NHL 16: Article Breakdown from EA GameChanger who PLAYED the Game

[Gotmilkman24]

The eashl new attribute system to me sounds ok. I didn't like the idea at first, but the more I think of it I like it. It's a simple trinity system that most mmos use. Your team can't all be a 2wayfwd or grinder or sniper or two defensive dman. You will need an offensive or 2 way d and obviously a defensive dman. I like it the more I think on jtit

[shaneomac12]

Hey awesome write up and glad to be on this forum just found it today ~! , the question i have are they going to have the junior world teams in any of the modes ? and people who play with classic controls in nhl 15 there was no way to change your stragedies in play did they change that for nhl 16 ? thanks in advance . cheers

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gotmilkman24

The eashl new attribute system to me sounds ok. I didn't like the idea at first, but the more I think of it I like it. It's a simple trinity system that most mmos use. Your team can't all be a 2wayfwd or grinder or sniper or two defensive dman. You will need an offensive or 2 way d and obviously a defensive dman. I like it the more I think on jtit

I do too. I agree with others that it stinks you can't make a fast defensive-dman, etc.

I wonder why they scrapped the idea of limited attribute points to dole out.
Make all the players essentially the same size (or make it so size doesn't matter), and then give everyone x-amount of points to use.
Without upgrades, each player can be unique without making a mockery of the system so every player is a hybrid of Gretzky, Orr and Lindros.

[TDKing]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I do too. I agree with others that it stinks you can't make a fast defensive-dman, etc. I wonder why they scrapped the idea of limited attribute points to dole out. Make all the players essentially the same size (or make it so size doesn't matter), and then give everyone x-amount of points to use. Without upgrades, each player can be unique without making a mockery of the system so every player is a hybrid of Gretzky, Orr and Lindros.

Cause the way they did it is probably a lot easier to program and way cheaper, just a guess.

[bigwill33]

Quote: Originally Posted by TDKing

Cause the way they did it is probably a lot easier to program and way cheaper, just a guess.

Without being graded to level up in skill OTP will be a s-show, kinda like it is in '15. People just going offside, trying to do everything themselves, dmen trying to lead the rush or jumping in the play non stop, goalie fights galore, etc.

There goes the only incentives that made people actually try and play a real game of hockey for the first few months.

[TheBuddyHobbs]

I HOPE so much that they fix board play and the puck warping.

[lions67]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

Without being graded to level up in skill OTP will be a s-show, kinda like it is in '15. People just going offside, trying to do everything themselves, dmen trying to lead the rush or jumping in the play non stop, goalie fights galore, etc. There goes the only incentives that made people actually try and play a real game of hockey for the first few months.

you see,i dont think that at all actually.
with the new system ( which i think will be a hit) you can take your team into a OTP and .......PRACTISE!!
there would be no other reason to do OTP. remember, we are talking about EASHL. OTP will be used for recruiting and practises. if those guys want o a team, then i dont think it will be as bad as you say.

just noticed that we have to use NHL players in OTP for the first little while. that indeed does suck. but im sure it will be fixed by launch or shortly there after.

[bigwill33]

While everyone at OS is flipping out over the absurd lack of player editing in the game, I finally have some questions about NHL 16 for our corespondent:


How different did the overall game play to you? Did you pick up the controller and immediately know how to score again? Is '16 just '15 with new modes or did they actually make the game play differently?

Were goaltenders touched at all? Still make way too many glove saves and warp from side to side and post to post with no real push or slide?

Can we still skate end-to-end against the CPU with no real pressure in the neutral zone again?

Are the boards clear for lanes all of the time again to pass out of the zone?

Are players constantly falling all over the ice over every little contact made again? Can every player check anyone once again, no matter who they are? This is especially important with EASHL because OTP in '15 was a complete mess with players on the ice at all times. We needed incidental contact for years and then they went overboard with it and just have players flopping everywhere, looks nothing like a real hockey game. Real hockey has contact and players bump off and absorb hits.

Is passing still awful? No ability to bank passes or use the boards to chip or bank clears out of the zone, still? Is passing in from the defensive zone still way too accurate and passing in the offensive zone still way too inaccurate?

Did they finally map the controls differently so that we can change lines and still poke check? Not being able to hit R1/RB to perform one of 3 acts of defense in the game because we had the line change option up is absurd.

Is goalie passing still way unreal because they feel the need to cater to the arcade crowd that hates whistles and stoppages in play?

Are we still automatically forced to fight because of a big hit? Do all players still fight like last year?

Do players straddle the blue line again to attempt to avoid being offside?

Did they fix or address the phantom and wonky goaltender interference calls? Did they add any new penalties or change the way the others were occurring at all?

Can we finally cycle? Can we chip the puck up the boards to gain the zone and then skate the long way around the defender that tries to run legal interference... you know, like how we see it happen dozens of times in each and every playoff game?

Has board play been addressed or is it the same suction bs that it has been for half a decade now? Can the CPU still magically kick a puck from the end boards for a scoring chance in the slot?

Is there any punishment in OTP for quitting a game early (like having to wait until that game that the player just left actually finishes before being able to jump into another game)? Is there any punishment for going out of position all game in OTP, continually going offside or just being an a-hole?

Any changes to the amount of pauses in OTP/EASHL/Online? Why is there a need to have 3 or 4 pauses per team, per game, that last 45 seconds each?

Can we call a timeout that refreshes your players in EASHL, finally?

Any chance of being able to watch a game online or scout an opponent? Any way to see a team's record, rank, history, dnf %, etc. before accepting a game against them in any online mode?

Did they add a way to tie-up an opponent in front of the net back into the game, but not in a way that was stupid and just was unrealistic suction that was nearly impossible to roll off of?

Do goalies kick out real rebound chances, the kind in which a player sitting on the doorstep can take several cracks at to try and bury? And the kind that the d must just try and sweep to the corner to avoid being scored on?

Can we hold a player's stick up during a stick lift or finally pin their stick down to tie-up a man during a loose puck scramble or oncoming pass attempt?

Is the OTP menu and team selection still awful? Has it been changed at all or is it still just a mess where we wait for someone to finally come along and pick defense and have people that just sit in the middle for 3 minutes before everyone just backs out with 3 seconds left?

Any talk of allowing us to import our own logos or faces into the game?



Does anyone at EA even think of these things or think that these are real issues that plague this series?


These are the issues that made this game unplayable to me. Player editing can only do so much to make players have separation in their styles and abilities, but if the game still plays like garbage on the ice because of how it is programmed (and has been for years now) then it is a waste of time and money to me, again.