Is everyone just in the honeymoon phase?
Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely improvements this year, but every single year everyone always acts so happy and says the game is so great at release, not realizing the same issues that cause frustration year after year are still in the game…
FRANCHISE MODE:
I already know I’m done with franchise mode and won’t touch it this year. The sim engine just makes literally no sense. I did 1 season of franchise mode, had Ottawa win the Stanley cup, and Tampa, Pittsburgh, Vegas, and Boston not even make the playoffs. Like what? If you can’t even get a sim engine that remotely makes sense it doesn’t matter what else you add or do to the mode.
The mode still doesn’t recognize salary cap dumps. Typically if you want to move an awful contract off your team in the real world you would have to pay the team extra to take on that contract, whether it’s with picks or prospects. This is not the case with franchise mode in this game.
It’s still way too easy to fleece teams and make super unrealistic trades that would never happen in the real world.
The green chemistry ratings (+2, +3, +5) on the edit lines screen is like lime green and brutal to read on a white background. How does this pass through to release and nobody at EA questioned this?
GAMEPLAY:
There is a lot that has been improved for sure this year, but there are still many issues that make the gameplay boring and more frustrating than fun.
The AI still reacts to Button inputs and people still don’t even attempt to control their D because of how aggressive and OP the AI is.
Scoring feels like complete RNG at the moment. It is sooooo easy to defend the cross crease now that unless it’s wide open, which is rare if you’re playing anyone remotely decent. Shots are blocked (by your own players most of the time) wayyy too much. I literally have my shots blocked by my own players more than the opposing team constantly. At times it feels like they purposely skate into shooting lanes and don’t even attempt to deflect the puck, they just stand there unaware that they are even playing hockey.
The rare occasions you make a pretty tic tac toe play it’s robbed by the goalie like it’s a routine save. Yet they give up wristers unscreened from the blue line.
The consistent way I’ve found to score is also so game breaking and easy to pull off for a guaranteed goal every time that’s almost not defendable even if you know it’s coming. This 100% has to get fixed or I guarantee within a few weeks of release this is all people will be doing online.
BE A PRO:
I have not played this in early access but I’ve watched a lot of YouTube play through of it and seems like absolutely nothing Is different in this mode. I typically never play this mode each year so doesn’t really matter to me, but I mean common are there not teams dedicated to each mode? Cause if there is, they’ve been on vacation the past year.
FRANCHISE MODE:
I already know I’m done with franchise mode and won’t touch it this year. The sim engine just makes literally no sense. I did 1 season of franchise mode, had Ottawa win the Stanley cup, and Tampa, Pittsburgh, Vegas, and Boston not even make the playoffs. Like what? If you can’t even get a sim engine that remotely makes sense it doesn’t matter what else you add or do to the mode.
The mode still doesn’t recognize salary cap dumps. Typically if you want to move an awful contract off your team in the real world you would have to pay the team extra to take on that contract, whether it’s with picks or prospects. This is not the case with franchise mode in this game.
It’s still way too easy to fleece teams and make super unrealistic trades that would never happen in the real world.
The green chemistry ratings (+2, +3, +5) on the edit lines screen is like lime green and brutal to read on a white background. How does this pass through to release and nobody at EA questioned this?
GAMEPLAY:
There is a lot that has been improved for sure this year, but there are still many issues that make the gameplay boring and more frustrating than fun.
The AI still reacts to Button inputs and people still don’t even attempt to control their D because of how aggressive and OP the AI is.
Scoring feels like complete RNG at the moment. It is sooooo easy to defend the cross crease now that unless it’s wide open, which is rare if you’re playing anyone remotely decent. Shots are blocked (by your own players most of the time) wayyy too much. I literally have my shots blocked by my own players more than the opposing team constantly. At times it feels like they purposely skate into shooting lanes and don’t even attempt to deflect the puck, they just stand there unaware that they are even playing hockey.
The rare occasions you make a pretty tic tac toe play it’s robbed by the goalie like it’s a routine save. Yet they give up wristers unscreened from the blue line.
The consistent way I’ve found to score is also so game breaking and easy to pull off for a guaranteed goal every time that’s almost not defendable even if you know it’s coming. This 100% has to get fixed or I guarantee within a few weeks of release this is all people will be doing online.
BE A PRO:
I have not played this in early access but I’ve watched a lot of YouTube play through of it and seems like absolutely nothing Is different in this mode. I typically never play this mode each year so doesn’t really matter to me, but I mean common are there not teams dedicated to each mode? Cause if there is, they’ve been on vacation the past year.
5
Howdy, Stranger!
Replies
Is the first part really true? Cause I feel it's usally a never ending complaining - about this and that... Im quite surprised that 'so many' seem to be positive..
Cross creases should be easy to defend - unless it's wide open.
And I never said they shouldn’t be. The problem is that the majority of people playing don’t see what it’s like when you have 2 players with a 10 or 15:1 w/l ratio and how stale this game is. Take your center and sit in the slot to pick off cross creases, let your AI do the rest and don’t leave the slot. GG trying to score at that point because between your 5 players collapsed in front of the net as well as 1-2 of theirs just standing aimlessly in the way, no shots or passes are getting through anything.
At that point the game becomes pure RNG of throw it on net and see what happens. And I get it, that is hockey to an extent, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who isn’t going to spend an entire year playing a game that’s RNG upon RNG
These are just some of my opinions from the 10 hour trial. I finished it with a 21-1-0 record in hut so it’s not a rage post in any way I’m actually happy with how I did. But I know the gameplay style isn’t something that’s going to keep me invested once the new bells and whistles wear off
So you sayin that the A.I is too good? If I meet a player that just standing still infront of the net - I take other options.
Yes hockey is 'throw it on the net and see what happens' - but between that, it's so much more.
I don't believe in the RNG part because even on the hardest difficulty I can destroy the CPU over and over with ease. It's probably that you choose how you think the game should be played where me and others play to actually be good at the game.
21-1-0 online during the trial counts as playing how I think the game should be played vs how “others play to be good”???
I swear the majority of people who use the forums read one sentence of a post, misunderstand it and feel they need to throw their two cents in. Because both my record and the fact I’ve said i have found a game breaking way of scoring goals that is nearly impossible to stop have both been put in this thread. Read before you respond with nonsense
Would you like to describe that goal?
I much rather take - random lucky goals against me - then cross creases that you know is coming, but you cant really do anything about it - all year long.
Sounds more ike a raw hockey game. Can’t wait to see it for myself.
Perhaps these kinda games won't come as easy in 22.
Where one guy tryes to 'play realistic hockey' and put pucks on net - meanwhile the other side is only out after one thing - get that cross crease.
I could definitely take some 'RNG' or whatever you like to call it - to get some random pucks to slip through.
Instead of having 2 or 3 diffrent ways to score - and exactly everyone adjust their whole 'game-plan' because of theese goals.
-That- get boring and static.
* the gameplay picture has nothing to do with 22 - thank god. 🙄😏
I absolutely hate seeing people post these pics because to me 42 shots in 10 mins of attack is absolutely brutal. If you’re averaging 4.2 shots per minute of attack time that’s 14 seconds per shot. If you are shooting every 14 seconds they can’t be of high quality what so ever. Not to mention that’s 8 power plays vs the other teams 0. So with 16 minutes of having a man advantage whoever this was clearly has 0 scoring ability.
How I see these game is nothing more than 1 extremely bad player who’s totalled an hour of playing the nhl series, vs a player who at least knows the buttons but has no ability to actually score. I picture the 42 shot guy just skating across the blue line and throwing the puck on net every time
If the 42 shot guy only did that - in that case he wouldn’t have had 10 min TOA - that much zone time requires some sort of set up in the O-zone.
But okey - my point - dosent seem to work.
So forget that 'example'.
But if I do recall your problems you had with 21 - then I think you dissliked the constantly push for cross creases, and the unrealistic maneuvers we were able to do in our attempt to get in good 1timer position.
And 22 it's too little cross creases?
It's too easy to play defense?
*I hope I dont offend you by asking these questions - cause Im really just curious to hear what you have to say.
And last - you mention two times in the first post .. that there have been some improvements for the gameplay - but you never said - what was the improvements you saw?
But shot smarter means - 'rag' the puck until you get an open one-timer/or short side?
Isnt that - exactly - why 'we' hate this game? Only 2-3 diffrent ways to score.
If 22 encourage more 'pucks on net' - that might even out the odds abit - cause in my world there's never a dumb idea to find out what happens if you put the puck against the net.
Thoose with 10 min ToA and 13 shots - ain't that creative - it's more about knowing how to control the puck enough long until the A.I gets out of position. Thats a skill called - I know how to manipulate the game-mechanics, but it has nothing with hockey to do.
And if it is like titan says it is - cross creases is really hard to get going - and are only dangerous if it's an wide open... And if the shot % of goals is more spread around, other then this 2-3 goals we had in 21 - for me, thats a good thing - If we like a more realistic hockey simulator.
I get what you want but a good goalie should stop majority of non high quality shots or they don't belong in the league. So it's up to you to decide to add a bit more strategy instead of stats padding that makes it seem like you did a lot. They need to make a scoring chances category so you can see how many of your shots are scoring chances. It would go a long way in helping
I'd love to see you stream a game on Twitch so I can see what you do and give you some feedback
Hmm - what im trying to say is - it would be fun if shots on goals can lead to more chaos then how it use to be.
Other rebounds from goalies - board-hits - bounces of players that tryes to block shots.
So games can be more about playing the puck from where it is - take it from the bounce of the goalie - and be creative. Play with diffrent random shots and learn to take advantage of that playstyle.
I ask for more diffrent scenarios - not for feedback, all though im sure you could give me one or two.
But my main target is to play 'my own type of hockey' and enjoy that - it's not about winning games, that comes second.
But I read a positive thing from a user that had played the game (22) - he said he was having a good time - win or loss, thats most importen for me - cause 21, could really get to me sometimes. Be annoying.
Hopefully 22 will be more easy to love - for hockey fans.
I’m not saying it in a disrespectful way, but until you’ve consistently been playing in and against the top tier of teams/players you really don’t understand what is going on and what the best style of play to win consistently is.
Let me put it this way. There are a lot of players on these forums that will cry “glitch goal” if they get cross creased, wrist shots, penalty shots and breakaways that go in 100% etc. But they don’t look at how they broke down defensively to allow that, or the nice passes and plays made by the offense 15-20 seconds before the goal that was just scored. It’s looked at as “oh that’s a glitch goal, they only know how to score 1 way they are trash” even though they have a record you could only dream of having. But rather than admit they are just infinitely better than you, and taking the lesson, they feel the need to put down the team that just annihilated them with any excuse that will make them feel better.
Back to the topic…. People don’t like “consistent” or “glitch” ways of scoring goals. Some of you defend that “it’s not real hockey”, or “putting pucks to the net and grinding the game out is more fun”. But you fail to realize that in real hockey you are playing 60 minutes of real time, along with the NHL being so high in talent and competition to maintain a roster spot as opposed to the 12 minutes of real time you play in this game, with VAST differences in player skill level.
You are trying to condense 60 minutes of real life NHL gameplay inside of 12 minutes of video game hockey, obviously it needs to be more fast paced with higher goal scored per minute played. If you want every aspect of this game as sim, you are just fooling yourself because you’re trying to tell EA to take a 60 minute NHL game, and have the same amount of shots, goals, scoring chances etc, in that 12 minutes. If every real life NHL game was 12 minutes it would be 1-0 or 0-0 constantly.
And that’s not even anything to do with the fact that the talent level of players in EA hockey aren’t anywhere near the skill level competitiveness of real NHL. You’ve got athletes in the NHL who have played their entire lives and are within such a close percentage to each other as opposed to Dan the 50 year old Plumber who gets drunk and hops into Eashl on the weekend to play some games against little Jimmy who plays 80 hours a week. It’s not going to be remotely close.
This is my opinion, but in ANY competitive video game, the gameplay should always be tuned around the top end talent and balanced that way. Not the “average” players going head to head that don’t know the ins and outs of the game and can abuse certain mechanics of it. For example, if EA were to balance this game based off the devs playing each other head to head at the studio, versus balancing the game with the top 10-20 overall players that play it, it would be drastically different in skill gap and better for the game IMO.
But I feel for the devs and understand why EA doesn’t want massive amounts of skill gap in this game because it’s not good for sales. From the forums, to Facebook groups, to actual gameplay interactions, etc, the majority of the community playing this game think they are the best players and cant handle losing. The amount of “top lw looking for club” posts I’ve seen over the years just to see they are average players at best is mind blowing, like what do these people consider “top” that almost every player advertises themselves as that. The amount of rage quitters, or lobby dodging in Eashl, is unreal. I mean, play a drop in game and 9 times out of 10 after the first goal, half the opposing team quits. So why would EA ever actually make the game reward skill, when so many egotistical players in their community would just quit when reality hit them.
You hit the nail on the head with goalies, it’s why I stick to offline play where I can make global attribute changes and mess with the sliders because they are super lame by default. Unless the programmed pathing to score is taken, the goalie will make a super controlled, rebound-less save on the most deadly of scoring chances against the most deadly of shooters. X-factors help marginally here, but against non-X’s it’s the same as it was the entire last generation.
I can artificially create some dynamic goaltending and some cool first shot goals offline, but it’s just a position that needs a tot overhaul imo. It still doesn’t deliver the amount of excitement and reward as 2k8/2k10 did when scoring goals in this game. They all look the same online, it’s just a complete mundane experience.
Nah, the competitive scene needs to actually know what it wants before the game is catered to them. In one post they talk about a lack of goal variety which is great, in the next post they want 100% sure fire goals because “skill” yet they’re bored of playing a meta where people do the same things over and over again and they can just stand in the middle and defend everything they know is coming because they know it’s the only way to score lol…
Then Sega gets grilled for shooting a lot and possessing the puck a lot because that’s not skilled? Idk I mean, holding onto the puck and making a ton of passes, shooting for tips, rebounds, screens should be a pretty viable strategy in a hockey game, no? Not saying it’s better than uncontested shots, but there should be some incentive to shooting those shots against defensive minded players or players at a similar skill who won’t breakdown which leads to boring hockey, right?
We can talk about skill all we want, but if someone’s getting absolutely clowned in their own end for 14 minutes I wouldn’t consider said player “skilled” or deserving of a win because 2 of their 6 shots came from the magic spots. The beauty of hockey and soccer is creativity and finding new ways to generate offense throughout the course of a game. This game doesn’t do that in its default state, people know this, adapt their styles to this, yet then complain that everyone has the same style online…gotta pick one, ladies and gents.
I try both to play the style of hockey I prefer and to be as much as 'elite' as I can.
I try to use the tools were been giving - to apply them as best as I can, to get the 'most hockey' out of the game as I possible can.
But I get the feeling that this is a one-way communication - not one singel question - of all I asked - has been returned.
Therefore I see no point of continue this 'monologue'.
*love you*...
I would like a game were puck control and team play is the key factor.
With good puck control comes better shot opportunities.
Better shot opportunities = better % to score/create a heavy pressure.
I think being elite in this game and being asked - "what would you like to improve to this serie?"
Is the same as asking a bank robber how to provide a good security system to the bank.
Yes he knows how alot of things work - but he migh give an answer that justify hes own means/purpose - with the game, to win, by any means necessary.
Not so reliable - in other words.
All though - im sure there's alot of 'good guys' too.
😏