In a slump...
So I've been playing this game for, oh I don't know... 20 years or so now lol... and I just started playing online this year (I know, late to the party). I started with just online versus just to get used to playing against other people... I'm about 150 or so games in... was about 50%... seems like I'd beat the people with lower ratings, and the people with higher ratings would beat me... I thought the matchmaking was pretty good. The last 25 games... I've won 2.
It's something I'm doing wrong. It has to be. I've played with the sliders and strategies and rosters and lines and teams etc etc (been doing that the whole time, haven't really found any settings that offer any kind of consistency out of my AI guys)... The problem seems to be rooted in the fact that, whether I'm controlling a player or not, nobody on any team I play with seems at all interested in getting the puck. Like... just getting it... and controlling it. I feel like I would be so much better if the game assumed that if I skated near a loose puck, that I want the player to pick it up... or if an AI player is in the passing lane, that his stick should be on the ice and he should try to block the pass in some way.
You know... the basics of hockey.
Another problem I'm having is hitting... this I know for a fact is something I'm doing wrong on both ends of the ice... because nobody I play seems to have any problems like this. When I go for a hit... if the victim alters course by like a millimeter, I fly right past him. When I have the puck and I see a hit coming, I could straight up bust a U-turn and my face is still biting chunks out of the ice while the other team scores their 4th goal of the period off a turnover on Jimmy Howard (who, btw, does NOT suck as much as this game makes him out to...)
I guess my question is... how do I play this game?
It's something I'm doing wrong. It has to be. I've played with the sliders and strategies and rosters and lines and teams etc etc (been doing that the whole time, haven't really found any settings that offer any kind of consistency out of my AI guys)... The problem seems to be rooted in the fact that, whether I'm controlling a player or not, nobody on any team I play with seems at all interested in getting the puck. Like... just getting it... and controlling it. I feel like I would be so much better if the game assumed that if I skated near a loose puck, that I want the player to pick it up... or if an AI player is in the passing lane, that his stick should be on the ice and he should try to block the pass in some way.
You know... the basics of hockey.
Another problem I'm having is hitting... this I know for a fact is something I'm doing wrong on both ends of the ice... because nobody I play seems to have any problems like this. When I go for a hit... if the victim alters course by like a millimeter, I fly right past him. When I have the puck and I see a hit coming, I could straight up bust a U-turn and my face is still biting chunks out of the ice while the other team scores their 4th goal of the period off a turnover on Jimmy Howard (who, btw, does NOT suck as much as this game makes him out to...)
I guess my question is... how do I play this game?
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when Iam on offense, I however use my index finger and put it near the left bumber so I can utilize the special deke button.
yeah that concept of holding the controller a bit differently on offense compared to defense is new to some.
Or the plays where I cannot connect a single hit, yet when I skate into his zone with the puck and get hit from behind, my guy will practically lose complete puck control. And the sad thing is, this happens to my opponents too where my guys are practically invincible. When you've played this enough times, you'll get a good idea within a few minutes of the game which team has that advantage. Timeouts and fights are the only things you can do to fight it.
Sounds like a good call! I’ll have to try it when I replace my controller, which didn’t outlast this slump lol.
Are you on xbox? Sounds like this would make more ergonomic sense on an Xbox rather than PS.
This is not the game, this is the other player protecting the puck. I’m sure the skating doesn’t help, but I’ve found that you can, as the victim, control where the puck goes after a hit by using forhand/backhand controls as the hit comes in. Anytime I’m playing someone that hasn’t picked up on this, I crush them... no matter what kind of slump I’m in.
[quote="ExSnake01;c-1947416
Or the plays where I cannot connect a single hit, yet when I skate into his zone with the puck and get hit from behind, my guy will practically lose complete puck control. And the sad thing is, this happens to my opponents too where my guys are practically invincible. When you've played this enough times, you'll get a good idea within a few minutes of the game which team has that advantage. Timeouts and fights are the only things you can do to fight it.[/quote]
Sorry man, but I don’t believe in ice tilt. I’m not very good with puck control, but I recognize that those that are, are going to get better bounces... it’s like that in real life too. Energy and attributes affect the interactions between the players... of your forward is tired and the defender is catching up to you at the blue line on a breakaway... it’s time to dump and change... unless you can coax them into a penalty shot... but that’s a dice roll with tired players on the ice.
Just realized, left trigger is my skate backwards button. Do you use auto back skate or just prefer not to back skate ?
Little to no puck awareness, input delay, poor skating mechanics. These are the reasons why it's difficult to get the puck after hitting them. Even some invisible bubbles that show up out of nowhere sometimes.
A player on his side or face flat on the ice isn't really protecting the puck. I honestly don't care how awesome you are in this game, for all I know you use the same one or two exploits to score goals against goalies that often do not play like professional goalies.
You being good or bad at this game doesn't translate to how good or bad this game is. A lot of people with the winner mentality will think this game is fine as long as they keep winning. I'm not one of them.
I didn't say those exact words but in the past EA hockey games, there were momentum bars to help gauge how much you had. This is fact. Period.
Now whether it's still in this game is up for debate. Some say it's not in this game, other says there is something that helps sway the game. You don't believe it which is fine. But history and experience are my reasons why I do. Within the first few minutes of the game, it's easy to tell how the game will flow. Based on how well my guys pass, their speed, their poke check effectiveness, if they can connect hits, goalies performance and etc. The winning team generally is better in all these departments.
My OLV record right now is 72-80-14. I can’t dangle, I am terrible at passing, and I have virtually no clue how to use strategies. I’m not very good at this game. I came here looking for insight on how to get better, and I’m met with the response that it doesn’t have anything to do with me, it’s all the game. Well sorry man, I don’t believe I’m being targeted by the evil coders... I have plenty to learn.
I’ve figured out one of the things I’m doing wrong with hitting... that is that I’m using the right stick too soon, so while I’m pushing it in the direction the other player used to be, he’s going in a different direction by the time my player gets to him... I suspect this is what people are doing when they talk about the “invisible bubble”.
This will most likely be my last post on this forum, because I’m looking for discussion with other people who actually enjoy playing this game... and there seems to be more people like you here that just insists that the game cheats, rather than finding a way to get better, that there is the type of players I’m looking for.
I’m not much of a versus player myself, mainly club, so I can’t give you much advice gamemode wise. But in general, try to learn your opponents tendencies, learn when to be patient with the puck vs when to pass a lot/quickly.
I also find it fun and useful to watch some of the good you tubers out there and see how they play.
Don’t be discouraged. Keep plugging away and give it time.
You are putting a lot of words in my mouth. I didn't say there were evil coders, ice-tilt, or the game cheating. Every few nights, I do play the game. I am still having fun with it. But I can't ignore all the problems it has too. I simply stated "what I think" this game has that possibly sways the game. It's not a fact, it's my opinion.
Is the game perfect? I strongly feel it's not. Maybe you do which is fine. But it's a hard argument to make that this game is close to being the perfect hockey game. It's funny because a lot of the problems you have in the game are exactly what I'm experiencing. The solution? Try to beat your opponent and move on to the next game and hopefully your guys will play better like actually wanting to retrieve the puck. If you really want to try something when your team is playing awful, try to start fights or call timeouts. I'm not kidding, this works frequently. It won't always work but I've seen results doing it. It's really a game-by-game basis.
Forums can have controversial topics. If you can't handle a civil argument/discussion about, then suit yourself. I won't reply anymore since you perceive me as derailing your topic.
This is something I do have a problem pulling off... most of the time I’m so focused on what I have to do that I pay no mind to what the other player is doing. Inversely I’ve noticed that towards the end of the game I’m pretty predictable.
I have improved my passing since I started playing online... which is something I learned from YouTube vids. Been playing with the pass-assist slider and my sweet spot seems to be around 60-70 with that... once I figured that out my passing % went from 35-40% to about 60%... so I’m happy with that so far.
I’ve also noticed that people are used to their opponents going full speed all the time... very rarely do I use the speed burst function on offense... and I’m doing a lot more dumping than i ever thought I would in this game.
On defense I play pretty low pressure as when I attack on the forecheck, they generally cut through the NZ like butter. I’d like to forecheck more, but I usually play with the red wings, and, we’ll... Jimmy...
Thanks for the tips.