Best skill level

[adayinthelife]

Last year with NHL 13 I found that the game just seemed to play best/most "authentically" on Pro. It just felt like the most even starting point to create a slider set from overall. I remember seeing a few others who found this to be true as well. It was a bit of work to get some sliders together so the difficulty felt right (I'm not some incredible player, but All-Star was previously pretty good for me), but once I did it was pretty smooth sailing and I quite enjoyed the game.

Just wondering now that some folks have had the Season Ticket release for a few days, and the rest will be likely to pick it up today, what have you guys found? So far I've just been playing on All-Star and getting pretty good results, though plugging in the sliders I was using for NHL 13 it is a bit too difficult to get good goal totals. I've only played 1 game on Pro and it was a bit of a blowout.

Given that I just don't have a ton of time to play the game, I just wanted to see what others have found so far when it comes to Pro/All-Star/Superstar (though I doubt I'll touch that).

[Bleak5170]

Like others, I always found Pro to be the best in past games as well. I liked using the Hardcore Simulation mode on Pro in the demo for 14.

[Schmackity]

For the sake of me not being able to completely dominate the computer, I have to play on All-Star or Superstar with custom sliders. Otherwise I own the shots and time with the puck compared to the computer.

Pro I literally can do whatever I like with the computer. I like having it on harder difficulties just so I can experience the headache of having some teams run around me for a change.

[Bleak5170]

Quote: Originally Posted by Schmackity

For the sake of me not being able to completely dominate the computer, I have to play on All-Star or Superstar with custom sliders. Otherwise I own the shots and time with the puck compared to the computer. Pro I literally can do whatever I like with the computer. I like having it on harder difficulties just so I can experience the headache of having some teams run around me for a change.

The thing I don't like about the higher difficulties is they throw the attributes right out the window. That kind of bothers me. Plus I rarely play anymore, (casual game here and there), so I've ensured I'll never be that good at the game, lol.

[adayinthelife]

Quote: Originally Posted by Schmackity

For the sake of me not being able to completely dominate the computer, I have to play on All-Star or Superstar with custom sliders. Otherwise I own the shots and time with the puck compared to the computer. Pro I literally can do whatever I like with the computer. I like having it on harder difficulties just so I can experience the headache of having some teams run around me for a change.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bleak5170

The thing I don't like about the higher difficulties is they throw the attributes right out the window. That kind of bothers me. Plus I rarely play anymore, (casual game here and there), so I've ensured I'll never be that good at the game, lol.

What Bleak said is basically how I feel typically when playing on All-Star and Superstar. The CPU is better no doubt, but they don't feel like they're better in a way that has anything to do with skill. It feels like I lose races that I shouldn't be losing, just because of the skill level being bumped up, you know? I'm not suggesting that there are "omg CPU chEAtz!!!", I'm just saying that the way the game scales difficulty seems to ignore attributes as Bleak mentioned.

[Bleak5170]

Quote: Originally Posted by adayinthelife

What Bleak said is basically how I feel typically when playing on All-Star and Superstar. The CPU is better no doubt, but they don't feel like they're better in a way that has anything to do with skill. It feels like I lose races that I shouldn't be losing, just because of the skill level being bumped up, you know? I'm not suggesting that there are "omg CPU chEAtz!!!", I'm just saying that the way the game scales difficulty seems to ignore attributes as Bleak mentioned.

Actually playing on the higher difficulties does indeed disable individual player attributes. It's the same in the Madden games and pretty much every other sports game to be honest. It's kind of all they can do because the human player is constantly getting better and better the more they play. If the computer didn't cheat, it wouldn't be long before you were dominating every match, (which can still happen anyway if you get good enough). Plus the A.I. in this game leaves a LOT to be desired to begin with.