Any hope for NHL 21???
I'm just wondering if anybody else is feeling hopeless about NHL 21 this is based on what's happening with Madden 21 getting destroyed by user reviews so far. The wheels are falling off over there.
I'm thinking that if EA can't get their game in order in a more popular Madden series how are they going to in NHL. Is this how it ends?
I'm thinking that if EA can't get their game in order in a more popular Madden series how are they going to in NHL. Is this how it ends?
3
Howdy, Stranger!
Replies
Every year I get more and more angry/fed up; I think if I just give up hoping for something better, I might actually begin the healing process and have a small amount of true fun
Giving up hope is the ONLY way youll truly begin to enjoy this game again. When you accept that this is just what we get, then you'll be able to overlook the issues. Doesnt mean stop caring, or trying to better the game. Just means for me that I stopped hoping for better so im not disappointed.
Quick question. Serious question. When is the last time anything (feature wise) absolutely gave you that "wow" moment (in a good way)? For me, it was the skill stick. Thats the last big change IMO. Everything else has been small tweaks to whats already there.
The user rating might be low but the sales are still up there. Madden 20 only had a 1.4 user rating. NHL 20 had a 4.5 user rating on Xbox. They don't care what the user ratings are and simply how sales are doing. If the sales aren't really dipping the rating means it's not doing anything.
There really isn't anything left to be a WOW moment anymore. GM Connected already happened before so it's not something special. The rest is just little changes here and there. Only possible things that might make us go WOW in a good way would be.....bi-yearly release date or they add a goalie VR mode that doesn't seem awful.
I absolutely feel like there are still things that can be done to surprise players but, so long as there is no competition and they turn a profit, what is their incentive to innovate? Even something like using a new engine would be a huge change because were still playing on what? A 12 year old engine or something? It's all about the money. They NEVER give their customers anything extra. Only enough to keep people JUST happy enough to keep playing. Also, if way less resources go into this game than their other titles, and they've admitted were getting bone scraps compared to what could happen with a bigger team, how do they justify selling the game at the same price as a AAA title with years of development, hundreds more devs, and an advertising budget bigger than NHL budget for the entire year? Because they know hockey fans have no other choice.
It's simple business really but its shady as heck.
I loved flap-jacking people into the boards and/through the glass and loved pulling off some crazy one hamd windmills and stuff with thr old deke system.
I lost my hulk-smashes, I lost my hip checks, my special big boy dekes were snatched away, and my 1st person undefeated fighting streak was taken behind the shed before I could monetize hockey fight club on twitch.
I don't care about smaller tweaks to the game but things like AI logic are horrendously dated
This is what i was getting at. Thank you. These yearly improvements are nothing but miniscule tweaks that are often reversed with a tuner or patch anyways. I really wish they'd leave the little stuff alone. Id rather they make 1 or 2 big changes a year than 100 little ones that barely make any difference and again, are often reversed anyways.
Going to Frostbite engine isn't exactly something to WOW me since people complained the engine ruined gameplay of FIFA and such.
Crossplay isn't a WOW thing to me either because it should be a standard going forward
All I see is tweaks and gimmicks in the future.
Doesnt have to be frostbite. Also, youre right. Until they update what theyre working with, they've reached their peak with this game.
Thing is EA owns the Frostbite engine and the engine that is used on NHL. They wouldn't fork out the money to use Unreal and truly start from scratch
Right but weve also heard frostbite is problematic for sports games so wouldnt it behoove them to i dunno....put some of the money theyre raking in to build an engine specifically for their sports games? They release EVERY YEAR. There's no excuse not to.
This line of thinking is misguided and only going to leave you disappointed. Lest you forget NHL15...
I don't think it's going to happen unless they change their dev production cycle. 7-9 months is not enough time to make a brand new game. That's why every game feels the same. Even CoD rotates between 2-3 studios each year. And THOSE still can feel similar if it wasn't for the drastic changes in settings and time periods between them.
And yet they charge us $60+ every year for fewer and worse features each year. I think fan's would rather pay for a new game every 3-4 years and pay for upgrades/add-on's between the cycles. They could really do a number with CHEL and hosting leagues, build up the online world instead of treating this as a AAA game each year, which it clearly is not.
I dont get this either because they could make it like a live service game with cosmetics if people wanna buy, arenas, lights, goal horns all kinds of stuff thats infinitely able to be added to. Id think just charge for the upgrade every 3 years and in between, make the money off mtx. Id be ok with that if we actually got something of quality. Wouldn't they stand to make WAY more money this way?