NHL 21

[x Tame Impala]

I think the EA community manager did a poll on Twitter recently asking if people preferred the old system or the new system with preset builds, and like 70% said they preferred the old system.

So EA knows what the people want, it's just a matter of them implementing it properly.

I won't pretend like old gen was perfect either, because the attributes were coded as such that some basically didn't matter at all so people would pour all their XP into things like speed. I remember I made a build once with 65 agility and it didn't feel any different than 85 agility so I used the points/boosts on other things instead.

So they need to implement it properly. Make every customizable attribute actually matter. 65 balance should mean your player will fall down on his own while turning sometimes. 65 strength should mean not only you get knocked off pucks easily, but your shot should have no velocity at all even if you have high WSP.

And none of this "mystery in a box" type of thing like "offensive awareness helps with passing and shooting." Lay it all out precisely.

I don’t think Off Aware/Def Aware should even exist as stats. They’ve always been so vague and it’s hard to tell exactly what they do.

Def Aware seems to really help with pass interceptions but I’m not totally sure.

 

[Canuck Luck]

I don’t think Off Aware/Def Aware should even exist as stats. They’ve always been so vague and it’s hard to tell exactly what they do.

Def Aware seems to really help with pass interceptions but I’m not totally sure.

Makes sense def awareness helps with pass interceptions as there’s no other attribute for pass interception. When it comes to offensive awareness I’m thinking its along the lines of ability to handle a pass or take bad passes. For AI it would also be positioning in the zones. At least that’s my interpretation of it. Offensive awareness could also be when to pass or shoot or hold the puck for ai. They make smarter plays with more awareness

 

[x Tame Impala]

Makes sense def awareness helps with pass interceptions as there’s no other attribute for pass interception. When it comes to offensive awareness I’m thinking its along the lines of ability to handle a pass or take bad passes. For AI it would also be positioning in the zones. At least that’s my interpretation of it. Offensive awareness could also be when to pass or shoot or hold the puck for ai. They make smarter plays with more awareness

Seems like something that “Hand Eye Coordination” could handle on its own though. Ability to receive passes, puck deflections, ability to get a shot off quickly, etc...

 

[redwhiteandblue]

The EASHL 3 v 3 is so fun but man some games are so absurd. One timers are almost automatic, but I wish you could play D against he one timer better.

Does anyone have any suggestions in that regard?

 

[Khelandros]

The EASHL 3 v 3 is so fun but man some games are so absurd. One timers are almost automatic, but I wish you could play D against he one timer better.

Does anyone have any suggestions in that regard?

Prevent the pass, make the other team shoot.

 

[Miri]

EA Play was today they didn't even mention the game.

Best buy listed the release date Dec 31.


View attachment 350671

I think it not being mentioned says you everything there is nededed to know - its not gonna get new engine, nor PC version. If it was, they would be shouting from the roofs about it.

Too bad. I bought NHL 20 and xbox one on christmas, and honestly, was pretty disappointed. Its actually worse game IMO than NHL 14 for PS3, which was the last one i played before (didnt play any of the 15-19 releases) - somehow it feels less random and varied than the old one. I played bunch of games with my friend and we were both scoring basically the same kind of goals - it got boring quickly. Maybe its just my memory not working well, but i believe there was more variety in 14 version in this regard. It felt faster and more fluid as well.

All in all, the game could really use some major update.

 

[redwhiteandblue]

Prevent the pass, make the other team shoot.

I should have tried that. Thank you very much.

 

[Tavares2Matthews]

I do really miss the customizable attributes.

Ugh, me too. I really hope they overhaul the attributes and let us go back to the old way

 

[Tavares2Matthews]

I think it not being mentioned says you everything there is nededed to know - its not gonna get new engine, nor PC version. If it was, they would be shouting from the roofs about it.

Too bad. I bought NHL 20 and xbox one on christmas, and honestly, was pretty disappointed. Its actually worse game IMO than NHL 14 for PS3, which was the last one i played before (didnt play any of the 15-19 releases) - somehow it feels less random and varied than the old one. I played bunch of games with my friend and we were both scoring basically the same kind of goals - it got boring quickly. Maybe its just my memory not working well, but i believe there was more variety in 14 version in this regard. It felt faster and more fluid as well.

All in all, the game could really use some major update.

Maybe but also it could be delayed due to the pandemic. I'm also wondering if they're taking their time and doing things right? I know it seems insane that EA Sports would do things right but never know.

I'm fine with them releasing the game Q4, gives them more time to get stuff done and smooth things out.

Now, here's hoping the move from current gen to next gen isn't a total nightmare like it was in NHL 15.

 

[Miri]

Maybe but also it could be delayed due to the pandemic. I'm also wondering if they're taking their time and doing things right? I know it seems insane that EA Sports would do things right but never know.

I'm fine with them releasing the game Q4, gives them more time to get stuff done and smooth things out.

Now, here's hoping the move from current gen to next gen isn't a total nightmare like it was in NHL 15.

Well i wish you were right. But at this point i just dont trust them to deliver.

 

[NYR94]

Fix that stats screen so that when a player has played in the NHL and you send him to the AHL, his stats don't disappear from the player stats screen until you call him back up to the NHL again.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Be A Pro hasn't been changed in years. I hope they find a way to update that, even something as simple as practices/warmups with your team.

But we all know lacrosse moves will be the main feature EA adds. Or a new gimmicky game mode like Twos.

 

[Blake68]

Be a Pro hasn't been changed in years. I hope they find a way to update that, even something as simple as practices/warmups with your team.

But we all know lacrosse moves will be the main feature EA adds. Or a new gimmicky game mode like Twos.

Be A Pro needs major improvements its been complete garbage since NHL 15

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Be A Pro needs major improvements its been complete garbage since NHL 15

What was Be A Pro like in NHL 15 again?

There are so many possible additions that would improve it. Press conferences, warmups, actually getting your name called on draft day, etc.

 

[Blake68]

What was Be A Pro like in NHL 15 again?

There are so many possible additions that would improve it. Press conferences, warmups, actually getting your name called on draft day, etc.

I didn't buy NHL 15 I actually have alot of good ideas for Be A Pro mode

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

I didn't buy NHL 15 I actually have alot of good ideas for Be A Pro mode

I'd love to hear them.

 

[Blake68]

I'd love to hear them.

Sure just send me a pm and I will gladly tell ya. ;D

 

[Gardner McKay]

Franchise really needs an overhaul.

They the scouting changes have been positive, that is for sure. However, the tedious bullshit such as managing vendor operations is ridiculous and IIRC, if you turn that off you lose other functionality.

BAP also needs an overhaul. We don't need an NBA 2k20 movie-esque production (not to mention NBA 2k20 as a whole was utter dog shit), but we need something else. .

 

[bashbros32]

Let me use LTIR and offer NTC and NMC, let players waive or not waive those clauses.

Give me an NBA 2K style career mode

why do you need to use LTIR and NTC NMC in HUT though? thats what these games are isnt it? HUT 21?

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Yeah, I agree 100%.

Old gen was 1000x better in some aspects. Hitting felt better and more intuitive. Deking (as you mentioned) punished people going for big hits or being out of position. Passing was better (and you could actually make a hard rocket pass).

The only thing new gen does better is shooting and one-timers. One-timers were ridiculously underpowered in old gen to the point where they didn't work 99% of the time.

LT is responsible for the majority of gameplay complaints. But everybody uses it at the higher levels because it's really the only reliable way to score creative goals.

Pre set builds make the best players with the best teammates win. It reduces the potential impact of any one single player in any one game, which IMO is boring and reduces the game to a battle of luck, bounces and scripting. But what happens when two elite teams get matched up and cancel each other's LT out? It gets reduced to a game of dump and chase, and throwing pucks on net from everywhere looking for tip in's and garbage goals. That's the exact opposite of their intention. No one wants to play Darryl Sutter hockey in a video game. I mean, there's a place for it, but not like this.

And that's not to mention that at least three of the builds (ENF, EFD and OFD) are completely useless (or redundant) at higher levels in the game.

Get rid of LT, make regular deking and stickhandling better, and bring back customizable builds. Guarantee you'll have a more enjoyable and realistic experience.

Agreed in a lot of the stuff you mention but I don't think deking is bad or broken, I think puck interception and stick checking is. It's almost impossible to deke because you know you are getting the puck stripped by a defender (a competent one anyways). I play EASHL competitively and there's no deking because puck stripping is ridiculous in the game. Stick checks also are TOO accurate, almost makes you understand why people resort to back skating

 

[Cloned]

Agreed in a lot of the stuff you mention but I don't think deking is bad or broken, I think puck interception and stick checking is. It's almost impossible to deke because you know you are getting the puck stripped by a defender (a competent one anyways). I play EASHL competitively and there's no deking because puck stripping is ridiculous in the game. Stick checks also are TOO accurate, almost makes you understand why people resort to back skating

I play it competitively too and I would agree it's very difficult to deke consistently with success. I'm hesitant at reducing defenders tools as I feel like offense has had the advantage for far too long in this franchise, but EA has trouble finding ways to balance the game. I get competitive gaming at higher levels always has to have a meta for representing the skill gap, but the use and acknowledgement by EA of L2/LT as the skill gap meta is lazy AF. The only reason it exists as that is because every other part of the game is unbalanced or broken, so by comparison the fact that back skating works better makes it look more intentional on EA's part than it actually is.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Agreed in a lot of the stuff you mention but I don't think deking is bad or broken, I think puck interception and stick checking is. It's almost impossible to deke because you know you are getting the puck stripped by a defender (a competent one anyways). I play EASHL competitively and there's no deking because puck stripping is ridiculous in the game. Stick checks also are TOO accurate, almost makes you understand why people resort to back skating

Stick checking has been underpowered for a while. I don’t mean this in a sarcastic way, but do you play hockey? It’s not easy to pull off complex dangles in real life and if you’re not extra careful you’re going to get the puck taken from you.

Stick checking accuracy needs to be improved, not lowered.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Stick checking has been underpowered for a while. I don’t mean this in a sarcastic way, but do you play hockey? It’s not easy to pull off complex dangles in real life and if you’re not extra careful you’re going to get the puck taken from you.

Stick checking accuracy needs to be improved, not lowered.

Stick checking seems overpowered to me in other instances like loose pucks, etc, people will stick check you in unrealistic positions and it works, or at least that's my impression.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Stick checking seems overpowered to me in other instances like loose pucks, etc, people will stick check you in unrealistic positions and it works, or at least that's my impression.

Instead of overpowered vs underpowered, let’s agree that it, along with deking and puck control, is simply not working as well as it should.

As a defender there isn’t enough accuracy to properly knock the puck loose. Too many times will I poke through another guy’s stick or body and it’s either a penalty or doesn’t register as puck contact.

Stick handling and deking are victims to the same physics system in a lot of ways.

 

[izzy]

I don’t think Off Aware/Def Aware should even exist as stats. They’ve always been so vague and it’s hard to tell exactly what they do.

Def Aware seems to really help with pass interceptions but I’m not totally sure.

they are important for simulation and AI. not sure what they do for player controlled if anything