When can we expect EA to take their game/fan base seriously?
It seems like they don’t play test their game or care enough to improve it.
The fanbase doesnt care about cosmetic items we would love a game that works i mean we paid $79.95 for it
The fanbase doesnt care about cosmetic items we would love a game that works i mean we paid $79.95 for it
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The head gameplay dev is on here frequently asking questions and taking/sharing feedback. Other CM’s and myself are always relaying concerns. What gives you the impression no one cares and do not take the game seriously?
Another thing that frustrates me is how dumb the A.I defence is in 3’s EASHL, especially when taking a penalty shot.
The server inconsistencies, one day my ping is 30 the next it’s 70 ms and my guy is sluggish and slow.
That’s 3 off the top of my head, the dev’s never seem to acknowledge the issues 70% of the fanbase experiences it’s always “reset your router” or “we don’t know of such issues”
They're always "looking into it" so I recommend having another calming game to balance everything out. Dark Souls and Nioh are prerty fun.
Feel that's some of the problem.
I wish this game was something I don't wanna stop playing. A true hockey experience with customizable load outs like skate hollows and Radius. Stick flex and curves. Attributes. More Reto gear. Immersive EASHL. Etc. Etc.
Maybe more importantly, the gameplay. More scrums for loose pucks and make board play and net battles more intuitive. Get rid of the bubble while dangling. Etc. Etc.
Just feels to me that since 2K folded this game has been stagnant. Sure a new skating engine was introduced but it's been 6 or 7 years of it and still hasn't been ironed out.
This game has almost felt like a chore to play the past few years.
This game is a chore to play. I have almost 400 put into this game and still am tinkering with sliders as there’s absolutely no fixing the underlying AI issues in this game with sliders, nor is there any fool proof way to mitigate the “bezerk mode” games when using custom sliders offline. There is still no explanation to why games feel drastically sped up almost every other game despite no sliders being touched. I really want to just boot up and play this game, but the game just refuses to play consistently despite using the same sliders in consecutive games.
Now, to stop this from being a “rant” thread, I’ll add that this team has made some significant gameplay features this generation. The gameplay features imo are at a spot where this game truly has all of the “tools” to deliver a great game of hockey. The DSS, the hitting from 19 before it was drastically nerfed in 20, the new skating engine, and even the new goalie deflections are all HUGE additions to the game.
The next big step is actually fixing these legacy AI issues, some that have existed for this entire generation. Since I’ve lost hope in this generation and will not be purchasing NHL 21, I really hope we can see a big AI jump in the next-gen as the removing the egregious AI blunders will be the biggest “revolution” in hockey gaming since the skill stick imo. The errors are seriously that immersion-breaking and egregious that those being fixed will be the single biggest gameplay improvement we’ve seen in more than a decade.
Watch some 6s e-sport streams this week. Most games are low scoring defensive games. So there’s that competitive side and there’s an outdoor less competitive side. If you don’t have the time or patience to join discord or console communities and get involved in the 6s community that’s fine, but it’s there.
With How small it is compaired to other games esports, it is practically non-existent. You have a few self run "leagues" and call that esports?
Be that as it may, my point is that competitive gameplay exists. Not just arcade 10+ goal games.
To be fair, 6man esports matches are reeeeeallllly far removed from true hockey. Human goalies suck so terribly that teams have no choice but to all clog puck carriers in such an unnatural way it's weird to watch.
Did you see that Nasher collapse? That's how a normal game of 6's would play. The regular tinfoil crowd here isn't going to believe that an "esports team in EA's pocket" is gonna have a bad time on official streams. Realistically speaking, as "professionals", esports players have more to lose and thus try to play a strict defensive (ie tight and boring) game.
Thanks for the feedback. It's definitely appreciated. However, we can't really do anything with blanket statements that AI is bad. We've gotten a lot of videos and the dev is aware of the things being complained about. It's not something that's going to be addressed overnight. Chances are good, major AI changes would need to be saved for a future game. The best kind of feedback is detailed and with video. Just keep it in mind going forward.
When it comes to connection issues, if 70% of the playerbase was experiencing them, there would be a bigger issue going on. Keep in mind, our servers are only part of what you're connecting to. We have no control over your equipment, your ISP, the equipment in your neighborhood, the traffic on your connection and the servers you go through to get to ours. There are also many times we're blamed when there's an issue with an ISP that is preventing people from playing. When we have a known issue on our end, we update our official channels saying so. We also provide updates when Xbox Live and the PSN go down.
If you are consistently experiencing lag and/or disconnects, we need to troubleshoot that. You can contact me via DM so we don't clog this thread with those steps. You can also try contacting EAHelp through Twitter or open a case with a live support advisor here: https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/new/.
Pretty much this. I had the chance to play on an e-sports team (just practice). They pretty much kept the game to like 4-5 shots max against most teams. Even great teams, they keep the shots down to nothing. And most e-sports goalies still give up 2-3 goals per game.
It's not defense, it's stop the exploit that they're playing.
Were they happening too much and many people complained? Was it just the YouTube streamers that complained? I didn't mind it, I don't recall it happening too often..
I can't speak for the esports/streaming crowds but broken sticks were annoying as heck and only seemed to happen when I had a guaranteed goal (and happened, on average, at least once a game); the shrapnel also perfectly deflected pucks towards the opposing.team and messed up my passes haha.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the authenticity of broken sticks and smashed glass but they unfortunately messed with the flow of the game.
Ahhh OK thanks, I wasn't sure why. Seems about right with EA though, if it's worth doing it's worth overdoing.
I mean, I really don’t like being “that” guy, but the AI mistakes that have been shown on these forums numerous times have existed this entire generation, and a lot of them from the previous generation. I don’t want to sound demanding, rude, malicious, etc as that’s not my intent. I’m just expressing how this statement sounds to long-time fans of both the real sport and the series, and by no means should this read as a personal call-out or attack. I just want to provide an honest perspective from a user and forum contributor who only wishes to help provide feedback to get this game to its full potential. With that being said, it’s an incredible let-down to continuously hear “we’re taking a look” and “changes won’t happen overnight” when addressing some of the AI mistakes that are nothing short of objectively wrong decision-making, which have been happening for 7+ years.
I guess I’d rather hear “hey, we understand that it’s wrong but AI programming simply isn’t a priority this generation” as it’d at least inform me to not spend any more time documenting and discussing those issues here. I don’t think the additional 20 videos or so I’d supply or the 100+ paragraphs I’d supply would make a difference right now, because I believe there’s more than ample video evidence that documents what scenarios the AI struggles with, and I think many of us users here have provided quality feedback on our expectations for the AI in those scenarios. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there needs to be any more proof that the backside D literally stops dead in his tracks on almost every rush, even on fully CPU-controlled teams. This has been beaten to death, that I’m even tired of talking about it lol. Again, not a call-out, I get that bugs exist and take time to diagnose, fix, test, etc, I just don’t know that me adding another video will really add more value, you know? I’d rather save the time and discussions of the year(s) where we’re told that the AI will actually be receiving some significant time and effort. Otherwise, the same cycle of frustration and snappy comebacks, and mostly non-constructive dialogue will continue on.
I know you’re just doing your job. I’m not calling you out, I just saw that sentence and felt like I should add my perspective as a consumer who is here everyday reading topics and contributing to discussions. When I’m not, I’m running my own offline league on this game as I’ve been almost exclusively playing NHL20 since the release. We all want to help, we are all (Well, you know the “all” I’m referring to) providing some great feedback imo, so again, I’d rather the roadmap just be transparent so I know when I should actually discuss these issues. I know these fixes aren’t “overnight” or easy, but I also want to feel like my posts are getting heard. When gameplay changes are made, I can tell those are getting read because there’s ongoing discussions with EA personnel discussing what was changed, why it was changed, and if the new values are better, worse, etc. and it’s fun to see. When the AI is discussed, we only ever dissect what the user could’ve done to either breakup the play or mitigate his AI’s mistakes via some unnatural hockey play, and that leads me to believe that our feedback isn’t necessarily read to be understood, but read to be debunked or replied too, you know?
Communication really revolves around perspective. I know there’s a hard-working dev team on this game, because again I’m the 1st one to say how great of a foundation this game has. The skating, the hitting, the new goalie animations are all spectacular and cannot be praised enough. I just would’ve loved to see some of the more egregious AI errors addressed in a more “what do you expect and how should we switch it?” way then what seems to be the constant skepticism of the user and their abilities, because it really does make me lose hope in ever seeing a better AI whether that’s true or not, that’s just how those interactions make me feel as a user.
I am all for realism, but broken sticks or even if ever they added broken skate blades have no business in EASHL. Offline though? Knock yourself out and add all the realism you want. Should be able to tailor it to your liking.
I would even go as far as removing injuries on blocked shots in EASHL. Getting injured for being in a good defensive position? Meh, another un-needed realism in my opinion.
I definitely get why you'd feel that way. There have been changes to the AI over the years. In good and bad ways. New issues can come up as older ones are resolved. Regardless, getting anywhere from 1 - 11 AI players to perfectly behave like real humans would all game long is going to be a near-impossible feat to pull off. If we were able to do that, people would say they're too good and probably complain. We already see people complain about how they're too good to play against in Squad Battles. When it comes to EASHL, while they have their issues, I still see them play better, on average than most humans. Maybe I need better humans to play with, but my point is, yes, they make mistakes and that overshadows the good they do.
That said, there's obviously room for improvement and I can assure you the dev team is extremely well aware of how the community feels. Acting on that isn't near as easy as it might seem though. The AI need to be balanced very well. Not too good, not too bad. As it is now, some say the other team always gets the good AI. When something like that happens in every game, you need to look at how the humans are playing as that affects how the AI play as well. Regardless, we'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't know what's coming for AI changes in the future, but the dev team is always looking to improve them.
I think I have mentioned this before, @EA_Aljo:
What is stopping the dev team from programming basic plays that the CPU runs everytime?
For instance:
3 on 1- one forward center drives, the other is the trailer...If the HMU wants creativity, they do it themselves with deking or quick passing. Frankly, this is a 95% move that every hockey player ever does in the real game. In fact, it has been the way hockey players have attacked 3 on 1 for 100 years. I cannot tell you how many times, offline, when I attack 3 on 1 that my AI guys are either in a straight line or doing something completely nonsensical. Even if I get lucky and have a trailer...incidental contact slows him down or something dumb happens that I am like "Ok, obviously every typical hockey thought I ever had goes out the window."
3 on 2 - same concept except the AI knows the goal....to get a 2 on 1 vs one of the defenders. Center drive remains and takes a defender with him, the other forward thinks "We are now in a 2 on 1, I just need to get open." Again, basic, standard hockey we all play in real life.
Cycling down low. No matter what strategy I use I cannot get a true cycle. It looks awful. A cyclical, run of the mill cycle. I forget what year it was but around the time create a play was a thing you could do this and enhance it by creating the play yourself. I had a video game arousal over this at the time (metaphoric).
PROPER defensive zone coverages. Collapsing, Tight point, Staggered are no bueno. I am talking about the true defensive coverages actual teams use. Triangle and 2. Box and 1. Man to man. Zone. The strategies given to us currently are not a representation of how you play defense. It would be like if Madden had a 3-3-1 formation.
Criss crossing at blue line entry to create space.
Even create a play itself. Frankly, if this was re-introduced you wouldn't hear a peep from me because I would mitigate the AI deficiencies by remedying it myself. I would run the same 5 plays over and over again because....that is what hockey is. When we play in real life we try the same stuff over and over until we find what works. Scoring is hard.
The whole point is this: Why can the AI not be programmed to be predictable? Like, I should know where my guys are going when we attack in a standard play setting (a 3 on 1) or I know how my defenders are going to move if I am the Center in the box +1, or I know my guy will be there for puck support on a move in. Sure, broken plays happen, I understand this. But the fact the AI has a 9 decision tree, in my opinion, is overly complicated which, in turn, causes some things to happen where I think "What the heck is happening right now?"
Imagine in Madden if you called a cover 2 and your SS decided "I am going to do something "creative" here because it's a video game and 16 year old's who live in their parents basement are obsessed with everything flashy"...to then get burned deep. People would be like "why is my SS not on the strong side of the field and buying popcorn?"
My dead horse...this game does not have to cater to the Fortnite concept to be enjoyed. Running a legit give and go or a legit 3 on 1 is JUST AS COOl, if not cooler, than doing some stupid one handed tuck that happens once every 6 years.
I haven't played for 3 weeks...it has been great. Saying that, in itself, is soul crushing because I love hockey.