Alienating the Long-term Fans
Years of pandering to the casual gamer has led to this giant piece of crap. Worst NHL game ever produced and won't be buying any title again in the foreseeable future. You could see it coming a mile away with the way EA slowly implemented more and more automatic and computerized techniques into the game play.
Years of "improved" CPU, "improved" goalies, "improved" puck physics, "improved" this and "improved" that has left us with a game where anybody could step in a game and win...even if they didn't deserve to.
EA can claim there is no predetermined logic built into their game to keep it competitive but the facts say otherwise. I have played too many games featuring a 5:1 shot ratio and a time on attack difference of at least 1 min that have ended in the weaker team winning. I understand it happens at times in real life but the amount it happens in this game is mind boggling.
Gaming is suppose to be a relaxing form of entertainment that one could accomplish by themselves or with friends. Nobody truly expects to win every game but the steps EA has taken to keep casual NHL fans competitive has sent the hardcore fan base packing. I've held out because of my love of hockey but not anymore. The fun factor that was once NHL 09 - NHL 12 is long gone. Filled by rage as you cycle the puck for 7 mins only to have your goalie give up his only shot against in the ensuring rush.
So I say farewell to the long term guys I've chatted with for nearly a decade. Its been fun for about half.
Years of "improved" CPU, "improved" goalies, "improved" puck physics, "improved" this and "improved" that has left us with a game where anybody could step in a game and win...even if they didn't deserve to.
EA can claim there is no predetermined logic built into their game to keep it competitive but the facts say otherwise. I have played too many games featuring a 5:1 shot ratio and a time on attack difference of at least 1 min that have ended in the weaker team winning. I understand it happens at times in real life but the amount it happens in this game is mind boggling.
Gaming is suppose to be a relaxing form of entertainment that one could accomplish by themselves or with friends. Nobody truly expects to win every game but the steps EA has taken to keep casual NHL fans competitive has sent the hardcore fan base packing. I've held out because of my love of hockey but not anymore. The fun factor that was once NHL 09 - NHL 12 is long gone. Filled by rage as you cycle the puck for 7 mins only to have your goalie give up his only shot against in the ensuring rush.
So I say farewell to the long term guys I've chatted with for nearly a decade. Its been fun for about half.
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Yep, in that same boat. EA probably won't admit to it but I've said it before, THEY NEED to pick a style and stick to it! You can't market (well you can but) game as close to a Realistic Sim and then continue to allow (year after year) the garbage that happens in this game to happen. IF you NEED to have that garbage in the game then GO BACK to the blue ice, over the top hits, 15-14 games of the ARCADE version of the game.
But But But But But But NO ONE PLAYS DEFENSE in a Hockey video game. Being in proper position to rub the puck carry out along the boards takes to much Hockey Knowledge and therefore has no use in a Hockey video game, pressing X is a more easier solution to take the puck away from the puck carrier!
This and the people that don't understand that hitting is meant to separate the man from the puck, not the man from his Head
Yup.
Some guys only went for cross crease. You could counter that
Some guys only went for cherry picking. You could counter that.
Some guys only went for wraparound. You could counter that
Some guys only went for curl wristers. You could counter that
Some guys only went for Deflections. You could counter that
Some guys only went for point slappers. You could counter that.
Most of these types of shots the goalies stopped very infrequently. because they are hard for any goalie to stop unless there is help from the defense.
Today, all these shots are stopped very frequently by goalies. Good right ? Nope.
Defense has a lesser role to play in the outcome.
Offense has a lesser role to play in the outcome.
You can cycle well and completely beat the defense and take an amazing slot one timer and you will be rewarded by a routine save. Meanwhile, the opponent will enter the zone, panic due to the defensive pressure, take a terrible shot that SHOULD be a routine save but instead, it will trickle in somehow.
How do you counter that? how do you fight that?
There is one way left to play this game and its to abuse the living crap of the same 2-3 glitch goals all game long every game. This is what 99% of teams do now and the creativity is non-existant in the game anymore. The only way to fight garbage goals is with consistent scoring. How do you consistently score on a goalie that stops almost every good scoring opportunity? You find the one thing they cant stop and you abuse it.
Gltiches have always been part of the game but a good team did not need to glitch to win. Nowdays...not so much.
Its just a bad game now. it really is. But the guys who used to lose most of their game trying to same shot over and over all game are now kings and will die protecting this product.
I've always hated the claim that "well if your opponent uses exploits, just counter them or don't let them do it". If it was just the one exploit, then yes, perhaps that would be effective. And granted, it's a little easier when you play as a team of humans to contain people that try to use exploits because you can effectively nullify 2-3 options at the same time. But 1v1 you'd need help from the AI but, guess what?
You morons told EA that the AI was "OP" and they nerfed it to hell, so now it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help out on Defense. Way to go, Brainiacs!
Saying that you "can" counter any exploit in this game is like saying you can play Rock, Paper, Scissors and always counter or match what your opponent throws 100% but your opponent can throw 2 signs at the same time and you're partially blindfolded to boot (an analogy to imply how badly the offense is overpowered compared to defense in this game).
Maybe if EA decides to nerf the offense quite a bit, things will balance themselves out. But as it is, this game is mostly Voodoo, Wizardry and Bullsh** in equal parts...
Don't let the door hit you (and the twelve other hardcore best-evers) on the way out!
This is exactly right. I am enjoying the best GPG/PPG I've ever had in online hockey, scoring over a goal a game more than I used to. It is so easy to score in this game (just shoot from around anywhere). Most of our club games are blowouts, one way or another.
I feel sorry for the D-men who play this game.
Yet you agree with Venom who is an advocate of nerfing the offense and balancing the gameplay between the O and the D/goalies?
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Absolutely. Game has lost some of challenge
The AI is indeed a big issue.
A lot of these discussions are based on how many players you play with. IE: 6 man team wont have to deal with the spiderman goalies.
5 man teams wont have to deal with bad AI.
4 and below start to struggle with all of it.
I do however think that PART of the AI should be nerfed to encourage players wanting to play those position to mitigate the damage. The most obvious is goalie. A human goalie should be better than an AI goalie otherwise you have what we have now....nobody wants to play with a human goalie ESPECIALLY not against a team who has an AI goalie. A center AI should lose most faceoffs to a human. Encourage humans to take the faceoff if they are important to you.
As for the rest, the offense should be competent enough to complete plays to an extent. They dont have to be godlike but they can perform well enough if you set them up.
Defense is the trickiest. Make them too strong and they make everyone want to play nothing but forward and let defense Ai deal with the defensive part of the game. This is reinforced with spiderman goalies 10x. Result, everyone playing with 2-3 players ignore defense and goalie.
On the flip side, one AI defender should be better than a cone and be able to help a human defender.
The current game have the worse of both. The defense can be pretty solid overall together as AIs and completely inept with a human involved.
I dont think nerfing the offense a lot is the solution. I always preached the opposite. Nerf goalies a lot. Work on improving defence and giving tools. Keep offense somewhat similar. Nerf the curl back wrister only since that crap makes no sense and also is a key issue with ballerina abuse.
Yet you agree with Venom who is an advocate of nerfing the offense and balancing the gameplay between the O and the D/goalies?
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Absolutely. Game has lost some of challenge[/quote]
The hardcore fans are usually a good indication of the success and competitiveness/balance of a game.
Most of the competitive / pros in a gaming scene leaving is a real bad thing for the game. Seeing as I was in the top 5s several times in the last few years and had many people on my friend list who were also in the top 10s or so clubs....and seeing all of those people ditching the game...its really concerning.
In a world where the competitive scene is the place to be for most multiplayer games, and a place where NHL is 100% a competitive team based online game now, to lose so many of their top players displays a huge issue with the game.
Maybe you hate the QQ thread but those hold value. They help the devs understand why their game is failing.
You say they dont care but I bet many of them do. And even if they dont now because of HUT, when HUT dies down and they start to lose enough money to have executives on their butts to get something done to bring sales back up, at least they will have a good idea what to do.