NHL 10 General Discussion

[Wood]

I have only finished one EASHL game. Im not losing my connection because im only being dissconnected from the EA servers. It also has a bit of a lag, right now im wishing I bought Batman instead.

[theExpendable]

Has anyone else noticed that its not that much better than last years?? besides the play along the boards, fighting, more crisp passing thats basically all they changed ??? for 70 bucks im kinda dissapointed

[Joborule]

How has your character name been changed?

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by flamesfanmicheal

Has anyone else noticed that its not that much better than last years?? besides the play along the boards, fighting, more crisp passing thats basically all they changed ??? for 70 bucks im kinda dissapointed

I'm disappointed too. I paid full price for the same inefficient menu system that requires too many button presses just to start a game, and repetitive play-by-play calls that got annoying two years ago. The board play and first person fighting are nice additions, but it's been awhile since they've done anything revolutionary (e.g. Skill Stick).

But EA got my money, again, so why should they change, I guess. I'm probably just bitter because I still suck and still have a hard time scoring.

[jschick88]

Played a handful of games tonight and not really thrilled with it. Last year I thought was much better.

[Esoteric]

This game is a HUGE improvement on last years. The puck physics, board play, goalie animations, players jumping to grab pucks out of mid air, REALISTIC stick lifts, Be A GM mode, improved Be A Pro, no more invincible player dives to stop the play, Proper hitting, realistic passing, Playoff mode.....Are all reasons to spend $70 on this game. Huge improvements.

[Russic]

Originally Posted by flamesfanmicheal

Has anyone else noticed that its not that much better than last years?? besides the play along the boards, fighting, more crisp passing thats basically all they changed ??? for 70 bucks im kinda dissapointed

I actually notice tons of changes, but they are all really minor. IMO they all combine to make a much better game. I will be the first to admit there are no major changes, but I see that as a good thing considering 09 was so good.

I love the custom soundtracks so damn much (first year for ps3). I also really get into the crowd reaction. I've hated for years that the response from the crowd was very disjointed from what was happening on the ice. The sliders are ery useful and they included enough of them that I think they could help a lot of people out with their complaints (passing, game speed). My favorite is the ability to turn down how many penalties your CPU teamates take, which has been a sore spot for years.

I didnt like the hardcore passing because it seemed a little over the top hard, so I made some minor tweaks to the sliders and I feel I've found the most comfortable fit for me. Pass speed and pass assist both got a tiny uptick and the result has been phenomenal.

Other little things really impress me each game. Hard hits actually seem to injure people (feels less random) and facial animations on the players are awesome to see during replays. Board play is massive because it keeps you from either hitting the player (resulting in a penalty usually) or pokechecking (also a penalty usually). I find it makes for some interesting scrums. The collision is also much better than last year. There are fewer moments where the puck goes through a leg or stick.

There are still annoying points for me. The fighting has recieved a lot of unnecessary attention IMO. It's not as big a part of the game as many feel in my eyes and I don't like that it plays such a role.

The post whistle scrums degrade too easily into anarchy and your CPU teamates will almost always get you a penalty even if you are trying to lure your opposition into doing something dumb. I've had to turn down the reffing sensitivity to this. I also find the whole scrum takes far too long.

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I'm disappointed too. I paid full price for the same inefficient menu system that requires too many button presses just to start a game, and repetitive play-by-play calls that got annoying two years ago. The board play and first person fighting are nice additions, but it's been awhile since they've done anything revolutionary (e.g. Skill Stick).

But EA got my money, again, so why should they change, I guess. I'm probably just bitter because I still suck and still have a hard time scoring.

I'll give you the menu structure. I honestly don't think they would have this problem if they would sit down for 3 hours and hammer out a reshuffling plan. Why the hell are there multiple areas to change settings? Why are some available in certain areas while others are available all the time?

I will disagree with you on the innovation thing. I actually find this series innovates more than most sports games. The skill stick you did mention, but you forgot about last years EASHL addition, which is pretty unique to the sports gaming world.

[FanIn80]

The passing can get pretty frustrating at times. Like, I've got Bouwmeester skating out of my zone along the left-hand boards, with Bourque directly in front of him. I hit the blue line, he hits the red line, I pass the puck and it goes right passed him all the way down the ice for an icing call.

They win the face off... tic-tac-toe, they score the game-winning goal with 8 seconds on the clock.

Or, other times, I'm coming out of my zone with two of my guys in front of me... the closest one is in the middle of the ice, just barely ahead of me to my right and he's wide open... the other guy is straight ahead but almost two lines away and has a guy on him... so I press up and (i think anyway) to the right, and hit pass... and it goes off to the wrong guy and gets intercepted.

Or... (and this one pisses me off the most)... I come breaking into the zone on the left side, watching my center head for the net, I press up and to the right and then hit pass, but instead of passing to my center, the puck goes flying in behind the net. Not like around the boards and behind the net, it's like the game thinks my center is standing behind the net or something, because the puck goes right there and then bounces off the back boards and comes out the other side, onto their defenceman's stick.

Sometimes I'll try to over-compensate on that exact play by pressing more right than up... then the puck literally shoots straight out to the right... right into the middle of the ice. If I'm lucky, one of my D will get it back, but then the one-timer is already lost.

I dunno... maybe I just suck all of a sudden. All I know, is I haven't had trouble passing the puck like this before. I'm not even using that hardcore setting. It's crazy.

Also, the commentating blows. Like, almost every 4th save is "right off the goalie's mask!!1!1!oneone!1!" .... but then they show the replay and they're talking about "using your head to make the save" and you clearly see the puck being shot right into the goalie's chest... there's a bunch of other things about the commentating that irritate me, but that stands out the most.

Oh and the "Be A GM" thing... is it just me or is it just the same old dynasty mode but with a blackberry interface for making trades instead of the old menu?

Ok, sorry. /whine done.

[Russic]

^^ ya man, I suggest you join me in admitting the passing
is too much. Turn on pass assist and give it one or two levels higher. I find I still miss passes, but it's much more rare.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Russic

^^ ya man, I suggest you join me in admitting the passing
is too much. Turn on pass assist and give it one or two levels higher. I find I still miss passes, but it's much more rare.

Yeah, I might actually do that.

It's nice to see that the good ol' EA Sports AI is back in full effect. You know... when instead of making the computer harder to play against, they just make your team suck really bad to even it out.

[Bibtin Tex]

Fighting is awesome, and so easy, I've fought 15ish times online and won every single one, this game is boner-inducing.

[Stereochild]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but what general actions make your GM rep go up or down? I don't understand... I won the SC and I signed a few free agents and I lost a blackberry...

[Bibtin Tex]

Well, if you offer Sarich for Seabrook plus a 1st over and over to Chicago, then you will have a poor rep with them.

If you make a dumb deal where they get a steal, it will probably make your rep higher with that team.

[Stereochild]

Originally Posted by Bibtin Tex

Well, if you offer Sarich for Seabrook plus a 1st over and over to Chicago, then you will have a poor rep with them.

If you make a dumb deal where they get a steal, it will probably make your rep higher with that team.

Oh god, I must've made 50 different ty offers for the 1st overall. NYI must hate me.

[rubecube]

WTF happened to the ability to push the puck ahead of yourself while skating?

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by rubecube

WTF happened to the ability to push the puck ahead of yourself while skating?

Tap LT/L2.

[Weiser Wonder]

love the game. however seeing a lot of puck going in the net but the cpu doesn't recognise it as a goal . they need to fix that

[Cliche]

Darn it, have to learn how to score all over again.

Also on a EASHL note, if the creator leaves a team, will that team no longer exist, even if other GM's have been assigned?

Also definitely not joining the big club until I get my passing down.

[3 Justin 3]

If anyone wants to play some OTP, I am Jaybo with a toque.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Russic

The post whistle scrums degrade too easily into anarchy and your CPU teamates will almost always get you a penalty even if you are trying to lure your opposition into doing something dumb. I've had to turn down the reffing sensitivity to this. I also find the whole scrum takes far too long.

And the whole time the scrum is going on the goalie continues to smother the puck. It's a little thing, but it takes away from the realism.

Originally Posted by Russic

I'll give you the menu structure. I honestly don't think they would have this problem if they would sit down for 3 hours and hammer out a reshuffling plan. Why the hell are there multiple areas to change settings? Why are some available in certain areas while others are available all the time?

My biggest complaint is playing in season mode and trying to start a game via the calendar. It makes you sim up until the game you've selected, reselect that game and then asks you if you want to play that game. Then you have to go through several screens of options that I rarely change, like uniforms and line changes. Give me the option to skip this and go right to the game. It's just bad design.

Originally Posted by Russic

I will disagree with you on the innovation thing. I actually find this series innovates more than most sports games. The skill stick you did mention, but you forgot about last years EASHL addition, which is pretty unique to the sports gaming world.

I didn't forget about EASHL because I've never used it. The only time I play online is with friends because I have little tolerance for the immature idiots you find on Xbox Live. I imagine you guys on this board aren't like that, so maybe I'll give it a try sometime, but for now I'm happy playing a season offline.

I just need to tweak the sliders to make it more realistic. The CPU team seems to make every pass, unless I intercept them. And I've played a dozen games so far and they haven't had a single offside or icing call.

I do like the new goalie animations, except when Luongo reaches back to stop Sjostrom from scoring on an wide open net.