How can it be a competitive, team-based game though when only a small fraction of the player-base plays EASHL-OTP...
A small fraction of the player base plays EASHL? I'd say most of the people who play this game regularly, play EASHL exclusively. None of my friends play any of the other modes because they are garbage in comparison. If at least 3 people from the club aren't on, we play a different game or watch netflix lol.[/
100% false sir. There is a HUGE fan base for the fake-card trading game they call HuT. It far surpasses the few thousand players who (still) enjoy EASHL
Complaining does nothing to be honest, actions speak louder then words. This is the first year I've been able to just say **** this **** and just move on and I haven't missed it what so ever. There's too many other games out there made by companies that give a **** about their product and I'd rather put my money there.
I told myself after the horrible mess that was nhl 15 and 16, that I wasn't investing more then 2-3 weeks into nhl 17 if the same **** still existed and it didn't take me long to realize that it was still there so I just stopped playing. It will 100% be the last game of nhl I buy until a new dev team takes over which I don't see happening anyways
EXACTLY. I gave EA 3 years (3 game cycles) to knock my socks off with the NHL series on the NEW (XB1 and PS4) Consoles but it hasn't happened yet and sadly it probably won't. NHL is the only game I buy religiously but I'm done, I can't do it anymore. Not even 100 games played (OVP) yet and I'm done with NHL already! I've gone back to AC: Black Flag and the other night I did the whole XB360 Backwards thing and downloaded Red Dead Redemption onto XB1.
Ever since NHL 2004 ive been creating a team for 20 players of people I know in real life. Every single game since 2004, except for 07 on the 360
Ive also been putting those 20 players on the Portland Winterhawks since Be A Pro allowed you to play in the CHL
I havnt been able to do this since NHL 14. NHL 15 and 16 did not have create a teams. And NHL 17 is so damn buggy that I just dont want to. I cant give players blank names. The jerseys I create are replaced by generic jerseys in the stands. And its extremly bulky and tedius to assign players to teams
There's all these awesome tools, and EA still makes it play like crap. This is the last EA Sports game I'll buy. Im done
This game is by far the best in the last several years. After the stick lift got fixed, Defense is **** near perfect. I can take a single d-man and regularly shut down a single forward in HUT. Which is exactly how it should be.
Only people complaining about OP defense are people who don't know how to play offense and just survived for years through exploits. Like that numb nuts who listed all of them and how easy they used to be to counter :eyeroll:
People complaining about how stick lifts are OP because they get stick lifted are even more clueless. Seriously. "Well NHL guys don't get sticklifted so I shouldn't either" has got to be one of the most nonsensical arguments out there. They don't get stick lifted because they pass.
Defense is great this year. In D1 HUT I consistently get outshot by 10-15 goals per game. But I still usually win. How? Because I exploit my opponent's defensive mistakes, and try to only give him bad shots that I know my goalie can save. Does that sound like anything? Real life, perhaps?
Honestly, this is the best game they have released in years, maybe ever. But you know what they say, "[Cry baby offense only noobs] gonna hate"
I play defense in EASHL and I hate it. Not because the defensive tools do not work, but because EA has implemented balancing techniques to make the weaker team competitive.
This year (more than any previous) you can make the correct play and still get burnt because of a "bad puck luck" or a **** CPU goalie. Its infuriating. I know there is no actual scoring chances stat in the game but if one were to track through our games completed thus far, our % of high scoring chances (in close and slot out to the faceoff circle hashmarks) against has to be around 2-3 attempts per game. The amount of shots in the high slot (hashmarks out to top of circle) increases to about 7-10 per game. So if we are averaging 12-15 shots against per game, these teams are routinely potting 3-4 of their 9-13 shots that come from the high slot into the crease. That is crazy high. The numbers get even worse when we count the amount of goals scored off single shots on the rush.
Here comes the part I can't stand and my ultimate breaking point. My team will routinely have double...maybe even triple...all the above stats only to not be rewarded. As previously stated, we work the cycle. We feed the points. We get the forwards in front on screens. We pick up the garbage. All for what? 2 maybe 3 goals a game. We are constantly playing from behind thanks to our goalies. We can battle for 20+mins to tie the game but no worries. Our goalie will most def. give up his very next shot against no matter if its high or low chance.
Just a bunch of crying in this thread. The game is going to continue on the path it's going on. You list the glory days of the figure skating era pretty much where there was no weight of the players and movement was so very unrealistic. You whine and cry for 2K to save you, but it's NEVER EVER going to happen. You obviously don't care for the game but my guess is that you still end up buying it. My guess is that you say you buy it used. Well that really shows them not to invest money into the game. Just because Ultimate Team makes EA some good money doesn't mean that money goes into the NHL team. They do a great job with the size of their team and having it on a yearly basis...which will not change either.
I've been on these forums forever and every single year all the way back from when I was here in 08 there was and always is complaining about skating, shooting, glitches, goalies, and more. They worked on making things more realistic to a degree and people who need that arcade feel are totally hurt over it.
The NHL series is far from perfect with a ton of flaws that need addressed, but the changes from 16 to 17 were quite nice overall. I'm pretty sure the best experience is offline since you can tamper with the sliders to your liking and get the feel you most enjoy.
Anyways I'm sure I can come back in another month and see someone with a new name probably posting the same **** trying to pretend to be someone new. It's the circle of the forum life here... same as the CoD forums and others that are yearly.
I've held off on commenting here for a while, mostly because I'm not a big fan of the new forums, but I had post because this complaining is unbearable.
I absolutely agree with you. This is probably my favourite NHL game ever released, 04, 11 and Hitz were my previous favourites but this takes the cake. Offline you have sliders that can turn the game into the most frenetic arcade hockey game I've ever played, or turn it into a truly challenging and realistic version of hockey.
The customization is by far the deepest it's ever been, I've spent hours upon hours creating teams and customizing players.
The EASHL experience is miles better than it's ever been IMO. I play defense and forward and i really don't know what more people want. A defensive skill stick would be great but playing defense is still fun, and not nearly as challenging as people make it out to be (unless you're referring to versus, which I admittedly haven't played this year). Good team positioning, controlled skating, well timed poke checks, it's pretty simple.
Goalies getting scored on randomly can be frustrating but guess what? That's hockey. It doesn't necessarily always require a high level of creativity or constant cycling. Sometimes I come home after a real life game and I'm frustrated with how it went, not wanting to even think about hockey anymore. That's just the nature of the game, things don't always go your way.
The people that say they stopped playing a few days/weeks after release stopped playing because they want something new and different. This has nothing to do with gameplay. I'll probably end up having played NHL 11 five times more than 17 but I enjoy 17 way more. Playing the same game year after year gets boring, that's really all it comes down to for most people. EASHL was such a novel idea, it was so exciting when it first came out. You're never going to get that same feeling back from that mode, you're never going to play as many games as you used to. Maybe take a break, find a new game to play and come back in a few years when you miss it enough, I have no idea.
This is by far the best NHL game I've ever played and I'm really proud of the work the game changers and dev team put in
How can it be a competitive, team-based game though when only a small fraction of the player-base plays EASHL-OTP...
A small fraction of the player base plays EASHL? I'd say most of the people who play this game regularly, play EASHL exclusively. None of my friends play any of the other modes because they are garbage in comparison. If at least 3 people from the club aren't on, we play a different game or watch netflix lol.[/
100% false sir. There is a HUGE fan base for the fake-card trading game they call HuT. It far surpasses the few thousand players who (still) enjoy EASHL
I keep hearing on the forums how hard it is to get a match up in HUT, I never have any trouble with that in EASHL and it takes way more players to make a game in EASHL, so I'm not sure as many people play HUT as you think. Maybe at the start of the year, but not the whole way through.
This game is so inconsistent and feels like it's a coin flip to determine the winner. No matter what I have no idea how the game will be played out (well besides the inconsistency).
The penalities are way too inconsistent. I never know if my poke checking is going to result in a penalty or not. The same goes for stick lifts. I'm very aware of what I'm doing and how I play (consistent most of the time too) which makes this frustrating. I can go a few games without getting a single penalty then another few games where I'm getting at least a couple per game.
My last game as a dman I got called for two interference penalties while tying up an opposing player that was in front of my net and another time while he was off to the side waiting for a one timer. I don't recall ever getting interference penalties as such in all my games as a dman.
I'm at the point where I'm afraid to attempt a single poke check, stick lift and tie up attempt.
As for the goals, there are just way too many **** goals. A lot of times I dont know when the puck is going to go in the net or not regardless of the position I'm playing and whether it is for my team or theirs. When playing as a goalie I can make several awesome saves and also let in a couple of really weak **** goals all in the same game.
As for the games themselves. Alot of the time leads aren't safe. Way too many games my team can be up or down by a few goals going into the 3rd period yet the game usually finishes off with a much closer score or an OT game. It's like the game is on purpose trying to keep/make games closer in score.
I can be playing with a stacked team of friends against a team full of low badge levels and scrubs. Sure the majority of the time we'll win but there are way too many times we've lost or the game finished too close for comfort.
These things just make the game way too frustrating and not enjoyable to play. I rarely celebrate goals anymore because it's just way too easy to score and because of all the **** ones too. Even enjoying wins and celebrating them is less and less this year.
I'm happier when I'm actually able to just play a game after several lost connections and when nobody drops out of them. Ha!
Most of the time I'll play 2-3 games then get frustrated and say F it and turn it off and go do something else. Yet I play almost daily hoping it'll be a good day and enjoyable experience of playing hockey.
All of the above is only inregards to EASHL because I can only deal with playing one screwed up game mode at a time.
I agree with most of this, scoring goals is a slot machine this year, you can get 10 one-timer chances on one end that are all saved, then a player on the other team comes down the ice, skates straight at the goalie, tap up on the RS and pick top corner from 15 feet out with no screen.
Too many garbage goals this year, it's worse than Nhl 16 in that regard.
Totally agree with the part about not even enjoying wins this year, half the time we win we're still pi**ed off because it was way closer than it should of been; it really does feel like something is in the game to keep scores close.
I can be playing with a stacked team of friends against a team full of low badge levels and scrubs. Sure the majority of the time we'all win but too many times we've lost too or the game finished too close for comfort.
These things just make the game way too frustrating and not enjoyable to play.
I think what he's trying to say is that the game often feels contrived. Things we can't control tend to turn the tide more than simple mistakes or "fluke" occurrences, like players skating right over loose pucks without picking them up (where are the "seamless" puck pick ups?). Wonky physics and animations, like players swinging their sticks forward to take a shot and shots going behind them or goalies stopping dead in their tracks mid glide or players holding the stick to the side to negate hits. Players crashing the into the goalie and goals counting anyways. Players barely touching the net or getting pushed into the goalies and seeing their goal waved off. Sticks clipping through skates and limbs one second, then pucks jarring loose due to "incidental contact" the next. Setting up for a perfect one timer pass while the goalie is out of position, only to see him warp to the other side to make a miraculous save. Then 5 seconds later seeing your goalie give up a weak goal, on a weak wrister from 2 feet past the blue line when there was absolutely no one screening him.
Real life hockey has random occurrences, but nothing like the ones that happen TOO OFTEN in NHL 17.
I can be playing with a stacked team of friends against a team full of low badge levels and scrubs. Sure the majority of the time we'all win but too many times we've lost too or the game finished too close for comfort.
These things just make the game way too frustrating and not enjoyable to play.
You say this community is toxic yet you respond to a genuine comment(no matter how dumb you think it is) with a meme. You are part of the problem, act professional and set an example...
I can be playing with a stacked team of friends against a team full of low badge levels and scrubs. Sure the majority of the time we'all win but too many times we've lost too or the game finished too close for comfort.
These things just make the game way too frustrating and not enjoyable to play.
So true.
Just because their badges are low doesn't mean they are bad at the game....
I can be playing with a stacked team of friends against a team full of low badge levels and scrubs. Sure the majority of the time we'all win but too many times we've lost too or the game finished too close for comfort.
These things just make the game way too frustrating and not enjoyable to play.
So true.
Just because their badges are low doesn't mean they are bad at the game....
Most of the time it does though but it definitely shows they haven't played that much and thus probably haven't learned the nuisances/tips etc of this year's version.
Even though I played 400 games as a goalie, this year (after the patch from beta), I started out with something like 5 wins and 15 loses. It took me about 50 or more games to get use to and how to effectively play goalie again. That is why I won't play with a really low badge goalie in net. They're usually **** when they start out.
I don't really play with low badge Centers either due to the faceoff factor. Wings I can deal with. Dman are iffy, hopefully there is only one of them.
When I mean really low level badges I'm talking about the ones under/over level 10 or so. The white ones with the red number. I'd rather not take chances playing with those I consider "newbies".
Not much in the game, or how it plays has changed in 5 years, except maybe goalie. I dont care what lvl people are on my team. Doesnt make them bad. Ive seen max players that are not very good. beat double prestiged teama with noone prestiged on my team. All those badges do is show how much you play. No indication whatsoever of skill. Even the CR is no indication of skill, It just shows you play with an organized group. CR is not based of player grades only win/loss. There is no way to tell of your opponent or teammates are good except to play with them. Even then sometimes there is just no chemistry, not an indication of skill. All the things that show hockey knowledge are not often praised in this game.
Got to weekly number one Hybrid goalie in 3 days last month top 10 monthly(solo drop-in). Am I good no!! Average at best, just played alot so even the ranking boards mean nothing..
Still remember playing on my other account. Level 1 just messing around with different cameras. This game we were losing by 4 goals. One guy clicked on his mic and said "you guys are all terrible every one of ya" He was a prestige playing defense.. He left the game, we tied in and then won it by 2 goals in a little over 1 period.
Replies
And EA could care less because the real money is with HuT
EXACTLY. I gave EA 3 years (3 game cycles) to knock my socks off with the NHL series on the NEW (XB1 and PS4) Consoles but it hasn't happened yet and sadly it probably won't. NHL is the only game I buy religiously but I'm done, I can't do it anymore. Not even 100 games played (OVP) yet and I'm done with NHL already! I've gone back to AC: Black Flag and the other night I did the whole XB360 Backwards thing and downloaded Red Dead Redemption onto XB1.
Ive also been putting those 20 players on the Portland Winterhawks since Be A Pro allowed you to play in the CHL
I havnt been able to do this since NHL 14. NHL 15 and 16 did not have create a teams. And NHL 17 is so damn buggy that I just dont want to. I cant give players blank names. The jerseys I create are replaced by generic jerseys in the stands. And its extremly bulky and tedius to assign players to teams
There's all these awesome tools, and EA still makes it play like crap. This is the last EA Sports game I'll buy. Im done
I play defense in EASHL and I hate it. Not because the defensive tools do not work, but because EA has implemented balancing techniques to make the weaker team competitive.
This year (more than any previous) you can make the correct play and still get burnt because of a "bad puck luck" or a **** CPU goalie. Its infuriating. I know there is no actual scoring chances stat in the game but if one were to track through our games completed thus far, our % of high scoring chances (in close and slot out to the faceoff circle hashmarks) against has to be around 2-3 attempts per game. The amount of shots in the high slot (hashmarks out to top of circle) increases to about 7-10 per game. So if we are averaging 12-15 shots against per game, these teams are routinely potting 3-4 of their 9-13 shots that come from the high slot into the crease. That is crazy high. The numbers get even worse when we count the amount of goals scored off single shots on the rush.
Here comes the part I can't stand and my ultimate breaking point. My team will routinely have double...maybe even triple...all the above stats only to not be rewarded. As previously stated, we work the cycle. We feed the points. We get the forwards in front on screens. We pick up the garbage. All for what? 2 maybe 3 goals a game. We are constantly playing from behind thanks to our goalies. We can battle for 20+mins to tie the game but no worries. Our goalie will most def. give up his very next shot against no matter if its high or low chance.
Like I said, infuriating.
Its all about them exploits.
I've held off on commenting here for a while, mostly because I'm not a big fan of the new forums, but I had post because this complaining is unbearable.
I absolutely agree with you. This is probably my favourite NHL game ever released, 04, 11 and Hitz were my previous favourites but this takes the cake. Offline you have sliders that can turn the game into the most frenetic arcade hockey game I've ever played, or turn it into a truly challenging and realistic version of hockey.
The customization is by far the deepest it's ever been, I've spent hours upon hours creating teams and customizing players.
The EASHL experience is miles better than it's ever been IMO. I play defense and forward and i really don't know what more people want. A defensive skill stick would be great but playing defense is still fun, and not nearly as challenging as people make it out to be (unless you're referring to versus, which I admittedly haven't played this year). Good team positioning, controlled skating, well timed poke checks, it's pretty simple.
Goalies getting scored on randomly can be frustrating but guess what? That's hockey. It doesn't necessarily always require a high level of creativity or constant cycling. Sometimes I come home after a real life game and I'm frustrated with how it went, not wanting to even think about hockey anymore. That's just the nature of the game, things don't always go your way.
The people that say they stopped playing a few days/weeks after release stopped playing because they want something new and different. This has nothing to do with gameplay. I'll probably end up having played NHL 11 five times more than 17 but I enjoy 17 way more. Playing the same game year after year gets boring, that's really all it comes down to for most people. EASHL was such a novel idea, it was so exciting when it first came out. You're never going to get that same feeling back from that mode, you're never going to play as many games as you used to. Maybe take a break, find a new game to play and come back in a few years when you miss it enough, I have no idea.
This is by far the best NHL game I've ever played and I'm really proud of the work the game changers and dev team put in
Simpy cap stats (floating cap) based on height and weight. "Super build" complaints/problem solved.
this type of idiocy shouldn't dismiss what is wrong with this game.
I agree with most of this, scoring goals is a slot machine this year, you can get 10 one-timer chances on one end that are all saved, then a player on the other team comes down the ice, skates straight at the goalie, tap up on the RS and pick top corner from 15 feet out with no screen.
Too many garbage goals this year, it's worse than Nhl 16 in that regard.
Totally agree with the part about not even enjoying wins this year, half the time we win we're still pi**ed off because it was way closer than it should of been; it really does feel like something is in the game to keep scores close.
I think what he's trying to say is that the game often feels contrived. Things we can't control tend to turn the tide more than simple mistakes or "fluke" occurrences, like players skating right over loose pucks without picking them up (where are the "seamless" puck pick ups?). Wonky physics and animations, like players swinging their sticks forward to take a shot and shots going behind them or goalies stopping dead in their tracks mid glide or players holding the stick to the side to negate hits. Players crashing the into the goalie and goals counting anyways. Players barely touching the net or getting pushed into the goalies and seeing their goal waved off. Sticks clipping through skates and limbs one second, then pucks jarring loose due to "incidental contact" the next. Setting up for a perfect one timer pass while the goalie is out of position, only to see him warp to the other side to make a miraculous save. Then 5 seconds later seeing your goalie give up a weak goal, on a weak wrister from 2 feet past the blue line when there was absolutely no one screening him.
Real life hockey has random occurrences, but nothing like the ones that happen TOO OFTEN in NHL 17.
You say this community is toxic yet you respond to a genuine comment(no matter how dumb you think it is) with a meme. You are part of the problem, act professional and set an example...
Just because their badges are low doesn't mean they are bad at the game....
Not much in the game, or how it plays has changed in 5 years, except maybe goalie. I dont care what lvl people are on my team. Doesnt make them bad. Ive seen max players that are not very good. beat double prestiged teama with noone prestiged on my team. All those badges do is show how much you play. No indication whatsoever of skill. Even the CR is no indication of skill, It just shows you play with an organized group. CR is not based of player grades only win/loss. There is no way to tell of your opponent or teammates are good except to play with them. Even then sometimes there is just no chemistry, not an indication of skill. All the things that show hockey knowledge are not often praised in this game.
Got to weekly number one Hybrid goalie in 3 days last month top 10 monthly(solo drop-in). Am I good no!! Average at best, just played alot so even the ranking boards mean nothing..