My view:
Sitting here with 10 days to go before the NHL 15 demo comes out. I am actually not excited in the slightest. Normally I would be for a brand new iteration on the NHL series and I would normally play the crap out of a an NHL Demo. I am stuck here thinking of what my plan is going to be if the next gen game does not include EASHL, now, this is mostly my fault for liking a game mode so much that I completely ignored all of the other ones.
When I look at how a game should normally advertise it's usually all done the same way. Release tiny bits of information each week as you draw closer to the release date. EA has a plan in place for when they want information released and they seem to be following that to a "T". I cannot sit here and say that is a terrible strategy when games have successfully used this time and time again, but I feel like EA may have made a marginal error this time around.
There is a large portion of players who play NHL religiously, and even play EASHL, OTP and Online 6 v 6 leagues so much that they have forgotten what outside looks like. (Including me)
Ever since this small rumor started, I scoffed and laughed it off like it nothing. That rumor has now exploded to the point where massive amounts of players are actually worried. Articles are popping up left and right about the possibility of it not being included in the next gen. A thread.. this thread, has reached over 100+ pages of worried players. Sorry I meant "Consumers".
Every single thing released since the rumor began manifesting has flown right over my head..
-New broadcast package? Who cares.. is EASHL or OTP in?
-Over head gameplay? Who cares... is EASHL or OTP in?
I cannot get excited for these brand new pieces of information as my head is still stuck at EASHL and OTP. This
PR plan has failed to hype NHL 15 for me and has instead just made me think of things I should do if it's not in.
A simple tweet saying "Don't worry it's in" or "There will be Online team play" would diffuse the situation. Instead EA seems to be content on riding this wave of Negative
PR and sticking to their guns on when the information should be released.
For me.. I am upset on how they actually just let this grow into something so much bigger than it should have been.
If it's not in the game.. Well than there wasn't much EA could do to really prepare for the impact that this would have on some of it's fan base.
If it's in the game.. I personally think the way EA handled it's
PR campaign on NHL 15 for the new consoles was extremely poor. I am 10 days from the demo and I don't feel excited for it. Maybe it's just me.. but just sitting in the dark on something so simple hasn't hyped me whatsoever.