NHL 18 - Released Sept.15, 2017

[metallicat]

Maybe it shouldn't cost 80 bucks. That would be a good start.

[savardandjokinen]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Anything new regarding Be A GM mode this year?

Expansion draft, you can make a 32nd team and have an expansion draft. You can also re sign players during the season.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Maybe it shouldn't cost 80 bucks. That would be a good start.

Unless it's one of those Xbox one arcade games, new games are usually always $80.

I'll be waiting for this to come out on EA Access instead of picking it up. I make my opinion well known with every update yearly release. Most of the issues I complain about (mostly simple issues in multiplayer) never get fixed, so the days of me being super excited about the game and eagerly awaiting it's release are long gone.

[Inferno]

One thing I hope the series does but might not due to the budget it gets is add a story mode like FIFA and Madden. I finally finished the story mode on FIFA 17 last night and really enjoyed it and I'm not a soccer fan at all.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

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.

This is the issue. EA knows they have no competition. They really have no incentive to make major improvements. If we all just protest with our wallets maybe they'll wake up.

Save the $80 man. Games are too expensive these days. Spend that $80 on a game worth buying.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by savardandjokinen

Expansion draft, you can make a 32nd team and have an expansion draft. You can also re sign players during the season.

FINALLY! Christ that was annoying

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

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.

I think there are lots of us out here that got sick of the poor product and just gave up. And because we no longer care about the game we don't participate in discussions about it. So we seem smaller due to our absence.

And I always find the paradox surrounding yearly releases to be laughable. People always say that we can't expect much from a game that updates every year. Yet it is EA that chooses to publish on that timetable. If they can't manage some decent changes then maybe they shouldn't charge full price every 12 months for a new version.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by 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.

I guess what baffles me is where all the revenue goes. If they sell a million copies that's still tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Not to mention all of the micro transactions they get out of online modes. I would think that could support a decent team. Especially when they often just replicate modes and functionalities that are developed in the other games. I can only imagine that something like ultimate team was a much smaller task for this series compared to the other games that pioneered it.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by dobbles

I guess what baffles me is where all the revenue goes. If they sell a million copies that's still tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Not to mention all of the micro transactions they get out of online modes. I would think that could support a decent team. Especially when they often just replicate modes and functionalities that are developed in the other games. I can only imagine that something like ultimate team was a much smaller task for this series compared to the other games that pioneered it.

Sure if the company operates on a "this team generated this much money and are profitable so let's invest in them". Unfortunately most companies operate by saying "thanks for the profits. Now what group is going to give us the best ROI if we invest more in them?" And the NHL series is going to lose that battle almost every time.

You aren't going to cut that team because they reliably bring in a nice baseline income but if it is a limited growth market you aren't pouring much extra money into it. And it is limited growth compared to other franchises they have or new franchises they can develop...or at least that is clearly the determination they have made.

Read earnings reports from EA and you'll see things like Battlefield had more than 21 million new players join...a 50% increase over the previous incarnation at this point. 21 million players for Fifa 17 including 12 mil who did the new game mode Journey (that type of numbers engaged in a game mode makes extra sales now and moving forward). Fifa Mobile had a base of 95 million players. NBA Live mobile 70 million players. SIMS active users increased 33% year on year. No matter how perfect a NHL game the resulting sales just can't match the growth of other EA and EA Sports properties. So they don't see the money.

[northcrunk]

Played 4 hours of the full demo and decided to pre-order a digital copy. $71.99 with EA access which isn't too bad. I'm actually liking the changes and seems like HUT will be a bit better this year. They've actually put HUT challenges in which give you extra coin for completing challenges in game. Game play is better than 17 too.

I started an expansion team season and it's nice to see some decent options for create a team.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Played 4 hours of the full demo and decided to pre-order a digital copy. $71.99 with EA access which isn't too bad. I'm actually liking the changes and seems like HUT will be a bit better this year. They've actually put HUT challenges in which give you extra coin for completing challenges in game. Game play is better than 17 too.

I started an expansion team season and it's nice to see some decent options for create a team.

This is encouraging to hear. Customization in a sports game is huge to me as it keeps it fresh for an entire year. The custom team logos and names have been extremely limited over the past handful of years.

Looking forward to striking up a game tonight.

[Inferno]

I laughed when I saw Johnny and Tkachuk chewing on their mouthguards during closeups between faceoffs.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I laughed when I saw Johnny and Tkachuk chewing on their mouthguards during closeups between faceoffs.

That's a nice detail. When you create a pro you can decide what he does with his mouth guard too.

[bubbsy]

gameplay is a little better, but it just feels like some small tweaks on a flawed foundation. They really need to revamp the game, it's clunky, not fluid, and frustrating to play.

On the otherhand, i downloaded nba 2k18 demo yesterday, and after playing the nba live demo from ea earlier this summer, it's really clear that EA has no clue what they are doing with their NHL and NBA franchises.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Inferno

I laughed when I saw Johnny and Tkachuk chewing on their mouthguards during closeups between faceoffs.

It's this sort of thing that I wish they wouldn't focus on. It does nothing to improve gameplay performance, so I feel working on that takes away from valuable time to actually make the game better.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

It's this sort of thing that I wish they wouldn't focus on. It does nothing to improve gameplay performance, so I feel working on that takes away from valuable time to actually make the game better.

It's not so much a matter of wasting time as all the departments are working at the same time. There's always going to be a budget given to the art and animation team for additions. They could hire less artists and animators and hire more programmers but it's up to the programming team to figure out what is most important to work on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ernie]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

It's this sort of thing that I wish they wouldn't focus on. It does nothing to improve gameplay performance, so I feel working on that takes away from valuable time to actually make the game better.

I'd agree. The little touches to between whistle and before/end game presentations are nice....the first couple of times. After that it's hit the button to get the play going right away again.

[IgiTang]

Anyone receive a return user puck bonus for HUT? I had almost a million pucks in HUT 17, but haven't received any pucks for HUT 18. Just packs. Is it supposed to be this way or are pucks coming upon release?

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Anyone receive a return user puck bonus for HUT? I had almost a million pucks in HUT 17, but haven't received any pucks for HUT 18. Just packs. Is it supposed to be this way or are pucks coming upon release?

There's no returning bonus in the form of pucks. Only in packs.

Also, looks like 2 more packs for everyone, if your pre-order packs were untradable when you opened them.

I had some great pulls on the first night - McDavid, Price, Keith, Getzlaf, Seguin, Josi, Buff - I feel like I don't need to rush to upgrade the team right now with the players I picked up.

[IgiTang]

I got some sweet cards out of my packs as well

Gio, Matthew Tkachuk rookie card, McJesus, Draisatl, Kucherov(what a beast)
Mathews, Carter, Lindvist, Radulov, Parayko

Picked up Wheeler, William Nylander and Ehlers to round out my forwards.