NHL 11 General Discussion

[kirant]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I just am really starting to love the hit engine in the game.

I was playing Be A Pro. My 96 OV, 99 skating 99 agility 99 strength defenseman just signed with Calgary, and the opening game of the season was against the Canucks.

In the first period Kesler is coming down the side boards, so instead of doing what I usually do which is to step into him when he makes his move, I step up and head at him at full speed on a route that goes right by him. At the last second I stick out the elbow and basically kill him with a cheap elbow. 2 minutes well worth it.

After I serve my penalty that rat Burrows comes down the other side, and I come all the way across and just as he trys that cheap cross body deke, I brush by him and Push my hit stick to the side and he takes a spectacular elbow right to the center of his face, The Quarter back is toast, and another two minutes well worth it.

Then in the third, the Canucks can't complete passes at all, Henrik decides to carry the puck up the middle and I step up and cross check him in the face and he goes down like a wet noodle.

After the game I noticed

Ryan Kesler out for 6 to 8 weeks with a concussion
Alex Burrows out 3 to 4 weeks with a concussion
Henrik Sedin out up to 6 weeks knee injury.

Next game, I'm killing the other Sedin.

That's 4 or 6 minutes of penalties well worth it.

[kobasew19]

Well stupid me, I made the finals of the Elite division HUT playoffs and was gonna play the final game this weekend...however, the playoffs are already over and it has already disappeared from my menu. Hopefully you guys can learn from my stupidity.

[jeremywilhelm]

Whoa Crunch. How do you purposefully elbow someone?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

Whoa Crunch. How do you purposefully elbow someone?

Instead of pushing your hit stick in the direction of a guy, you puck it to the side and you stick the elbow out.

Its pretty tough to do when your going head to head so you need to angle like your going by him then time the hit for just before you pass him.

I seem to get an elbow animation every time.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Just so everyone knows, if your in a Be a GM mode with the Flames, this trade actually works:

Bouwmeester, Stajan, 1st rd pick, and 3rd rd pick

for

Stamkos and Hedman

[theonlywhiteout]

so i felt like piping in that i played nhl 11 for the 1st time this weekend. i hate the passing system, hate with a passion. every game and shift feels like huge work now. the new passing allows more realistic passing but at the expense of more fluid game play. and omg my wrist hurts.

[Yamer]

The game is slowly becoming more frustrating than fun.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Yamer

The game is slowly becoming more frustrating than fun.

I never got into it, it's been collecting dust since November. Best Buy has it for trade in for 50 bucks this week so I think I might take them up on that offer.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I never got into it, it's been collecting dust since November. Best Buy has it for trade in for 50 bucks this week so I think I might take them up on that offer.

I should have phrased it as 'the franchise is becoming more frustrating than fun' as that is what I originally meant, but it stands for the current edition itself. With each new tuner the game gets worse, and the intimidation/momentum factor they programmed in makes me pull what little hair I have left out.

I played it pretty hard for the week or two right after release, then didn't touch it until the patch came out. They have all these leagues, but can't update the rosters for them properly because of limitations with rights and contracts.

Alright, I'm going to stop myself before I get too far into a rant and just consider that good piece of information you gave and consider trading it in this week.

[silentsim]

You sure the trade in is 50$? Wouldn't make much sense since they are selling it brand new for 50$?

[TSXCman]

I thought it was the +5 promotion. 40 + 5. 45 or 50 are both good. can pretty much get new titles at 30$ bucks nowaday with tradeins

[3 Justin 3]

Haven't played it in about a month, and then I only played it for a good 2 weeks, before that it was sitting on the shelf for about 2 months.

It just is too frustrating to play. Too much BS that makes me want to throw my controller through the tv. The weakest goals go in on me and I'll outshoot the guy 36-12 and he wins 5-2, like come on.

Even when I win 7-1 some games, I'll still shake my head sometimes. I messaged one guy saying "dude, tough game, just wouldn't do anything right for you." because it was so bad for him, with the soft goals/penalties, etc.

The EASHL is better to play than Ranked VS is IMO, but still, there are sooo many bad players that it gets to the point where, why bother? No one passes to each other, and when you have a computer on the team, the entire team just calls for the pass, even if they are covered by 3 guys. Then of course they call for it when they are at the red line when the goalie has it, the goalie throws it out and the other team scores.

Everyone is so obsessed with scoring themselves in the game that no one plays as a team, last time I checked hockey is a team sport. Go play ranked games if you want to do everything yourself.

[Cheerio]

The only time I'm having fun in this game is Be a GM and playing local with friends

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

The only time I'm having fun in this game is Be a GM and playing local with friends

It's too bad that mode was essentially broken out of the box, as that is what I spend 90% of my time playing in this franchise. The patch fixed the mode as is, but I am finding the addition of RFA's didn't spice it up enough to keep me interested. And I have a huge issue with the artificial intelligence.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

I thought it was the +5 promotion. 40 + 5. 45 or 50 are both good. can pretty much get new titles at 30$ bucks nowaday with tradeins

Sorry you're right, 45. I've never traded in any games so brought in a handful and walked away with a nice gift card from Best Buy.

Couldn't believe how little I played '11, the poster above who said it was more frustrating then fun was dead on.

[Joborule]

What things did you guys find frustrating, and what would you need done for NHL 12 to make it a enjoyable experience for the extent of the whole NHL season?

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Just so everyone knows, if your in a Be a GM mode with the Flames, this trade actually works:

Bouwmeester, Stajan, 1st rd pick, and 3rd rd pick

for

Stamkos and Hedman

Nice. I signed Kovalchuk at the beginning of the off season and flipped him and a fourth for Crosby, to hell with my GM rep. Flipped Bouwmeester and a 3rd for Doughty as well.

If only the rebuild was that easy...

I've always been a Be a GM'er myself, wish EA would put some more time into that mode. NHL 11 blended with Eastside would have been the best thing ever.
(Anybody know anything modern like Eastside? That game was the ####)

[theonlywhiteout]

Originally Posted by Joborule

What things did you guys find frustrating, and what would you need done for NHL 12 to make it a enjoyable experience for the extent of the whole NHL season?

some complaints for me are:

• way too many bad goals going in. as an example, today i was scored on vs my friend when he took a shot and it went off my guys shoulder and in as if my dudes shoulder had gun powered on it. too many trashy rebounds too
• manual pass off by default. the game was way funner today for me with it off.
• stick lifting is too ridiculous. i feel like im playing against paul bunyan on the ice... there needs to be some 4 min double minors with cut open faces called to discourage players from going around hacking away. oh and the stick lift from behind=stupid.

otherwise its pretty much nhl 10. not enough was done to improve the game frankly

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

some complaints for me are:

• way too many bad goals going in. as an example, today i was scored on vs my friend when he took a shot and it went off my guys shoulder and in as if my dudes shoulder had gun powered on it. too many trashy rebounds too
• manual pass off by default. the game was way funner today for me with it off.
• stick lifting is too ridiculous. i feel like im playing against paul bunyan on the ice... there needs to be some 4 min double minors with cut open faces called to discourage players from going around hacking away. oh and the stick lift from behind=stupid.

otherwise its pretty much nhl 10. not enough was done to improve the game frankly

While I disagree with your first two points, I agree with your third. Stick Lifting has been broken since it was implemented, it's way too effective to get the puck.

I love having garbage goals go in, there should be more garbage goals and straight shots from the slot that go in.

Something that really really needs to be revamped; the penalty shot/shootout. It feels slow and clunky, and completely unnatural. You should be able to walk and pick a corner and have it go in, just like in real life. You're lucky if a shot like that goes in 5% in EA games.

[theonlywhiteout]

esoteric i like garbage goals too but not when the physics are wrong.

as far as manula passing goes, what do you like about it? i think its a nightmare dealing with it