Be A Pro is unplayable with multiple large issues
The developer team was on the right track with the changes made this year to the game mode but ultimately fell short in the execution. In this thread I will go over the issues I have noticed with many hours of play time as a multiple year experienced player. 1. The health feature. After each game your player gets fatigued or exhausted and you to spend 2-4 energy points to recover. That would not be an issue if we received more energy points. On average you play 3-4 games per week and you only get 6 energy points. Quite often you will find yourself running out of energy points before your last game of the week, forcing you to play super fatigued. This is very frustrating as you always fall behind the 8ball and it drops your speed, acceleration, endurance, agility and durability by 10-20 attribute ratings. During the season you never have any energy to spend on trait points, X-factor points, or the likability options. A good comparison of a health system that works is in EA's College Football games. In those games you don't have to spend all your points on health as you only play 1 game per week. They pretty much copied the same feature in NHL26, except it's the same amount of energy points but with way more games per week. It just does not add up... 2. Form score. The form score seems to only go by point productions from your player. It possibly may be ever so slightly tied to the coach feedback score, too hard to tell. Your player can play extremely well and get an " A " grade for the coach feedback, but since you did not score a goal or an assist, your form score will be only 20/100. If you are on a line with grinders (like an NHL 4th line), or just don't "finish" the play, you get penalized. The game requires you to have a high form score to make the NHL team, or move up the lineups. This also is a big problem for Defenseman or a 2-Way forward who doesn't prioritize a purely offensive game. 3. Gameplay sliders. The sliders that are set in settings get reset every time you play a game. Even if you set the sliders in settings before you start your Be A Pro, it will not work. Each game they have to be edited. 4. Draft stock media interview. The media interview right before draft day is absurd. It is not realistic at all to be able to drop 20 spots in the draft from answering questions that seem like a good response. A simple fix would be making the worst answer -1 draft stock, the best answer +1, and the 2nd best/worst being 0 change. Also, make it more apparent what your goal is (to answer questions closest to your higher likeability- being management, teammates, and brand). 5. Chapter challenges/lineup challenges. Unless your player goes on an offense masterclass in the pre-season, you will not make the NHL team. This goes back to #2, where I spoke about form score. It is not realistic to require such a high production to make the team. Second which, once sent down to the AHL, you have 8 games to maintain a 65 or higher line score. If you make the NHL team, you are stuck on the 4th line where you play only a few shifts per game (even on 20 minute periods). You do not have enough ice time to produce at the rate required to make the 3rd line. It's at the point where you need a higher points per 60 minute stat than the top players in the league to progress. As a defense player, this makes it absolutely impossible to move forward. The coach grade feedback also needs to be adjusted per ice time. You can have all your 4 shifts where you play well and go from the C- starting point, to a C+, which is never high enough to grow. If the developers can make the correct tweaks, this game mode has such good potential. I recommend either adding more energy points per week, or reduce the fatigue you gain per game you play. At the least, have a setting to turn off the health feature like in other EA sports games like CFB25/26. There also needs to be adjustment on the form score. It needs to be more related to your coach feedback and your player role/position. They needs to be tweaks for both of those metrics for the ice time you are allocated. Those simple fixes will make a massive difference in this game mode. I have not seen any player, YouTube, or Streamer happy with how this game mode plays and I have not heard any response from the EA team on this topic. Please give us hope for this game!
Be a Pro Rosters
Can someone from EA give me a detailed explanation as to why the rosters on Be a Pro are not accurate? Why is Marner still on Toronto? Why is Clifton still on Buffalo? Why did Buffalo sign Dadanov when he signed with New Jersey? I expect and demand an explanation promptly. The rosters should be absolutely accurate the day the game comes out. Utterly inexcusable.
Form Score needs to be removed from BAP...
BAP is not playable this year. Everything in this game mode is dependent on this Form score which is totally disconnected to you the other game score from previous years. Why would you introduce a new score mechanic and at the same time keep the old one? And how can they contradict each other so much? You can get a A+ in game score, then after the game you get a 36 form score... And it gives you zero feedback on why? And no feedback on what to improve.. Just a random score. And everything in BAP is now is dependent on this mystery score. Got a challenge to get promoted to 3rd line from 4th by getting 75 form score. I play 8 games, get good in game coach feedback As and Bs every game, score 5 points in the 8 games. End up with a form score at 68. Challenge failed. OK i guess, but not only don't I get promoted to 3rd line I get sent down to AHL.. So I don't even get stay on the 4th line. This system is just broken and not realistic at all. It just makes the game feel a lottery. And it's not playable right now. The patch seems to have fixed some issues where you could only get Form score by scoring, but it's still way to random and the lack of feedback just makes it incredibly frustrating to play. And it does not take into account what role your playing or the coach feedback system.. Please add an option to play BAP without this and just the normal coach feedback system. Its not ready for release and game mode is not worth playing now.
NHL 26 Patch 1.1.1 Notes
Patch Notes Patch Go-Live: Tuesday, September 16th, 1 PM ET. Server Downtime is expected for up to one hour after deployment of the patch. 1.1.1 Patch Notes Gameplay Fixed an issue where a player who was AFK was not being removed in a World of CHEL game Be a Pro Tuning adjustments to Health to include TOI as a factor and scaling down the amount of health reduction that hits thrown, hits received and shots blocked give. Updated the following form score contributing values to make form score feel more balanced for games that are low event for the user: Goals Assists PP Pts SH Pts Body Checks Plus/minus Giveaways Takeaways Shots Fixed an issue where the Custom option was not available in the Play Game flow Fixed an issue in the Draft Interview media convo where some responses didn't line up with the correct Brand, Management or Teammate impact Franchise Mode Fixed an issue where line chemistry was not being generated properly from X-Factors Fixed an issue where AHL coach conversation were not available Fixed an issue where earning the Quick Draw X-Factor through a season goal could cause a crash when entering Edit Lines Hockey Ultimate Team Fixed an issue where completing training camp objectives did not give users access to the Auction House Fixed an issue where when matchmaking in Ranked users would see an error message World of CHEL Fixed a crash when navigating from the club members menu in EASHL 6 v 6 More Notes........ This first patch is focused on improving overall game stability and addressing some of the most noticeable issues that could affect your time on the ice. While this update is about making sure the foundation is solid, future patches will have a continued focus on gameplay feedback, with tuning and adjustments in key areas, along with further improvements across modes and features. As previously mentioned, we’re actively investigating adjustments to LT (Vision Control), Saucer Passes for short distances, poke checks, and post hit frequency, and we’ll have more to share in upcoming patches.Fix Form Score
So, I’m trying to find nice and easy, low effort ways for you guys to fix the currently unplayable Be a Pro. And I think it boils down to the form score system. To get a good form score, you NEED to score goals. And to maintain the form score, you need to score goals literally every game. I’ve had streaks of 4 straight games of a 100 form score, then I have one game where I don’t score, and it drops below 70. Let’s just make this very clear. Not everyone wants to play a career mode where they score every single game and are the Jesus Christ of hockey. Some of us want a realistic career simulation where we score every now and again and slowly work our way up the lineup. BUT, to even be on the 4th line, you need A GOAL A GAME. The way you have Be a Pro designed, the players HAS to be the best player in the league every game or you get demoted. Fix. Your. Game. I refuse to wait until NHL 31 when you decide you fix a broken game mode and slap it on the cover as a new feature.
Be A Pro Question
So in the last few years, my main problem with Be A Pro is.... if you create a center, your rating puts you at a certain number that you cant PLAY center on your top line IF the computer controlled center has a higher rating. It then forces you to play wing even though you want to play center to take faceoffs. You cant become center until you get a higher rating then your teams starting center. There should be a feature that allows you to say PLAY MY POSITION no matter what.... why cant the computer move the "starting" center to play wing like it does you... I hate having to play an entire season without being able to take a faceoff.... IS this still in the game or is there a way to get around this? I love playing center, but never get to BE center because I am always ranked lower starting out and while I can move to the top line very fast.... I cant ever be center because the starting center will have a rating of like 91 or something and my rating is in the 80s until I can bring it up... Can anyone comment on this to let me know if NHL 26 still has it this way.. I have been asking for years to fix this or add a toggle to let me play my position in Be A Pro no matter what..... can anyone confirm?NHL 26 BaP AI Feedback
I cant imagine how the devs haven't managed to fix teammate AI. They are completely useless in BAP. You essentially have to do everything. The only thing they are half decent at is shooting. For at least 6 years now your teammates just skate directly into the defence on the rush 9/10 times they just give up the puck without even trying to avoid the defender. And that's being generous. Meanwhile on defence your teammates let the attacker skate through them every time. They can't clear the puck. They will hold onto it if anyone is close to them, and this year I have noticed they also make terrible passes up the middle to get intercepted. I could live with all this to be honest, but in BAP they also punish your defensive score no matter how little fault of yours it is that they scored. Example: it was about halfway through the game. I was trying to have a good two way game. I was playing the wing. Recovered pucks, blocked shots, made hits. Had a pretty decent rating even without scoring. Then McDavid skates around 4 of my teammates clumped together in the middle of the ice, breakaway, goal. Now my defensive score is below 50%. Because of one play, I was not responsible for. It is so hard to get your defensive score up. Even if your team scores when you're on the ice to give you a plus. Don't matter. You better score 4 points a game or else you'll have a bad rating. When it comes to be a pro. Do less, please. Yall are bad at making video games. So just give us a be a pro where you can start in juniors. Don't have terrible cheesy conversations, don't have AI voiced press conferences. Don't have energy and health levels. Don't treat us as a special player where every arbitrary choice we make in conversations effect our teammates perception of us. Don't make it a story, because you all write like it's a rushed high-school project. Please do less. Let us just dump points where we want them, don't make any resource management mini game that is so poorly thought out it is broken. Say what you want about "pricey pond hockey" but when we have this new be a pro for another 5 years, this will be much more hated. Edit: Modified the title to better reflect the content of the thread. -CM
