NHL 18 Information/Discussion Thread | Part II

[Crease Master]

I just bought a ps4 so I could play this and the new South Park game, and I almost want my money back for this game. If I break out of my zone one more time only to have 2 referees waiting like linebackers to get in the way of my progress, I'll fire the remote through the television. Honestly, they skate into your path every chance they get and in my opinion the feature feels broken. I can deal with stupid AI on the players but on the referees there really is no excuse for how often they are an obstacle.

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

Man, Franchise mode freezes so much

 

[CourtneyDagger50]

I just bought a ps4 so I could play this and the new South Park game, and I almost want my money back for this game. If I break out of my zone one more time only to have 2 referees waiting like linebackers to get in the way of my progress, I'll fire the remote through the television. Honestly, they skate into your path every chance they get and in my opinion the feature feels broken. I can deal with stupid AI on the players but on the referees there really is no excuse for how often they are an obstacle.

I don't think I've ever had this problem. Which game mode?

 

[Cor]

I just started a franchise with the new roster update and I am enjoying it. I do wish though, that they improved the AI for your own computers players as well and not just the other teams AI. I don't know how many times I have been in a fine position with my center or whatever and then my D will skate away from the player in the corner or in front of the net and leaving them a lane to come out front or a lane to pass out front for an easy goal. It really can be annoying,

It's because the team strategies have too much of a sway on the AI. That's why sometimes on 2 on 1's, the other player will suddenly just stop or turn away, because the strategies only dictate 1 man in.

EA needs to give the AI the ability to be more adaptable.

For example, despite setting all my strategies to the most aggressive ones, it's still not aggressive for how I tend to play. It's mainly when I am in my own zone challenging the defense. I'll go out towards the point, with my stick in a position to force a d to d pass, which means that my other winger/forward should get in a position to intercept that pass, or be on top of the other defender when he gets the puck. Since the AI doesn't do that, I need to manually switch and attempt to get to a spot to intercept the pass myself. HOWEVER, as soon as I switch players, the player I switched from automatically turns around and skates back to where the game tells the AI to be, which gives that d-man all the time in the world, and ruins the entire defensive play.

 

[Its a Trap]

If you turn the puck over on a rush up the ice, do the player's AI Dmen still continue to skate forward like it didn't happen or will they acknowledge the turnover and head back for their own zone?

 

[OttawaOilers]

[tweet]

I am having trouble with this: Create Player in NHL18. I am not able to go into the create player option screen, my game always crashes and gives me an error code. Tried reinstalling. Maybe I should delete the game off system storage and then try? Thanks.

 

[fredligh]

Mode: EASHL 3 on 3, two human players and AI defender

Anyone have an idea what to adjust in the strategies to avoid your AI defender to act like an total tool in every 2 vs 1 against the other teams humans. The AI simply skating slowly backwards with taking neither the shot or the passing lane which in the upper divisions is almost a guaranteed goal with the One-T, i would rather have the defender jumping the puck carrier and have a slight chance of taking the puck, better than basically giving them a 2 on 0 with the goalie.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Mode: EASHL 3 on 3, two human players and AI defender

Anyone have an idea what to adjust in the strategies to avoid your AI defender to act like an total tool in every 2 vs 1 against the other teams humans. The AI simply skating slowly backwards with taking neither the shot or the passing lane which in the upper divisions is almost a guaranteed goal with the One-T, i would rather have the defender jumping the puck carrier and have a slight chance of taking the puck, better than basically giving them a 2 on 0 with the goalie.

Play with a forward a CPU forward and a d have the d play aggressive

 

[Tryblot]

Play with a forward a CPU forward and a d have the d play aggressive

So the other team can get 250 breakaways per game? That's a horrible strategy.

 

[Muston Atthews]

So the other team can get 250 breakaways per game? That's a horrible strategy.

This is how my team plays 3s when we only have two players. You establish the cycle/puck possession in the offensive zone and make your cuts at the right time and you shouldn’t give up any breakaways. You put your forward on high pressure so he gets into the forecheck. There should always be a user hanging back unless you’re selling out for a goal, whether it be the forward or the d man. You should be able to stop most 2 on 1s unless they’re really good

I don’t see you offering any suggestions.

 

[Tryblot]

This is how my team plays 3s when we only have two players. You establish the cycle/puck possession in the offensive zone and make your cuts at the right time and you shouldn’t give up any breakaways. You put your forward on high pressure so he gets into the forecheck. There should always be a user hanging back unless you’re selling out for a goal, whether it be the forward or the d man. You should be able to stop most 2 on 1s unless they’re really good

I don’t see you offering any suggestions.

Maybe I mis-read but I thought you were saying have the human d basically play forward and aggressive in the offensive zone. I find in threes there are a lot of cherry pickers so you need someone back at all times which is what you said in your second post. That sounds similar to how we play with a human d with the cycle and moving and having the human forward covering for the d at times. We still do get caught sometimes though, especially against the teams with cherry pickers. We usually beat those teams though because it's basically a 3 on 2 in their end at all times.

It's just annoying having a computer d not have the awareness to watch the cherry pickers.

 

[Dreakon13]

After a great ordeal of getting a new Xbox One S (to compliment my PS4/Switch) ... my copy of NHL 18 arrived last night.

Honestly, I'm really enjoying the goofy new dekes. As a guy who isn't satisfied with the boring ol "press up, fire on net the second you enter the zone every time, rack up crappy shot totals and hope the AI positions itself in a way that leads to an easy goal"... as is standard protocol in Online Versus... it's going to be a lot of fun learning how to incorporate those dekes during the games. Few things more satisfying than deking some kid on PSN/Xbox Live out several times and actually finishing it off with the goal (and more frustrating when it doesn't work and they waltz in for the cheesiest of cheese goals).


EDIT: Alright, I'm souring on it a little. Seems like every year the player ratings become a more and more daunting gap. I play almost exclusively as the Sabres. They're my team, it's how it should be. If I get paired against a Detroit or a Arizona, or even a Minnesota, in Online Versus... it's usually a pretty entertaining game. If I get stuck against a Pittsburgh or a Chicago (ie. 99% of the people playing because they'll scratch and claw their way to any possible non-talent related advantage), I might as well just quit right away. They're pretty much handed every single puck battle, they barrel through me while my guys lose the puck at the slightest gust of wind, and their slowest player is faster than my fastest... so breakaways are dangerous and completely unearned.

Once I learn these dekes better it'll balance out a bit, so I can find some creative ways around their plan of brute forcing through me (and often succeeding for no reason other than percentages). It just sucks that I have to be perfect to win... which occasionally happens, but seems unnecessary. Let people earn their own wins, don't hold me back and give them free punches all game long because they picked the highest numbers when choosing teams.

Also, the matchmaking on Xbox Live seems non-existent. I'm 1-1-1 now, 3 games in and everyone I've played have NOT been other "new guys". PSN was immensely better in that regard with previous games.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I used to love the NHL franchise. I thought NHL 09-11 were a bit arcadey, but it was still really fun to play. Granted, I was younger then, but I still loved playing the game. I logged countless hours on two modes, BAGM and EASHL. From 09-13 BAGM was really fun to me, but then it grew stale and I haven't returned to it since then. I'm more of a gameplay guy now. So, I only play EASHL with my same team since NHL 10.

This is by far the worst year. I thought NHL 13 would never be beat as far as awfulness, but I was wrong. I wasn't a fan of NHL 17, but it was at least fun to play. However, this year is absolutely brutal. The poke spamming ,or holding the poke button for the "skill stick" defense, is absolutely deplorable. I hate it.

I thought NHL 16 was a really good game. It wasn't perfect but it was good. NHL 14 will never be topped. But this game is going down hill, and since my gaming time is going to be dwindling and I am already playing less NHL than I ever have due to Overwatch, I can see this being my last year with the franchise. The gameplay is just awful, especially defensively.

 

[raymond23]

Why does the game wait for 30 seconds left to start filling the drop-in lobbies?

 

[NJDevils7]

Is there any way to play the Demo or free trial? I want to try it out before buying

 

[plaaplaa72]

Has anybody found any fun sliders for the game?

It seems super difficult to find any thats good, or even edit them to a point where they would be fun and challenging.

And one major problem i seem to encounter is that the ai does not like to shoot at all, they just pass and pass and pass and pass... And then by the end of the game they have 5 minutes more offensive zone icetime than me, but the shots are like 30-15 in favour of me.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

Is it worth paying 50$ for ?

 

[17of26]

Is it worth paying 50$ for ?

I guess it really depends on what you want to do with it.

I played offline HUT for a bit but got completely frustrated with it and gave up. The AI flat out cheats in All-star and Superstar challenges and I don't find it fun at all. The sliders are locked out in HUT so you can't tweak the gameplay at all.

On the other hand, I play local co-op in franchise mode with some friends. We created 30 custom teams and held a fantasy draft. We're having a lot of fun with that. Franchise mode has access to all sliders so we can adjust the AI accordingly to make it a fun and balanced game.

 

[Dreakon13]

I think what gets my goat more than anything with Online Versus is that they've very subtly taken out the ability to switch goalies if you're having a bad game. I've tried between periods, after goals against (even waiting a bit for the actual replay to start)... hell, even mid-play at one point... but the option is never there anymore.

I played a game as the Sabres, Lehner gave up 4 goals in a row, same top corner from basically everywhere on the ice in my zone. There's no amount of defense I can play that will literally stop every shot... and it pretty much gave the game away. I tried to swap goalies but couldn't, so I just continued on deflated watching the other guy try for the same shot that was basically guaranteed to go in every rush until I quit because, I dunno, life is too short lol.

Whether the game "triggered" Lehner to "realistically" suck that game... or if I was doing something wrong... swapping goalies might've help me re-focus and might've help the AI suck a little less. I can't really think of a good reason for them to have take that feature out.

 

[Super Cake]

It is so annoying when you finally get a full lobby in a drop in game, but then one person quits causing everyone else to f***ing leave which then causes you to have to search for a new lobby.

 

[Frosty415]

It is so annoying when you finally get a full lobby in a drop in game, but then one person quits causing everyone else to ****ing leave which then causes you to have to search for a new lobby.

This has always happened, it pisses my friend and myself off too, why leave when the lobby is full?

It's been happening since I can remember, hell i think I remember happening in NHL 12.

I have a PS4 and XB1X and both suffer from the same shitty dropout situation, they really need to punish people who waste time like this.

 

[fredligh]

Is it only for or is the addition of the forsberg move just another glitch goal added for the game? Can't really stand playing in the EASHL with the forsberg move being an automatic goal because the goalie is horseshit...

 

[278 others]

It is so annoying when you finally get a full lobby in a drop in game, but then one person quits causing everyone else to ****ing leave which then causes you to have to search for a new lobby.

Thats damn annoying for sure. Also the guys who hang in the middle the whole 2mins for whatever reason. Should definitely be some idling timelimit there. Also couple secs extra time should be added when a player is thrown in a lobby with one sec or so left. What grinds my gears most though is when pressing r1 + l1 the player always doesnt lay on the ice if youre certain distance from the net, instead crouches a little bit covering maybe 10% of the ice he wouldve covered had he performed the desired move of laying on the ice. I play alot of 3v3 as a D and that shit makes controllers fly.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

So xbox live has a deal where it's 1$ for a gold membership, and then for 72$ I can get both NHL 18 and FIFA 18, love Black Friday deals.

 

[Dreakon13]

EDIT: I normally play as Buffalo in Online Versus. Now I had just lost a few games as Buffalo, so I wasn't particularly in a fresh state of mind. Frustrated, flustered, unfocused. However you want to call it.

As an experiment, I then opted to play a few games as Pittsburgh. I tore through 3 different people in 3 different games. All the bounces went my way. I won almost every little scrum/puck battle. Just about every player on the team blew past the other teams defense on rushes. I made passes I had no business making. The AI was there, in position, to capitalize on everything.

f***. This. Game.

It's just a mess of "puck physics" kicking in every 30 seconds and dice rolls and rating calculations behind the scenes to decide who "wins". A game of two similarly skilled people is decided by player ratings and a sprinkle of luck. That's it. And it's only gotten worse, as every year seems to bring new reasons to make their shitty physics kick in more often and leave more of the game up to chance.

No wonder I keep running into high rated, high possession teams. No wonder it always seemed like I have to work 10x as hard just to get the puck into good scoring spots. I'm at a severe disadvantage playing as the Sabres (my favorite team). As hilariously realistic as that is... seriously... f*** this game. That's not fun. f*** the people who intentionally pick the best teams and think they're actually good when they win. Especially f*** the people who somehow managed to lose to me, as the Sabres, with the best teams. How bad to do have to be to lose when the game has the goddamn silver spoon in your mouth?