NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

[RaychelSnr]

My familiar team of five had been waiting since August for this day, when Online Team Play would finally be patched into the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of NHL 15.

Yet last night, none of my longtime EASHL teammates came home with a new copy of NHL 15, after learning that we could not join the same lobby or send each other match invitations in this "next-gen" version of Online Team Play.

Wasn't that the whole point of Online Team Play, to begin with -- you and your boys challenging cliques from around the world? I thought so, but apparently, EA Canada thought otherwise.

Read More - NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

When it is removed completely next year the excuse will be "Well, our data shows that people just didn't use the mode as much as we thought they would have."

[Vermin]

I can't say as I'm terribly surprised, but don't get me wrong. This is not a slam against the developers. Here is a development team who has been constantly beaten for the lack of gameplay modes despite how well the on-ice product plays. (Contrast this to NBA 2K15 which earned much higher scores despite the fact that many of their added modes are unplayable, inaccessible, or unstable - take your pick.)

Looking at the way the OTP screen is set up (with the lock icon on the goaltender), it appears that this is a work-in-progress mode. Something that would have been admittedly rushed in order to get player access to it faster (and providing plenty of beta-like feedback from use) with the expectation that it will be modified, updated, improved, etc. in the coming days/weeks/months. Granted that holds our belief that this will be the case and the developers will be expected to deliver.

Am I saying that this excuses the work-in-progress state of the game? Not necessarily. We are seeing the same type of slow-trickle release from Destiny where the game didn't meet expectations and is slowly improving. The Golf Club has also seen additional updates improving the overall quality of the game and adding features. Is this the new face or the new reality of games? Is this approaching the subscription model that Rich Grisham is often discussing on the Press Row Podcast? Maybe. Just maybe.

[AdamJones113]

Re: NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

... Yet Rammer told us that it was a "last minute decision" whether OTP was going to be in the opening-release version.

OffsidesTimePoor play

[ThreeKing]

Re: NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

How many of you guys are getting that "you post your connection to the game", screen? That's happened 3 times now. I'm wondering if it's my internet.

[speedtrucker]

Re: NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

I'm saddened by this update but I shouldn't have been... oh well hopefully it gets fixed before the game hits EA Access. my buddies and I had already decided we aren't getting back on board with NHL until they prove they have the current gen game back up to the "norm". so we will wait for it to drop on EA Access for OTP and hopefully these issues have been ironed out when that happens.

When it is removed completely next year the excuse will be "Well, our data shows that people just didn't use the mode as much as we thought they would have."

sad but true.

[SVCbearcat10]

I find it funny. If they delayed it a month to make it better, then all hell breaks out because they promised it in October. They deliver in October and get ripped because it wasn't ready yet. This franchise is in a no-win situation for the next 2 years; which is a shame because gameplay is outstanding.

[DirtyJerz32]

This is the reason why I wanted nhl 15 for the Xbox One. You just saved me and my friends $63. Thanks!

[Dylonus]

No offense to the author of this article, but 90% of what you're complaining about has happened since the inception of OTP. Most of this is nothing new. It's not about EA, it's basically about poor play of random teammates.

[juice2142]

No offense to the author of this article, but 90% of what you're complaining about has happened since the inception of OTP. Most of this is nothing new. It's not about EA, it's basically about poor play of random teammates.

exactly.... but if you cant play with your friends to eliminate this.... that's the point

[snc237]

Ya playing OTP with randoms have always been rough. However when it's not even your guy on the ice where stats don't really count for anything guys grieve even more. I was excited to play with my friends, not a random gong show.

[ericromain]

No offense to the author of this article, but 90% of what you're complaining about has happened since the inception of OTP. Most of this is nothing new. It's not about EA, it's basically about poor play of random teammates.

I agree, which is why I have never been able to get into OTP. I would love it if i could play unselfishly and be part of a team online. I just never got into it. I'm bad at making friends too

I think EA can program safeguards to minimize the user behavioral issues (ban idle players progressively, game misconduct after 3rd penalty, limit fighting, eliminating pausing, allow flagging/duncing of players by the other players and only allow dunces to play dunces). It all requires clever programming but it's the future of this game.

The perspective I've taken about this title is that EA Sports really under staffed the conversion to next gen. I suspect this was caused by EA's lack of direct NHL competitor. Outside of solid 1v1 gameplay and pretty visuals, I wonder if game modes/rosters/league structure/etc could better programmed by the open-sourced community.

[whatanoob]

No offense to the author of this article, but 90% of what you're complaining about has happened since the inception of OTP. Most of this is nothing new. It's not about EA, it's basically about poor play of random teammates.

i agree 100% with what you said, you cant help trolls, no matter how hard you try, your always going to run into them from playing loud music, in the lobbies, or talking like hillbillies to annoy you,

going offsides or doing the tea bagging animations while they go offsides, that's issues we cant help unless we can invite our own friends to play the game,

however even if you play with your friends, that doesn't mean the other team is going to play fair,

only way it was competitive is when you played with your created players and played for the trophies,

i do agree the patch was rushed and it sucks do to the fact, you can only play with real teams,

i rather play the OTP where you have a created player and you can play with human goalies,

you would expect, after we shelled out money for the next gen console, that ea would put us next geners, priority, however thats not happening,

[SinisterAlex]

Re: NHL 15's Online Team Play is a Rushed, Incomplete Mess

exactly.... but if you cant play with your friends to eliminate this.... that's the point

I had no issue last night getting me and two of my friends into a lobby last night. We played about 3 games and every single time we got into the same lobby.

[MichaelAngeloTMNT]

Misleading Headline. The Mode works just fine. I have played three games so far, no lag, no other issues with servers. Sure you might have played with some bad players, but this mode works just fine.