Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

[RaychelSnr]

Hockey as a sport is perfect for online gaming. Two teams filled with human players does not strain the online servers too much, and the game's fast tempo and short overall duration appeal to the gamers of today.

Fortunately, EA realized this as well, and for the third year running we have the EASHL as an outlet for our hockey fix. For those who are not familiar with the EASHL, it is a virtual league of created teams where each gamer controls one player on the ice at a time. Having a player-lock feature makes the EASHL a team effort. You win and lose games as a team, so teams that develop good chemistry tend to rule the rankings, instead of just gamers with impressive individual skills.

Just like clans in first-person shooter games, EASHL teams tend to develop personal relationships between team members, and friendly rivalries form between EASHL teams. The popularity of the EASHL is evident on the Internet. There are plenty of forums devoted to the EASHL, and a lot of talk about how the EASHL could be improved in future EA Sports NHL releases. At one point EA mentioned in a developer blog that there are over 500,000 EASHL players out there.

Read More - Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

[Sakuraba19]

I agree, but I also think that EASHL IN 11 on the 360 is in declined. The search engine, awful attempt at monthly playoff and only 1 dressing room has killed the main 6 vs 6 teams. I think 60-70% fo the top teams just quit the game and don't play it that much as NHL 11 is just not reallly fun 6 vs 6.

EA Need to make better tuner.

[adayinthelife]

Re: Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

Great idea in theory, though I'm not sure how well it could be implemented. There's mention of it possibly cutting down on glitchers and cheesers, but in my experiences they really do make up the vast majority of those who play the game mode.

I honestly think that EA's efforts would be better served creating different play styles, much like an FPS, which players could choose from. It's been talked about on these boards for a couple years now, but instituting a "hardcore" mode is a fantastic idea. Tuned for far more realistic play with manual passing, etc. I think it'd be much more enjoyable than everyone having to play the same default setting.

Also, I wonder if having this division (or another one like it) being unranked would lead to less pricks trying to cheat. Honestly, it seems like if you dangle prizes and the like in front of gamers and they will do anything to win, most of the time at the expense of an enjoyable experience.

[speels]

As for the 1 dressing room idea, I like it because I got tired of playing 2 man teams where the CPU was actual difference maker. The EASHL is for 6v6 not 2v6. However, that being said I think that EA should change it so that if you have 10 players in the dressing room you can play one game 6v6 and another with the other 4. Those 4 should not be not allowed to play because now they are going to go do something else and maybe not come back to EA NHL. But if once you had a team of 6 then there could be a second team started, and then if you have 2 teams of 6 there could be a 3rd team started. This would not allow teams to abuse the system by having 10 games of 2v going on at the same time, but it would allow for more than only 6 players to play at once.

[adayinthelife]

Re: Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

As for the 1 dressing room idea, I like it because I got tired of playing 2 man teams where the CPU was actual difference maker. The EASHL is for 6v6 not 2v6. However, that being said I think that EA should change it so that if you have 10 players in the dressing room you can play one game 6v6 and another with the other 4. Those 4 should not be not allowed to play because now they are going to go do something else and maybe not come back to EA NHL. But if once you had a team of 6 then there could be a second team started, and then if you have 2 teams of 6 there could be a 3rd team started. This would not allow teams to abuse the system by having 10 games of 2v going on at the same time, but it would allow for more than only 6 players to play at once.

What about just instituting line changes for teams that have over 6 online? It would prevent teams from playing 20 times more game than others, while still letting everyone play as well as adding some strategy to it. Hell, up the fatigue while you're at it so you don't get jerks staying on all game and perhaps it can be a closer representation of the sport.

[kerosene31]

Re: Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

There's mention of it possibly cutting down on glitchers and cheesers, but in my experiences they really do make up the vast majority of those who play the game mode.

Well said. I totally agree. NHL 11 is the first game you can actually play more realistic hockey in the EASHL and succeed, yet in my experience, nobody does it.

I haven't run across an EASHL team that plays actual hockey in a long time. Every human player just chases the puck in a pack 100% of the time. All you hear is "tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap-tap" as everyone calls for the puck. Teams will make the same bad passes over and over and over constantly turning the puck over and never change. The players that are cheating or who have their legend card win because of the boosts. Everyone else loses easily.

In past years, you had to glitch to compete, but this year you can win without it, yet hardly anyone plays realistically anyway.

I'd be afraid to ask what the majority of the community wants, because I think the answer would not be what hardcore fans are looking for. I'm betting there is a huge push to put the game back on the arcade track.

[milesizdead]

Alter Egos on 360, we play real hockey
Challenges welcome (euro team though).

And the demand for more arcadey hockey and sim both could be accomplished with separate leagues, like so many of us have requested on the forums.

And this was my point for EASHLPA, if we got organized it would be so much easier to gather statistics on what people want. And for EA to give us what we want.

[Redskins Pride]

Re: Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

I agree, but I also think that EASHL IN 11 on the 360 is in declined. The search engine, awful attempt at monthly playoff and only 1 dressing room has killed the main 6 vs 6 teams. I think 60-70% fo the top teams just quit the game and don't play it that much as NHL 11 is just not reallly fun 6 vs 6.

EA Need to make better tuner.

60-70% of the top teams just quit the game ... ? oh you mean the one's that needed to loop glitch their way to the top, right?

[Sakuraba19]

No, i'm talking about club like Shammers, Believe the Hype, Dream Killers etc...who played 6 vs 6 only and never loop-glitched.

[udungoofed]

Re: Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

The EASHL needs to evolve IMO, it's sat on it's laurels since it's inception if you ask me.

I personally see the NHL 11 changes as mostly cosmetic. Rather than labeling the top 100 teams in Div 1, then the next 100 in Div 2, and so on......they just changed to 3 larger divisions that really had no effect. Elite teams play amateur teams (even in the playoffs), so really I think the changes to the divisions had no real change on the game.


I wish it just wasn't a massive league where it feels like games mean nothing. Does anyone really care if their 1345th or 1222nd? Seriously? Who cares. The only people are those that are in the top 100 in the elite division, that's it. No gamer takes solace in being anything but first place and in a "league" of thousands of teams, it seems like a poor design choice.


Back in 2007 I wrote a post on a forum, http://www.theisonews.com/forums/vie...league#2172657

Being a sports addict i'd want sports games to finally go MMO.

Hockey, football, baseball, soccer, basketball.....could all be done.

Let's get rid of AI and the stupid ****ing gimmicks they add to sports games every year to counteract the ****ty AI's the come up with.

For example this is how I'd see hockey being done...

For starters it's do-able considering it would take approx 800 people to fill an entire league.

You'd create your player as you would for any other MMO and would be given stat points to create the style of player you'd want. After seasons pass you'd be awarded more points based on your yearly performance and age, you could also use these points to buy new moves, dekes, etc.

In the beginning you'd play in some random games with other new joining players and based on your stat points and the stats you accumulate in the games (points, shots on net, faceoffs, etc) you'd be given your */100 rating.

You'd then join an league and be drafted or signed if the league was already underway.

There would have to be a schedule setup for each week where all the players on the team list their availability in the given time slots and the highest percentage for both teams would be when the game takes place. Certain leagues could be designed for specific schedules as well such as weekend only leagues.

The game mechanics would be rather easy, you just play your position, go off an on for line changes, etc. At the end of each month or so player ratings could be re-evaluated so that line changes could be made for more talented players.

If players can't make specific games then other players in that league of a close rating could sub in, or else be filled by AI.

At the end of each season not all players would likely come back so new players could be "drafted" and join into the league.

Voice comms could also be added for each line as the are on the ice, and then a channel for those on the bench.

Practice arenas could be provided for each team to join and just play around with the other teammates or even open arenas for players to play pickup games and hone their skills.

The business side of the sport could also be implemented with players signing contracts, asking for trades, etc, etc.

Just about everything that's real with the sport today i imagine could somehow be implemented into the game.

I dunno, sounds cool to me. The sports genre in my mind needs help bad, it's the same **** over and over and over....yet people buy because there isn't anything else if you want a game based on your favourite sport. So either way the genre will prosper, but i think if it went MMO, that the genre would truly dominate.

Anyways yeah, that's my perfect game.

Many sports games have since adopted this kind of mode (which is awesome that I called it out back in 2007) but I don't feel they've fully realized where they need to go with the mode yet.

I've since learned that with leagues of this magnitude, a set time for games would need to be set rather than leaving it up to the players. So for example a "7PM League" a "8PM League" etc.


But basically what I'm trying to say is, the EASHL needs to be more than what it is for the 99% of teams not in the top 100, because ultimately it's meaningless.

[JayhawkerStL]

"Hockey as a sport is perfect for online gaming. Two teams filled with human players does not strain the online servers too much, and the game's fast tempo and short overall duration appeal to the gamers of today."

Too bad it seems to mostly appeal to the biggest douche bags of today. It's such a great idea that is completely ruined by the people you have to play against. If people aren't glitching and cheating, they are whining about glitching and cheesing. So if you ever do become good, your efforts are just mocked.

The EASHL guys really ruined HUT for me. The spend so much time whining and trying to affect the tuning updates that is has ruined playing HUT offline, because we are stuck with the crybaby tuning updates.

They also ruined Be a Pro, because they are so darn willing to pay for their boosts, that BaP has been tuned to the point that it's no longer a fun experience to level up your players. I loved it in in NHL 09, but the easy money provided by the EASHL players created an incentive for EA to take advantage gamers that overvalue how impressed anyone is with their EASHL status.

As far as I'm concerned, the EASHL is a blight on the game, and I'm really sick of reading how entitled so many of the players feel about the game. They really believe that EA's NHL series revolves around them.

[milesizdead]

I agree, EASHL should evolve into something bigger and better, sooner rather than later.
This is where I think the Players Association would come in handy, our opinions would be easier to quantify if we were organized.

As for the douche bags, I think us Euros have a slight advantage there, it seems that there are less cheesers in our population than in NA. Just a gut feeling though, but in NHL11 we´ve hardly ever come across teams with questionable tactics...