Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

[atheimetal]

And I don't understand why. I know sometimes it just happens and the first time or two I chalked it up to bad luck, but I've noticed that no matter how much I outplay, outshoot, or out control the puck against someone it doesn't seem to matter. I manage to lose 2 - 1 with two of his goals being lobs from a random point on the ice somehow getting into my net. Or the goalie decides to queue a puck up for a pass while standing right in front of his net and it gets poked in. One game I limited a guy to 7 shots (all of which were him tossing it at the net because I wasn't giving him any circle, point, or front of the net lanes) and he STILL beat me even though I had three times as many shots from the front of his net, top of his circle, point, etc.

Is the only way to win in this game exploiting the bad goalie AI or what? I feel like I can do any number of crazy things but only score once or twice while someone else just skates in circles, tosses pucks in the general direction of the net and manages to score on 30% of his shots.

I've been a long time player of this series and it's becoming pretty uninteresting to play when I can't beat people at that clearly are new to the game. Does anyone have any tips or has anyone noticed the same issues?

[H to the Oza]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

yeah its happened a few times to me as well. all I can say is keep at it, that kind of stuff happens sports all the time, youre bound to start raking in the Ws eventually

[IBYCFOTA]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

Not to be rude, but maybe you aren't as good as you think you are or you are underestimating your opponents? Everybody has those games where the puck doesn't go in and the other guy wins on some absurd goal, but unless you have some really terrible luck there's no reason it should be happening on a regular basis.

[theglory]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

I run into the same problem recently. For me, it is that I am not very good at aiming shoots.. I lost to this person out shooting them 30 to 5, final score 1-2, and they had like under 3 mins of TOP. lol

[ManiacMatt1782]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

Get the goalie moving. If you are controlling the puck, get him moving 1 way and shoot the other. On cross the slot passes, don't always one time it. Sometimes it pays to receive the pass allow the goalie to over commit and shoot it back farside if time allows.

[Redskins Pride]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

Not to be rude, but maybe you aren't as good as you think you are or you are underestimating your opponents? Everybody has those games where the puck doesn't go in and the other guy wins on some absurd goal, but unless you have some really terrible luck there's no reason it should be happening on a regular basis.

eh ... not to be rude but this game just doesn't reward good hockey. it rewards good video game hockey and learning to score from certain hotspots ... but not good hockey. like, somehow the goalies can play a tic tac toe play, sliding back and forth with amazing precision and clairvoyance, perfectly almost every time. it would be OK if each goalie was different and you had to "solve" them but ... they're all the same.

which isn't to say that that's a bad thing b/c this is in fact a video game, and a pretty damn good representation of the game. but there's just too many "Halak versus The Caps" type of games if you don't go for glitch shots every two seconds.

[Broncos86]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

It rewards good video game hockey because this IS video game hockey. Honestly, I don't play online, because I don't like dealing with people and cheese. But really, in the end, it's video game hockey. The day EA perfects replicates hockey will be the day the NHL franchise loses a lot of gamers. Most gamers don't want to deal with puck cycling or a 4th line that, if they did well, generates ONE shot on net. It needs to be a representation of what people THINK is hockey, not what hockey truly is.

[sharks]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

It rewards good video game hockey because this IS video game hockey. Honestly, I don't play online, because I don't like dealing with people and cheese. But really, in the end, it's video game hockey. The day EA perfects replicates hockey will be the day the NHL franchise loses a lot of gamers. Most gamers don't want to deal with puck cycling or a 4th line that, if they did well, generates ONE shot on net. It needs to be a representation of what people THINK is hockey, not what hockey truly is.

The bolded part is what disappoints me the most. In my almost 50 HUT games, I have seen only one opponent cycle the puck in the offensive zone. Cycling should be encouraged and forced.

Luckily my dump and chase, cycle style of play has netted me a lot of wins so far.

[IBYCFOTA]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

eh ... not to be rude but this game just doesn't reward good hockey. it rewards good video game hockey and learning to score from certain hotspots ... but not good hockey. like, somehow the goalies can play a tic tac toe play, sliding back and forth with amazing precision and clairvoyance, perfectly almost every time. it would be OK if each goalie was different and you had to "solve" them but ... they're all the same.

which isn't to say that that's a bad thing b/c this is in fact a video game, and a pretty damn good representation of the game. but there's just too many "Halak versus The Caps" type of games if you don't go for glitch shots every two seconds.

This game does reward good hockey, but you also have to be good at the video game side of it too to reap the benefits. I play about as sim as I know how and, not to toot my own horn, but I don't lose very often. You don't have to be a glitcher to consistently win, but you do need to be skilled with the sticks.

[atheimetal]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

Just lost a game 2 - 1 where his tying goal was me trying to play the puck as goalie (he had no one around my net) and the goalie just kind of shuffled the puck backward through his own legs into the goal for no reason. Not sure why the goalie can even play the puck backwards like that. He then scored his second goal on a soft weak side angle shot with like 15 seconds to go.

I did manage to hit the post four different times though.

I think what bothers me most is the player AI in this game. The computer is constantly doing things that make no sense and don't belong in hockey games, especially the goalies. I'd say about 50% of the goals I see scored are related to poor game AI. I'm almost ready to go back to a previous version of this game.

[swil]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

I, for one, think the AI is a terrific improvement over last year's installment.

[FBeaule04]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

And I don't understand why. I know sometimes it just happens and the first time or two I chalked it up to bad luck, but I've noticed that no matter how much I outplay, outshoot, or out control the puck against someone it doesn't seem to matter. I manage to lose 2 - 1 with two of his goals being lobs from a random point on the ice somehow getting into my net. Or the goalie decides to queue a puck up for a pass while standing right in front of his net and it gets poked in. One game I limited a guy to 7 shots (all of which were him tossing it at the net because I wasn't giving him any circle, point, or front of the net lanes) and he STILL beat me even though I had three times as many shots from the front of his net, top of his circle, point, etc.

Is the only way to win in this game exploiting the bad goalie AI or what? I feel like I can do any number of crazy things but only score once or twice while someone else just skates in circles, tosses pucks in the general direction of the net and manages to score on 30% of his shots.

I've been a long time player of this series and it's becoming pretty uninteresting to play when I can't beat people at that clearly are new to the game. Does anyone have any tips or has anyone noticed the same issues?

We fully understand what you are going through.

Cheers,

The 2009-10 Washington Capitals

[Redskins Pride]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

We fully understand what you are going through.

Cheers,

The 2009-10 Washington Capitals

you donkeys had this same problem against the Habs. terrible attempt at a jab.

[bradigor]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

What can frustrate me is how the game still hasn't balanced PK's and PP's. There seems to be no risk for players who try and play the PK as though they are at full strength. Maybe it is me, but when I am on a PK I try and play it as I would expect it to be done in actual hockey (maybe getting the odd breakaway) by making sure I clear the zone and regrouping. Whereas I see 9/10 of the players I play against attack, attack, attack. Maybe it is me, but it still takes me by surprise, I hope that we will one day see more punishment to teams not trying to play the PK properly.

Overall I am finding results to be balanced though, I have had a good mix of games I have won and deserved, lost and deserved, lost that I should of won easily and won that I felt I should apologise for.

I am finding more this year that I need to keep on top of my forecheck settings which is always good. I like to cycle the puck (one of my favourites is to work the puck until Lidstrom and Rafalski have swapped sides at the blue line) but get frustrated when my opponent tries to turn the match into a game of basketball. It is one of the reasons I would love there to be individual player instructions for NHL12 (things you can set up before matchmaking), such as telling Holmstrom to park his arse infront of the goaltender. Or telling your 2nd line RD to swap with LD at earliest possible moment. Or telling one of you PP D men to sit a bit deeper and be alert to breakaways.

For me that would add a greater layer of tactical awareness for those that do want to spend the time tinkering with all the little things, but by allowing the player to set this overall gameplan offline prior to matchmaking, it means the other players aren't having to wait an age to get a game going.

[NHLandPESFan]

Re: Consistently losing to people 'worse' than me

I agree about the PK/PP, I have seen an absolutely ridiculous amount of shorthanded goals in this game both for and against in online versus. Basically defensive awareness on the PP needs to be cranked up a lot!