NHL 11 General Discussion

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I'm not a fan of the hitting.

I love the animations but it is still clunky. When I go to throw a hit far, far too often does my guy just throw his arms out and get stuck in a 3 second animation while the guy skates past me.

The lack of strategy adjustment. Seriously, the whole strategy systems haven't changed in 10 years except the forecheck option. Why can't I customize strategy for the PP and PK? I should be able to choose all out attack and high pressure for PP and then have it auto switch back to a regular strategy for ES. The offensive and defensive setups are so antiquated. Really with all the improvements my only friggin options are behind the net, crash the net and overload?

Also, the way the line change graphic slides out instead of just appearing. Way too clunky. It was fine the way it was last year, why change it?

Still too many rebound and one-timer goals and not enough shots going in.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of the modifier. Just pressing LB and pointing the right stick should not result in an insane deke that my D-man can't stop. Let the guy manually deke me. That's more of a pet peeve than an actual problem with the game.

TBQH I haven't been playing it a whole lot. I've been sticking to Forza III recently.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by 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

Oh yeah, the physics can be a bit wonky. I don't like it when those go in, but it happens ever so rarely.

I like manual passing as it gives me a wider range of options when passing the puck. It's easier to play it off the boards, or not toss it right at my guy in order to spring a break away.

[theonlywhiteout]

Originally Posted by Esoteric

Oh yeah, the physics can be a bit wonky. I don't like it when those go in, but it happens ever so rarely.

I like manual passing as it gives me a wider range of options when passing the puck. It's easier to play it off the boards, or not toss it right at my guy in order to spring a break away.

doesnt it drive you crazy tho always having to apply pressure for every single pass??

[Torture]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I'm not a fan of the hitting.

I love the animations but it is still clunky. When I go to throw a hit far, far too often does my guy just throw his arms out and get stuck in a 3 second animation while the guy skates past me.

The lack of strategy adjustment. Seriously, the whole strategy systems haven't changed in 10 years except the forecheck option. Why can't I customize strategy for the PP and PK? I should be able to choose all out attack and high pressure for PP and then have it auto switch back to a regular strategy for ES. The offensive and defensive setups are so antiquated. Really with all the improvements my only friggin options are behind the net, crash the net and overload?

And why can't you throw any guy out on the PK. If I've been killing 3 penalties straight I don't want to put out my regular PK unit that's dead I want to throw out some other guy.

Also, the way the line change graphic slides out instead of just appearing. Way too clunky. It was fine the way it was last year, why change it?

Still too many rebound and one-timer goals and not enough shots going in.
Agreed, I take 30 shots and get 2 goals most of the time while the computer takes 10 and gets 1. Goalies should be hitting 90% more often than not, not 98%.

TBQH I haven't been playing it a whole lot. I've been sticking to Forza III recently.

The AI's tape to tape passes and instant reactions are annoying too. You have to forecheck like a demon to take the puck from them otherwise it's tic tac toe all the way into the offensive end. They'll pick up a rebound, fire it instantly out of pressure to some other guy and away they go up the ice.

see bold..

[3 Justin 3]

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?

EASHL is broken with the boosts, EA will never get rid of it because they make too much money, but it is getting out of hand, I thought NHL 10 was bad, 11 is a nightmare. They should have at least 2 lobbies, one for people with boosts and another for people who don't want to spend $40 extra boosting their guy.

HUT was a nice addition, but same problem. People just bought their rosters and the people who actually don't speed 10,000 points on their team have mediocre teams as a result and don't play them, so it takes 15-20 minutes trying to find a game. (I spent $5 on my HUT team)


As for gameplay, where to start:

• Passing is atrociously slow, having to hold down the trigger FOR EVERY DAMN pass is annoying and slows the game down. The computer (when you call for a pass) always gives you the slowest, lightest, weakest pass imaginable and is usually picked off no matter how long you hold the button for.
• EASHL, the camera is pathetic and EA should be ashamed of themselves for having such a piece of garbage camera. Seriously how hard is it to stay stationary, but noooo we have to move as soon as I get in the o-zone and screw me over. Just annoying and stupid.
• The goalies are either terrible or outstanding, never any middle ground. And that one animation where they do the splits is just stupid because it never works and always ends up in a goal.

[Crazy Bacon Legs]

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?

My biggest frustration with EA Sports is that every year they promise some new mode which will be the BEST EVER, and they manage to almost half finish it. When they first announced Be a Pro Mode, I was like a kid on Christmas. Then I played it. "Hmmm," I thought, "this can't possibly be all there is to this." I "signed" my first contract by pressing a button. Whoopie. I chugged around in very slow, uninformative menus 90% of the time (and I have no problem with text, I still play EHM about 10 hours a week!) and I got very bored very fast. "Oh well," I thought, "That mode was shallow and got stale after about 24 hours, but it will absolutely rock for next year." Amazingly, it was exactly. the. same. thing. Yet they took the time to make HUT (due to the money to be made from microtransactions) and left Be a GM and Be a Pro completely broken and unplayable. I played this year's game for all of 2 weeks and it hasn't seen my Xbox since. I actually felt a bit ripped off.

As for NHL 12, I will not be buying it. Roster updates and gameplay tweaks are not worth $70. I have purchased the NHL series every year since year one, and I'm done. Obviously, the sim or hardcore hockey market is too small, and they would rather appeal to the people who are willing to blow a wad of money on super players online and who like bright, shiny things. Unless they change their way of doing things and release a complete game, I'm done.

I know you're very actively involved with EA as a mod and whatnot, Joborule, and I would appreciate it if you would pass on my sentiments. Another thing that bugs me is the silence when they know something in the game is broken and has not been fixed from year to year (e.g. the silence on BAP not having any changes at all until release). The feel I get is that their parching orders are to do what it takes to sell more copies than last year, and nothing more. That's fine if it works, but it won't involve me.

That's the long answer. The short answer: they would have to release a non-broken, complete game for me to buy NHL 12. You tell me if that's going to happen

[Fire]

I won't be buying this game next year either unless I hear good things about after it has been released for a couple of months.

[hkstylez]

I'd like to join the CalgaryPuck League in EASHL, if there were any more room please.

names is miga98.

[DownhillGoat]

I'll skip this one next year too, methinks.

I play pretty much strictly vs online. The same glitch goals for the past several years get old.

While I don't mind the changes to the passing, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement.

AI that is out to lunch on plays, skaters freezing when getting the puck... Most of the same problems that existed since it started on the PS3 still exist, but now there's a new mode to not bother playing.

[zukes]

Crazy legs summed my feelings up. I have bought this game, on release day EVERY single year since its inception. It was the day I looked forward to the most.

For me, it is the complete lack of work on the single player modes, especially Be A GM. They have been working mostly on online stuff and that would be great if I was still a kid and had time to play enough to

a) get good enough to school these chumps that use the glitches, was always one of the best of all my freinds back in the day, and I never exploited the glicth goals. In fact we would play leagues and track our own stats, glitch goals would not be counted, so the score could be 8-7 on the game, but the real final could be 4-2 for the other team

or

b) play online in a league with only my friends tha play the game the way it should be. However, us being in our 30's means nobody has the same schedule where we can actually set this up to do it.

Therefore Be A GM and (less so in my books) Be a Pro need to be worked on. Leave the glitchy, spend more money stuff alone for a year and work on these modes for once.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'll be honest, I still play be a pro, and I do enjoy it for what it is, an arcade experience.

But there are still logic things that drive me nuts.

Every face off in the offensive zone they go for the straight shot on net 8 times out of 10. Cmon dump it back to your defenseman, I worked hard to get a 99 slap shot with a 99 accuracy (More about that later)

Every time a winger hits the offensive zone, he does the same deke to the middle, the CPU never ever looks at the drop pass, I don't want to have to call for a pass everytime.

Speaking of accuracy. Once you hit that top level of power and accuracy, you can go in on a breakaway, beat the goalie have an open net and wang it off the post. Or you get a pass across and a open net and bwang post. I get that they need to slump the player, and I'm assuming that this is a byproduct of it, but come on now.

The computer is greedy, over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed the system awarding my goals to other guys, its great that I get the assist, but there's no way that you scored on my slap shot from the point when your behind me having just come off of the bench.

[Yamer]

Stood in line at midnight on release day to get this game, for a grand total of 3 weeks of playing it. The game has gotten stale, as they don't really introduce anything new that keeps me playing. HUT is neat, but I have seen it before in other EA titles and I was finished with it in a week. Unless I spend additional cash, I will be battling away in the lower tournaments for months before jumping up.

BaGM is the one mode I play the most, and it was broken out of the box. I had to wait over 2 months for a patch. 2 months? Really? That is highly unacceptable. If they don't want the same expectations placed on them as other titles, then don't charge $10 more than other games at launch. The mode was also seriously lacking in improvement, and has been for several years. It feels empty.

BaPro hasn't changed at all over the years since introduction, except for a few games at the Memorial Cup. Another mode that feels empty and has gotten stale. Also, when the patch came out it decimated the XP system, and I can never ever reach the goals set by the coach. There is a moderator at the official forums (who shall remain nameless) that was trying to spread BS that it was supposed to be this way all along. Sorry, but I highly doubt that.

The devs will swear up and down that intimidation/momentum does not play a role in the game. I respectfully disagree. There are times where the CPU will finish a check on one of my players, and suddenly the entire ice tilts in their favor.

My number 1 gripe is the AI. It is just downright frustrating at the best of times. I think the thing that gets me the most is the discrepancy between user AI and the CPU's. On increased difficulty levels my players seem to get progressively dumber, while the CPU becomes superhuman. I know making the CPU tougher is all part of the challenge, but it is done incorrectly IMO. They should be better at learning my tendencies and more creative, instead they pull the same crap as they did on a lower level however they are now invincible. Again, I get that this is challenging and the point of a higher difficulty setting, but I think it could be implemented a lot better.

There are a few other incidences in gameplay that make me crazy as well. The diving poke check is ridiculous, and goes hand in hand with the amazing ability for the CPU to close a gap on a breakaway. I can be 10 feet ahead of the defenseman at the top of the circles, but he will always catch up. Collision detection is awful, especially when it comes to poke checks. All the CPU has to do is swing in my general direction and it is a clean takeaway. Stick lift is also insanely effective. Cheap floaters from the point go in way too often, as do slapshots in general. There are also quite a few controls and maneuvers in the game that are not described in the manual and tutorial. Last year I had to go online to find out how to flip dump, and this year it is the incredibly unrealistic deke off the draw.

For being the most anticipated edition of the series after playing the demo, this is easily the most disappointing title they have released. I am very interested to see what 2K was able to do with a year off for development. If it is half as good as their NBA game then I think I am switching affiliations after 17 years of dedication to the EA brand.

/rant

[Cheerio]

I have a very weak internet connection at my house so I can't play any of the online modes especially HUT, because every game it will quit out in the 3rd period, and Boom thats half an hour of wasted time. Because of that I only play local, but save having CHL that never really end up developing (except Hall/Seguin), this is the exact same game that came out last year in regards to the single player modes.

[Jayems]

Ive gone from hating the game to it being my favorite of all time.

I think the issue with this year is there's a much bigger learning curve from year's past, but once you figure it out, the game becomes very enjoyable.

[kirant]

I've found so far that while Online is boring, making edits and playing in-game Be a GM is amazing. The AI avoids a few making dumb trades now (Like Regehr + Stajan for Kopitar), once some insane potentials, amazing puck controls of the player, and some slapshot accuracy problems are fixed, the game becomes quite nice for at least the first 3-4 years of the mode.

[secol]

Originally Posted by Torture

see bold..

i know a lot of us on the ps3 eashl team get pretty frustrated at how ####ty the cpu players are at passing.....also i find if you check the cpu a lot of the times they hold on to the puck so you can check them off the puck no problems

[theonlywhiteout]

Here is a perfect example of why NHL 11 is so insanely frustrating. Look, I like hockey video games because I love hockey. It's an easy match... yet some how EA is really turning me off to this thing.

I play a game with a friend offline, some highlights:

• During this series (cup mode) the penalties are vastly in my favour aside from one game. No real rhyme or reason as far as I can tell (but the dude I play hacks a lot with his stick)
• Goaltending seemed to never be even, either my goaltender was steller or complete garbage, while his goaltender was typically the same
• The final, and horric straw that ended the series. It's 2-1 for him in games. In game 4 he wins 3-2... 1st goal by sidney crosby is a very weak wrist shot from above the circle, unscreened. Shouldn't even have broke a sweat to save. Fine I can deal with a bad goal. I go up 2-1 and he ties the game with another soft as marshmallow wrist shot with some 2nd or 3rd liner... again, unscreened. It was literally like a dump in and at the top of the circles, goes in. at this point Im wondering why I play the game. Then, still in the last minute of the period (oh yeah that was a shorty) he dumps the puck out.. it goes RIGHT thru Kronwall (he's standing there and it goes thru his feet) and he get's a breakaway because Kronwall is frozen in this animation of trying to stop the puck but allowing it to go thru. He scores and wins.

Just really bad hockey. I mean the game itself is fine, I guess, the hittings kinda random and not programmed well, and the stick lift is way too effective, but the garbage goals and random wrist shots that go in ruin it. Oh and the players watching pucks sail past them and not adjusting, surrendering random break aways

Terrible

[jeremywilhelm]

You do know that goalies in real life give up weak wrister goals all the time right?

But I do have to agree. On superstar setting I have to play to literally allow 0-5 shots on net the whole game meanwhile getting 20+ on my own to win a game 1-0. If the CPU gets the puck anywhere within 20 feet of the net, it's a sure goal. Makes for some unrealistic yet tense games.

[theonlywhiteout]

Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm

You do know that goalies in real life give up weak wrister goals all the time right?

But I do have to agree. On superstar setting I have to play to literally allow 0-5 shots on net the whole game meanwhile getting 20+ on my own to win a game 1-0. If the CPU gets the puck anywhere within 20 feet of the net, it's a sure goal. Makes for some unrealistic yet tense games.

Unscreened soft wrist shots from 60 feet out just dont go in... I mean maybe from up closer or inside the dots, but from 60+ feet twice in one game? with an 85 goaltender?

[jeremywilhelm]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

Unscreened soft wrist shots from 60 feet out just dont go in... I mean maybe from up closer or inside the dots, but from 60+ feet twice in one game? with an 85 goaltender?

I saw Kipper do this 4 days ago.