What Full Presentation Means and Why We Need It
Ok first off, I am an offline, GM mode only player. And I have to say I like some of the improvements made this year. The graphics are better, there are finally some new goalie masks, and with some tweaking I think I have the gameplay settings in a good place that feels both fun and authentic. However, all of this only makes it more obvious that we need FULL presentation back in this game. What do I mean by full? I don't think it needs to look exactly like you're watching on TV, I think it needs to feel like you're actually at the game. Longer introductions - players skating out of the tunnel, fans cheering, every team having the same advanced projections that only a few do in this game. Also, no one hands out glowsticks, there has to be something else they can be doing. Or the option to use the ones that were made for create-a-team. Goalie spotlights at the start of the game, showing them clearing their crease and their stats.Longer and more frequent cutscenes in between whistles. Fans reacting, players skating around or to the bench. Not like a TV timeout, just what they actually do before the puck drops again. The crowd actually following the game. And not every game is a sellout. 32 authentic goal songs. I've never seen a single person say they liked the soundtrack since like 2006? That money could go toward making this happen instead. Or if you don't want to do that, can we at least pick our own goal song like you can for created teams? The ones in use right now are not great. Skating back into the tunnels at the intermission. 3 stars of the game afterward, even if it's being shown in the background as the broadcasters are signing off. All of this skippable for those who aren't interested, but for all of us who have been asking, this would make a world of difference. Every other sports franchise is moving toward this. There have been multiple 100 page plus threads on this forum about it. It's been in the game in the past. I understand why it was removed but that was 3 years ago now. And somehow, the already short cutscenes feel even shorter this year, like they tried to cut an extra half second off. Every game has good graphics now so the new trend is immersion, making it feel like you'rethere. Except in the case of NHL. Which is why we continue to make lengthy threads about the subject year after year. But it doesn't have to be that way. I don't know about anyone else butthat's what I mean by full presentation, and some of this should not be an impossible ask because it was either already in the game or does not seem hard to add into the game. Offline/franchise got some love this year and I am grateful for that. But since the question always comes up what we mean by full presentation, here you go. P.S. This is not related but the Utica Comets are now abbreviated UTC, not UTI, for reasons. Ok thanks.
Another year of mystery ratings
@eaalijo Can someone there PLEASE explain the rating system? Like how my Calgary Flames dog of a team has an 88 rating on offense when there isn't a single player that is rated that high? I have broken down the rosters of every team and Calgary is hands down the worst. Every other team should be rated higher than them AT EVERYTHING. Even if we assume that baseline bottom for an NHL team is 85 overall they should be RATED LOWER THAN THAT. Also please explain how a player whose attributes average 80 is a 75 overall player. I have gotten to the point that I don't even look at the overall player rating unless it is REALLY high. Why not just take them off completely if they don't make any more sense than this?EA redefines "ice time"
Time on ice is usually an indicator of how long each person has been skating per game. In this game "time on ice" is how long you spend in a heap after you get hit. 10 seconds is WAY too long. In the real game a ref would blow the whistle as soon as the injured players team took control if the player was THAT slow getting up. Please FIX IT.
The State of EANHL
As a staple elite rank player in WOC for about 5 years now & a big user of the offline modes I have a good understanding of how genuinely bad this game is. Offline modes are shoved to the side so EA can prioritize HUT. All gaming companies focus on what makes them additional money, understood, but there are bugs in these offline modes that are game breaking. There’s a bug in BAP for the past 3 games now where the entire game freezes during a coach interaction. And that’s it. Your be a pro is officially ended. I discovered this bug in both NHL 23 and 24. Reported it to the EA forums with video evidence. The reply I received was “this will continue to happen and hopefully we can fix it next game but for now, make sure to avoid quick closing/resuming your game” and when I told them that simply wasn’t good enough for the price point & people agreed, the community managers locked the post to stop further dialogue between the players. EANHL absolutely loves to take features out of games then add it back a few years later. Not only does this distract from other issues that need to be talked about, they commonly promote these things as being new, which is false advertisement, as is the promotion of the conversation system in be a pro, as when it first came out they marketed it as creating a way more diverse experience. Instead, my coach is telling me to go out there and swing momentum. After the game is done and I’m walking down the tunnel… There has been a cosmetic bug in the game for 4 (maybe 5) years now, where in WOC dressing room you will have on the teams uniform that you just played or are about to play. This is not a big deal but also shows the genuine carelessness and “doesn’t matter, they’ll give us their money anyways” attitude that is very readable. Repeated face off bug in WOC has also been in the game for 4-5 years now, where the game starts, resets to the faceoff seconds later, and does that 5 times before ending the game. Similar to the cosmetic bug (but obviously worse as it affects the playing of the game directly) this shows how EANHL really does not care about the product they’re putting in the store. Name a sports game that wouldn’t have this bug removed by the next game update, or AT LEAST the next game. I’ll wait… The menu is OVERWHELMINGLY slow for a game released in 2024. The loading times have improved. But navigating the menu itself, ESPECIALLY in franchise mode I’ve noticed is VERY slow and buggy. I click on a player to see their stats and have to wait 5 seconds before I can even start to move to the stats tab. They only change the menu & general game layout every 3 years when they release annually. Don’t need to elaborate there. The gameplay itself is below average. And it’s very easy to tell why as someone that’s played at a high level for a very long time - this game is aiming to be casual friendly, which is a HORRIBLE direction for almost any game to take as the dedicated players are usually the really good players. This argument is easily supported by the release of total control, as it makes moves that are supposed to take SKILL and IQ to set up & execute & makes it easy and accessible for anyone to do, even if you just loaded up an EANHL game for the first time. You dumb down the ceiling for skill, which means you allow luck to play more of a factor in the game. I have read a study that hockey is indeed the luckiest sport, but how many times in real life do you see teams out shoot their opponents by 15-20 shots and spend the entire game in the offensive zone and still lose by 2-3 goals? There are simple things that can be implemented to stop major issues. Picking up pucks requires skill IRL, especially when contested. You don’t have some magnet in your blade. Yet, in EANHL it seems like one game you do and the next game you wouldn’t be able to pick up a soccer ball with your blade if you tried. A dead by daylight styled skill check to all players within reach of the puck would be an amazing add. It doesn’t take a genius to know that just putting your player in position and HOPING that the game gets the puck for you isn’t sustainable and simply isn’t good enough. Again, price point. Franchise mode power play roles are still bugged after multiple years NEW BUGS: Player can’t line change in BAP and just skates into the boards & is penalized for a poor line change. Shot clock commonly reads the incorrect shots in all modes. The game commonly fully crashes in BAP mid game after simming to your next shift. I will add more new bugs to this post in the comments as I discover them, that’s if community managers don’t lock my post to stop meaningful dialogue between the players who have been ripped off. I’m sure there are a lot more problems in HUT as well even though they prioritize it so heavily, but I refuse to play that mode as it only encourages the company to not care about the rest of the game WHILE promoting gambling to children in a very cruel way (having them buy packs in hopes of drawing idols). In conclusion, if you genuinely support EANHL and their products, you’re either a HUT main with not much experience in other modes, or a mid/below mid player that benefits from EA’s constant pursuit of a casual friendly game. Thanks for the read!
NHL 25 Feedback
Great first the game is in the early version groten bad, on the day of the official release day of the game that changed ... but since 8.10 and the new update the AI (franchise mode) is hard to defeat the own games drive each other around, everything that is fun eats away as if the game were now missing the flair .. why this update ... as in NHL 24 the AI determines whether you win or lose .. I play NHL 14 every year but the last few years were really frustrating ... Edit: Modified the title due to swearing. Keep your posts free of profanity per the EA Forums rules. -CMGame crashing when i go to see created players from creation zone
If you load a roster, from the community created rosters page and the players created on it and want to go look at them, from the created players tab the game crashes every single time. Could you please fix this, very annoying feature.
NHL 26 early wishlist (let’s make NHL great again)
First off I will say nhl 25 is actual a huge step up im liking it so far , but it’s missing some details to feel complete.. full presentation needs to return and add more to what we had in the past games In edit player menu have the ability to change the color of sticks and gloves (nhl 2k had this) and now players have been customizing their own as well. Customizable tape job (adjust length on shaft and blade and not have it preset) And add the ability to edit goalie masks. hitting and collisions need to be tweaked to more realism. Franchise: be able to control more than one team able to scout and sign players from other leagues(I.E europe) Real coaches or at least customizable coaches A customizable GM character, have conversations be shown like it is in fifa where your Gm Meets the player. office similarly to dynasty mode in nhl 2004 On the hub where we get details of what went on in other games we can see highlights (either by clip or a screen shot) with description such as ‘stamkos nets a hat trick in last nights win’ and a small clip or screen shot showing stamkos scoring his 3rd goal. Be a pro: change up the whole be a pro game mode make it more like life the life. ability to use NhL players to continue their career or an nhl legend Street clothes for off days and make it interactive. If I buy a condo or a house i want to actualy see my self living in it. Same with the car we get, be able to drive around (a small map) and not just be a attribute boost. Pond hockey pick up games you can walk to or drive to when you leave your ‘house’ Call it a ‘hall of fame room’ similar to skybox 2k had in nhl2k5 where you had the Stanley cup and other interactive stuff and unlockables. Be able to decide to start from being drafted at 18 or create a 30 year old forward who just signed with an nhl team etc.. more interactive with teammates and coaches and GM list of teams you want to be traded to etc.. extras add winter classic and all star game (skills + game) both as a play now mode and also in franchise and be a pro. player retiring playing their last game get a ovation from crowd. Announce the player will retire 1 game before their last skate with the cup (playoff mode, season mode , franchise and be a pro) Tweak the fighting engine and allow more than one fight happening at once. this is a lot of an ask, but if we can get half of these implemented we are definitely heading Into greatness with NhL games.
Edit Players In Franchise Mode
Hey EA! Thank you for the improvements that you have made to Franchise mode, so far I am enjoying it. One question I have is why don’t we have the ability to edit players on other teams anymore? Franchise mode would be so much more fun if we still had the creative freedom to edit players on other teams for things such as positions, player type, etc. An example of how I would use this is in my Franchise mode after doing a fantasy draft…. Columbus has 6 80+ overall LD, and no 80+ overall RD. In real life the coach would still play the 80+ LD on the right side, but in the game they have 2 of the LD scratched, and they are playing a 77 overall RD. If I could edit the players then I would add RD as their secondary position that way they wouldn’t be scratching their good players. This is a simple fix, can you please let us edit players again?