2015 Sports Game of the Year: Best Online Experience

[RaychelSnr]

Online is where I spend 90 percent of my sports-gaming life. I love playing with and against others in sports games so the Best Online Experience category is the one nearest and dearest to my heart. So I'm happy to say this was a really good year for online gaming. We got an amazing new experience in Rocket League, NBA 2K took steps towards figuring out their online difficulties, NHL 16's EASHL returned with a new twist, and overall we got some really solid multi-year online franchise options in a lot of the biggest sports games of 2015. With all that being said, let's get to the winners for the Best Online Experience of 2015.

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[misterkrabz]

MLB 16...lag free hitting/pitching interface is the greatest accomplishment in sports gaming in probably 10 years.

[Quietlife]

I'm scratching my head at the staff choice. You're giving EA a pat on the back for putting back in a mode they left out last year? Really?

[spidertour02]

Quote:

As it relates to the fan voting, I was a little surprised NHL 16 did not make it into the top three for best online experience (it came in fourth). Perhaps some were still turned off by the previous year's game, perhaps some don't think it should get bonus points for re-introducing EASHL after it already existed in another form, or perhaps some just don't think NHL 16 is very good online -- and may also miss the online franchise mode.

Here's a fourth option: the NHL 16 board is a whining mess. The negativity of that section is pretty appalling. Say one good word about the game, and you get bombarded with HURR THEY PUT IN MASCOTS BUT NOT GM CONNECTED HURR. I can't even post there anymore because of that stupidity.

[jyoung]

Quote: Originally Posted by Quietlife

I'm scratching my head at the staff choice. You're giving EA a pat on the back for putting back in a mode they left out last year? Really?

NHL 16 didn't simply bring back the old EASHL, it redesigned the mode in a way that's created more balanced gameplay and has eliminated the pay-to-win/grind-to-win equipment boosts & attribute leveling.

There isn't a better-designed online team play mode than NHL 16's EASHL, which is why I voted for it over NBA 2K16's Pro Am or FIFA 16's Clubs, as both of those games are still relying on the old pay-to-win/grind-to-win model instead of using a competitively balanced system.

[undertaker9999]

is the OPS staff smoking DOPE? EASHL was your pick??!! YA because CAPTAIN LAG is a big problem since the beta and its still not fixed and most teams wanna be the away team now WWE 2K16 servers are better this year than NHL16 EASHL mode

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by misterkrabz

MLB 16...lag free hitting/pitching interface is the greatest accomplishment in sports gaming in probably 10 years.

It's nice they finally did it and I played more Show online than I had my previous five years combined, but it was long overdue considering other sports games deliver an experience close to the offline one already.

Quote: Originally Posted by undertaker9999

is the OPS staff smoking DOPE? EASHL was your pick??!! YA because CAPTAIN LAG is a big problem since the beta and its still not fixed and most teams wanna be the away team now WWE 2K16 servers are better this year than NHL16 EASHL mode

Sorry but haven't really experienced this in the 200 or so games that have been played this year in EASHL. Captain Lag is fun to attribute to stuff and maybe there's some semblance of truth to it because it's not like people haven't brought it up before, but it's not consistent in my experience to call it a thing -- a random person is laggy here and there, but it's not always the captain and so on. Bummer it hasn't been consistent for you though.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Quietlife

I'm scratching my head at the staff choice. You're giving EA a pat on the back for putting back in a mode they left out last year? Really?

Hey Quietlife, sorry if my explanation in the article didn't help you understand why EASHL was chosen.