NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

[CupCrazyManiac]

@bigwill33
i absolutly agree, cant say it better!
After soo many years, I am tired to hear the same EA marketing phrases year after year after year!
again bigwill33, great comment!

[Retropyro]

@bigwill33
You 110% nailed it.

[Simple Mathematics]

I was going to post a long reply that vented my frustrations, but Bigwill took the words out of my mouth. I am so sick of the broken promises and the same "new features" every single year that don't make one but of change to the game.

Let me guess - here are NHL 16's back-of-box features:

1. Tweaked physics for big hits. These are the same big hits that should only occur maybe once per game.
2. More deke moves. Because the game isn't already enough of a deke-fest.
3. Tweaked true performance skating. We won't be able to see the difference.
4. Tweaked puck physics - because that one time you actually get to see the puck take a bad bounce matters.
5. EASHL - yawn. No thanks. Cheese fest 5000.
6. MORE AND MORE HUT CARD PACKS AND GAME-CHANGING LEGENDS!!!!!!!!

You certainly won't see the things the game actually needs - increased physicality (no, I do not mean big hits), a lot more depth in BaGM, more realistic goalies, and full true-collision physics with every single thing on the ice (sticks, skates, players, puck, etc.).

I want one thing more than anything in NHL 16 - the ability to edit players again. The Revamped Rosters would make the game so much better. Without them, for me, it makes the game 100% unplayable.

[Cletus]

I've discussed this with AdamJones before, but honestly, I don't think this game under current management will ever be what we want it to be. I applaud everyone who constructively points out what they want this game to be, but if you are angry/losing sleep/etc, just give up.

Ooohway thanks for the details and for posting on here. I know lots of people, including myself, didn't welcome you in the warmest of terms. You've done what you said you would. Thank you for that.

[IG 88]

Generalities! Hopefully when there are some hard details to discuss, it will still sound peachy-keen. Until then, why even talk about it?

[garyjr33]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

What "Gamechanger", "Community Leader", etc. in history has ever come back from a community event that a developer has flown them to and come away from it with a less than positive outlook? This is the huge grain of salt that needs to be taken with these types of things. When companies bring these people in they do all the right things, just like a recruitment trip for a college athlete. You don't see the flaws and problems because the focus is on the positives. But what really can be accomplished over 8 hours of sitting down and discussing the game? Was there hands-on with a current build of the game in which the group of visitors got to test the game out? What legacy issues are still prevalent. When a company just talks about what was wrong and what they are hoping to fix or what will be different they aren't showing anyone anything that may still be wrong or that is broken. It isn't until extensive time with a game that most major flaws come to light. And with 8 hours of sit down what really can be gathered and changed in the development cycle for the next iteration of a game? These programs can be good in that there is some interaction between a fan base and a developer, but overall what the rest of us are left with is hope and hype. And every year each game has a hope and a hype factor. I can tell you this, if we get into August without major media of NHL 16 or without a list of game modes again what are we to believe will be great about this game? Basically all we have at this point is a handful of people that were super stoked to have been "selected" to go on a free trip to play video games. They were wined and dined and made to feel as though they were important for a day or two. In the end we hear "The game is gonna be awesome! Oh, but I can't tell you why or anything about that for quite some time. When? Well until EA gets ahead of the official hype train and spins everything in a manner that won't negatively impact sales." To EA it is important to get the most "popular" members that can influence others into believing the hype being sold. If I trust joeyoutube's assessment that the game will be awesome because he said so and I agree with other things he says about the game then I can't be lead down the wrong path. Where is the tangible evidence? What is being done that is different? There are things that can be said that wouldn't violate an NDA. Furthermore, the fact that people are so afraid to even tread on the grounds of the grey area surrounding an NDA because the main fear isn't that they would face legal repercussions, but rather they worry that they will have blown the privileges that accompany the position they have gotten to. When would we ever get the person that flies back home after one of these events and says to the general audience of a game "You know, they just aren't where I think they should be given how bad recent versions of the product are."? Because with every event like this we see nothing but positives being brought back, but then somehow we still get games that have bugs, legacy issues, horrific game play, glitch or money plays, and features that have been removed for some reason. And if any of it is brought up all we get are excuses. Well there wasn't enough time, but we hope to fix it one day. The damn thing has been that way for 5 years! When is 'one day'? Why should I care how hard it is to program something? It is hard to do a lot of things at most jobs, yet somehow they still get done. Other game developers manage to do more with less even. These are excuses! And I am tired of them! Nobody at a site like this is asking for a reinvention of the wheel. IN FACT, most of us are just asking for things that have already been accomplished in a hockey or sports video game, if not by another developer by the very company that is making this current game now, but in the past. There is a whole wishlist thread in our NHL forum and 95% of that is just asking for stuff that has somehow disappeared from the NHL series. These are things that were in the game already, some of them 10 or 20 years ago! EA used to do things that others didn't because they felt they had to. Now they don't do things that others are doing or even things that they have done in the past because they no longer have to. And for someone to come in and tell us that this next game is really going to be awesome when the past 4 or 5 have trended downward towards a near pitiful level, what right minded person would jump aboard that boat? Let's hope that someone all the hype is true, but let's take this for what it is at the same time, people.

Most epic OS post ever! Agree 100%. I just want them to deliver. Hockey is my favorite sport. I just want an epic NHL game for once.

[Simple Mathematics]

Quote: Originally Posted by IG 88

Generalities! Hopefully when there are some hard details to discuss, it will still sound peachy-keen. Until then, why even talk about it?

I think we talk about it because we are so used to this now. It seems like it's the same thing every year now.

1. Hype it up
2. Go silent
3. Secretly release unfinished product
4. Fans get disappointed
5. Come up with excuses for why the game underwhelms

The more the above formula occurs, the more the fan disappointment and outrage increases.

[SVCbearcat10]

Quote: Originally Posted by Simple Mathematics

I think we talk about it because we are so used to this now. It seems like it's the same thing every year now. 1. Hype it up 2. Go silent 3. Secretly release unfinished product 4. Fans get disappointed 5. Come up with excuses for why the game underwhelms The more the above formula occurs, the more the fan disappointment and outrage increases.

Step 3...didn't that only happen once? The ironic thing is that NHL 15 is by far the best gameplay of any NHL to date. I'm not saying how they handled the first release into the next generation of consoles is good or bad. If all the game modes were in and the gameplay wasn't different enough, everyone would have been screaming just as loudly.

Go the MLB TS forums on here. They got everything over and fans weren't as happy for the first time in years because the "leap" wasn't large enough from PS3 to PS4. I think there is going to be a generation of disappointed gamers because I don't think games are going to progress at the same rate in the past because technology hasn't had a huge leap because it's a very mature segment of the industry.

As a community, it's grown to be a microcosm of society as a whole. We are extremely impatient and have unrealistic expectations. Nothing put out (especially sports games) will ever live up to the hype because there is no way to program a game to mimic human behavior perfectly. Especially because everyone handles the same situation slightly differently. And in a video game, if the AI makes a mistake then the game is stupid, developers are dumb rather than people saying it's life-like in the fact that the AI can make errors.