NHL 13 Thread

[Huntingwhale]

I've played this game a lot since it came out and here are my opinions;

-Online play still needs to have all the replays/delays REMOVED from online play. In the year 2012, I still cannot fathom how EA games allows multiple players to pause the game during online play. It is incredibly frustrating to allow someone to stop gameplay with multiple users taking part in a game. You cannot pause games during FPS online play. Why the F can you do it in a hockey game?? EA continues to drop the ball on this, and this has been my #1 gripe with the series ever since '07.

-Adding onto my last point, when a user quits the game, why the F does it pause the game for everyone? Other games can seamlessly drop users from the game without a stoppage in gameplay.

-The AI needs some work in BAP mode. Alfreddson and Gonchar traded to the CBJ for spare parts?? Kipper traded for...Reimer?? My own created player sent down to the AHL after leading the league in points and goals for the first 4 months?? Common EA, hire someone to at least give a reasonable value for a players worth.

-I like how the menus load faster then the last couple of years' versions. The menu is still clunky and laggy, but compared to last years (it would take over almost a minute for the main menu to load for me last year), its much improved.

-The shot sliders still piss me off. If I move all the human sliders to maximum, the opposing AI's shot velocity is still just as fast as mine, even if I move the AIs to minimum. I would expect the AI's shooting speed to be reduced like it is in online play, but nope, no matter how I move the sliders, the shot speed is the exact same as mine.

-I really like the new skating features and makes chases to the puck much more enjoyable then previous games. Takes some getting used to, but if I get beat to the puck its more often then not my own fault.

- I like the board play and how when you poke check a player along the boards, the puck acts realistically instead of just being pushed forward.

-I love how players can be rewarded for playing strong defense. I get the same amount of satisfaction buy shutting down the other team's offense, as I get when scoring a goal. Shut down D man is probably my favorite role in the game, moreso then playing forward. Unlike previous versions, I get the feel that I am actually playing an important role when playing D. A strong steady defenceman will really help a team online.

Overall I am pleased with the game and I really like the strong learning curve. I'm still not a fan of all the online delays, but I have given up hope that it will ever be fixed.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Is it just me or does the CPU have a much easier time scoring in the last couple of minutes of the game?

Seems I'm always going to OT or losing because of a late period goal.

ya i hate that. in a close 1 goal or tied game, it seems like i can't get the puck or get it out of my zone. I'm fine with that, as maybe i'm rushing passes, etc.

However, my biggest beef is how many times the computer shot deflects directly to one of their teammates for an easy goal. I wish my team's cpu player's were as apt in knocking away rebounds/loose pucks after deflections as the opposition cpu team's players are at knocking in rebounds........

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Is it just me or does the CPU have a much easier time scoring in the last couple of minutes of the game?

Seems I'm always going to OT or losing because of a late period goal.

You can actually see the computer go into super mode, super fast passes that don't miss super skating. You just know they are going to score.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Is it just me or does the CPU have a much easier time scoring in the last couple of minutes of the game?

Seems I'm always going to OT or losing because of a late period goal.

Same here. Half my losses have been late goals or late goals to take it to OT.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Same here. Half my losses have been late goals or late goals to take it to OT.

Scoring for anyone in the last minutes is easier. I would also say it's realistic for a team behind to pour it on in the last few minutes

[Komskies]

They don't call it the $hit minute for nothing.

[The Coppernian One]

I'm relatively new to the series and have a couple of questions/comments that hopefully someone is willing to answer.

1. Playing Be a GM Mode (offline) and I find that I have to change line changes to manual every game - where can I change this so that manual line changes for my team is the default setting?
2. Similar to the above, I seem to be playing the other team's top line for the entire game. The CPU is not using all 4 lines. How do I change that?
3. I'm going to increase the difficulty level as I seem to be able to score a lot. However, the computer seems to be able to score a lot of crap goals also (like a wrister from the blue line with no traffic or very poor angle shots). Anyone have any slider tips that they use to address this? I don't want all high scoring games, but in EA 12 and so far in 13 I cannot come close to getting a shutout while actually trying to play.
4. How do you download roster updates and does it fix some of the player rankings? - I started a BAGM mode at the draft and took Galchenyuk and Ceci in the 6th and 7th rounds. I missed Morgan Reilly who also went in the 7th.

I'm still getting used to the skating, but think it will be great once I get the hang of it. It's not as easy as 12 and it seems there is more nuance to how you need to do things. Thanks for any help.

[Flash Walken]

Coppernian, if you press the Square button while you're in the rules/gameplay screen (adjust difficulty, manual vs. automatic line changes etc), it'll save your settings. Just save them under the same file name as your be a gm career and they'll be set like that for every game you play in that mode.

[puckluck2]

I just wish teams would be more even online. I get that some teams are better than others but there is too much of a gap between teams.

[Flash Walken]

Aids Puck:
http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/136055346

Full Blown Aids:
http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/136056634

[Ashasx]

http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/135833740

http://www.easports.com/media/play/video/135740474

[JurassicTunga12]

For those having trouble with pucks on HUT like I am (WILDhockeyfan from hf posted good tips)


I shall now reveal my secret (although it's more like a useful tip) to finding some good deals on players.

1. Make sure you're searching for all NHL players.

2. Set your Buy Now maximum price to however many pucks you have. Obviously you can't buy a player that you can't afford. Leave the other three min/max slots alone.

3. Scroll through all the pages of NHL players until you reach about the 57 min to 1 hour mark. Depending on the time of day, you might have to go through anywhere from 60 to 120 pages of players.

4. Constantly keep scrolling back and forth around the one hour mark to find players as soon as someone puts them up for 1 hour on the market. Eventually you'll find some good deals.

5. Since you set the ticker to a Buy Now maximum price, you won't have to worry about players with no BIN price popping up which makes it faster to reach the one hour mark, and you'll only find players you can buy right away instead of having to bid other people for it while waiting an hour for it to expire.

That's how I find nearly all of my good deals. The best one I've found so far is the one on Jamie Benn that I just missed getting. Someone put him up for 1 hour with a BIN price of 2000. He was up for about 15 seconds when I saw him but right when I clicked to buy him someone else snatched him up.

Just do this technique for about half an hr a day and you should see your puck total rise. It's important to know what each player is typically selling for though so you'll know a good deal when you see it. You'll just have to play a lot to get to know prices better

[JurassicTunga12]

Fixed up my forward group for HUT further

Boedker - Hanzal - Doan
Ennis - Couturier - Hodgson
Hagelin - Backlund - Mueller
Comeau - Nielsen - Condra

Also got Coburn for cheap

Somone should make a NHL 13 thread dedicated to HUT so we can trade and so on.

[The Coppernian One]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

Coppernian, if you press the Square button while you're in the rules/gameplay screen (adjust difficulty, manual vs. automatic line changes etc), it'll save your settings. Just save them under the same file name as your be a gm career and they'll be set like that for every game you play in that mode.

I'm actually playing on XBOX. The option to alter line changes does not appear anywhere in the rules/gameplay settings. The only place it ever appears is when you're about to play a game. It's just annoying to have to change it to manual every time.

Is anyone else finding hitting to be an issue? I'm getting smashed by the CPU on all-star even with the CPU hitting power all the way to the left and mine all the way to the right. Datsyuk just put up 10 hits against me. I'll knock a guy off the puck and take it, he'll take one step into me and put me on the ice. Any contact and it seems that I'm down.

I'm also a little disappointed that EA doesn't release the game without fixing some obvious problems. I just beat Detroit 8-5 in All-star difficulty. I think all of Detroit's goals went in the same spot and at least 5 of mine did as well. The Aids Puck is pretty rediculous also as is some of the other AI functions.

[The Coppernian One]

Just figured out the hitting part of my question (BAGM mode, offline). The sliders are "switched", at least in my opinion, from what you would expect. When you're adjusting the CPU hitting power, you're not adjusting how much power the CPU hits with, you're adjusting how easy it is to knock down the CPU - so the further you have it to the right, the easier it is to smash the CPU players. Ditto for the human one, sliding it to the right makes your players easier to knock down. To make them harder, move the slider left.

I'm not sure which other sliders are like this, but I'm going to keep playing with some of the other ones like poke check, etc. to try to get the game more balanced.

I'm also questioning whether anyone at EA actually tested this game prior to release. All of the CPU's goals are being scored in the exact same part of the net. It's a bit ridiculous.

[Diverce]

Originally Posted by The Coppernian One

Just figured out the hitting part of my question (BAGM mode, offline). The sliders are "switched", at least in my opinion, from what you would expect. When you're adjusting the CPU hitting power, you're not adjusting how much power the CPU hits with, you're adjusting how easy it is to knock down the CPU - so the further you have it to the right, the easier it is to smash the CPU players. Ditto for the human one, sliding it to the right makes your players easier to knock down. To make them harder, move the slider left.

I'm not sure which other sliders are like this, but I'm going to keep playing with some of the other ones like poke check, etc. to try to get the game more balanced.

I'm also questioning whether anyone at EA actually tested this game prior to release. All of the CPU's goals are being scored in the exact same part of the net. It's a bit ridiculous.

So are all of the human goals too. At least in OTP anyways.

[AC]

I'm generally very critical of the NHL games but I like this one so far. Some minor annoyances so far more than anything, but playing with the sliders is key I find.

I'm doing a Be a Pro season as Baertschi, but none of my teammates can score to save their lives. 9 games in and Iggy, Tanguay, and Glencross have 1 goal each.

Meanwhile Baertschi, Hudler, and Cammy (the 2nd line) have 90% of the team's goals.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by AC

I'm generally very critical of the NHL games but I like this one so far. Some minor annoyances so far more than anything, but playing with the sliders is key I find.

I'm doing a Be a Pro season as Baertschi, but none of my teammates can score to save their lives. 9 games in and Iggy, Tanguay, and Glencross have 1 goal each.

Meanwhile Baertschi, Hudler, and Cammy (the 2nd line) have 90% of the team's goals.

This is actually VERY similar to my offline Be A GM mode. My first line is Tanguay-Cammy-Iggy and they might have 8-10 goals combined. Meanwhile my second line of Baertschi-Cervenka-Hudler easily have 25 goals combined.

[Diverce]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

This is actually VERY similar to my offline Be A GM mode. My first line is Tanguay-Cammy-Iggy and they might have 8-10 goals combined. Meanwhile my second line of Baertschi-Cervenka-Hudler easily have 25 goals combined.

I found that too. Then I started my 3rd or 4th line and the first line started racking it up. But if you sim you can't really do it unless you edit your lines and make your 3rd or 4th line your first line, and put your first line as your 3rd or 4th line. The game doesn't match lines so you kind of have to do it yourself. Cheat the ai so to speak. Worked for me.

[puckluck2]

How do the rankings work? With Xbox I barely checked my ranking but with ps3 I'm finding myself checking it more often.

My record isn't even all that great at 48-32-8 and I'm ranked 280 in the world. The more wins the higher you are ranked?