Dynamic difficulty is ruining versus play
In online versus ( the reason i buy the game every year ) and this year i feel this the worst version of the game i have ever played. The new additions to the game are great ( still too easy to trip a player EA people are spamming stick lifts now ) the game play improvements i like, its the things out of player control that i dont like. Ea needs to remove the first touch on a delayed penalty code. If my player reaches for it, blow the play dead. Dont keep the play going. Ive touched the puck 5 times before it not getting a whistle to lead to a goal against. Also remove the poke on a loose puck where the second poke will always send the puck in the direction of a player on the opposing team ( if anyone doesnt belive me on that. Feel free to test it )
Those items are minor to what i see as a bigger issue. What i want to write about is the system Ea uses to adjust difficulty. This system had been broken ( or rather too intrusive in the gameplay exp) since since early summer on nhl18. In that game I routinely was in the top 1000 players usually between 300 to 1000 while getti g as high as 1p3rd overall. Then at some point i couldnt win two games in a row and i would lose more points then i could gain due to the pts system awarding lillte and removing lots. Before the system prevented 2 wins. I could get 4 or 5 wins while 2 losses would removed more points the i could gain. Later it became impossible to win 2 in a row using the leafs. Which made nonsense considering they are a good team. I got so frustrated that i deleted NHL18 ( a first for me )
Now i see this years game is having the same problem.
I started using the leafs in versus and found i couldnt win. No matter how well i played there are artificial barriers. If u drop below a 500 competitive rating getting above it is nearly impossible. I could only do it using Washington. I got up to 570. There was some odd logic that would cause prevent me from getting above 530 then 550 then 580. I would go 25 games flipping back and forth between win loss. Next thing u know and my score is at 500pts. For some reason beating a player with a higher rank doesnt net me abovw 7pts. Yet losing to someone with a lower rank makes me lose between 8 and 10 points!
It got to the point i could predict the outcome of a game based on the point threshold. I switched to using the leafs and found it impossible to win two games in a row.
I lost against some people that we so unskilled that it made no sense. I game last night was horrible. I had 9min30 on attack. Out shot him 37 to 9. Out hit him 30 to 3. I won 95% of faceoffs. My passing percent was in the 80s and i was all over him setting up plays and one timers. He had a single chance to score in the final minute and guess what? It went in. He won 1 to nothing!!!
Now there is nothing wrong with games like this occasionally, but this is too frequent. Literally i can tell when its going to happen based on my competitive rating. It feels artificial and is!
I knew the results before starting my last game. My daughter was watching as i told her it would be an automatic loss before the puck dropped.
What we are seeing imo is the ea dynamic difficulty used to drive up retention. This used to kick in less frequently in previous years ( once every 10 games id guess) However in nhl19 its ruining the game. Online should be skill based. Not this garbage. Ive never thought about wanting a refund before, but im so unhappy with what ever system is used to make things more challenging, that i likely wont pick this game up ever again. Ive almost purchased this game every year going back to 1992. Im thoroughly unhappy.
Those items are minor to what i see as a bigger issue. What i want to write about is the system Ea uses to adjust difficulty. This system had been broken ( or rather too intrusive in the gameplay exp) since since early summer on nhl18. In that game I routinely was in the top 1000 players usually between 300 to 1000 while getti g as high as 1p3rd overall. Then at some point i couldnt win two games in a row and i would lose more points then i could gain due to the pts system awarding lillte and removing lots. Before the system prevented 2 wins. I could get 4 or 5 wins while 2 losses would removed more points the i could gain. Later it became impossible to win 2 in a row using the leafs. Which made nonsense considering they are a good team. I got so frustrated that i deleted NHL18 ( a first for me )
Now i see this years game is having the same problem.
I started using the leafs in versus and found i couldnt win. No matter how well i played there are artificial barriers. If u drop below a 500 competitive rating getting above it is nearly impossible. I could only do it using Washington. I got up to 570. There was some odd logic that would cause prevent me from getting above 530 then 550 then 580. I would go 25 games flipping back and forth between win loss. Next thing u know and my score is at 500pts. For some reason beating a player with a higher rank doesnt net me abovw 7pts. Yet losing to someone with a lower rank makes me lose between 8 and 10 points!
It got to the point i could predict the outcome of a game based on the point threshold. I switched to using the leafs and found it impossible to win two games in a row.
I lost against some people that we so unskilled that it made no sense. I game last night was horrible. I had 9min30 on attack. Out shot him 37 to 9. Out hit him 30 to 3. I won 95% of faceoffs. My passing percent was in the 80s and i was all over him setting up plays and one timers. He had a single chance to score in the final minute and guess what? It went in. He won 1 to nothing!!!
Now there is nothing wrong with games like this occasionally, but this is too frequent. Literally i can tell when its going to happen based on my competitive rating. It feels artificial and is!
I knew the results before starting my last game. My daughter was watching as i told her it would be an automatic loss before the puck dropped.
What we are seeing imo is the ea dynamic difficulty used to drive up retention. This used to kick in less frequently in previous years ( once every 10 games id guess) However in nhl19 its ruining the game. Online should be skill based. Not this garbage. Ive never thought about wanting a refund before, but im so unhappy with what ever system is used to make things more challenging, that i likely wont pick this game up ever again. Ive almost purchased this game every year going back to 1992. Im thoroughly unhappy.
11
Howdy, Stranger!
Replies
The vast majority of penalties are user error. There are the ocassional bugs but those are few and far between. If you're getting multiple penalties a game I would recommend you change your play style.
This is a confirmed bug and it's one of the reasons I dont play HUT anymore.
For someone winning all their games, they will continue to move up until they meet their match but we would hopefully move those losing down to a place where they are playing even competition as well until they improve and move up.
Everyone wants to win all their games but that will only be true for the best in the world.
If you did lose more points than you should have due to an odd match against a current low rated player that is actually better than that and on their way up, it will even out as your next games will match relative to your updates CR and you would have a higher chance of going on a win streak until you settle into the range that is actually true to your skill.
Just like real life though, even your true skill can be compromised by getting in your own head and it sounds like with all the speculation going on that could be the case. Play loose again, don’t look for ways you feel the game is cheating you and trust that the system is actually getting you even matchups and see if you can overcome that current status to improve and move further up. Eventually though, you will meet your match again.
Couldnt have said it better myself. I buy NHL every year, mainly for VS play and it sickens me to my core when these types of games happen - and it's usually multiple times a day.
what game mode are you talking about?
I play all modes. It works the same way in all modes. It's a momentum based game where you want momentum on your side most of the time. That is how you win but the the way EA has it set up it dumbs down player skill in order for lesser skilled players to be able to complete. This game does not reward you for your skill whatsoever. As soon as you stat beating your opponent by 2 goals or more it dumbs down you skill so the game gives the lesser skill player a chance. That is how this game works and that is why this game tanks in sales every year.
Well I only play EASHL and I can tell you I see lesser skilled players getting smashed frequently. Lesser teams generally lose as well.
However, not everything i said has to do with a feeling. There is logic in the game that forces a puck turnover if you poke at it twice and make contact both times. its not random. Whatever logic that prevents a player that touches a loose puck on a delayed penalty is real. Theres just no way touching the puck 5 times should not cause a whistle. Sometimes the player you control reaches for the puck without you doing anything which is really frustrating. Its an extreme example but aligns with the times where the puck ping pongs between players
There is also strangeness with the puck accelerating off a players stick when an opposing player check lands. Ive seen the puck fly off a stick at 100mph.
Locked on hitting is something most players dont know about and its impossible to defend against. Players are spamming this for 30 to 40 hits a game.
I out played my opponents drastically on that 1 win 1 loss streak. I can gaurentee that much. This is where i felt something i played a player of lower rank and skill and dominated the game but got a loss. There has been other games like that where i won but it was hardercplaying someone that didnt know what they were doing then someone that was skilled.
I as a player shouldn't feel punished for playing hockey in what i feel is the right way. I think i played around 1500 to 2000 games in 2018. Close to 200 games in 2019. So im not basing these things on a small sample size. I think if you check, in this years game id bet you're seeing more people quit games before time runs out. I dont mind getting beat if i played poorly. But im getting beat when i played well. It just feels artificial at times.
I completely disagree. First off, even the best in the world on this game have losses. From club in EASHL to Versus to the hated HUT. Not one person or team has gone undefeated. As for saying someone is speculating is more a tune to diversion tactics. If there are a good amount of people complaining about the same issues year after after year, why not correct said issues? Instead, EA behaves like the FBI or CIA (when an alien or ufo are encountered) and tries to hush people or divert attention and topics. Its more respectable to just admit fault and do your best to explain what happened and what the gameplan is to correct the wrong. I think the community would appreciate that much more instead of segregating us from you guys.
Can’t link to VS or HUt records, but the number 4 overall in the top 100 clubs is undefeated https://www.easports.com/nhl/clubs/search
Plus there are some pretty significant winning records to see as well.
Thanks for the link but you need to look again. I searched all the top clubs records and they all have losses. Their win loss differential is almost all identical too. The #4 club, which you said was undefeated, has more losses than wins.
You are looking at the Seasons records, which is based on games played. Click on the Top 100 tab.
By that logic you could only play home games and win every time. Have you tested that theory? It would be interesting to see how many games you win as the home team. I'd be willing to bet your record basically stays the same.
I'm pretty sure this was a glitch in 18. Never seen it in 19.
This was in the game around 12/13/14. Haven't seen anything remotely resembling locked hits like that in years.
Every time you win do you think you didn't deserve it and the computer just forced the outcome in your favor?
You can still play well and lose. There's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with playing better than your opponent and losing. It happens in real hockey too.
Hockey too. Of course it happens in real hockey....it can be a bad bounce or lucky deflection.....what doesn’t happen in REAL hockey is the opposing team only getting 5 shots on goal and putting in 3-4 of them because the goalie just stands there while the puck floats over their shoulder. What also doesn’t happen in REAL hockey is a team dominating every aspect of the game and losing 50% of the time they do that. You know what else doesn’t happen in REAL hockey? Slow guys don’t get magic turbo power to catch your top speed players. I can go on and on....but the usual responses will follow. Get better or Fatman lag.....
The proof that it’s not a question of skill or lag just observe the AI in those games. This year it’s much more obvious than last year. One teams AI will cover the slot for the cross ice pass very well and forecheck very aggressively. They will play fantastic position and the goalie will be lights out going post to post robbing you. The other team the AI will abandon the slot leaving the money pass and one timer open. They will wander making you feel all alone out there and your goalie can’t stop a beach ball. It’s so obvious it’s almost insulting.
This is key...
Upsets in real life are 20+ shots by the underdog.
In this game, when you dominate someone and lose they typically have 10 or fewer shots, 3 min or less TOA, etc. This is not a normal upset, this is flawed game mechanics....
As pointed out many times, the games over the past 7 years or so are programmed to keep games closer by making it harder to score good goals and easier to score garbage goals, this combination frustrates good players and rewards players who find themselves being dominated.
Skill will win the majority, but there are way too many close games that shouldn't be close, and way too many upsets that should happen.
It's still occurring. Also getting checked from behind with lock on hitting forces a puck turn over almost every time. sometimes this causes the puck to move off your stick directly to an opponent like a pass or hard pass
This is incorrect. Test it for yourself. Use Hybrid controls, move your player close to an opponent and hold the A button without touching the left stick. Providing you have a skating start, your player will start moving to check your opponent, even turning to a small extent without you touching the left stick. This is being used all the time in versus play.
no sometimes I don't deserve the win and it did force the win in my favor. I think the logic works both ways.
Right it does happen. however, this isn't real life. There's a balance between realism and fun that developers work with. I spent 20 years as a producer on games, and I totally get the struggle. I have friends that know Rammer or played hockey against him outside of work. Anyway, the most important thing is that a player doesn't feel cheated out of a win, real or not.
I get pretty sick of hearing this in rebuttal to the dynamic difficulty/ice tilt/whatever you wanna call it that plagues this franchise. YES - we get it, there are plenty of games throughout an NHL season where an opponent who doesn't deserve to win comes out with a W. Quick instance - CAR vs WPG on Sunday night. Carolina put up almost 50 shots on goal, doubling that of WPG and controlled most of the game. They lost 2-1.
The point is this type of nonsense happens DAILY in this game. Even when I win games where I dominate they are sweat fest grinds down to the last sound of the horn. This has been an argument from a vast majority of the community for years now and people still try to find a way to defend that it doesn't exist.
So play 82 games over 190 days and lets see your record.
Instead of playing 10 games a day.