NHL 19 Discussion Thread - Part II

[542365]

People always say this, and while I'm inclined to agree that EA has done a bad job, how would 2k fare in making a hockey game after all this time? Not to mention 2k servers are absolutely horrendous. Online play is a big part of NHL, and it should be moving forward. Obviously, offline needs to be attended to as well, but the biggest issue is gameplay by far. Will 2k provide that? I personally say no. Look at their recent products for 2k. There are plenty of flaws within those NBA games(as there are in any game, but I mean core mechs). So I don't know.

2K's hockey games were trash. It's the reason they got run out of the building by EA's NHL games. Look back at the critical review of NHL 2K9, 2K10, and 2K11. They all fall way short of EA's NHL 09, 10, and 11. At the time, EA clearly had the better game. 2K's microtransactions would be even worse than EA's. I don't know why people are yearning for their return.

 

[Turin]

Dunno how they managed to make hockey unfathomably unenjoyable but... this game is unmitigated trash. I absolutely hate to play this game. Decided to play Online VS and right now I’m 9-2-1.. and I’ve hated every second of it. Winning isn’t even fun.

 

[542365]

Dunno how they managed to make hockey unfathomably unenjoyable but... this game is unmitigated trash. I absolutely hate to play this game. Decided to play Online VS and right now I’m 9-2-1.. and I’ve hated every second of it. Winning isn’t even fun.

I've tried explaining this to friends as we slog through EASHL games that even when we dominate it's not much fun. The only fun I'm having is talking shit with my friends. The game doesn't enhance the enjoyment of that experience at all. If anything it diminishes it. 3 v 3 EASHL isn't awful most of the time. I still hate how tiny guys can just spin off checks from my 6'3 powerforward, but it's not awful. Add any AI skater into the mix and the game is horrific. The AI is exceptionally bad.

 

[JaeTM]

I've tried explaining this to friends as we slog through EASHL games that even when we dominate it's not much fun. The only fun I'm having is talking **** with my friends. The game doesn't enhance the enjoyment of that experience at all. If anything it diminishes it. 3 v 3 EASHL isn't awful most of the time. I still hate how tiny guys can just spin off checks from my 6'3 powerforward, but it's not awful. Add any AI skater into the mix and the game is horrific. The AI is exceptionally bad.

The issue I have with the AI is just how inconsistent they are from game to game. Sometimes your AI is good and makes really nice passes and plays some good defense and other times they'll hold onto the puck and turn it over when there's a clear passing lane and just fumble it behind the net, etc. And games are clearly decided this way. Same with goalies. 5 goals on 9 shots should not be as high of an occurrence as it is now. How they've had the same screw ups year in and year out is amazing and the fact we all keep buying this garbage is even more amazing.

 

[WhyteAveJesus]

Requesting a trade is a pretty weird function in BaP. Right now I'm a 20 year old at 80 overall but upon requesting a trade I get a message that I'm not good enough to request a trade or something? Kind of a weird mechanic

 

[Soedy]

2K's hockey games were trash. It's the reason they got run out of the building by EA's NHL games. Look back at the critical review of NHL 2K9, 2K10, and 2K11. They all fall way short of EA's NHL 09, 10, and 11. At the time, EA clearly had the better game. 2K's microtransactions would be even worse than EA's. I don't know why people are yearning for their return.

Because they were better or atleast equal (08 and 2k8) pre-2k9.

 

[FriedmansBaldSpot]

Because they were better or atleast equal (08 and 2k8) pre-2k9.

And NBA2K is imo easily the best sports franchise out right now, and if they can do that with basketball surely they can with hockey. I don't think people realize how far 2K has come. Aside from servers, the gameplay and the options aside from their VC mechanic, are superior. One thing 2K excels at which I really enjoy, is the ability to create your own logos, and courts, as well as custom clothing and ads. That would be a great thing to incorporate into chell. Having the same EA logos to choose from for the last how many years now? it's stale. Also Locker Codes for MyTeam would be a great addition for HUT.

 

[542365]

And NBA2K is imo easily the best sports franchise out right now, and if they can do that with basketball surely they can with hockey. I don't think people realize how far 2K has come. Aside from servers, the gameplay and the options aside from their VC mechanic, are superior. One thing 2K excels at which I really enjoy, is the ability to create your own logos, and courts, as well as custom clothing and ads. That would be a great thing to incorporate into chell. Having the same EA logos to choose from for the last how many years now? it's stale. Also Locker Codes for MyTeam would be a great addition for HUT.

NBA2K is absolutely horrific. If you want microtransactions in every mode and required to make any substantial progress in every mode, then you should wish for NHL2K back. If you want a great sports game, you should look elsewhere because 2K is simply awful. Their baseball games and hockey games were absolute trash heaps. Their basketball game was once great and is now getting worse every year, both gameplay and monetization practices. At least EA keeps all their trash in HUT and not in the single player or EASHL modes. NHL2K would require VC to trade a player in Franchise, or to change your character's visor in EASHL. 2K does not deserve these rose colored glasses. They got absolutely run out of the building by EA and rightfully so. They're terrible.

 

[FriedmansBaldSpot]

NBA2K is absolutely horrific. If you want microtransactions in every mode and required to make any substantial progress in every mode, then you should wish for NHL2K back. If you want a great sports game, you should look elsewhere because 2K is simply awful. Their baseball games and hockey games were absolute trash heaps. Their basketball game was once great and is now getting worse every year, both gameplay and monetization practices. At least EA keeps all their trash in HUT and not in the single player or EASHL modes. NHL2K would require VC to trade a player in Franchise, or to change your character's visor in EASHL. 2K does not deserve these rose colored glasses. They got absolutely run out of the building by EA and rightfully so. They're terrible.

Yeah you're delusional bud lol micro transactions are not in every mode especially not Franchise mode. Seems like you've been reading reviews rather than actually playing the 2K franchise. They are miles ahead of EA, MILES. You can play chell game from 5 years ago, and feel as if you're playing the exact same game as now, EA is not superior no matter how much you try to convince yourself of it. Not arguing this, because i'm right. I've played both games, 2K wins this one. Sure micro transactions in My Career in 2K are over the top, but in the grand scheme, they offer sooooo much more across the board than EA does. Graphics wise as well, EA is not even in the discussion. Compare 2K graphics/player models to EA's, you can't tell me EA is better.

 

[Cor]

I haven’t spent a single dime on NBA 2K micro-transactions and I play it a lot.

NBA2K is 100% the best sports game series out there, and it’s not even arguable.

I love Madden, I’m a massive football fan so I play it quite a bit.

But NBA2K is still better

 

[Panthaz89]

you guys seriously overrate NBA 2k...its not substantially better than NHL at anything other than presentation. The main thing NHL would need to get from it is something similar to medals so the players actually differ from each other in a significant way. Franchise in NBA is even easier to win multiple champions without even trying too hard thanks to the hard cap.

 

[Cor]

Their presentation is better
Their franchise mode is 1000x better
Their my career mode is 10000000x better
Their gameplay is 100x better

NHL has a better Ultimate Team. But that’s because it’s all the EA NHL team cares about because of micro transactions.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Have you guys noticed that in Franchice mode, after like 10 years, every single team is ridiculously stacked, especially your own if you do your own scouting? The game produces way, WAY too many elite / franchise players and it ruins it.

 

[Cor]

Have you guys noticed that in Franchice mode, after like 10 years, every single team is ridiculously stacked, especially your own if you do your own scouting? The game produces way, WAY too many elite / franchise players and it ruins it.

I drafted three straight Franchise potential goalies in the same draft in like the 3rd, 3rd and 5th rounds respectively.

Waited a season, one grew to 75ovr, and the other two were still in the 60's, so I traded the two lesser ones for like, ridiculous players because they had full trade value.

I believe I traded one of them, and my first for McDavid, and traded the other for like Tarasenko or something.

My top line ended up being Zadina - McDavid - Tarasenko, which just destroyed.

 

[Hypernova]

Have you guys noticed that in Franchice mode, after like 10 years, every single team is ridiculously stacked, especially your own if you do your own scouting? The game produces way, WAY too many elite / franchise players and it ruins it.

Making up for the last few years where the draft never produced anyone decent.

 

[Cor]

I hate that star players never produce.

Like, Auston Matthews on TOR never produces that much because he’s on the second line behind Tavares, so he only gets like 50-60 points.

They also need to update the powerplay lines so it does 4F and 1D. Every team uses that structure now. Some teams are starting to dabble with 5F.

 

[FriedmansBaldSpot]

I hate that star players never produce.

Like, Auston Matthews on TOR never produces that much because he’s on the second line behind Tavares, so he only gets like 50-60 points.

They also need to update the powerplay lines so it does 4F and 1D. Every team uses that structure now. Some teams are starting to dabble with 5F.

It's crazy, I found that no matter if you move Matthews to first line, and first line pp duties, he still never out produces Tavares lol Tavares is a numbers machine in this game. Andreas Johnsson is a huge producer too after a few years. Got him to 87, but he was scoring like he was 99

 

[Nuckles]

They're rolling back to the beta tuner temporarily mid-January to get some feedback

An Update on Gameplay Feedback + Action Plan

Hey everyone,

Before the holidays begin, we just wanted to provide everyone with an update around NHL 19, and more specifically the feedback we have been hearing around the gameplay.

Over the past few months, we have been seeing a lot of people on all channels asking for us to revert to Beta tuners as they enjoyed the game better during that time frame. While we believe that the current gameplay has a lot of improvements from launch, we also recognize that there could be areas of gameplay that you preferred better in the past.

As a result, in mid-January we are going to be rolling back to the Beta Tuner for a limited time to get your feedback on what you like/dislike about the Beta Tuner compared to the current gameplay tuner. Please note that this will undo some of the positive changes that we’ve seen from the community, so you’ll be seeing some of the following occur again:

• Poke checks will be more sensitive and cause more tripping penalties
• AI goaltending performance will be different
• The ability to drop your stick
• Increase in incidental contact strength (bumps)
• Decrease in penalties from stick lifts

After we change back from the tuner, we will be posting a feedback survey to gather your thoughts, likes, and dislikes on the Beta tuner.

While it is a little while until the tuner goes live, we wanted to provide you with an update as we know how passionate you are about the product. Once we get closer to the date of the tuner, we will provide an update with more information and details on what is happening, when it’s happening, and what you can expect.

Thank you for your dedication and feedback throughout NHL 19 and we hope everyone has a happy holidays!

- The EA SPORTS NHL Team

This makes me very happy, though it's not happening for another month.

Edit: It's only going to be for about a week

 

[Panthaz89]

Their presentation is better
Their franchise mode is 1000x better
Their my career mode is 10000000x better
Their gameplay is 100x better

NHL has a better Ultimate Team. But that’s because it’s all the EA NHL team cares about because of micro transactions.

their franchise mode is draft players with high potential and keep them and win...you can win 10 championships without even trying because of hard cap. It might have more of a few things but its just brain dead easy to dominate especially after the Warriors fall apart. It doesn't take a genius to hire the best staff with the obvious A ratings similar to NHL 19's scouts and scouting system which is without a doubt so far ahead of NBA though the draft itself needs a bit of work considering their are too many good-great goalies and it needs a way to sort by skill grades. At least most of the time the NHL GMs make the right picks at no.1 NBA for some reason teams are dumb enough not to take the obvious BPA which is hilarious. Simulation needs some work considering scoring is so low compared to actuality(depends heavily on player's off/def awareness)...this is why they need something similar to NBA's badges which is funny because they kind of have something with the specialties in BAP which they could of added like "powerplay specialist" which makes it easier for a player to score when on a PP.

 

[Dreakon13]

I feel like I very rarely see people using the L1/LB dekes or using the skill stick in Online Versus these days. Or passing even. It all seems to be about north-south, just walking in and whipping shots top corner. Any vague amount of tactic involved (ie. passing) seems to be less about generating a variety of opportunities and more just about biding their time until they can take yet another top corner shot. And it's by no means shots from the slot, it's literally anywhere in front of the net. I just lost a game where someone wired a shot randomly from the blue line with 2 seconds left in the 3rd of a tie game on what could be called the least dangerous looking rush of all time (Merry Christmas to me from EA, I guess).

Maybe it's a little my fault, and I'm fooled by the myriad of possibilities while they have possession in the zone (which is typically more a result of the RNG spoon feeding them puck battle victories and less my defensive play) and I assume the goalie should get the easy shots as long as they're unscreened. I find I typically have a good read of someone by the third period and that's when I stage a comeback because these people are also completely 100% incapable of adjusting, so defending the one high percentage exploitative opportunity they beat into the ground all game usually stops them well enough.

More often than not though, I'll just quit before I get to that point. Who has time for this shit? To sit around learning the game of some 12 year old just exploiting the shit out of things? I'm not even sure why I still play this, other than my own hardheaded addiction to it.

Took me quitting out of 5 games early this morning before I finally got someone who didn't just try for the top corner shots all game.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

So got this game. First one I’ve played since 16........ it’s the exact same. Shockingly so....

It’s been 3 years the only way to make an identical game is to A) try to do so or B) simply do nothing to change it. The game play is the same. They haven’t bothered to change any commentator lines. The goalie animation have remain untouched since NHL 12.... 7 years lmao. The team must be like 2 guys. One of those people is just updating rosters.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I hate that star players never produce.

Like, Auston Matthews on TOR never produces that much because he’s on the second line behind Tavares, so he only gets like 50-60 points.

They also need to update the powerplay lines so it does 4F and 1D. Every team uses that structure now. Some teams are starting to dabble with 5F.

Ea sports update?

 

[XXIV97]

NHL 19 is on sale for $29.96 CAD at most major retailers right now. For this price, is it worth it to upgrade from NHL 18?

 

[robertmac43]

I'm started to think hockey just does not replicate to video games too well. For years now it has just felt off and the AI especially look lost 24/7. The movements just don't seem NHL like and its getting more and more frustrating to me

 

[Its a Trap]

NHL 19 is on sale for $29.96 CAD at most major retailers right now. For this price, is it worth it to upgrade from NHL 18?

No. I got it as a gift and I’m wishing I asked for the new CoD or battlefield instead.

Opposing team AI is completely out of control as it has been for years although they seem to take shots more often sometimes. I’ve had a few games played where they actually took a lot of shots instead of passing and passing and passing going for that perfect goal on the open look. Also the garbage where the puck always ends up on the other teams stick despite poke checks, clearing attempts or just you skating by them has not been taken out of the the game as previously claimed.

You can be on a breakaway and somehow be checked from behind by a guy so hard that your skater gets knocked down and the puck magically just stops right where you were allowing them to take it and rush back the other way.

I’m also noticing that your AI defenseman just up into the play waaaaay too much leaving the point unoccupied in an obvious situation where you want to pass it back.

Skating is stupid. It ‘looks’ nicer but in reality there is once again little to no difference between Brian Boyle’s speed and McDavid or Hall. Also the CPU AI can skate backwards almost as fast as you can forward and if they don’t they do the cheap check from behind that I mentioned above.

Was so excited to play after seeing the early posts from people and because I didn’t buy it myself and instead it’s the same joke 18 was.