This is what the cross crease has done
I played a kid last night who literally would not pass the puck. He turned his back all game and circled back and forth trying to bait me to trip him. He would just spin back and forth with1 guy until me thought he could sneak the cross crease in. He scored 2 real fast this way then proceeded to watch every replay for EVERYTHING, SOi msg him and said "every replay" he replies "yes you little b". Ok cool so 2nd period starts and i know his game. I stop poking at all and just keep my player in his shooting lane (this guy had a 98.9 passing at the end cus he literally only attempted to pass like 5 times all game). I shut him down, waited for him to mess up, and came back with 3 good hard fought goals to take a 3 to 2 lead. I shut down the cross crease, he lost then started making threats saying how i played D was an exploit and that hes getting me banned.
I post this to show what kind of community ea has created by allowing people with zero hockey knowledge to be successful "playing how they want". When his cheap crap didnt work je watched every replay and i suspect tried disconnecting the game a few times.
So in short, this kid legit thought i was cheating the game because he couldnt score cross crease. People expect to score that way now because you ea have given these kids this false sense of them being any good because you leave widely hated ways of scoring as the go to move. Bottom line, kid was choking on the salt of his own tears because ea gave him the idea that cross creases were the way to score amd claimed i was cheating when he couldnt.
This is also what happens when you give a whole generation of kids trophies just for participating. Anyways, just wanted to share the anecdote of how people think the game is broke when they CANT score cross crease.....and thats a huge problem IMO.
I post this to show what kind of community ea has created by allowing people with zero hockey knowledge to be successful "playing how they want". When his cheap crap didnt work je watched every replay and i suspect tried disconnecting the game a few times.
So in short, this kid legit thought i was cheating the game because he couldnt score cross crease. People expect to score that way now because you ea have given these kids this false sense of them being any good because you leave widely hated ways of scoring as the go to move. Bottom line, kid was choking on the salt of his own tears because ea gave him the idea that cross creases were the way to score amd claimed i was cheating when he couldnt.
This is also what happens when you give a whole generation of kids trophies just for participating. Anyways, just wanted to share the anecdote of how people think the game is broke when they CANT score cross crease.....and thats a huge problem IMO.
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seriously...
engine of this game is really old
i wish nhl 22 will be a new mechanics reborn
True but whats even more sad is that this kid thought i was cheating the mechanics to stop him because hes used to it going in over amd over.
Yeah that's what kills me lol.
And being skilled at the mechanics, dominating an opponent who can't play defence is what people here call "abusing"
Also, just wanted to post a few gifs showing how to defend the cross-crease: DSS & R3
I too have become pretty good at stopping it. Having said that, something needs to change because its all ANYONE tries, and win or lose it makes the games BOOOORING!
True - but I find my opponents tend to try different things once they've realized I'm shutting down the cross-crease.
Of course, you get opponents like this who just wait and wait and wait - this time my A.I. bailed me out from falling victim:
Auuuch, it's thoose wait and wait people I want to get at.. Takes so much fun out of the game.
He's two defenders and two of your forwards stands completely still.. And probebly thinking : "what is he doing...."
Looks like a fly thats stuck against a close Window. When they desperate searching for that cross crease to open up.
The problem is I think a lot of people that don’t seem to think it’s an issue aren’t playing at a rating where you’re constantly matching up against top end players. The majority of the playerbase don’t have the hands to pull it off against decent defenders, which makes playing D against it not that big of an issue even though it’s still annoying and boring to defend every rush. But they will still have success against most teams by just skating straight and cross creasing, more than they should.
Anyone playing at the high end where your opponents have the skill to wait it out is where the problem comes. The good players will just loop and loop in the corners until it eventually opens up even against really good Dmen. So either you draw a penalty stopping them from looping in the corners, or you just let them wait you out until you’re slightly out of position which is what will happen. The second you are slightly out of position they will rifle that pass cross crease for the tap in. The second you pressure them in the corner you’re getting scored on, and if you don’t pressure they will just wait you out until they curl off and have somewhat of a lane.
This is not good gameplay.
It's actually a good way to describe it.
Which has 'forced' me to play on a much lower skill level, if im still gonna be able to have fun with the game. I just can't go down that same lane.
If you are willing to sweat like a freak and also have some skill, you can come pretty far with only looking for that play.
And that irritates me, I would like to see the same skill and sweat, but in a true realistic hockey way.
*And what often allows this kinda players to continue having the puck possession is thoose 'blind passes' behind the back, impossible to defend against, no mather how good oor bad you are.
Agreed. Well said. The clip you're watching is me - ranked usually 180-200 in OVP versus an opponent ranked above 500.
It was like that all game long - luckily I was able to defend it enough and get the win.
Yep that’s the problem is now it’s just too much of a chore to even want to get to the point of playing top teams and players game after game because after 1-2 of those kind of games you’re just mentally exhausted and don’t want to play anymore cause it’s just plain boring.
Is it defendable with 100% concentration and skill? Maybe... does it mean it’s good gameplay and a way to keep players engaged playing night after night for hours on end? Not a chance.
Its like being fat and trying to lose weight. You know you need to eat less and exercise more to lose it, but it’s just not fun. The amount of effort needed to stop cross crease all game just isn’t fun, yet you know it’s what you have to do. Doesn’t make the argument of “get good” have any validity when even if you had it down perfect it’s still not a fun game
Hehe Yup.
I notice it pretty well in HUT champs on the weekends, when I match up against higher levels. I could defenetly if I reeeeally wanna and put my cheese mask on.. Match thoose guys.. But naah, it's not just worth it.. Cause next game an even sweatier opponent comes up.. Haha..
I admire thoose that sweat it out.. But for me it's not worth it.. But it had been a whole nother thing, if it resamble more of real hockey plays..
But thats what makes it so sweaty, they are 'kings' of using every little gameplay mechanics to their advantage. They often play in a really awkward way that makes your fingers almost break, when you have to defend them.
I truly wish EA could 'defend' me against them instead of how it is now, would save me alot of sweat.
Would be nice to just be able to kick back and play some relaxing hockey, but still be good at it. You shouldnt have to be a monster when you play, haha...
I started playing some defense this year and I have a good time shutting people down. I have become quite effective at stopping the cross crease. However like others have mentioned it is just straight up BORING. Not only that but when I play fwd I find myself passing up good sniping opportunities or cycle opportunities to get the cross crease goal because sadly you need to do this to score.
Sniping a good wrist shot is almost gone. I find myself waiting for the trailer on breakaways because for some reason my skater just shoots it wide on moves that I executed with a good success rate last year.
I've said it a million times and I'll say it again. The game is just very boring.
I do like some improvements like how tripping seems to be toned down a bit. But overall this cross crease stuff is just crap.
We have to be careful though because knowing EA they will nerf it completely and suddenly the cross crease won't work at all.
I'd love to feel like I can be creative against the AI goalies. Sneak in a quick wrister, maybe even a bad angle shot here and there. But no. If you want to win in this game with any regularity, you have to adapt to the cross crease, spam it and shut it down respectively.
This is not a fun or good representation of hockey.
This is coming from someone who is elite 1 and averaging 6 points per game. You'd think I'd be happy about this game doing this well, but no. Game is in a worse place than it was in 19 and 20.
Why must we keep taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
Ya the problem too is that the game has always had ways to exploit and score consistent (glitch) goals. Which is fine, there needs to be some form of consistency in the game that if a D knows where the person wants to shoot from and isn’t there to defend it they should be punished.
But over the years these exploits are getting easier and easier to pull off that almost anyone can do it. Look at penalty shots and breakaways now, it takes zero skill or effort to score on them and every single person you play can do it. Now with cross creases being way too easy to pull off there’s literally no skill left on the offensive side of the game anymore.
I feel like I could give my 8 year old daughter the controller and she would score 2-3 goals in a game never having played it before it’s become so easy. The problem is knowing EA, they will do a complete 180 and make scoring an RNG crapshoot of just throwing the puck on net until one eventually goes in, which would be equally as bad.
I dont like goals were the opponent moves over a really small area, almost standing still, (for a long time too, you got your every player in position in your own zone) and you know what he will try to go for, and that 'I wait for you' and 'I wait for you' kinda thing starts.. Cause you cant really do anything more then to wait as a defender.. Especially against good players that know how to avoid contact, and if good players like to stall the play, you just have to be a part of that game.
I feel it's the wrong 'sort' thats good at this game, the fear once, thoose that refuse to challenge you in a fair way, instead they playing, hide and seek hockey, doing all they can to avoid you.
* can't wait to beat them, in a fair honest way.