Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

[RaychelSnr]

Hey everybody, I'm back for another edition of Dynasty Musings. This week I will be talking about the debacle that is NHL 11's Be a GM mode (BaGM for future reference), and the bugs that have made it completely unplayable until a patch comes out.

First off, there are some things that I like about Be a GM. The fantasy draft AI, for the most part, is absolutely fantastic. Teams appear to build their franchise somewhat intelligently, either going for a younger more higher-potential team or a veteran-laden squad that tries to win as soon as possible. This is very refreshing when you compare NHL 11's fantasy draft to other games' counterparts, such as the annoying logic in MLB 10: The Show in which nearly every closer is taken in the first three rounds, or in Madden 11 where you can assemble a team of young superstars by simply only taking guys under the age of 27. In BaGM, that's really not an option. If you want to create a young team, you HAVE to sacrifice short-term success.

Second, the addition of restricted free agents and unrestricted free agents is a great addition and something that's been needed for a very long time. Unfortunately, the bugs in the mode really get in the way, but the general idea is very good and hopefully it is fixed with the next patch (a patch that is horribly overdue already).

Either way, the game mode is unplayable as it stands now. Let's take a look at some of the problems that myself and others have found with the game.

Read More - Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

[steeluk]

I have to say, I agree with this article completely; it's a shame these bugs weren't discovered before release, and we need to see a patch for it.

But to say "...and the fact that it has been over a month since the game was released and there still is no patch to fix any of these bugs is simply unacceptable." is a bit extreme. It would be nice for the dev team to acknowledge the bugs exist, and let us know a patch is in the works, but think about how much time they spent making this game. I think they are entitled to a break once the game is released, and I get the feeling some of these bugs would take a lot longer to fix than you think.

I enjoyed the article though, and i'm looking forward to the patch when it finally drops. But i'm prepared to wait in the hope of a good quality patch, which hopefully won't break something else in the game!

[udungoofed]

I don't for a second believe that EA shipped the game without being aware of these issues, or at the very least some of them.

I wish there was certain legalities behind a game publisher/developer marketing up game features that are shipped...BROKEN. EA does this far, far, far too often. Every game requires waiting on a patch to make the mode usable and in most cases it doesn't fully rectify the issues, or even worse, breaks something else (Madden Patch 3 breaking Gameplanning).

It's just not right how the consumers get lead to believe something polished is coming, when it's actually entirely unplayable.

[Bama83]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

Those were just the simple things that break BeAGM and make it far less than it could be.

There's no progression in the dynasty. I never feel immersed. There's nothing in the game that lets me know how our teams are respectively doing or any critical facts from the recent games.

I've said it for years - EA needs to move away from "professional sportscasters" and hire full time actors. Sure, it's fun to hear the guys you know, but if we can't get them to say new stuff every now and again, it's a better usage of resources to get people that can constantly update their schtick.

At the end of the day, the dynasty feels less like a living, breathing NHL season and more like a monotonous glut of games.

[nickjamesm7]

Patches are all fine and dandy, but developers and testers should really have all these bugs figured out before the game is even released. With the age of online availability they have really been given an easy road, kind of BS, but kind of resourceful as well. EA seems to be the worst of the bunch when it comes to this. It's a race of who can get the game out first, not of who can make the best. Madden has no competition to make themselves better but them and the rest of the sports genres should have no excuse. Can EA hire some people who would actually take the time and put in the effort to make the best games possible? HIre people who specialize in a specific area of the game, so that person can concentrate his efforts in a smaller area. I'll nominate myself for the job, shamelessly

[Perceptor]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

Well written article and I'm hopeful that a patch will be released soon. Testing aside, EA knows a patch is needed and let's hope we get one and a roster update sooner rather than later

[thegoons21]

No timely patches or roster updates are going to shelf this game for me. Even if a patch is released I doubt it fixes all of these issues.

[patsfan188]

I know Im gonna get a lot of complaints but I don't really like the game. Online gameplay is pretty much determined by luck of penalties because we all poke check a lot and u know it but usually only one team gets all the penalties all the times. Be a GM hasn't changed much in my opinion, trade logic is bad, they put in RFA's and the CHL players don't progress throughout their CHL career. For example the 1st NHL draft u have in Be a GM mode you'll get realistic overalls then the next year u get 1st round players who have ratings as good as later round players in the year before draft. Then the year after you get players rated like 58. It's terrible. The only game mode I like is Ultimate Team. I haven't picked up this game for like a week now, and have probably played it about 3 times this month.

[ramenite]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

Totally agree about those sim stats.

I had a season, where Ovie wasn't even top 10 in scoring. That's with 82 games played. The who's who of the NHL struggles to even make the top 10, it's guys like Gionta who are leading the league.

Some of the problem is WHOs getting the goals. If you watch the super-sim, it's just random people getting assigned points. Key PP guys for a team aren't getting PP goals. They don't respect your lines in the simulation. I've seen goals that were Max Talbot, assisted by Crosby and Kennedy. All three guys are on three different lines.

There's really only three things to have in a great franchise mode. A realistic sim engine, standings that make sense(I'm not even going to open THAT bag of worms), and trade logic. The point is to build a team, and see how you do against the rest of the league. If all the above is broken, what's really the point? All the stuff like having the CHL, restricted free agents, doesn't even matter. There's no reason to go though the mode.

[onlybygrace]

...which is why I'm playing Season Mode and just enjoying the game.

I get to play as the Pens, Caps, and Blues along with the real schedule. When I have the time, of course. I'm gettin' old.

[Vikes1]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

Yeah it's a shame that a game like NHL, that has imo, such solid game play, has so many issues with it's franchise mode.[BEAGM]

Of course it's great that patches are now possible. But it sure at least seems like waiting for weeks/months for patches is now commonplace in today's gaming. For the games to be what they were advertise to be at release.

[[Icy]]

Sadly this is the norm with all franchise modes in sport games, see the great NBA2k11 having similar issues, FIFA11, etc. Online gaming probably killed offline gaming and the programming of good offline AI.

[Klykan]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

I agree, and it's a shame.

I hope EA will adress these problems in the upcoming patch, otherwise it's $60 right down the drain for me. I only play Be A GM-mode.

[slickdtc]

Re: Dynasty Musings: NHL 11's Be a GM Completely Misses the Mark

Why did they half-*** some of these features? Maybe adding in that new physics engine was a bigger task then most of us think, because this series has only touched up and polished off its gameplay the last 2 years. You think, since the core gameplay engine has been in place, that they'd have more time to devote to polishing up BAGM and other modes. Or maybe it's like Madden 10's sim stats... you get either extremely overdone stats, or extremely underdone stats. The coding just won't allow for the actual realistic numbers no matter what they tweak.

My big question is, if they release a patch that fixes these issues (or at least some of them), will we need to restart our BAGM's? And if we don't, will that create more unforeseen issues? It's sticky! I can play through my VAN BAGM for now, but I'm holding off on starting my PHI BAGM until the rosters and patch is out. I can be patient as long as they're trying their best, I have no problems with that. Don't put out a half-*** patch, though. Don't string us along

[clarkerots]

I've been updating NHL09 for the longest time now and I thought this was finally the year to move forward. Unfortunately it seems impossible for EA to ever upgrade gameplay and franchise at the same time. It's a shame too because now I can try to go back to 09 for a decent Franchise but the gameplay improvements between 09 and 11 will leave me with that empty feeling.