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

[Qb]

I thought I would do a bit of a different take on the wishlist idea. We have the all-encompassing one for other stuff like dynasty, online issues, EASHL logistics, etc, so let's keep this to the stuff that happens from the opening whistle to the final horn...

So have at it and share your ideas! I'll get mine up eventually...

[ohyeahbaby123]

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

5. Puck Physics
I'm sick of the puck acting like a magnet and sticking to the stick of whoever is closes. Make is so the puck just kinda sits there until someone chips it out of the scrum

4. Stick Check
Seen a lot these days.

3. Improved Goalie Play
Make it like 2k's please!!!

2. Better Slap Pass
Trust me, I'm no cheeser, but I want a pass to be able to go cross crease and just deflect off the guys stick and in.

1. Better Neutral Zone play
Still too easy to skate into the zone.

[wsu_gb23]

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

1. More loose pucks; especially near the boards. Make it so there is a scrum by the boards for the puck

2. Less accurate passes

3. make the game play perfect out of the box...sliders get annoying sometimes

4. more animations

5. more penalties...greater variety....

6. Keep adding to the presentation....how about some gatorade in those bottles! haha. ( I know, that's 6....)

**It was actually difficult for me to come up with 5 things that need fixing for 2010...that just shows how much effort you guys have put into this hockey series...keep up the great work!

[Franchizz]

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

In no specific order...

- More penalties for both the computer and player, although with better variety and for the love of god call interference.
- More animation and perhaps unique animations for specific teams.
- Better neutral zone play
- Less accurate passing
- A noticeable difference in skill between players (i.e. Begin should not ever in his live mimic Crosby)
- Stick breaking
- Shot blocking can cause injury, as can slap shots

[MC Fatigue]

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

-Realistic Neutral Zone Play. It's way too up and down as it is; there actually needs to be some neutral zone play. Make it so that entering the zone can sometimes be challenging.

-More Goalie Animations. Way, way more. There aren't nearly enough. Goalies make saves on pucks with animations that have no business being put in motion. Like when they just go butterfly and slide backwards when the puck flutters above them. How about some animations where they actually grab at the puck, instead of letting it roll off their back?

-Better teammate AI. It seems my teammates just stand around doing nothing. I literally stand at the blue line with the puck, waiting for someone to crash the net - I even change the strategy to Crash the Net - and yet players just stand around by the boards picking their noses.

-Better controls. No automatic backwards skating; better dumping of the puck in the zone.

-Less accurate passing. I recall an EA developer making a snarky comment about one of the recent NHL 2k games along the lines of "tape to tape passing"... Well what exactly do you call NHL 2007, 08, and 09, then? In 2k I can turn Pass-Aim Assist to 0 and pass the puck anywhere I want. In EA's NHL it forces the puck towards a player, even if I didn't want to pass to him.

[MizzouRah]

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

1. Board Play
2. Better goalie play and animations, see 2k9
3. New faceoff system, see 2k8
4. Fighting.. yes.. see 2k9
5. Less tape to tape passing

6. Honorable mention: more goal variety..
7. Presentation!!! I would love to see more stat overlays, maybe a run down of the rest of the league games in between periods.. see NFL 2k5

Overall, I love the game, but 2k sports does a lot right with their game as well.

[bad_philanthropy]

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

1. Improve puck physics, puck needs far more weight to it.

2. Improve goaltender play.

3. Improve control for offensive play in front of the net. Heavier puck physics might help with this as well.

4. Puck needs to be less magnetic. Would love an auto-pass sensitivity slider.

5. Need a button to scrum the puck down along the boards. If I am under pressure but don't have an outlet with a forechecker coming fast I should be able to just eat the puck (if my player is big enough), take the hit and shield the puck and try to kick it free or bring in another player to help. 2k did have a rudimentary mechanic where those things were possible.

Bonus: Please tone down hitting and bring back the injury slider.

[ChiTownKid]

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

1. Better AI defense, particularly blue-line checking. It's way too easy to skate into the attack zone if you come in on the wings.

2. Better AI defense of passing lanes, particularly those open when the puck carrier skates behind the net. One-timer opportunities from behind the net to the guy waiting in the slot are damn near money.

3. Fix the damn point-blank slapshot cheese from the side of the net. It's ruining (or has already ruined) online play.

4. Correct the post-patch shot (in)accuracy. It's ridiculous.

5. Decrease the AI's shot-happiness. It rarely sets up and cycles the puck as it should. Far too often, it takes quick, poor-percentage shots instead of passing around and waiting for a better look. As a result, the AI often has laughably high shot totals with not much to show for it in the way of goals.

Bonus Gripe: Kind of the opposite of #1. The offensive AI needs work bringing the puck into the attack zone, particularly on the wings. It's way too easy to check them off the puck at the blue line, or scare them into dumping in, which more often than not results in easy possession for me. Which reminds me. The Dump-and-Chase still has a long way to go before it can be considered realistic. Maybe steal a page from 2K's book and throw in scrums along the boards. As it is, it's simply too easy for the defense to grab a dumped puck.

One last thing: Decrease pass accuracy, or at least include a slider for it. The tic-tac passing gets to be too much sometimes. It's fine for arcade-style action, but simheads like myself would appreciate the option to make things a bit more authentic.

Wait, one more last thing: Can we get some decent fighting please? And could the CPU actually instigate it this time?

Hold on. One more: If a guy gets nailed with a slapshot. He should react to it. I seem to recall this being in one of the old NHL games for the Sega Genesis. Bring it back. While you're at it, bring back the shattering glass from wayward slapshots. And blood on the ice from injuries. That was a nice touch.

No, seriously, one last thing: Include both SIM and ARCADE modes, so that everyone could finally be happy for a change, dammit.

I know I sound like a grumpy old man, but that's because I am.

[nyr30]

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

(1)-Total control of all teams in franchise just like 2k's, total contral nulifies the stupid cpu trading and allows you to keep your rosters up to date. i lose interest fast when i see players who would never be moved traded for scrubs.

this applies in BAP also.

(2)-AI needs major improvement

Offense - in BAP its too hesitant, AI teammates arent clinical enough, you can lay it on a plate for them but they hesitate long enough to let the goalie back into position.

Defense - they just back off till the point where they are right on top of the goalie.

Goaltending - they have improved over 08 but they are still someway short of what they should be, still to many stupid goals that any NHL goalie would not let in.

In general - it should be deeper and should also have the option of being more sim, what i mean is the way it is set up just now is geared to getting you to the NHL as quickly as possible but i would prefer to to have a sim option that would see you spend a season or two perfecting your skills.

Begining with a 70 rating and up till 75 the improvement could be fast then slow down till 80 and then stay at a steady speed depending on how good you are.

(3)-Option to turn trading off in BAP, i just cant play it with players being traded left right and center and most of the time just horrible trades.

(4)-Fix the problems. The same freezes and bugs have been there for years. Get rid of them.

(5)-EASHL in my opinion its too fast, it just feels like chaos out there.

(6)-seperate sliders for cpu/human

(7)-more atmosphere from the crowds

(8)-if a player reaches a career milestone it should be aknowledged

(9)-trade block

(10)-custom music for ps3

(11)-interference needs to be addressed as well as adding all the new rules and penalties.

(12)-fighting is terrible and needs to be started all over.

(13)-A control system that works, what i mean is

Numerous times i have been playing 09 and the controls will just not react, i can skate with the puck but it wont let me pass it and the only way to get rid of the puck is to shoot which isnt much good if your in your own end.

i also noticed that at times mainly when the AI has some momentum that the controls seem to get mixed up and dont know what to do, i press stick lift and it will check for example, i try to change player when i see a play happening but it wont change until its to late.

The passing seems to have a mind of its own, once again when the AI has momentum the passes dont go where i aim, it cant be my aiming because i spend the first 55mins of a game playing perfect hockey but all of a sudden my players cant make a 5 yard pass. Why is this?

(14)-Puck battles/loose pucks, why is it that when it comes to the loose pucks they never seem to go the Users way? it doesnt matter if the puck is going into the corner and i get there first the AI player behind me will come out with the puck, and this is without a check or a stick lift it just goes in the AI favour, its utter bs if you ask me.

Seriously it just isnt on, what about when you are in front of goal with the puck right in front but somehow the AI manages to reach back when he isnt even facing that way and get the puck one handed and still come out with it, balance is needed, i dont expect to win every battle but i think that if my positioning is right then i should win my fair share.

The difference between the AI puck control is night and day compared to the user, the AI can get it under control in an instant while the user player fumbles around with it just long enough to let the AI get it, funny that.

[tyler289]

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

1. Better AI defense. They never really force you to play dump and chase and it makes the flip dump useless when on offense.

2. Better goalie animations/logic. The goalies are awful. Get tons of new animations and make the desperation ones less likely and more varied.

3. Turn the "stick lift" button into the "tie up" button. Stick lifts usually turn to tie-ups, anyway. The point of this feature was to be able to stop one-timers in the slot. Well, in the NHL, that usually means tieing up your man in the middle as opposed to just timing your stick lift right. I've seen the animation, make it more often.

4. Board play. Grinders should be useful. With no board play and no dump and chase, the role of the 3rd and 4th lines becomes diminished.

5. Atmosphere. Make the fans more realistic, make the stand at the right time, etc etc. Stuff like that would go a long way.

[Gagnon39]

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

Realistic board play. Don't put it in the game just to "have" it. Make it work or don't put it in.

[Ridgeberg]

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

Obviously a lot of issues have been addressed. I'd like to see more energy taken towards updating equipment.

For example, the new Reebok line - considering half of the goalies in the league have the new design.

TPS pads. They don't even have Lundqvist's from last year!

Better choice of the Easton S17 color. Maybe even a stick color editor. NHL09 bragged about their partnership with Easton but they only have 2 sticks in the game that are currently used by players plus a lot of older models.

I'd like to see better color customization in goalie equipment as well.

[m-dogg]

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

Im stealing this one for my #1 issue:
-Realistic Neutral Zone Play. It's way too up and down as it is; there actually needs to be some neutral zone play. Make it so that entering the zone can sometimes be challenging.

theres no reason to ever dump the puck, if you make it to the boards you can skate right up end to end no problems, this has to be corrected. or at least give us a slider to correct it, this makes me mental.

-realistic puck physics - i hate when i check a guy into the boards and always a 100mph "pass" comes flying out magically right to a CPU player. this game needs to be messier and sloppier, more board work...tieing up the puck. as mentioned, passing needs to be sloppier..

-BAP -more user options:
-please let me use the default BAP camera for any line on the ice, so if I choose "player lock" for BAP, my camera will never change and stay the same regardless of whether my BAP player is on the ice or not. this is my #1a request, please!
-let us toggle things like trades
-let us have the option of using created plays for BAP
-let us have options to set offensive settings and goalie pulling for BAP (diehard authentic players do not have to use these options of course, but BAP should be flexible enough for everyone that loves to play this mode over the regular mode)

-separate sliders for human and CPU is a must. and the more sliders the better! there should at least be one or more for goalie skill - since half the players want them tougher and half of them want them easier. whats the hurt in giving the user more options and customization?

man with the corrections people are requesting this would be the best sports game ever made!

[Qb]

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

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


Great job thus far, a lot of good stuff. I think everything I was going to list has already been said, but I'm still going to edit my ideas into the first post so I look really smart...

[kerosene31]

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

1) Better AI for CPU and especially teammates

2) Improved puck physics. Pucks fired into a crowd should do random things. Sometimes NHL games come down to a funny bounce. Pucks should go off skates, shins, sticks, arms, etc.

3) Players should overall be much better at getting in front of shots. Players should be "bigger" not visually but in the way they block the puck. NHL teams are great at not allowing shots through. D-men should be able to stick check and/or get their stick in front of shots to deflect them out of play.

4) Better board play. Pinning, kicking the puck, fighting based on strength, etc. Such a vital part of the game.

5) Give home team the last line change and allow them to see the visitors line before choosing.