I am trying to get this out to as many people connected with the game as I can. This is just me questioning things off the top of my head. I decided to do it in post format rather than video so I can add to it as necessary.
1. "We work closely with a professional scout who provides our NHL, AHL and CHL ratings. We are always looking at making the ratings better each year and this is something we will look at prior to NHL 16. Two years ago were tuned our ratings so that more players would be in the high 70's and low 80's playing in the NHL to give that separation from the top players in the NHL." —Andy Agostini
This means a scout does not do foreign league ratings, which means EA has someone to do them (probably by use of a formula). If the scout rates NHL players based on a North American leagues (NHL, AHL, CHL) scale, you can lower the end of the scale to have lower foreign-league ratings—which in turn means you could, in theory, lower NA league ratings.
NHL players have the highest average rating among Big 4 sports game players. Nearly 70% of players are rated in the 80s. Sure, only 4.4% are rated in the 90s, but of those 33 players, 10 are rated as a 90. Goalies get the short end of the stick: of 68 who started in the NHL, only 5 were lower than 80.
Setting aside ratings, players' playing styles are identical. Phil Kessel is just as aggressive as Milan Lucic. Is there any method in place to rectify that? Here are some solutions:
Player Tendencies
Put Edit Player Back/Revamped Rosters
Possible Rating System Overhaul
2. "We are currently assessing the feasibility of more frequent roster updates. The most challenging part for us is the total number of leagues and players that need to be updated and are often dependent on one another. As an example, we cannot update just the NHL without making the corresponding changes to the AHL for players that have moved up or down." —Sean Ramjagsingh
Roster updates have been inefficient and few and far between. Players are rarely and poorly rerated and transactions go into effect long after they have been completed. Injuries can either be skipped over by finishing before an update or over-exaggerated by falling into the next month's update.
If the problem is "the total number of leagues and players," reassess your goals. Rather than try to do everything in a massive once-a-month update, make transaction updates (including injuries) on a weekly basis and player rerates on a monthly basis. That allows your scout to concentrate solely on ratings, while a simple look at the NHL Transactions pages online provides you with a week's update. Fans are happy, the injury problem goes away, and rerates can now be more effective.
3. "We will not be adding a new defensive skill stick in NHL 16 but what we are doing is ensuring that all defensive mechanics are tuned and balanced so that it's fun to play every position on the ice. For example, Precision Skating will help you on the defensive side of the puck giving you the ability to close passing and shooting lanes more effectively." —Sean Ramjagsingh
Good to see an addition! But the precision skating mechanic probably is useful for offense too, eh? How does this help goalies, who already have a precision skating button? There are plenty of larger gameplay issues that need resolving before you can add in a precision tool. If EA NHL were a broken car, I'd prefer the brakes to be fixed before you add the back windshield wiper. Read about plenty of in-game problems here.
Good luck now that you have started to finalize and tune settings. Here's hoping for a great NHL 16 release. I'll be back later with some more analysis.
1. "We work closely with a professional scout who provides our NHL, AHL and CHL ratings. We are always looking at making the ratings better each year and this is something we will look at prior to NHL 16. Two years ago were tuned our ratings so that more players would be in the high 70's and low 80's playing in the NHL to give that separation from the top players in the NHL." —Andy Agostini
This means a scout does not do foreign league ratings, which means EA has someone to do them (probably by use of a formula). If the scout rates NHL players based on a North American leagues (NHL, AHL, CHL) scale, you can lower the end of the scale to have lower foreign-league ratings—which in turn means you could, in theory, lower NA league ratings.
NHL players have the highest average rating among Big 4 sports game players. Nearly 70% of players are rated in the 80s. Sure, only 4.4% are rated in the 90s, but of those 33 players, 10 are rated as a 90. Goalies get the short end of the stick: of 68 who started in the NHL, only 5 were lower than 80.
Setting aside ratings, players' playing styles are identical. Phil Kessel is just as aggressive as Milan Lucic. Is there any method in place to rectify that? Here are some solutions:
Player Tendencies
Put Edit Player Back/Revamped Rosters
Possible Rating System Overhaul
2. "We are currently assessing the feasibility of more frequent roster updates. The most challenging part for us is the total number of leagues and players that need to be updated and are often dependent on one another. As an example, we cannot update just the NHL without making the corresponding changes to the AHL for players that have moved up or down." —Sean Ramjagsingh
Roster updates have been inefficient and few and far between. Players are rarely and poorly rerated and transactions go into effect long after they have been completed. Injuries can either be skipped over by finishing before an update or over-exaggerated by falling into the next month's update.
If the problem is "the total number of leagues and players," reassess your goals. Rather than try to do everything in a massive once-a-month update, make transaction updates (including injuries) on a weekly basis and player rerates on a monthly basis. That allows your scout to concentrate solely on ratings, while a simple look at the NHL Transactions pages online provides you with a week's update. Fans are happy, the injury problem goes away, and rerates can now be more effective.
3. "We will not be adding a new defensive skill stick in NHL 16 but what we are doing is ensuring that all defensive mechanics are tuned and balanced so that it's fun to play every position on the ice. For example, Precision Skating will help you on the defensive side of the puck giving you the ability to close passing and shooting lanes more effectively." —Sean Ramjagsingh
Good to see an addition! But the precision skating mechanic probably is useful for offense too, eh? How does this help goalies, who already have a precision skating button? There are plenty of larger gameplay issues that need resolving before you can add in a precision tool. If EA NHL were a broken car, I'd prefer the brakes to be fixed before you add the back windshield wiper. Read about plenty of in-game problems here.
Good luck now that you have started to finalize and tune settings. Here's hoping for a great NHL 16 release. I'll be back later with some more analysis.
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