NHL 20 Patch 1.60 Arrives Tomorrow - Patch Notes Here

[MizzouRah]

I fired up NHL 20 today since I have all of this free time and had a heck of a home opener against the Capitals. Down 3-2 with less than a minute left and Vince Dunn buries a slap shot to send the game into OT.

We go into the shootout and Parayko buries the winner!

I always have trades on hard and did trade away Brouwer, a prospect C and two late round draft picks to Carolina for Justin Williams. They actually offered me him for another trade offer, so I countered. He adds some good depth at RW and veterancy as we try for back to back Stanley Cup Championships.

I thought the game played great, AS, 7 minutes - penalties 4/4 and 50/100, and speed on 2.

[PowerofRed25]

Yikes. This patch absolutely destroyed online play. I don’t play offline at all so it might have helped a lot there, but it has made online play very close to unplayable.

First, they completely reset rosters and reverted them to what appears to be Game 1 but with trade deadline trades accounted for. Out for the season players are back in the lineup and the lines are a jumbled mess. Not a *huge* issue but considering you have to change it back every single time you play AND every time you back out to the main online versus menu, it adds up.

Second, goaltenders are super overpowered going post to post all of a sudden. What should be easy tap ins and one timers from the dot are getting stopped over and over... EXCEPT:

Third, shot accuracy has just gone haywire. A lot of these easy tap in and one timers are just nowhere close while wristers are as accurate or even more. Online play has just devolved into skate left shoot right snipe fests with no one even attempting to pass.

I think a big part of the issues with goaltenders going post to post and tap ins and one timers going haywire is that CPU controlled players just aren’t skating into position. It sure looks like their “fix” for getting weak side defenders to stick to their man is to draw the offensive AI player in closer. I’ll be on a 2v1/3v2 rush and just have players stop now as if they’re sucked into the defender and they just give up. Spacing is atrocious. That is putting these shots at slightly worse angles and so goaltenders are getting to them easier or they’re missing wide.

I have 200+ games online averaging over 4 goals a game and I’ve scored 4 just once in 8 games since the patch, a game I ironically lost in OT.

[PowerofRed25]

I should also note this patch completely failed to fix the only thing that has actually been wrong with the game, the network/server connection error issues that crop up every single time I play.

There is nothing actually wrong with the connection and I am able to play after clicking through the error multiple times on my way to Chel or Online Versus but it is absurd and has been plaguing the game for months.

I play NHL more than any other game and usually all the way through the off season but think I’ll be calling it quits now. This is hilariously bad.

EDIT: I also forgot to mention what is with the goalie fights online all of a sudden?! If you barely even tap a goalie after a whistle it’ll prompt a fight, which naturally morons online are always happy to do.

[Fiddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I fired up NHL 20 today since I have all of this free time and had a heck of a home opener against the Capitals. Down 3-2 with less than a minute left and Vince Dunn buries a slap shot to send the game into OT. We go into the shootout and Parayko buries the winner! I always have trades on hard and did trade away Brouwer, a prospect C and two late round draft picks to Carolina for Justin Williams. They actually offered me him for another trade offer, so I countered. He adds some good depth at RW and veterancy as we try for back to back Stanley Cup Championships. I thought the game played great, AS, 7 minutes - penalties 4/4 and 50/100, and speed on 2.

I had an itch to dive back in today after 24 straight days of MLB The Show 20. LOL

I haven't even turned the xbox on since.

I was thinking how to pick up where I left off, 3 games in etc. Have to find a way to grind a season. In MLB I have played through 4 different MTO's (March to October, play moments throught out the season), simmed a year 2 Mets frachise that came over from an MTO, just played critical moments and played full playoff games.

Man, wish hockey was like this.

/rant

[MizzouRah]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

I had an itch to dive back in today after 24 straight days of MLB The Show 20. LOL I haven't even turned the xbox on since. I was thinking how to pick up where I left off, 3 games in etc. Have to find a way to grind a season. In MLB I have played through 4 different MTO's (March to October, play moments throught out the season), simmed a year 2 Mets frachise that came over from an MTO, just played critical moments and played full playoff games. Man, wish hockey was like this. /rant

Yeah I like Play the Moments in Madden, so with NHL I only play the home games and sim the road games.

[coopsta007]

Quote: Originally Posted by Grentthealien

What does this part exactly mean? Are these logos for create a team or? “Art – Logos Adidas Hockey Belle Tire Hockey Ohio AAA Blue Jackets Shattuck-St. Marys School Total Package Hockey.”

A real developer would have made these teams playable in the game.

[Dirkk1974]

I play this Game only Offline in Franchise Mode, and, oh boy, i don't know what EA did on the Gameplay but the Gameplay feels better as ever before. I can't exactly describe what is different but it feels awesome - The overall "flow" of a game feels so "polished" now (on PRO-Difficulty-Sliders, Game-Speed 0, True-Broadcast-Camera).

Great Job EA !

[PowerofRed25]

Do any of you play online? It would be nice to hear some feedback from people who aren't able to mess with sliders or rosters because this patch is horrific for online play. AI controlled players are just skating aimlessly on the ice. If there is a loose puck near an AI controlled defenseman at the half boards, they will actively skate away from it. Weak side defensemen in the defensive zone are, indeed, sticking close to offensive skaters... so much so that they're completely leaving the net unprotected as players skate down through the slot and fire off wristers. I watched a defenseman skate to defend a player near the left dot in a game tonight, that player didn't have the puck but the opposing center skating straight through the middle of the ice did.

It has gone from precision passing and one timers to just trying to skate singlehandedly through the slot and fire off a wrister. Every single game is the same now. Opposing human controlled players are just skating in circles waiting for AI controlled players to skate away following AI controlled opponents who are just skating aimlessly and then walking right in and firing wristers. Which is just about all you can do because of the crippling puck control problems and nerfing of one timers. I have never seen so many pucks dislodged for minor contact, or in some cases no contact at all. 45 of 60 ice minutes are being spent chasing pucks down as everyone just runs into each other and the puck is jarred loose.

Without digging too much into it, I think a lot of these things are changes to rosters. The ratings are all of a sudden way out of whack online, some teams changed 6-8 points overall offensively or defensively and I have a feeling a major edit to the rosters happened that has altered how players move on the ice. Would definitely account for the absurd goalie reaction times, wildness in passes and one timers and the total lack of puck control. Since the patch, I have not seen a single one timer goal in what is now 10 games. I haven't scored one, or given up one. If any of you have played online, you know how insane that is. Goalies are post to post stopping everything on net, if you're lucky enough to get it on net.

There should never, ever, ever be a game altering patch that fundamentally changes the way the game plays 7 months after the game is released. Patches 7 months in should fix bugs, like the constant NETWORK CONNECTION ISSUE screen that appears 2-3 times every time you open the game despite working just fine.