Is this looking as great as I think it is or is disappointment looming?

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by GlennN

1) I'll join others above, who mentioned that we need much more separation between skill level of the players. Essentially, for BeAGM to work, the players must truly play to their ratings. I have not really felt that in the NHL series. 2) Give us more immersion in the BeAGM universe. Give me a trade finder function. Let me see the career stats of players on their player card, along with teams played for, all star teams made, cups won and awards received. 3) I kind of miss the ability to mix it up after the whistle from NHL 10. I know this is a minor quibble, but it just added a bit of fun for me. If a guy took a late swipe at the puck being covered by my goalie, I could hit the guy and start a fight right then. I am just disappointed that was removed.

The after whistle action seems to be a perfect example of the way EA seems to handle things for the offline modes.

What starts as a cool idea, and a way of representing something you see in real hockey quickly devolves into absurd AI and issues that kill the fun and realism that it could have provided.

I remember being excited for the after whistle action, but then when I actually saw it in action...I hated it. It just turned into 10 guys shoving each other, often into the goalie, showing off all of the goofy physics with guys walking in place, falling through each other, and playing animations out while separated by 3 feet. Then, often times I would end up with a penalty being drawn by the computer because the AI goes for it every single time. Same with the big hitting they added. I drop a guy with a star player, and I'm forced to fight over it. Suddenly, a guy like Tarasenko lines someone up, and I was forced to try and fight whichever player skated over from their team. I couldn't really duck out of it, and sometimes it got guys injured who would never fight.
There's EA's famous bouncing puck, which was frustratingly added and never removed..

I love when EA announces new ideas, but at this point, I hesitate to get excited. This morale system sounds pretty cool, but I worry it will end up like everything has in the past.
I worry it will end up in the EA fashion of the past, where it takes the idea and ramps it up by 10. Suddenly Tarasenko is mad that he's not getting enough playing time, despite being on the first line, and wants to leave. Suddenly, since he's a favorite, I've got 5 or 6 other players mad and wanting trades. I'm hoping EA is testing it out, but my past experience makes me nervous about the whole thing.

[Cedrik]

I'm very optimistic just as long as morale doesn't cause any issues/bugs.

[canucksss]

What is not clear to me is that they introduce this new feature in BaGM but they put back the team hug after a goal and other stuff that were there before. No I dont have any hope at all, that way, I will not be disappointed and that there's no way but up even the slightest improvement.

I learned from EA with all these years of frustration, better not to expect than to expect and be disappointed in 2-3 days of playing the game after its release.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by canucksss

What is not clear to me is that they introduce this new feature in BaGM but they put back the team hug after a goal and other stuff that were there before. No I dont have any hope at all, that way, I will not be disappointed and that there's no way but up even the slightest improvement. I learned from EA with all these years of frustration, better not to expect than to expect and be disappointed in 2-3 days of playing the game after its release.

With things like Redbox, I'll hopefully never have to buy a game I don't like again.

[schlitz73]

I've become extremely picky about the sports games I purchase because I don't have a lot of time to play them any more and if they don't meet a few requirements I end up shelving them very quickly. I read reviews and watch lots of videos from different users each year and judge by that and tbh, NHL 13-15 didn't seem worthy of a purchase.

I play mainly offline and my biggest concerns are always the A.I. and CPU fairness and consistency. Defensive AI has always lagged behind a bit from where it should be in my opinion but when you couple that with poor consistency and fairness it magnifies the defensive issues even more.

For example, I loved NHL 09 despite some defensive flaws, but the CPU played quite fair and very consistently. Skip to NHL 12 and the defensive AI was slightly improved but the CPU could unfairly figure skate all over the place, bounce off your D-men without even losing balance, and sometimes score 6 goals on 15 shots no matter what you did. That lack of fairness and consistency ruined the game so fast I ended up selling it just a couple months later. THIS is what I hope NHL16 can avoid. If I get another version of this game that decides to whoop me by scoring 7 goals on less than 20 shots despite being greatly outmatched then I doubt I will ever buy another game in the series.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

I still think its pretty amazing what Rammer and EA NHL 16 has done in one short season by getting in most of what was missing last year and tons of new great atmosphere and the all brand new feature of progressive playoff beards and they probably had to do it shorthanded again !

As I get older its the only real sports video game I look forward to each season though Madden made huge leaps this year but I cant wait only two weeks till NHL Hockey Bliss !

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by THESHAMISASHAME

I still think its pretty amazing what Rammer and EA NHL 16 has done in one short season by getting in most of what was missing last year and tons of new great atmosphere and the all brand new feature of progressive playoff beards and they probably had to do it shorthanded again ! As I get older its the only real sports video game I look forward to each season though Madden made huge leaps this year but I cant wait only two weeks till NHL Hockey Bliss !

I can definitely say I'm jealous of your optimism.
I try not to be negative about the series, but it's tough when it feels like 3/4 of the people here are stuck shouting things to people who agree. EA says they listen, but it's hard to see evidence of it in their final product. Sure doesn't seem like they're listening to anything but their accountants with the love their online teams get.

I hate to say it, but I just can't pat EA's back for adding features in that should never have been missing. It's hard to get excited for EA when they're just now getting features in that technically put them a year behind, since they were inexplicably missing from NHL15, with no real reasoning behind why.

[hobbs2121]

Reading this message board would make anybody think this is going to be the biggest dumpster fire of a game ever released. But it will be a pretty fn good game that 99% of the people here will buy, because if you care enough to get on a message board and bitch you are going to buy the game.

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