHL created character is just a silhouette; It's just a little salt in the wound for players who prioritize EASHL over other modes.

11. Threes - "Harder" teams/teams further in the circuit, give you worse mascots than you already have... would be nice to see that fixed.

12. Threes Elim - It takes an ungodly amount of time to leave once a match is done, please get rid of mandatory highlights; Even just removing the first two goals and only showing the winner would work.

13. Threes - I think you can get away with meeging Threes offline and PRO AM together; required trophies would be an easier pill to swallow since the pro am side of things gives you chel exp.

14. BAP - Simming takes too long and menus are dreadfully slow. New console SSD's should hopefully solve this.

15. Franchise - Jack Adams award isn't guaranteed even after bringing a scrub team to the cup - I think luck-based trophies need to be tweaked a bit.

16. Training Camp - Allow progress to be saved and for the mode itself to be fast-tracked - I'm fine with advanced skills being required for a trophy since they involve more inputs, but 9.9 people out of 10 know how to flick the right stick for a shot.

A reset button would be nice when you're on the ice. It's kind of annoying having to wait for the ai defensman to skate up to center with the puck.

@TTZ_Dipsy 

As always, thanks for all the feedback. It's appreciated.

the goalies in this game are absolutely trash. you have 88 ovr playing worse than a 77 silver card. the gameplay is absolute *. passes never go to who you want, input lag is * horrible. it’s 2020 everybody has good internet fix the damn servers so we can go and enjoy a game for once. when the other team is coming in on the rush and i go to switch to the defenseman WHY do i end up controlling the center who’s still in their zone. your game gets worse every * year. the only goals that are scored are cross crease goals or some * deflection. it’s been atleast 5 years since you’ve released a good game. figure this * out your game is gonna die because it’s absolute trash 

@nhlgamesarebad 

Can you get me some video of passes going where you don't intend them to? Just get a replay with the controller overlay showing. That will greatly help. Also, what's your online pass assist set to?

As far as input lag goes, are you on a wired or wireless connection? We'll go through some troubleshooting and see if we can get that improved.

When it comes to player switching, you can also manually switch by holding in RT/R2 and flicking the right stick in the direction of the player you want.

I haven't seen only cross-crease or deflection goals get scored. There are many different ways to score, but if someone is constantly giving up cross-crease goals, especially if they decide to let the computer play defense for them, they need to take control of the defenders and stop that play. Just like in real life, if a team finds an easy way to score and their opponent doesn't adapt, they'll keep using that same strategy.

Speaking of which, changing strategies is also very important. Try adjusting them to counter how your opponent is playing. That can make a pretty big difference.

 Once again the developers at EA have created a terrible game. This is not surprising when they prioritize money and gimmicks over quality of gameplay. The number of fundamental problems with this game are endless and are even further compounded by the greedy practices used by the company in the employment of their DDA system which makes the playing of this game a complete crapshoot on sometimes. The lack of a fundamental understanding of basic physics makes me wonder if the people designing the game actually have experience doing anything. This is not a hockey game, but rather a game designed for people with manual dexterity who have the ability to skate around shifting their thumb left to right to "protect the puck" while simultaneously creating an invisible wall around them making them impervious to anything despite no logical reason for that to happen. What's the point of even having things like pass assist when it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. Passing the puck to a forward ahead in the play while pushing up? Oh sorry the player is just slightly left so I'm going to pass it to the right so that it can go for an icing. Trying to lift a players stick while standing right beside him? I'm going to just hook that player for no reason. Pressing the button to hit a player? I'm just going to skate there doing nothing. But heaven forbid you come within three feet of the goalie and you're going to go tumbling over taking your sweet * time getting up and putting you out of the play.

Any particular reason on a two on one that the defenseman would not only stop skating, but move forwards creating a last minute 2-0? I thought the AI was stupid last year but this one is even worse. Not only in their decision making but also the number of times they get in the way. The offsides where they get stuck. The invisible goal line. Goals that come out of nowhere. Wrap arounds. Players intercepting passes with precision behind their back. The "logic" that is the player switching and line changes. The list goes on and on.

EA and the developers should be embarrassed at what they've created. They should, but we all know that they won't be. Why? My guess is that there are two reasons. 1 - They don't actually know what's going on with the game and the ramifications of all their decisions. I was told by a high level player/youtuber that at an EA event last year the developers were shocked that people were abusing the LT move. 2 - People are still spending thousands of dollars on packs which is what it's all about. Why are people spending the money? Because they have the disposable income combined with the whole pack buying thing being an addiction.

I actually bought my PS4 a year ago (first console since the N64) because I fell in love with NHL 19 and specifically the threes circuit. I won't lie. I kind of regret it now after realizing what a garbage state this series is in right now with absolutely no reason to feel optimistic towards the future.

Hello, @lphabsfan.

Thanks for all the feedback.

First and foremost, there is no DDA. Absolutely none at all in NHL. The outcome of games is based on the inputs from the humans holding the controllers, the strategies being used and the overalls of the players on the ice.

Protecting the puck by holding it to your forehand or backhand so it's out of reach of defenders does not create a bubble that makes them immune to hits.

If you can get me some videos of the AI issues, invisible goal line and goals coming from nowhere, I'll review them. The most recent update shouldn't be allowing players to intercept the puck behind their back when it's outside of their vision. If this is happening, please get me a video of it.

Also, I'll need to see your passes going where you aren't aiming. Just go into a replay and hit Y or Triangle to show the controller overlay.

Taking hooking penalties means you're behind the player and using a bad angle for a stick lift. If you get in better positioning, chances are good the lift will work.

I will agree with you about players getting stuck offside. That is really frustrating and I know the dev team is aware of it. Hopefully, we'll see that improved in the future.

The LT'ing has been cut down a lot with the most recent update. Have you played since that came out? A couple things you mentioned were changed so if you haven't played yet, try out the update and let me know what you thnk.

Hello community managers!

i managed to make a video that shows that your passing AI is faulty and this is a probleme, Really good that you made it an option to skip the period highlights but in my opinion this is a bigger problem because it affects the gameplay and it's really frustrating

https://youtu.be/s8BN0iCIUCU

Hi there, @Martin84161.

What is your online pass assist set to?

@Martin84161

There is absolutely nothing built into the game to force people to play longer by giving weaker players an artificial advantage. There is no DDA, ice tilt or scripting.

Your online assist is set at 95. That's why the pass went to the player it did. Had you turned down the assist a lot lower, the pass would have gone more where you aimed it.

@EA_Aljo 

https://youtu.be/jKfMwyzGUu4

1. Goalie being stupid

2. Horrible goalie play; just cover it up you idiot

3. AI not making an effort to leave the zone

4. Daydreaming AI - he was set to be aggressive on the puck

5. This stupid dumb idiot cost us the game with this boneheaded play

6. Uh huh, "the AI will always pass to you' eh? This is why touch passing mistakes happen

7. 50% of the time the AI just freaks out in the neutral zone - forced me to take a penalty

8. Stupid pass that they always try to make

9. Not only did he not try to defend at all, he made sure to give him extra room for an OP OHT

10. There was no reason for him to do this

11. D just completely allowed him in and forced us to trip

12. Great job there, AI

13. I hate when they dump the puck but silly goose passes like these are way worse

14. D and winger would rather hump each other than defend the net like they are supposed to

15. How hasn't this been fixed? Been around for a good 10 years now

16. Here it is again

17. Just like #5, what the heck was he thinking? Just tap it in, jeez

18. Awful pass. Hockey 101: don't pass it up the middle

19. How the heck isn't that interference?

20. Another example of the defender purposely giving them space

21. This stupid pass again...

22. Didn't attack the guy like he's supposed to. I don't need them to be perfect, I just want them to exert a minimal amount of effort. I'd gladly accept a tripping penalty but for some reason, we can't make them do that.

23. This is another bogus call that needs fixing.

24. I didn't impede his movement at all; that isn't goalie interference.

25. Why is he passing right at the net like that? You just don't do that when there is a small chance it can go in.

26. Great job grabbing the puck and then making the easy save...

27. Anything would have made more sense than dumping the puck.

28. I thought you said you fixed these goals? We have 0 tools to effectively grab the puck from the line.

29. Another goalie letting it squeak by

30, 31, 32. If someone gets a penalty in 3's on a human player they immediately attack the cpu because they know that over 80% of the time they are completely useless as you can see here. They don't even try it's so annoying. We don't expect them to be legends, just to put in some minimal effort...

BONUS ROUND - I only put in 6 clips because I was too lazy to trim the other 20+ showcasing just how useless asking/waiting for a pass from the cpu can be.

https://youtu.be/rHRLvu-Vy-A

Defender not doing their job and then another stupid interference penalty that wasn't my fault at all. I'd really like to see changes made if not a straight-up deletion of that nasty multi-rink arena in EASHL - so many empty seats and bad camera angles.

@TTZ_Dipsy

playing online...... consistently inconsistent

1. the passing is awful, player wide open charging the net with 2 on 1.. nope, pass to the corner or some other place where the puck wasn't intended.

2. the passing is awful, try to pass and there is a delay with the pass, this is hockey so pass quickness is key.

3.the passing is awful, pass back to an WIDE open D-man for a 1-timer .. nope, pass splits the D all the way to the other end.

4.the passing is awful, player set up between the circles for a pass.. nope, lets pass it to someone who is covered and the pass isn't intended for that creates and odd man rush the other way.

have been a loyal customer of EA games since the 90s but EA's online hockey has been such a disappointing experience that i stopped buying hockey games for a period of time and gave it one last shot this time...  no more.

i have to ask, are NHL professional personnel or even minor league hockey personnel consulted when this game is put together? for as much as the opening price of it was they should be.

is there a reason the price of this particular game went to $20 for the full addition in seemingly record time?

it's not even so much the technicalities of the game as it is so much the basics of the hockey.. 

passing... 50/50 chance that it will get to the player it's intended for especially on an odd man rush the other way and the player is wide open for the pass.

shooting... 90% of the time it's right at the middle of the goalie or completely off net.

goalie... stands there with the puck on his stick blade in a lot of instances causing a turnover.... just cover the puck!

interference... constant interference where another teams player just checks players to take them out of odd man rushes.. no penalties.

AI incredibly never gets tired, players fresh off the bench in a line change during play on a brake away can be caught by the other teams AI who've been on the ice forever.

will stop there......

i was hesitant on buying this due to past experiences with EA NHL online gaming and have never returned or asked for a refund on any game that i have ever purchased in my life but am asking this forum who i would need to contact to ask for a refund of the $20 i spent on this??  it's way more frustrating than fun on any level and easily the worst game i have ever owned.

thank you

Hello, @steelers585858.

Can you get some video of the passing issues you're having? Make sure you're showing the controller overlay as well so we can see where you're aiming and where the puck is going. We definitely want to know if passes aren't going where you aim.