NHL 18 - Released Sept.15, 2017

[IgiTang]

I know many are feeling like EA is just rehashing an old title and throwing a new name on it and they're right.

That said, Its the best NHL game out there and I will be caving and buying this edition as well.

With that said, are there any XBOne users on CP that are interested in doing a CP Club this year?

Also, im looking forward to playing some versus with this years edition of the Flames roster! That D!!!!

I'm curious to see how the devs out of Vancouver nurf the Flames roster by giving players much worse overall's this year. Especially Hamonic.

Rated 89 overall in 2017 for the NYI. But how are they going to give 4 Dmen on the Flames 89+ Overalls? Im curious to see how theyre rated.

Anyway, hit me up if youre interested in some club action. If not, perhaps I will see you in some versus, public DR, or HUT.

Cheers!

[ComixZone]

They've rebuilt the player rating system coming off of last year's game, so players will be rated lower overall league-wide. McDavid and Crosby are the two top rated guys in the game at 93 overall. From listening to their devs talk about, the NHL quality players will be rated between 75 and 93, whereas last year it was really 80-96 I believe.

...all that aside, I'm really excited for this years game (as I am every year). For those who pre-order, the game comes out for early access on September 12th - and for those with EA Access on Xbox One, they get their early access on September the 9th I believe.

[metallicat]

Anything new regarding Be A GM mode this year?

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

They've rebuilt the player rating system coming off of last year's game, so players will be rated lower overall league-wide. McDavid and Crosby are the two top rated guys in the game at 93 overall. From listening to their devs talk about, the NHL quality players will be rated between 75 and 93, whereas last year it was really 80-96 I believe.

...all that aside, I'm really excited for this years game (as I am every year). For those who pre-order, the game comes out for early access on September 12th - and for those with EA Access on Xbox One, they get their early access on September the 9th I believe.

Holy Shiz! Really? I'll be honest, I have been out of the loop and havnt really put that much effort in researching the changes. My perspective is from versions past..

But the early release stuff.. Is that only if you pre-order from the xbox store online? I have my pre-order in at EB. Do I still have to wait until Sept.15? As well I have EA Access.

[topfiverecords]

I liked the 3 on 3 EASHL that was in the demo.

Not expecting the improvements to the Flames roster to be of any help in online play. Vancouver devs always tilt it.

[CaptainCrunch]

My xbox finally gave up the ghost and I debated buying a new video game system and then decided not to, I've lost interest in this franchise and most games.

[Inferno]

This is the first NHL game in years that I won't be getting on release. I barely played NHL 17 so it's a waste of money getting it on release. And then there's the McDiver being on the cover factor that sealed it for me. I'll just wait until it's free on EA Access.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Holy Shiz! Really? I'll be honest, I have been out of the loop and havnt really put that much effort in researching the changes. My perspective is from versions past..

But the early release stuff.. Is that only if you pre-order from the xbox store online? I have my pre-order in at EB. Do I still have to wait until Sept.15? As well I have EA Access.

If you have EA access you can play it early no matter if you pre-ordered or not.

[Since1984]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

I know many are feeling like EA is just rehashing an old title and throwing a new name on it and they're right.

That said, Its the ONLY NHL game out there and I will be caving and buying this edition as well.

With that said, are there any XBOne users on CP that are interested in doing a CP Club this year?

Also, im looking forward to playing some versus with this years edition of the Flames roster! That D!!!!

I'm curious to see how the devs out of Vancouver nurf the Flames roster by giving players much worse overall's this year. Especially Hamonic.

Rated 89 overall in 2017 for the NYI. But how are they going to give 4 Dmen on the Flames 89+ Overalls? Im curious to see how theyre rated.

Anyway, hit me up if youre interested in some club action. If not, perhaps I will see you in some versus, public DR, or HUT.

Cheers!

FYP

I will for the second season in a row...pass on the EA NHL franchise. Sadly, they have added nothing to game and $80 for a roster update is laughable.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Since1984

I will for the second season in a row...pass on the EA NHL franchise. Sadly, they have added nothing to game and $80 for a roster update is laughable.

[Since1984]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

It is, yet I share this opinion with many many people. When you have a monopoly on a market segment you can get away with putting out mediocre products that appease fan boys.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by Since1984

It is, yet I share this opinion with many many people. When you have a monopoly on a market segment you can get away with putting out mediocre products that appease fan boys.

I believe this to be the vocal minority, seeing as the game consistently gets strong reviews and sells well enough to continue it's existence. On an annual release schedule, the improvements on a year to year basis definitely have to be targeted, so yeah - if you're searching for sweeping changes between any two years, you're going to be disappointed.

I think the series is better than it ever has been, and the year to year changes, iterative as they are, do benefit the overall package.

It's only a monopoly because the financials behind the game make it hard (impossible) to deliver a competing product. Development is expensive, and annual development is iterative by nature.

[ernie]

I think very little has to do with it being a monopoly. It's simply not a franchise that sells well enough to garner much more attention than a roster update and a few other tweaks each year. Across both platforms it sold just over 1 million units in the past year. Even if they made major changes it likely wouldn't increase sales even up to 1.5 mil...which is likely a high water mark for the entire series.

When you have Fifa selling 15+ million a year and even lackluster Madden games selling 7+ million units, a hockey game that is likely to sell less than 2 million units no matter how good it is just isn't going to get any attention. It makes better sense for them to put little effort into the game on a yearly basis and count on the 1 million units that will be sold. Putting the extra money and work into the game likely isn't going to get them the ROI that makes it competitive with other options looking for that investment money.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

I'm curious to see how the devs out of Vancouver nurf the Flames roster by giving players much worse overall's this year. Especially Hamonic.

Only one Flame is in the top 50 rated players: Gaudreau at 87 overall. None of the Flames D are there. For reference, here are some other players in the top 50 that you might think, say, Giordano or Hamilton would be ahead of.

David Pastrnak - 87 OVR
Leon Draisaitl - 87 OVR
Taylor Hall - 87 OVR
Blake Wheeler - 87 OVR
Dustin Byfuglien - 87 OVR
Alex Pietrangelo - 88 OVR
Roman Josi - 88 OVR (Subban's only at 87!)
Mark Scheifele - 88 OVR
Shea Weber - 89 OVR
Ryan Suter - 89 OVR

Apparently, the Jets got some love. Also the lightning, who have 3 guys in the top 20 (Kucherov 89, Hedman 90 and Stamkos 91) though I can't really argue there.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Only one Flame is in the top 50 rated players: Gaudreau at 87 overall. None of the Flames D are there. For reference, here are some other players in the top 50 that you might think, say, Giordano or Hamilton would be ahead of.

David Pastrnak - 87 OVR
Leon Draisaitl - 87 OVR
Taylor Hall - 87 OVR
Blake Wheeler - 87 OVR
Dustin Byfuglien - 87 OVR
Alex Pietrangelo - 88 OVR
Roman Josi - 88 OVR (Subban's only at 87!)
Mark Scheifele - 88 OVR
Shea Weber - 89 OVR
Ryan Suter - 89 OVR

Apparently, the Jets got some love. Also the lightning, who have 3 guys in the top 20 (Kucherov 89, Hedman 90 and Stamkos 91) though I can't really argue there.

This is what happens when you develop an NHL game in a non-hockey market like Vancouver

[Ashasx]

lol what else does Giordano have to do to be considered a top 50 player

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

lol what else does Giordano have to do to be considered a top 50 player

Play for the Canucks.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

There are zero Canucks in the top 50 (of course).

[bubbsy]

the game delta year after year, has been a real big disappointment, especially when there are some pretty well known issues in the core game play (skating, AI, defensive features, etc).

Instead, the product seems to annually miss the mark and invest energy in non-core areas (how much improvement has been really made in the core game play issues, franchise mode, BAP, etc???).

Still, it being the ONLY gaming option for NHL hockey, i have no option but to buy it and then complain about how disappointing it is again.

[Otto-matic]

My biggest issue with the EA Team is them marketing old game modes and features as brand new never seen before features for this generation.