Rubber band effect(?)

[WhistleBlower]

Yes, there is absolutely a rubber band effect and there is proof. EA has a "Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment" patent which is designed for the sole purpose of artificially closing the skill gap of players. Here are a few paragraphs from the patent:

[0028] Another solution that may be used in some types of competitive video games, such as racing games, is to vary the ability of the user or the user's competitor based on the relationship between the user and the user's competitor. For example, supposing that the video game is a racing game, the user's car may be made faster when the user is doing poorly and may be made slower when the user is doing well. This solution may result in what is sometimes referred to as a "rubber band effect." This solution is often noticeable by the user because the user's vehicle will behave inconsistently based on the location of the vehicle with respect to the user's competitor. As a result, instead of appealing to a user, the user may be driven away. Further, this solution can be challenging to implement with some types of video games that do not measure a user against a specific competitor.

[0029] Embodiments presented herein include a system and method for performing dynamic difficulty adjustment. Further, embodiments disclosed herein perform dynamic difficulty adjustment using processes that are not detectable or are more difficult to detect by users compared to static and/or existing difficulty adjustment processes. In some embodiments, historical user information is fed into a machine learning system to generate a prediction model that predicts an expected duration of game play, such as for example, an expected churn rate, a retention rate, the length of time a user is expected to play the game, or an indication of the user's expected game play time relative to a historical set of users who have previously played the game. Before or during game play, the prediction model is applied to information about the user to predict the user's expected duration of game play. Based on the expected duration, the system may then utilize a mapping data repository to determine how to dynamically adjust the difficulty of the game, such as, for example, changing the values of one or more knobs to make portions of the game less difficult.

This is an actual, real, tangible patent. I would post the link to it but the forums says Im not yet allowed to post links. You can google it and find it easily though. And if that is not enough for you, there is a paper written by EA Executives outlining the rubber-band (aka "Ice Tilt") engine in PDF format. The title of that paper is "Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment for Maximized Engagement in Digital Games". I have that link as well, but again, the forums wont let me post links yet. But its another thing you can google and it will pop right up.

You now have factual, tangible evidence that this is a real thing.

[handheldpictures]

All EA cares about is how much money they can make (HUT) by keeping the games as close as possible, (DDA), no matter how skilled a player/team you are. All I can say is that I hope 2KHS on the PC (check it out on Facebook) blows EA out of the water in ai intelligence and gameplay, and makes people realize just how badly programmed, and totally scripted, this so-called hockey game actually is.
It's a total disgrace to the hockey community, and I honestly can't believe that the NHL is actually associated with this garbage of a game. The ai reminds me of an Ed Wood movie. It's so bad, that's it's actually LOL funny at times, and if EA wants to be compared to Ed Wood, they're doing a perfect job at it.