EA Not recognizing equipment realism

[Mongo14]

Here is a screenshot of NHL 14 featuring the newest Red Wing Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson is a right hander and uses the Easton Stealth RS II stick where there is a vertically spelt Easton on the backhand side of the stick. In this screenshot the stick appears to be backwards with what's supposed to bethe forehand side of the stick on his backhand side. I have been waiting for this stick to be in the game since I use this one in real life, but it looks like I'll be avoiding it in the game since the stick favors the left handed shot and is backwards for right handers. Similar to the Bauer Vapor stick. This is frustrating to someone like me who pays attention to detail and I know I'm not the only one so don't respond to this with the "who cares" because it is a bothersom problem. The fact that EA featured this glaring error is surprising to me

They did add another Easton helmet which makes me feel a little better, but as an Easton guy I'd like to use this stick. I just hope there are other ones like the EQ50

[CaptainSuperman]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

There are hundreds of sticks out there. You really expect them to have each and every one? They get a few pieces of equipment from a few brands.

[Mongo14]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

There are hundreds of sticks out there. You really expect them to have each and every one? They get a few pieces of equipment from a few brands.

No I understand that. They have this stick in the game it looks like for NHL 14. But I'm frustrated with how it'll be backwards on right handers

[mikey87]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

I did notice that you asked us not to respond 'who cares' but I'm still going to do just that. I really don't get it how some guys keep asking for some minor details as at least 90% of the dev team's work should be focused on gameplay. If this particular stick wasn't in the game, you would be concentrating on what? If laces of some skates are correctly coloured? A very common problem in today's games is the lack of 'soul'. There's tons of eyecandy, but playability sucks. All this needless eyecandy is created at the expense of gameplay improvements.

I understand that I might be representing the minority in these questions. As I'm getting older, NHL14 is probably the last game that I'll be bying. And that is only if the gameplay is greatly improved from NHL13. I've bought the game every fu**ing year from '95 to 2009 and only a couple of times I have been playing the game more than a couple of months. Those were '95, 2001 and 2013. I would be totally happy if the game would look like nhl95 and the gameplay would be realistic.

Well, as I already mentioned, I understand that I represent the minority of gamers what comes to expectations and that is why I'm ready to give up on sports gaming. It's very likely that I'll turn to FHM when it's released and even more likely that I'm done with EA.

[canucksss]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

EA's NHL gameplay, AI, presentations etc. are so far from being near the real thing... do not expect them to be realistic too with the equipment.

Im not bashing you, although for me this is not important, but I will be surprised if EA will get the right equipment for all the players but still have a lousy gameplay, lame AI, broken presentations. I'd rather see them improve on these then as much as possible be close to the real equipment....sure not all players but at least the superstars of the game.

[Dougie_G_93]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

EA not accurate in realism??
Wait here's my surprised face:

[thesicnessnz]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

My biggest peave with this is the uniforms. It's the same with other Ea titles. i.e Fifa. They look like crap. Like a big plastic sheet. Horrible textures. Hopefully next gen improves, other wise whats the point.

[DaRK]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

I did notice that you asked us not to respond 'who cares' but I'm still going to do just that. I really don't get it how some guys keep asking for some minor details as at least 90% of the dev team's work should be focused on gameplay. If this particular stick wasn't in the game, you would be concentrating on what? If laces of some skates are correctly coloured? A very common problem in today's games is the lack of 'soul'. There's tons of eyecandy, but playability sucks. All this needless eyecandy is created at the expense of gameplay improvements.

I understand that I might be representing the minority in these questions. As I'm getting older, NHL14 is probably the last game that I'll be bying. And that is only if the gameplay is greatly improved from NHL13. I've bought the game every fu**ing year from '95 to 2009 and only a couple of times I have been playing the game more than a couple of months. Those were '95, 2001 and 2013. I would be totally happy if the game would look like nhl95 and the gameplay would be realistic.

Well, as I already mentioned, I understand that I represent the minority of gamers what comes to expectations and that is why I'm ready to give up on sports gaming. It's very likely that I'll turn to FHM when it's released and even more likely that I'm done with EA.

this.

just please stop.

[akula]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

I understand that I might be representing the minority in these questions.

I don't think so. GAMEPLAY first! we don't need visual details to be this extreme until gameplay is perfected. I don't know what stick Alfreddson uses and frankly I don't care.

[tfer717]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

EA just handles equipment in NHL completely wrong... they put retail equipment from the brands in the game...and most of the time the branding and designs are wrong. Not to mention barely any glove color styles are correct either. I hate the 'worry about gameplay' response that we get if we say this.... there is an art department for a reason guys... the guy adjusting AI awareness on defense is not the same guy making sure skates brands are correct. That is just a dumb response imo. They brand their game as the most realistic... the least they could do is give us the option to customize each player realistically. Look at the way ovechkin's equipment looks in the game... not even close to how he looks in real life. and hes a SUPERSTAR

[tfer717]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

NHL 2k sucked balls..... but they had an immense amount of equipment customization options that EA has yet to come even close to

[akula]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

EA just handles equipment in NHL completely wrong... they put retail equipment from the brands in the game...and most of the time the branding and designs are wrong. Not to mention barely any glove color styles are correct either. I hate the 'worry about gameplay' response that we get if we say this.... there is an art department for a reason guys... the guy adjusting AI awareness on defense is not the same guy making sure skates brands are correct. That is just a dumb response imo. They brand their game as the most realistic... the least they could do is give us the option to customize each player realistically. Look at the way ovechkin's equipment looks in the game... not even close to how he looks in real life. and hes a SUPERSTAR

The art department could be doing a lot better than working on realistic sticks imo. How about arenas that look like the actual ones?

[tfer717]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

The art department could be doing a lot better than working on realistic sticks imo. How about arenas that look like the actual ones?

don't devalue or minimize the importance of equipment in the game by saying it's only the sticks. Ofcourse arena's need to be better... i never said one over the other. Is it too much to ask of the art team to juggle more than one thing? i'd hope not. Sticks are wrong, skates are wrong, gloves, helmets, goalie gear...etc. Theres plenty of equipment that alot of the nhl uses that isn't even in the game.
I'm not even asking the art team to do it all. Just give us the tools to do it. Allow us to change skate lace color (ovechkin), allow us to use the glove customizer from create-a-team for every player! that would get rid of any glove problems..put pant brands in the game.. player differentiation is a huge thing that this game lacks... and customization of the appearance of a player would very much help.

and yes. OFCOURSE change arenas. MSG hasn't looked like that in years. the game is lacking in a lot more things... but they always tout how great their game looks.... i dont agree at all

[Moose24x]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

I absolutely agree with the people who want better accuracy with the equipment.

I realize that not all gear can be in the game and I've read EA's own reasoning for why the selection is what it is, but that doesn't alter the fact that simple things like reversing the graphics on a stick when you switch handedness should just be ignored year after year. It's a very simple thing to fix and I find it somewhat telling that it can be left in the game for several iterations. Does it bother me that much? No. Not nearly as much as other things do, that's for sure.

As for glove styles, this is something I would like to see done more accurately. I don't mind the selection of gloves in the game, but is it impossible for EA to simply match the color arrangement the teams use in the NHL? Oilers and Islanders: blue hands with orange fingers. Rangers: red hands with blue fingers. Colorado: solid black. In the game these are all wrong and, again, they're all things that would be fairly simple to correct. Is it the biggest deal? Well, clearly it's not my top priority when it comes to improving the game, but I also find it a good deal more important than flipping the sticks around because, to me, the gloves are part of the team's uniform. If the gloves are totally wrong, the uniform is partially wrong, and that's annoying.

My biggest gripe however is that they removed the 4500 helmet. This has got to be one of the most popular helmets in the NHL, worn by many prominent players. It's been on the market forever and it used to be in the game. Why they took it out, I'll never understand, but it needs to be back in the game. Nash, Malkin, Stamkos, Toews and dozens more use it. Two of those guys were on the recent EA covers. C'mon.

I agree with the poster above, calling for player differentiation. It would go a long, long way towards improving the aesthetic experience. Tuck jerseys in at the elbow pads. Fix the damn visors. A lot of players wear "curved" visors, but they look NOTHING like the one available in the game. How hard would THAT be to update? Simply swap the curved visor in the game for an updated graphic that looks more like what players use. Allow players to flop the tongue on their skates without having to tuck the back in. The options are front (flop), back, none or full. With the full tuck, the tongue is flat against the shin guard. Why can't you have a full tuck and still have the tongue flopped? Lace colors would be nice. Different patterns for sock tape would be nice. Candy cane striped tape on the stick as an option would be nice. Taping all the way to the toe of the blade would be nice. Different colored handle tape would be nice.

Do I expect EA to add it all? Of course not, and I understand that their are limitations on the memory and processing power of the consoles as well. But it would be nice to see SOME change and improvement year over year. The effort level is just horrible right now.

[tfer717]

Re: EA Not recognizing equipment realism

I absolutely agree with the people who want better accuracy with the equipment.

I realize that not all gear can be in the game and I've read EA's own reasoning for why the selection is what it is, but that doesn't alter the fact that simple things like reversing the graphics on a stick when you switch handedness should just be ignored year after year. It's a very simple thing to fix and I find it somewhat telling that it can be left in the game for several iterations. Does it bother me that much? No. Not nearly as much as other things do, that's for sure.

As for glove styles, this is something I would like to see done more accurately. I don't mind the selection of gloves in the game, but is it impossible for EA to simply match the color arrangement the teams use in the NHL? Oilers and Islanders: blue hands with orange fingers. Rangers: red hands with blue fingers. Colorado: solid black. In the game these are all wrong and, again, they're all things that would be fairly simple to correct. Is it the biggest deal? Well, clearly it's not my top priority when it comes to improving the game, but I also find it a good deal more important than flipping the sticks around because, to me, the gloves are part of the team's uniform. If the gloves are totally wrong, the uniform is partially wrong, and that's annoying.

My biggest gripe however is that they removed the 4500 helmet. This has got to be one of the most popular helmets in the NHL, worn by many prominent players. It's been on the market forever and it used to be in the game. Why they took it out, I'll never understand, but it needs to be back in the game. Nash, Malkin, Stamkos, Toews and dozens more use it. Two of those guys were on the recent EA covers. C'mon.

I agree with the poster above, calling for player differentiation. It would go a long, long way towards improving the aesthetic experience. Tuck jerseys in at the elbow pads. Fix the damn visors. A lot of players wear "curved" visors, but they look NOTHING like the one available in the game. How hard would THAT be to update? Simply swap the curved visor in the game for an updated graphic that looks more like what players use. Allow players to flop the tongue on their skates without having to tuck the back in. The options are front (flop), back, none or full. With the full tuck, the tongue is flat against the shin guard. Why can't you have a full tuck and still have the tongue flopped? Lace colors would be nice. Different patterns for sock tape would be nice. Candy cane striped tape on the stick as an option would be nice. Taping all the way to the toe of the blade would be nice. Different colored handle tape would be nice.

Do I expect EA to add it all? Of course not, and I understand that their are limitations on the memory and processing power of the consoles as well. But it would be nice to see SOME change and improvement year over year. The effort level is just horrible right now.

This guy knows what's up. Great post. You are right 100000%