What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

[metallicatz]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1) More aggressive AI on defense. I realize that different strategies mean different levels of pressure but I can get into the corners with the puck around the opposing D-man to serve up passes into the low slot for high % one timers against any team in this game....regardless of the defensive strategy they use.

2) Helmets knocked off during hits, broken sticks, and shattered glass.

3) Hats thrown on the ice for hat tricks

4) Seperate sliders for CPU/Human.....I think that constitutes a "between the whistle" gameplay issue.

5) Either better all around AI for Be A Pro where it's not so frustrating to watch your professional teammates play what amounts to an undisciplined game of pickup, or a super sim feature to allow you to sim to your next shift (sparing you the pain of watching your idiot teammates).

[mgkibbles]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1. Improve online A.I. For example don't let my cpu controlled center fail at a deke when nobody is around him, because first he shouldn't even attempt the move, and two since he has no pressure on him he should be able to pull it off.

2. Better Crowds. Make the playoffs feel like the playoffs

3. More Goalie animations, I think there might be 10 tops in 09.

4. Custom music for PS3. If I pay the same as the xboxers I expect to get the same features.

5. Improved puck physics

6. Please eliminate the cheesing. A goalie shouldn't act like he just got hit in the face by a Chuck Norris roundhouse just because someone is charging the side of the net. (Don't turn NHL into Madden, make sure the best players actually know how to play the game of HOCKEY, and not just know how to get the goalie to fall over)

7. NFL Head Coach depth Owner or Franchise Mode. Free agent bidding, more realistic drafts, hiring firing coaches, trade options.

[mgkibbles]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1) More aggressive AI on defense. I realize that different strategies mean different levels of pressure but I can get into the corners with the puck around the opposing D-man to serve up passes into the low slot for high % one timers against any team in this game....regardless of the defensive strategy they use.

2) Helmets knocked off during hits, broken sticks, and shattered glass.

3) Hats thrown on the ice for hat tricks

4) Seperate sliders for CPU/Human.....I think that constitutes a "between the whistle" gameplay issue.

5) Either better all around AI for Be A Pro where it's not so frustrating to watch your professional teammates play what amounts to an undisciplined game of pickup, or a super sim feature to allow you to sim to your next shift (sparing you the pain of watching your idiot teammates).

Those to.

[comeonyouspurs]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

Further to my previous post

I would also like to see a few more additions to the dynasty mode to add to the depth - such as a trading block, contract negotiations during the season, RFAs and contract holdouts.

More player separation also, I would like to see a grinder or power forward go into the corners or to the front of the net more readily than a softer more offensive player who would stay around the perifery a little more.

Better less robotic goalies.

[Drifter2000]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

This is my first year in about ten years buying an EA hockey game. Assuming 2K releases more let downs like 2k9 I may very well be staying on the EA bandwagon.

That being said I'll try to single out five things that I'd like to see improved...

1. Face Offs: After the awesome face off system in 2k I continually get annoyed at 09's arcade approach to face offs. Instead of cleanly winning or losing every time there needs to be a battle for the puck just like in real life. The two players should lock up sometimes if the timing is wrong, forcing the wingers to come in and help get the puck. The current system is too out dated.

2. Board Play: Board play in 09 sucks, plain and simple. There needs to be pinning, and real scrums along the boards to get the puck free. Maybe a 'Grit' stat that helps determine how likely a player is to get into the battles along the boards if the AI is controlling.

3. Realistic Passes: I'm pretty much echoing everyone here. If you're pushing for a "sim" experience than the constant tape to tape passing needs to go. Maybe use the stick handling attribute to determine how well a player receives passes. Obviously passing ability would effect accuracy.

4. Sharper Goalies/AI In General: Goalies are pretty brutal sometimes, even after the first patch. I don't really need to beat a dead horse there. Player AI in general is pretty sketchy sometimes. Rarely do my team mates screen the goalie or make themselves available to get rebounds. They never move to get open for passes, and are usually pretty bad defensively.

5. Fighting: Once again I'm going back to 2k here, but EA need to either improve the fighting or get rid of it entirely. Fights end in about six seconds, and usually involve like two punches. Not only that but they disrupt the game. Aside from improving the engine they need to make it optional during the game. Pressing Back/Select + something during the game if a fight is about to break out to accept it.

Aside from that a few control tweaks would be nice:

- Make back skating something you do with a button/trigger.

-Checking should be LT + the right stick (360) instead of just using the stick, which should be reserved for stick handling and shooting only. I shoot more than I check so needing to use a combination for checking makes me sense.

- Line changes should be mapped to clicking in the analog sticks (L for defense, R for offense). This frees up two buttons for something else like starting fights, or pinning along the boards, or something I'm forgetting.

[Qb]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

That's a helluva good first post, Drifter. Welcome aboard...

[Drifter2000]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

That's a helluva good first post, Drifter. Welcome aboard...

Thanks a lot QB. Glad to be aboard.

[mgkibbles]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

This is my first year in about ten years buying an EA hockey game. Assuming 2K releases more let downs like 2k9 I may very well be staying on the EA bandwagon.

That being said I'll try to single out five things that I'd like to see improved...

1. Face Offs: After the awesome face off system in 2k I continually get annoyed at 09's arcade approach to face offs. Instead of cleanly winning or losing every time there needs to be a battle for the puck just like in real life. The two players should lock up sometimes if the timing is wrong, forcing the wingers to come in and help get the puck. The current system is too out dated.

2. Board Play: Board play in 09 sucks, plain and simple. There needs to be pinning, and real scrums along the boards to get the puck free. Maybe a 'Grit' stat that helps determine how likely a player is to get into the battles along the boards if the AI is controlling.

3. Realistic Passes: I'm pretty much echoing everyone here. If you're pushing for a "sim" experience than the constant tape to tape passing needs to go. Maybe use the stick handling attribute to determine how well a player receives passes. Obviously passing ability would effect accuracy.

4. Sharper Goalies/AI In General: Goalies are pretty brutal sometimes, even after the first patch. I don't really need to beat a dead horse there. Player AI in general is pretty sketchy sometimes. Rarely do my team mates screen the goalie or make themselves available to get rebounds. They never move to get open for passes, and are usually pretty bad defensively.

5. Fighting: Once again I'm going back to 2k here, but EA need to either improve the fighting or get rid of it entirely. Fights end in about six seconds, and usually involve like two punches. Not only that but they disrupt the game. Aside from improving the engine they need to make it optional during the game. Pressing Back/Select + something during the game if a fight is about to break out to accept it.

Aside from that a few control tweaks would be nice:

- Make back skating something you do with a button/trigger.

-Checking should be LT + the right stick (360) instead of just using the stick, which should be reserved for stick handling and shooting only. I shoot more than I check so needing to use a combination for checking makes me sense.

- Line changes should be mapped to clicking in the analog sticks (L for defense, R for offense). This frees up two buttons for something else like starting fights, or pinning along the boards, or something I'm forgetting.

Awesome list man, 2k9 definitely had some good things going for it this year; but EA had more, and its just too bad we can't roll both of those titles up into one mega game.

[Drifter2000]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

Awesome list man, 2k9 definitely had some good things going for it this year; but EA had more, and its just too bad we can't roll both of those titles up into one mega game.

Honestly I consider 2k8 to be the best hockey game ever made, but that's just me. Roll 2k8 and 09 together and then we'd be onto something. Also, that's not what I should be posting here so I'll shut up about it lol.

There's plenty of Dynasty mode and BAP stuff I'd like to see improved, but I'll have to move that to the other thread.

[JMBOO]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

Here are some things that are maybe more minor issues, at least to me, but, I think they would help out:

1.) Some type of marker to indicate where the puck is and where my player is when they are offscreen. I play with the camera on Overhead, and, when playing a defenseman, I use camera on player (to stay with the cherry pickers) and when playing forward, I use camera on puck. On defence, whenever the puck is off the screen, it is difficult at best to locate it. It would be nice to have some type of marker so that you can see the location of the puck when it is offscreen. Maybe it could be one color for when your team possesses it, and another for the other team, so you could stay back and watch the cherrypickers and also know who has the puck, since your view is limited. Also would help for chasing loose pucks, since, on either camera, there are blind spots that can really make it extra difficult. The player offscreen marker would be a bonus.

2.) A more intuitive Blue Arrow for Be A Pro, especially online. I understand that the Blue Arrow is supposed to represent where you should be according to what type of strategy you are playing, but, it should also reflect what is happening on ice. I can not tell you how many times the arrow says go up ice right as there is a turnover, or to go back to the defensive zone when your team is heading up ice. It would be nice to see it recognize what is going on during the game, such as saying stay back if a player is cherrypicking or it is late in the game and you have a 1 goal lead, among other things, instead of just saying bust up ice because the strategy someone picked was all out breakout.

3.) Have the option to unlock the defensemen from vision control. This is one thing that really bugs me when playing defenseman. You are locked into vision control to a large degree, and the CPU is in charge of allowing you to turn and skate the other way. To many times you can get caught as a player flies by you and you are stuck skating backwards until the CPU decides it is ok for you to turn and chase. Also, the delay of the turn allows for an easier breakout if a player goes by you. I can understand that some like this, however, I think there should be an option to allow the human controlled d-man to have the same control of themselves as the forwards.

4.) Allow players a chance to change position if other players leave game. This one is for OTP. I think it would be a nice bonus to let players change position when a player leaves the game. Right now, it is usually the person with the fastest connection/reflexes that gets to pick where they want to play first. This is all well and good, until they leave the game for whatever reason. It would allow a player who is playing out of position an opportunity to play the now vacated spot by switching the two players' positions. Maybe not feasible, but, it would be nice.

5.) Allow the human goalie to be the extra skater. Also for OTP. I think it would be a nice bonus for the human goalie to be allowed a little ice time as a skater on extra attacker situations. At least then the person would not have to just sit there and watch.

So, those are my suggestions, for what it is worth. I am going to go back now and read the thread and see what other excellent ideas the community has come up with.

[Money99]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1. Better Player separation.
2. Better Player separation.
3. Better Player separation.
4. Better Player separation.
5. Better Player separation.

Please make the attributes actually mean something.

[dubuque]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

junior league hockey it would be fun to play as my hometown team the dubuque thunderbirds, the QC flame are in and they are in the same division as the t-birds

[mgkibbles]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1. Better Player separation.
2. Better Player separation.
3. Better Player separation.
4. Better Player separation.
5. Better Player separation.

Please make the attributes actually mean something.

They do mean something, we're not playing Madden dude.

[KRS-One]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

Keep in mind, I'm not a diehard hockey fan, and I've only been really into it for 6 or 7 months now.

1. Neutral Zone Play - This is one of the first things that struck me when I watched a live game for the first time, after having played NHL 09 for awhile. It 09, you can just kind've push the puck through the neutral zone with ease, and the majority of the game is spent in the offensive zones. In real life, it seems like most of the time the puck is in the neutral zone.

2. Play Against the Boards - This is another thing that really jumped out at me when I started watching live hockey after playing 09 for a month or two. In 09, you are rarely forced to fight over the puck against the boards, whereas in real life, half the game is played against the boards, fighting for possession of the puck, which leads me to...

3. Puck Play - I think this could be easily fixed, from a programming perspective. Right now, it seems like the puck is either in possession or not, which is completely unrealistic, from what I've seen. A skater very rarely has complete, total, clean possession of the puck in real life, and that should be reflected in the game.

4. Passing Accuracy - I don't know the real life numbers, but in my Caps franchise, I complete about 80% of my passes, and the CPU easily completes between 82-94% of theirs. Again, I don't know the percentages in the NHL, but I can't imagine them being anywhere near that high.

5. The Little Things - Stuff like giving both Human and CPU sliders, better graphics, better physics, making it so that when I flick the RS up for a rebound goal my guy actually tries to tip the puck into the goal, instead of attempting to cross-check the goalie, etc...

[Lisa_Bonami]

Re: What 5 GAMEPLAY improvements/additions would you like to see in 2010?

1- Much better more realistic puck physics like in NHL 2K9, Have it flutter, waffle, spin, caromb realistically and interact with the net and goalies better.

2- Much grittier battles during face offs!...Again NHL 2K9 does a great job with this

3- tighten some of the shooting animations, they dont always feel like the puck is snapping or wristing off of the end of the blade....some shooting animations seem to canned with no real physics attached to them

4-Dirtier, grittier game at times. Its still too clean and picture perfect. Getting control of the puck and getting a clean shot off should be something that is earned and isnt always a given

5-More realistic checking against the boards (not thru and over them) but just more scrappy physical paly and tie ups

6- After the whistle shoves, facials and little skirmishes, especially around the goalie area

7- Much more animated Goalies and saves, NHL 2K8 completely blows the doors off any hockey game to date with them

8- Deeper franchise mode with the ability to PLAY ANY MATCHUP in your franchise when you want to (like Madden allows)

9- Much Better Fighting Engine...NHL 2K9 Owns this area too