EASHL frustration

[aepoc]

Seems to me that everyone my team plays is far superior. Shots they just throw at the net are going in, insanely-awesome poke checks, they're faster, quicker, and shoot way harder. Not only are the human-controlled players better, but their AI is better than ours too. We are a solid hockey team, and we don't "just suck". Is it possible we're simply running into teams that have purchased boosts? I've heard that the game takes the averages of your human players and gives those numbers to your CPU players; is that true?

Either way, EASHL was pretty frustrating last night.

[Redskins Pride]

Re: EASHL frustration

Well have you maxed out your boosts? Because I'm sure most other teams have. And no offense - honest question - but how do u know u all don't suck?

[aepoc]

Re: EASHL frustration

Well have you maxed out your boosts? Because I'm sure most other teams have. And no offense - honest question - but how do u know u all don't suck?

No, we haven't maxed out our boosts. Am I the only one who thinks it's lame that almost every other team has spent actual money on making their players as good as possible right off the bat, effectively making VASTLY uneven two days after the game comes out?

I know we don't suck because we've been a club since NHL09 and routinely play very good hockey... and have good hockey sense. The great shots we take don't go in, and the terrible shots our opponents take go in time and time again. It's nowhere near balanced... and I think it's just silly to have to spend additional money (after paying $60 for the game) to make my player and squad competitive.

[Inhocmark]

Re: EASHL frustration

The issue is, these teams probably are better than yours. I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm sure you play good hockey, but there's probably a few hundred (or thousand) teams that play great or excellent hockey.

The issue right now is there's no spread between all the teams so you're going to see uneven matchups. That should finally even out in a few weeks once the wheat has been separated from the chaff.

For the record, I put myself squarely in the chaff category. Not trying to be elitist by saying what I did

And you also can't assume that people just bought boost packs. Some of these guys put sick hours in to unlock their slots right away. They play focused and get what they need to max out their stats pretty much from the get go.

I did buy the boost I reasoned that I'm probably not going to play enough to be able to unlock all the slots that I need to help me play my best in the limited amount of time I play the game and figured the 240 point investment for what effectively amounted to a 10 OVR boost was worth it for me in relation to the time I would've needed to unlock that same boost pack.

That being said, there are guys on my team that are miles better than me even rated 10 points less...

[Sakuraba19]

Re: EASHL frustration

EASHL is not easy, you gotta elarn how to do tirangle and quick touch-passing to set-up open ne.

Alsot it helps if you play against an human goalie and with an human goalie. Might be easier to score. If you pla 2 vs 2 or 3 vs 3, just find the glitch eveyrbody who plays 3s will exploit soon.

Also, EASHL is another level. You can be very good in versus but still be avg in EASHL.

[kerosene31]

Re: EASHL frustration

People will say the EASHL is all skill and the boosts don't matter. Honestly I don't understand how people can say this? You must have the boosts too.

I pre-ordered and got a boost pack from Gamestop, and my guy is an 86 overall. I can compete with anyone out there so far. A few of my friends do not have boost packs, and they simply cannot score. They take perfect shots from the slot and the goalies always stop them. Meanwhile, anyone with a boost pack can beat the goalies clean even without any kind of screen.

My defensive d-man with a boost pack actually can easily outskate our non-boosted forwards. I actually have to watch because as our forwards skate over the blueline I can easily catch up to and pass them through the zone without using any speed burst.

I'm the stay at home type of D man and I'm the last one to join the rush, but now I'm actually skating into the back of forwards who are plowing through the ice like a dump truck.

Once the non-boosters get their vet cards and above, they'll be mostly equal. This same thing happened last year. Until then the boosters have a big advantage.

It isn't impossible, but it is more difficult to win when you not only have to be better than the other team, but significantly better to overcome boosts.

It isn't skill. We outshoot every opponent by a ton and set up tons of great chances. If we weren't good, we would not get point blank chances over and over.

[kerosene31]

Re: EASHL frustration

I've heard that the game takes the averages of your human players and gives those numbers to your CPU players; is that true?

This is true as well. We were playing with one human winger and one human D and our CPU guys are useless while the other team's CPU players are significantly faster than our human ones.

For those saying you can overcome the boosts, they are probably playing with a mostly full human team. If you play 2-3 guys and the other team boosts and you don't... it is an uphill battle.

[RealmK]

Re: EASHL frustration

People will say the EASHL is all skill and the boosts don't matter. Honestly I don't understand how people can say this? You must have the boosts too.

I pre-ordered and got a boost pack from Gamestop, and my guy is an 86 overall. I can compete with anyone out there so far. A few of my friends do not have boost packs, and they simply cannot score. They take perfect shots from the slot and the goalies always stop them. Meanwhile, anyone with a boost pack can beat the goalies clean even without any kind of screen.

My defensive d-man with a boost pack actually can easily outskate our non-boosted forwards. I actually have to watch because as our forwards skate over the blueline I can easily catch up to and pass them through the zone without using any speed burst.

I'm the stay at home type of D man and I'm the last one to join the rush, but now I'm actually skating into the back of forwards who are plowing through the ice like a dump truck.

Once the non-boosters get their vet cards and above, they'll be mostly equal. This same thing happened last year. Until then the boosters have a big advantage.

It isn't impossible, but it is more difficult to win when you not only have to be better than the other team, but significantly better to overcome boosts.

It isn't skill. We outshoot every opponent by a ton and set up tons of great chances. If we weren't good, we would not get point blank chances over and over.

Speaking of the boost pack from preorder, I'm guessing I'm picking the wrong equipment because I've redownloaded it twice and still am not sure which equipment is the actual bonus preorder equipment.

[kerosene31]

Re: EASHL frustration

Speaking of the boost pack from preorder, I'm guessing I'm picking the wrong equipment because I've redownloaded it twice and still am not sure which equipment is the actual bonus preorder equipment.

It is the Bauer 20th anniversary stuff. There's a stick, gloves and skates but no helmet.

Honestly the boost pack has been totally flakey for me. I equipped the stuff day 1 and got no boosts. I did something to my player and suddenly I was an 86 overall. Then, I went and changed the curve of my stick (not the stick itself) and suddenly I was down to an 80 overall.

I can't even explain what I did to get it working? It has been so strange.

[RealmK]

Re: EASHL frustration

It is the Bauer 20th anniversary stuff. There's a stick, gloves and skates but no helmet.

Honestly the boost pack has been totally flakey for me. I equipped the stuff day 1 and got no boosts. I did something to my player and suddenly I was an 86 overall. Then, I went and changed the curve of my stick (not the stick itself) and suddenly I was down to an 80 overall.

I can't even explain what I did to get it working? It has been so strange.

Does the equipment say 20th anniversary in the game? If so I'm not seeing it.

[aepoc]

Re: EASHL frustration

People will say the EASHL is all skill and the boosts don't matter. Honestly I don't understand how people can say this? You must have the boosts too.

I pre-ordered and got a boost pack from Gamestop, and my guy is an 86 overall. I can compete with anyone out there so far. A few of my friends do not have boost packs, and they simply cannot score. They take perfect shots from the slot and the goalies always stop them. Meanwhile, anyone with a boost pack can beat the goalies clean even without any kind of screen.

My defensive d-man with a boost pack actually can easily outskate our non-boosted forwards. I actually have to watch because as our forwards skate over the blueline I can easily catch up to and pass them through the zone without using any speed burst.

I'm the stay at home type of D man and I'm the last one to join the rush, but now I'm actually skating into the back of forwards who are plowing through the ice like a dump truck.

Once the non-boosters get their vet cards and above, they'll be mostly equal. This same thing happened last year. Until then the boosters have a big advantage.

It isn't impossible, but it is more difficult to win when you not only have to be better than the other team, but significantly better to overcome boosts.

It isn't skill. We outshoot every opponent by a ton and set up tons of great chances. If we weren't good, we would not get point blank chances over and over.

Someone feels my pain. That's the same thing we're experiencing. We outshoot opponents, and we have more (and better quality) attack time, and somehow the opponent's terrible shots go in, steadily. I understand that EA makes money on all of this, but it's just too bad that it'll probably stay this way. What's wrong with earning your attribute points based on your grades and amount of games played, adding them to your player, and having that be the end of it? This "boost" stuff is just ridiculous.

[kerosene31]

Re: EASHL frustration

Does the equipment say 20th anniversary in the game? If so I'm not seeing it.

I just checked and it says "EA 20th anniversary", but has Bauer on it. The stuff has a little green in it.

[RealmK]

Re: EASHL frustration

I just checked and it says "EA 20th anniversary", but has Bauer on it. The stuff has a little green in it.

Gotcha, I'll check again when I'm done the game I'm in. Not sure why its not installing properly for me.

[kerosene31]

Re: EASHL frustration

Someone feels my pain. That's the same thing we're experiencing. We outshoot opponents, and we have more (and better quality) attack time, and somehow the opponent's terrible shots go in, steadily. I understand that EA makes money on all of this, but it's just too bad that it'll probably stay this way. What's wrong with earning your attribute points based on your grades and amount of games played, adding them to your player, and having that be the end of it? This "boost" stuff is just ridiculous.

The problem is that the boosts are so powerful. My #1 complaint with the EASHL is that the boost and cards are very steep steps.

My boosted player is an 86 overall with some important attributes above 90. My friend who isn't boosted is in the low 70s overall. He has the same attribute points as me.

It is more noticeable this year because the goalies are actually toned down a bit. In NHL 10 you could not consistently beat goalies without a screen or a glitch goal off just a wrist shot. This year players are consistently picking corners from outside the hash marks.

The two options are to buy the boost pack, or suffer through to 30 games and get the vet card. By then I think everyone will be able to compete.

[aepoc]

Re: EASHL frustration

The problem is that the boosts are so powerful. My #1 complaint with the EASHL is that the boost and cards are very steep steps.

My boosted player is an 86 overall with some important attributes above 90. My friend who isn't boosted is in the low 70s overall. He has the same attribute points as me.

It is more noticeable this year because the goalies are actually toned down a bit. In NHL 10 you could not consistently beat goalies without a screen or a glitch goal off just a wrist shot. This year players are consistently picking corners from outside the hash marks.

The two options are to buy the boost pack, or suffer through to 30 games and get the vet card. By then I think everyone will be able to compete.

You're right, definitely more noticeable now. I'm halfway to the 30 game mark now, so with any luck I won't have to suffer too long.