Outdoor rinks and custom clothes.....
Can we please get back into Indoor NHL rinks for drop in and the CHEL playoffs.
Also if we can get rid of the barbie clothes for players?
I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm going to assume that most people who buy and play NHL games are not under 15 years of age and most of your demographic for this game is somewhere between 20-40 years of age who are hard core players of this game and they don't care about dressing up their players in barbie clothes.
We also don't like the outdoor stuff it's lame and has no atmosphere, lets get back into hockey rinks and crowds and cheering and hockey uniforms not pond hockey.
I want to be able to dress my barbie up in a hockey uniform!
I will assume EA is getting a lot of sponsorship money from CCM, Addidas, Bauer and the other brands that I see in the game but I still think you can get this money but I still get to have my drop in players with NHL or other league hockey uniforms on...
Please go back to the old system of indoor rinks and loose the barbie doll dressup thing you have going on its embarrassing!
Also if we can get rid of the barbie clothes for players?
I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm going to assume that most people who buy and play NHL games are not under 15 years of age and most of your demographic for this game is somewhere between 20-40 years of age who are hard core players of this game and they don't care about dressing up their players in barbie clothes.
We also don't like the outdoor stuff it's lame and has no atmosphere, lets get back into hockey rinks and crowds and cheering and hockey uniforms not pond hockey.
I want to be able to dress my barbie up in a hockey uniform!
I will assume EA is getting a lot of sponsorship money from CCM, Addidas, Bauer and the other brands that I see in the game but I still think you can get this money but I still get to have my drop in players with NHL or other league hockey uniforms on...
Please go back to the old system of indoor rinks and loose the barbie doll dressup thing you have going on its embarrassing!
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If most people aren't interested in the customization options, why are there so very few that don't change their player's appearance?
I am not sure what stats EA has on this but I would take it with a grain of salt, frankly.
Come on Aljo! What's your point? Of course we choose a jersey and stuff because it's just there. But the most of us don't need it or don't want it. We prefer the old version of choosing teams from the available leagues and want to play in these arenas.
Outdoor rinks for ones or as an option for drop in are ok, but i bet only 5% will play on the outdoor rinks, if given that option.
Change it back, get rid of cr or rp and the population will grow.
Unfortunately we are likely stuck with this crap for a while. EA won't back track and admit they made stupid decisions.
As for that argument Aljo. That is just utter nonsense. Many people equip whatever it is because it is simply there to put on.
More over, you can still customize your gear. Jersey tucks, sock tucks, visor, skates etc. All of this could still be done while allowing actual jerseys to be used.
I want to feel like I'm playing hockey for gods sakes.
This stupid crap and the removal of the lobby system are horrible mistakes made by EA. There are many more of course.
Who's making the decisions over there? Fire them.
This. Because it's there. Not because we like it. Otherwise we end up looking "default". Do not mistake this for "embracing" this feature. I suspect most who play Dropins do not spend any appreciable amount of time or effort on their clothing choices. "Set and forget." We would much rather play hockey in a regular arena in regular gear (which I am happy to customize). As long as EA is paying the licensing fees related to the venues why can we not have this for CHEL?
Also, what exactly do you mean by "so very few that don't change their player's appearance". Are you talking the player customization (face/hair, eyes, beard) , or are you talking specifically about the clothing?
Because it’s there so we might as well but if it wasn’t we wouldn’t nor would we care.
You know you don’t have to defend everything EA does and can admit there are things they do that you don’t like/agree with. 😏
My point is, there are people that like the custom gear. It's only usable in drop-ins. You have the option to play club games and not see that gear as well as play on the outdoor rink. We're not exactly seeing everyone in the community or even a high amount of people saying they don't like that gear. The forums community is more hardcore and sim focused, but they also make up a very small percentage of the overall playerbase. That's not to say we don't hear from people that feel the same. I'm sure there are many that don't post their feedback and feel the same as you. However, you're not taking into account that others may feel differently than yourself. There are many out there that enjoy the gear options. Personally, I focus on the on-ice action instead of what everyone's wearing. It's not distracting or taking away from the gameplay, but obviously, for many others, the rink and clothing options take away from the realism and immersion.
Thanks for your answer. I am well aware of all you said. But the option to choose indoor or outdoor would nail it. Respond to that, thats the main point. Option!
No need to mention who likes it or not.
Give people this choice and I bet a months wage nobody is going outside again (compared to indoor hockey arena less than 5%).
🤔😉
And "there are people" who don't. You could probably find "people that like" all kinds of things in a game, good or bad.
Well that's technically true but from what I can tell clubs as a mode is on life support. It is not that easy to find a club any more in my experience. Also, not everyone wants to incur the club commitment just to be able to play hockey in actual hockey gear in an arena.
I assume the bolded statement is based on anecdotal evidence. If so, how is this any more legitimate than those on the forums complaining about it? If not, what survey has been done on this? What percentage of people like it vs not? I think statistics dictate than within a margin of error any sample size would be somewhat representative of a community at large. I am not sure I believe that the forum is comprised primarily of people who SIM focused. I know I am not. Hardcore maybe, but either way, the majority of folks here are LONG time/repeat customers who buy the game year after year. Would it be so horrible to acknowledge this relatively simple request and accommodate them?
As an aside, we have seen instances where EA still discounts/ignores customer feedback even when large numbers (thousands) respond to their own polls.
I get a sense that EA takes any feedback that supports their business model and development choices as confirmation bias, and rejects the "small percentage" of "hardcore and sim based" as outliers. When in fact I see very little support for keeping casual gear and outdoor rinks in CHEL.
TL/DR
At the end of the day I imagine what I wrote up there is academic and rhetorical. All I really want to push here is that unless EA has empirical evidence to support the position that the majority of people want casual gear and outdoor rinks in CHEL then I do not understand why it is not even an option they are willing to listen to, to simply bring back hockey gear and indoor rinks for CHEL and relegate casual gear and outdoor rinks to Eliminator and HUT Rush say.
I'm not saying there's a majority or minority that want casual gear. I don't have those numbers. I'm pointing out that the forums community makes up a tiny fraction of the playerbase. As far as club mode being on life support goes, that's not the case. There are many clubs actively playing. However, many of them also play 2s, 3s, etc. Not all of them are 6s. I haven't had a terribly difficult time finding 6s club games. Full drop-in games have been more challenging for me. If you're only going to play drop-ins though, the casual nature of it is going to persist at least for the remainder of 21. We'll have to wait and see what happens in future games.
Sorry I should be more clear. What I mean is that with all the game modes nowadays I find I bump into fewer and fewer people in 6s dropins that are also club players looking for people.
I am open to looking for a club to join but as you point out - the prevalence of 3s and other modes now makes it difficult to even find full rooms in 6s where you bump into people looking for recruits. It wasnt always like this.
Although that is true! Majority of the Gamechangers have been expressing their own opinions on this game recently. Unfortunately a lot of them are or have moved on to different games. The other day at 2pm someone well known spent 5 hours to get a drop-in game only to have half the people drop-out in the last few seconds. Not everyone has a club to play on, and some of us liked the idea to play indoor drop-ins, selected out favorite team jerseys. To avoid people quitting we used to be able to do a draft lobby. I find it so difficult now to recruit players for club, when outdoor drop-in has no compatibility to indoor club. Players play differently. As for the on ice action, it's becoming so toxic recently. Constant booting, exploits that still haven't been fixed. The evidence is there to validate a lot of these issues with multiple videos from streams and such...
Exactly I agree, so get rid of it! Just let us pick HOCKEY uniforms for our players and teams.
Unrelated to the game itself but on these forums we see a significant amount of people viewing these forums but don't respond. Not sure why they don't want to engage in the conversations here, maybe they're looking for information they're seeking and moving on, but compared to the amount people actually chatting on these boards shows there are a lot of quiet people out there that don't want to voice their opinions. It doesn't mean every quiet voice means they agree with @EA_Aljo, but just a statistical fact where you have to consider that what is being said publicly is not really what the whole community agrees with.
NHL engagement is up 13% year over year, per the latest quarterly call. Grateful to hear the NHL community is getting bigger and hope the momentum keeps up. The more players the more likely budgets get bigger which translates to quicker updates and investments in more modes. As someone who is well aware of the impact live content can have on keeping players engaged into a game weekly, I personally believe the gear the team is putting into the game is attractive to wear for those looking to equip it. It's working. Are they equipping them by so they don't look like Joe NHL by default, maybe, that's a great question I suppose would be answered from data/in-game poll if they really wanted to go that route.
I do like the idea of having some NHL uniforms to equip in outdoor games (non-club) as an option. The outdoor games always struct me as a casual area where you scrimmage your friends on a Saturday afternoon for a pick-up game, while clubs are reserved for organized leagues for those wanting to look the part of being a professional hockey player. I know a lot of you would love to see an easier way to organize club games on a regular basis ("bring lobbies back"). @EA_Aljo and I will continue to do our part in letting the team know weekly what you're all requesting. We always appreciate the deep discussions that take place here.
Yes numbers were good, although noticing massive drop recently as Gamechangers and a lot of EA NHL series gamers are fed up with certain aspects of this game. LG is growing, but drop-in has been dead. Took me 7 hours just to get a full game a few days ago, and another person 2 hours. We get a lobby, and it shows that someone is missing when they aren't so everyone backs out then it's a game filled with mostly A.I. Vast majority of us want the indoor drop-in with jersey selection. Not this casual outdoor arcade style gameplay. Not everyone has a club where everyone is online. I find it more straining to recruit decent players now because people play different in outdoor drop-in in casual gear than they do real equipment. I miss being able to pick the jerseys of my favorite team, do draft lobbies, etc. Ask the majority of Gamechangers and community members who play this game. Reddit isn't ever a validated feedback outlet as majority people just troll and ask for ridiculous features.
Also why take online seasons away from HUT? HUT Rivals is always a sweat and HUT Rush doesn't count against the record. We also need a leaderboard to see the ranked players, not just for Champs...
Then lets talk about general gameplay. IP booting is so common now on Xbox One, as it has happened to many of us. I was in a game this morning against the same person who just skillzoned, ragged the puck, sideways back skated to lure me into penalties. Stick lifts just gave me a slashing call. Then they just look for the obvious cross-crease as that is the only easy way to score now. I had 4 players covering it, and the puck still went through... So many issues unaddressed it's no wonder half the population is going to MLB or other games pretty quickly...