NHL 13 Demo Livestream Has Begun, Post Your Thoughts Here

[liberaluser]

What did everyone think of how the defense dealt with the new skating? I'd say the balance looked really good except the passing obviously needed slider tunage.

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by liberaluser

What did everyone think of how the defense dealt with the new skating? I'd say the balance looked really good except the passing obviously needed slider tunage.

That's pretty much my thoughts as well. Much more active sticks, much better positioning, and the puck is indeed far easier to bat away. Passing and pass ease reception need adjusting and hopefully both sliders work this year.

I was actually pretty impressed that the AI does indeed seem to be able to read plays and adjust rather than just focus on where the puck is.

My only gripe was the tape to tape passes but adjusting sliders should remedy that, if not I would hope they do it through tuners.

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

That's pretty much my thoughts as well. Much more active sticks, much better positioning, and the puck is indeed far easier to bat away. Passing and pass ease reception need adjusting and hopefully both sliders work this year. I was actually pretty impressed that the AI does indeed seem to be able to read plays and adjust rather than just focus on where the puck is. My only gripe was the tape to tape passes but adjusting sliders should remedy that, if not I would hope they do it through tuners.

I only watched part of the Pittsburgh and Toronto game but I thought that I saw a fair amount (at least for defaults sliders) of errant passes. Not as many as I'd like but I saw a few here and there. But I'm with you guys, I'd like to see more. Were there any videos where someone was playing the CPU? I'd like to see how accurate the CPU is.

[Qb]

On the subject of "if the pass reception slider works"... After some PM exchanges asking about passing (and many other things), I was told the issue was resolved and the slider will be effective this year. Also, I hear hardcore loosens up the passing somewhat, so that's encouraging for the potential of more extreme settings.

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

On the subject of "if the pass reception slider works"... After some PM exchanges asking about passing (and many other things), I was told the issue was resolved and the slider will be effective this year. Also, I hear hardcore loosens up the passing somewhat, so that's encouraging for the potential of more extreme settings.

Thanks for sharing that bit of feedback, that's most excellent news.

[Dispatch]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

On the subject of "if the pass reception slider works"... After some PM exchanges asking about passing (and many other things), I was told the issue was resolved and the slider will be effective this year. Also, I hear hardcore loosens up the passing somewhat, so that's encouraging for the potential of more extreme settings.

If thats the case I'm going to be logging some serious hours into this game.

[liberaluser]

Quote: Originally Posted by Qb

Also, I hear hardcore loosens up the passing somewhat, so that's encouraging for the potential of more extreme settings.

True but hardcore is basically just a set of sliders right? I usually start with normal settings cause everything is set halfway and then bring overpowerd mechanics like hitting power down and pass assist off to create my own custom sliders.

Edit: But for online only people that is surely good news!

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by liberaluser

True but hardcore is basically just a set of sliders right? I usually start with normal settings cause everything is set halfway and then bring overpowerd mechanics like hitting power down and pass assist off to create my own custom sliders. Edit: But for online only people that is surely good news!

Yes, hardcore modifies certain sliders, but to my knowledge, is only a slider preset. What I was getting at was hardcore typically does not zero out sliders like pass accuracy/reception, so hopefully we can take things even lower if desired. And yes, hearing hardcore plays a little "better" than default is encouraging for those excited for GM connected.

Edit: To be clear, that passing tidbit was from July. Thought I said something then, if not, sorry.