Offline PC Port
I wanted to raise a suggestion that I think could be a practical, lower-risk way to bring the NHL series back to PC without immediately taking on the full complexity of online modes. Rather than a full-featured PC release with HUT, EASHL, and competitive online play, I’d love to see EA consider an offline-focused PC version that includes: Quick Play / Exhibition Franchise Mode Be a Pro I’ve seen it mentioned in other discussions that there may not currently be enough demonstrated interest on PC to justify a full NHL release. An offline-first approach could serve as a much lower-cost way to gauge real PC demand, without the ongoing risks and expenses associated with online services, anti-cheat, and cross-platform matchmaking. From a technical and operational standpoint, an offline-only PC release would avoid many of the hardest challenges that make PC ports risky, such as: Anti-cheat and competitive integrity concerns Cross-play population fragmentation Matchmaking and backend service overhead Input fairness issues between PC and console At the same time, these offline modes actually align very well with PC players: Franchise Mode and Be a Pro support long, simulation-focused play sessions PC players already expect and accept controller-recommended sports titles Performance expectations are high, but easier to meet without online synchronization constraints There’s also precedent for a strong PC audience for sports simulations that focus primarily on offline depth. Football Manager is a great example of a franchise that thrives on PC by emphasizing management, simulation, and long-term engagement. While football’s global popularity is much larger than hockey’s, it still demonstrates that PC players are willing to invest deeply in well-supported, offline-centric sports experiences. This kind of release could: Provide real data on PC interest at a much lower cost Let the team focus on performance, stability, and input feel Establish a PC foundation that online features could potentially build on laterEarly NHL 27 Franchise Mode Wish List
EA, please make some much needed changes in your Franchise Mode for 27. It’s one of the most neglected aspects of this franchise, and a **bleep** shame. Here’s a few things I think could be easily done in 27: Enable arena updates like when you go to create a team so you can at least change the scoreboard, center ice logo, and lighting/effects. Enable team rebranding (NOT relocation) where you can change the nickname, mascot, logo, uniforms, colors, etc, in Franchise Mode. This could easily be done as an offseason option similar to relocation option. With that, update the available options for team names (including matching announced names), logos, etc. Update the goalie mask options (including adding the real designs) and get more creative with them. Or at least allow customization like with the rest of the goalie gear. Get all REAL coaches in the game. It’s fine to have created ones of course. And I know there’s some real coaches in the game. But get all the current NHL and AHL coaches in the game so it’s more realistic (just as you have it in the Madden games). When setting up the franchise, put an option to allow us to increase the owners budget for spending. Improve the blog posting to be more realistic. Include non-transactional news on players, teams, and such like you’d see on a TSN or ESPN blog.My Early NHL 27 Create-A-Team Wish List
EA, please make some much needed changes in the create a team for 27. Here’s a few things I think could be easily done in 27: Please get some better logos to choose from. I think there were a few new ones this year. But so many terrible ones. With that, get the list of team names, Nicknames and announced names to match up to the logos so there’s a name for each logo that can be announced. Bring back ALL defunct team logos and add those team cities and names to the announced names.
CHEL26 Be A Pro Feedback (Player Growth and X-Factors)
Alright so I gave Be A Pro a try after the update and I actually do like it more than I thought. It’s still nothing compared to NHL19 personally, as you could play two full seasons of Junior and then get drafted, play AHL, no form score, (essentially a sandbox), etc etc but I digress. Regardless, as for NHL26, while I do enjoy lighting up the league, I’ve got some issues and they are primarily tied to player growth and X-Factors. Alright so I go in with my normal build I use for most of my Be A Pros. A 5’7 Left-Shot Sniper who plays Centre. Now I knew I’d have a choice between Quick Release and One Tee, being someone who prefers scoring off the rush and someone who used Schnipe/Shock&Awe/MakeItSnappy from 22-25, naturally I went with Quick Release. Anyways my next objective was to get Wheels, which I did, and then went for Elite Quick Release. Alright, sounds good. My next course of action was Backhand Beauty, by far my favorite X-Factor and a key part of my playstyle as a left-shot Sniper. However despite looking through all the available X-Factors, it wasn’t even in the menu. I hear that different player types have different X-Factors available, yet why is this particular one excluded from a Sniper of all player types? I chose a Sniper partly because I like scoring on the backhand. Yet it’s not even selectable for a Sniper? You have 20+ of the around 28 X-Factors available, even ones you wouldn’t expect for a Sniper like Send It and Hipster, yet one of the primary shooting X-Factors isn’t even available to be used? That really frustrated me, especially when I went into a Grudge Match game and got to use Backhand Beauty for the duration of one game and it felt great, only to realize I can’t even unlock it normally. Alright, nothing I can do about that unless the game gets updated, alright. So I decided to go for Elite Wheels next instead. Only to find out that it is quite literally impossible to obtain Elite Wheels even with a 5’7 Sniper, all speed and acceleration traits unlocked, and all salary perks active, as well as peak health. Heck, you can’t even get All-Star Wheels unless you have literally every speed and acceleration trait unlocked with full health and perks, and you lose it after one game when you go from peak health to energetic. Normally to fix this, I’d turn my attention to the weekly off-ice training, except now that, the one thing that you could use to max out your skating stats, is completely gone. There is literally no way to get more than 90 Acceleration on a 5’7 Sniper, which means it’s impossible to get Elite Wheels and mostly impossible to keep All-Star Wheels. Okay, so what am I saying needs to be done? Well, first off, every X-Factor should be available to unlock regardless of player type. If I want a Sniper with Quick Release, Wheels, and Backhand Beauty, I should be allowed to work towards that. Secondly, there needs to be a way to actually upgrade your base acceleration and speed stats outside of traits. The temporary bonuses from peak health don’t last anymore than a single game, and the salary perks seem more like boosts than anything. Bring back the off-ice training, or let me grind out XP just by hustling during gameplay. The only way you can even increase speed through gameplay is via beating icing, something that is nearly impossible to do consistently. Third, make it so once you unlock an X-Factor, you can always apply it regardless of your stats. They are X-Factors for a reason, they’re supposed to give you an edge. I’m playing on Winnipeg, Kyle Connor has Elite Wheels but only 91 Speed and Acceleration, why do I need 93? Even if I somehow got 93 acceleration (which as I said, is literally impossible since off-ice training is gone), if it was because of peak health bonuses or late-career aging, I’d lose it. I ask kindly that this is updated in the near future. I should be able to work towards an elite version of every X-Factor, and some not even being selectable for certain player types even when it would make sense is absurd. Just let me have Elite Wheels and Backhand Beauty on my 5’7 Sniper. I’d be happy then. Let me grind out my player to 99 base skating stats. Thank You.
