Community ManagerThis is actually by design because your player is not yet proven to overthrow the current center. Most rookies that are drafted as centers don't play center right away. Even if you move up to the first line, you won't bump great centers to the wing like McDavid.
This doesn't make sense since we still get coaches directions as if we were playing center. And also why would you let us set our primary and secondary position if you can't play it? I was center with LW as secondary position but Im always forced to play RW. Also, is be a pro a game mode that is meant for us to have fun or for it to be 100% realistic - because then we shouldn't get as much ice time as we do, There shouldn't be as much media interest in everything we do and the commentators should keep talking about us like we are the lord and savior. Very little in be a pro is 100% realistic why would you start with the position? I would understand that maybe if you got to pay center once in a while and play more if you prove yourself - but that's not how it is either.
If this is for realism - at least give us the option to to change it. It's offline be a pro not competitive online. I'm an adult. I have a few hours a week that I get to play - I can't grind several years just to be able to play my position.
I suspect that you have a bug but you claim its a feature so you don't have to fix it.
At the very least, the coach should recognize you as a Center and give you opportunities to prove yourself as a one. I would rather play Center on the 2nd or 3rd line than be stuck on a wing I have no interest in playing season after season. I'm an actual hockey player lol I know what I'm talking about here.
Community Manager
@EA_Blueberry wrote:
@therockstardanFeedback is fair. We've seen others mention they're not favorable of what direction the team took for this and passed along the thoughts. I suppose if you started in the position you wanted and if it was Sidney Crosby someone could say "Why would you start over him, he shouldn't be moved?", so it could go both ways but it's nice to have flexibility in what you want to do with your BAP mode. Maybe they will add an option in settings in a future update or title to let you choose, but as for the moment they went with the real life/simulation feel where you have to work your way up to prove yourself.
Just curious about that statement. If they supposedly went with the prove yourself path, then why do I overtake gibsons starting job when I’m a 74ovr goalie, that never posts a sv% above .900? Why do they start to favour an awful goalie over Gibson who’s proven to be one of the best in the game?
and this applies to literally every other game mechanic.. except for overtaking centre jobs. But you can play 1line minutes on the wing of Crosby, pushing down guentzel, when you’re a 73ovr even if you’re not scoring many points (a 73ovr shouldn’t be posting 70-120point seasons anyways, but in this “new” BAP mode, they seem to do it no matter what)
so asides from having to prove yourself as a good centre man, you’re just handed 1st line minutes anyways since the game just gives you everything and forces you to be a superstar.
There is almost literally nothing about “proving” yourself in this game anyway, you can put in minimal effort and be a superstar.
there is no actual challenge to the game, because one of the key features, being drafted, is pointless now. You don’t have to work for it anymore. You play 2-4 games in playoffs and get drafted 1st if you get 4 points.
Community Manager
@refined98 wrote:
@EA_BlueberrySo basically you are saying Be A Pro is for beginner type of players as it stands right now? There's a tons of hardcore Franchise and BAP players out there whom has been played NHL games a long time.. It's been massive disappointment, unplayable to be honest here.
I was very excited for this supposed “revamp” they highly touted before release. The BAP and FM players are the loyal ones. We’ve been here for years and years. BAP and FM is actually about hockey. The HUT and stuff is about competitive gameplay which you can find in tons of games ie call of duty, fortnite, league of legends, etc etc.
I like competition, makes things fun, but I play NHL for the actual hockey experience, especially after a year where we saw hockey end early, and rec hockey in my town was shut down early too, I was looking forward to experiencing hockey again. But I was very very disappointed in the product that was released. It wasn’t even close to hitting the mark that they should have aimed for.
I just wanted a game, along with many other people, where we can work our behinds off, to prove ourselves to NHL clubs, and get drafted accordingly. Not get drafted 1st for putting up 4 points.
a game where I’m not given captaincy immediately following my rookie season, or following a trade and have yet played a game for said team.
a game where if I’m playing poorly, I get sent down to develop further. Not get scratched for a game or two and get incite second chances.
a game where my hand isn’t held and I’m spoon fed everything to become a superstar
A game where I have to work and prove myself that I can play centre, either it be on the wing for a bit, 4th line, or even 1st/2nd line in the AHL (if it existed in the game mode that is, which it doesn’t this year)
A little off topic but I didn't want to create another bug report since they all go ignored anyway. In BAP, is there an icon/screen area where I can see my entire career stats to date? Or is this something that EA failed to implement entirely? Since I've bounced around to a couple teams, I'd like to look back and see what my stats were with certain teams. Similar to what you'd see on the back of a hockey card. I guess this is not "in the game"?
I hope this isn't the reason. Center is the only position protected by that. That is SAD!! I can bump any of the other dozens of superstars at any other position in BE A PRO but not center. Lol!! Who thought that up?? Rammer? Do better.
Community ManagerI feel you on that. This was the intended design as I was told, so getting different perspectives from the community on how they want to enter into this game mode and play different positions right off the bat is important for us to understand what work needs to be done going forward. We'll pass this along to the team, hopefully they can add your requested game design change/addition into the game within a patch. If not, it's something that will be considered by the Be a Pro team for a future NHL title.
Always appreciate the conversation, thanks for playing NHL 21 and good luck to you all on the ice this new year.
Community Manager@EA_Blueberry I'm just gonna bump this again so that it stays on someone's mind how awful this is. A completely non-functioning feature. I pre-ordered this game because of the BAP overhaul. Its the only mode I really love and paid full price for the first time in eons to show that I support that. Well I will never be buying another one of these games again. Ever. There are mountains of obvious other bugs in this mode and other similar modes (offline modes that EA can't profiteer as hard on I guess). but lets focus in on secondary positions. So we are trying to get a sense here of whether or not this is a bug or just the worst design decision possible. Lets look at the facts of position selecting
1: forwards cannot 2nd D and D cannot 2nd forward
2: Wings are placed interchangeably on L or R depending on team openings regardless of which wing is their primary/secondary
3: a 1st or 2nd overall drafted center will play a season at least as a top line winger, until his overall surpasses either Zebanijad or Kopitar
4: A winger who's secondary is another wing will NEVER (I repeat, n-e-v-e-r) be played as a center
4a: A winger who'd secondary is center will NEVER (I repeat even louder N_E_V_E_R) be played as a center
5: Coaches set goals based on primary position roles, and you will be docked for not taking faceoffs
6: on that note: the only skill in the game (as a skater) that can only be trained by 1 position is faceoffs by center. So even if you play long enough to get your overall to 88+ at wing and actually get put at center, you'll be facing off against top line centers in the NHL with a 55-60 faceoff stat unless you dedicate training hours (needed to advance things like speed and balance) needlessly to a skill you can't even use until you're 88+ overall
7: You cannot play bad enough to be center. If you get yourself demoted to the 4th line, you can't play center at 4th. You can't play center at 3rd. you can only advance to being a top line winger for YEARS before maybe being allowed to be center.
8: A lower line center is more likely to replace the center on your line if they are injured than you unless you are on the 1st line
There are others but that covers the bulk of it. So the claim here is that this is not a bug that is being ignored but is actually on purpose. And that that purpose is to simulate realism. Lets talk realism point by point. Point 1: 2 of the most well-known position shifting players of the current era were Byfuglien and Burns, who both played foward and D. And yet I can't think of 1 top line in the league that would be looking to swap its right wing with its center. No team is built like that. but players do go from D to F and F to D. So on point 1 its entirely unrealistic. Bad start. Point 2: your cover player is ALEX OVECHKIN. I know EA doesn't care about the NHL games but good lord pretend like you know who is on your box. Ovi played 1 season out of 15 as a right wing. not his first, like his 7th from a weird stupid coach and everyone remembers it as a huge mistake. so if I'm meant to be making a legacy for myself like a realy 1st overall like ovi, in BAP, why can't I follow the trajectory of those same players? If I'm putting up hat tricks every game why am I on the wrong side? Unrealistic. Point 3: Ovi's rivals are Malkin and Crosby. 2 centers, drafted 1st overall and 2nd overall to THE SAME TEAM, who have played center their entire careers. So more real world examples from the real NHL showing that any chance of claiming this was for realism is a complete lie. Point 4: this is actually realistic. because center is a specialized role, it doesn't mean "a very good winger". Its almost like everything about the other positions is indicating something completely counter to your claim about center. Point 5: Do I even have to say it? That coach would be fired immediately for demoting a player for not doing something he didn't let the player even try to do. especially when that player is a 1st overall pick and that something is playing the correct position. Point 6: Please find me 1 example of a player who spends hours per week training faceoffs to play wing. top line wing. Please. 1. find me 1 player. I'll wait. Point 7: why is it that the game identifies that AI players have no issue being locked into the center role even on the bottom line, but I can't? Nic Dowd has more staying power as a 4th line C than I can as an 85 OA 1st overall player leading the league in scoring. cooooooooooool. and point 8: seriously?
So its either that something was made for realism that has no dimensions of realism to it. Or, and hear me out here, this is a bug. The feature is not functioning and should be fixed. How hard can it be to tweak the likelihood that you can play C? Or at least if you're going to lie to cover up for an obvious bug, make sure the cover player and that players lifelong rivals aren't high draft picks that slotted into their positions on day 1 and never moved. Because its like spray-painting "we're liars" on the cover of every game.
There, I'm done. With this stupid game and its future instances. I just had to say my piece after reading through these absolutely unacceptable BS replies covering for the failures of this game that blueberry is offering. 60 dollars that I would've been better off lighting on fire. Even just getting BAP up to like fifa levels of fun to play, if a bit thoughtless and annoying, would be worth the 60 bucks to me. This was the only reason I had a ps4, play everything else on PC. good to know I won't need a PS5.
In my be a pro I am a right wing primary and center secondary. Is there a way to be center permanently? I am the best forward and the captain on my team (which I gotta say I feel the game gives you the C to early and I feel like I didn’t really deserve it)
What really sucks is playing a full season at Center, winning all the hardware and being totally awesome, then the team goes and gets a Center thats a 94 to play in front of you at 92... Why would a team that had a dominant Center sign one that is essentially the same? Oh to make the game moderately less fun for the player...
In my second year I am still on the wing. I have 79 overall faceoffs. Trevor zegras in his FIRST YEAR has 74 overall faceoffs and is playing center instead of me. Stop trying to logically justify it when it is clearly a bug in the game. Also why is the pk line score so * up? I could have 3 blocked shots, 3 take aways and zero goals against in one game and the pk line score goes down.
Got made Center after 38 games for the rangers season 1, smashing face offs and scoring lots of goals, 20-2, then the next game back on the wing where we only just scrape a win. 6-4 going from Center to wing confuses the hell out of me the defence zones are different and the team never want to pass when I’m on the wing even if I’m wide open. I’m point leader assist leader and top goal scorer yet still haven’t proven myself I guess
I get the “needing to prove yourself” aspect, but there’s one thing that definitely needs to be fixed. I now have two coaching goals for defense and team player that assume I’m a center. Since I’m not, I have no way of completing them, and so they just sit there, and will continue to do so until I’ve “proved myself” enough to take over a center spot. This is definitely a flaw, and should probably be addressed. I need to be able to meet these goals to keep progressing. Hopefully this gets patched soon to update your goals to be in line with the position you actually play at the time.
