NHL Community Committee

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Hi folks. I'm here coming from the EA forums side. I lurk occasionally on here as well, checking in on threads and seeing some of the topics being discussed.

Many of you seem to be rather distraught, and I can understand that to an extent. However; the OS community is made of primarily of folks that focus more on the offline aspects of the game. EASHL is an online game mode. As a guy who posts mostly on the EA forums, I came to read the applications and there were really none that were comparable to that of Ooohways and UTPs when it came to looking for what I wanted to be on the committee. The majority of posts were focused on Be a GM, Gameplay, and presentation as a user outlined a few pages ago.

That isn't what this committee is for. It is for EASHL activities, and from applications (which is the only thing that EA is reading that anyone posts these days) Those two were the best choice. From your perspectives, yes, it might be rough because you don't feel you have a representation on the committee. But as a whole, would you all consider yourself truly adequate to providing feedback about EASHL? Over on the EA Forums, probably closeto 50% of posts are EASHL related. That is the focus. Here, you all are probably lucky to get 10% related to EASHL. So it should come to no surprise that folks that applied stating they had ideas for the EASHL game mode were chosen. If you all want a better game, sending folks that don't have expertise in the proper game mode isn't going to improve the game, which is exactly the position that this community has.

It's obviously a tough pill to swallow. But I can say that the folks from the EA Forums side of the committee share many of your ideas and frustrations with the game. Gameplay is the other 50% of posts on the EA Forums these days, and every person that was chosen from our side knows the faults that gameplay has. They will do all that they can to improve most of these issues.

Rather than request a re-vote, or mod selection of OS members, request another committee that relates to things such as GM mode, Rosters, Likenesses, etc, as you all would be extremely qualified, moreso than any other community out there, to guide the series in the right direction for those modes.

You cannot paint everyone in here in such broad of a brush. I clearly stated that I have well over a 1000 games in EASHL and OTP each and every year since it has existed. When asked about my focus on the game mode I stated that I guess it would be gameplay within the mode. Mostly because the question was so unspecific to begin with it that really none of us knew exactly what they were looking for.

Furthermore, we are more peeved about how everything was handled and the lack of communication on the matter than anything else. Why exactly did this need to be done through OS? We are not represented and we had nothing to do with any part of this in the end. I can pretty much assure that nearly nobody in this community voted for anyone that was chosen. And the two people that were picked from the OS group only signed up here when this was announced to be considered as a back way into the registration.

I am certain that I am not alone when saying that most of us were under the impression that this would be an in-house vote. A vote in which you needed to be a registered member here at OS to be able to participate it. That is the vibe everyone seemed to have from the start and we never really got any more info until it was time to vote, and even that was vague at best.

Having a private vote at OS seemed most logical to me. If people wanted to vote they would have to join. It would benefit OS to have the traffic influx if outsiders wanted to make their pitch and have their followers come in and vote, no?

Instead something was dangled in front of this community, which hasn't really had the best relations with EA Vancouver of late to begin with, and then pulled out from under that same community. That is why people are upset.

I haven't really heard anyone that is upset about the two people that got voted to be in the committee. That isn't what people are saying at all. It is the blatant disregard and misrepresentation that occurred and caused us to truly be left out in this situation. Nobody here would have probably said a thing had this all occurred and OS wasn't included in the first place, but the post was made and OS was mentioned specifically as having a voice in the community with this opportunity. That didn't occur in the slightest.

Sure there were quite a few that put their names in for consideration that really didn't understand the concept or didn't fit the bill, but there are still plenty of people here that could have made a difference for the better had they been selected. Those people could've worked with EA and OS to be a liaison. And the two people that were voted in from the Youtube community could've still went in some capacity and OS would have never known or cared because it has no ties to those people.

All-in-all, this was handled about as poorly as everything else has been with NHL of late. So please don't come in here and attempt to rationalize it to this community who feels slighted. An outsider cannot see it through their eyes and it just comes off as ignorant. And that isn't directed towards just you, StLHokie.

Just know that people here care and want to help. We were asked for help and then did what we were asked to do to take part. In the end, we were ignored once again.

[bwiggy33]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Quite frankly I think there may have been a few people confused by the article or application process (I know I was). Yes it emphasized the EASHL area, but the application also states they are looking for people who specialize in other areas of the game. Many people posted their applications due to that and not EASHL. The article says:

"Our goal is to bring the most passionate and knowledgeable community members into the studio to directly influence and shape the development of core game modes, as well as other aspects of the game. This first event will take place in early December.

This NHL Community Committee will eventually work to bring fan feedback directly to many aspects of the game, but the first objective is to help with the development of EA SPORTS Hockey League."

Sounds to me like they also want other areas of the game. At no place does it state when non EASHL players should submit their application. That's why people put their applications in. I guess I'll just assume there must be a few more voting times when the dates are announced for the other areas. All I know is that if there are offline, BAGM, and gameplay related area community days we better get true veteran representatives from this site. In fact we should be allowed to have two people join the EA forums and take those spots. I completely agree most of the people on the site don't play online modes often, but I can definitely say we specialize in those other areas, besides HUT.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Hi folks. I'm here coming from the EA forums side. I lurk occasionally on here as well, checking in on threads and seeing some of the topics being discussed.

Many of you seem to be rather distraught, and I can understand that to an extent. However; the OS community is made of primarily of folks that focus more on the offline aspects of the game. EASHL is an online game mode. As a guy who posts mostly on the EA forums, I came to read the applications and there were really none that were comparable to that of Ooohways and UTPs when it came to looking for what I wanted to be on the committee. The majority of posts were focused on Be a GM, Gameplay, and presentation as a user outlined a few pages ago.

That isn't what this committee is for. It is for EASHL activities, and from applications (which is the only thing that EA is reading that anyone posts these days) Those two were the best choice. From your perspectives, yes, it might be rough because you don't feel you have a representation on the committee. But as a whole, would you all consider yourself truly adequate to providing feedback about EASHL? Over on the EA Forums, probably closeto 50% of posts are EASHL related. That is the focus. Here, you all are probably lucky to get 10% related to EASHL. So it should come to no surprise that folks that applied stating they had ideas for the EASHL game mode were chosen. If you all want a better game, sending folks that don't have expertise in the proper game mode isn't going to improve the game, which is exactly the position that this community has.

It's obviously a tough pill to swallow. But I can say that the folks from the EA Forums side of the committee share many of your ideas and frustrations with the game. Gameplay is the other 50% of posts on the EA Forums these days, and every person that was chosen from our side knows the faults that gameplay has. They will do all that they can to improve most of these issues.

Rather than request a re-vote, or mod selection of OS members, request another committee that relates to things such as GM mode, Rosters, Likenesses, etc, as you all would be extremely qualified, moreso than any other community out there, to guide the series in the right direction for those modes.

Thanks for dropping by but no need to coddle everything was pretty clear if you took the time to read the application but its great EA NHL cares as NHL 15 laid a excellent foundation for many years to come if you build upon it

[StLHokie]

Re: NHL Community Committee

You cannot paint everyone in here in such broad of a brush. I clearly stated that I have well over a 1000 games in EASHL and OTP each and every year since it has existed. When asked about my focus on the game mode I stated that I guess it would be gameplay within the mode. Mostly because the question was so unspecific to begin with it that really none of us knew exactly what they were looking for.

Did you? Because reading this does not state anywhere that you play over 1000 games a year.

"My working knowledge of the game and sport, along with my thousands of hours playing EASHL for top ranked clubs over the years has shown me the best and worst parts of this game mode."

No where in the quote from your application does it say that you put in that amount of time. Thousands of hours could be in one year, or 5, but you didn't mention it. In addition, nowhere in the application did you state what typical game sizes that you play. In a mode where there is a vast separation between those that play 6v6 very competitively, or 2v2 extremely casually, it's critical to state which side of the eightball you were coming from. Balance between the 2v2 guys and the 6v6 guys is obviously something that still needs a lot of work, and you didn't give any insight into level of play other than "for top ranked clubs" which is a comment completely left up to interpretation.

Furthermore, we are more peeved about how everything was handled and the lack of communication on the matter than anything else. Why exactly did this need to be done through OS? We are not represented and we had nothing to do with any part of this in the end. I can pretty much assure that nearly nobody in this community voted for anyone that was chosen. And the two people that were picked from the OS group only signed up here when this was announced to be considered as a back way into the registration.

I am certain that I am not alone when saying that most of us were under the impression that this would be an in-house vote. A vote in which you needed to be a registered member here at OS to be able to participate it. That is the vibe everyone seemed to have from the start and we never really got any more info until it was time to vote, and even that was vague at best.

The post made on the EA Forums site was identical to the one posted here. Nowhere in the posts did it say that the voting would be OS community specific. The committee was to be made up of those players within the entire NHL community. EA Forums and OS just got preferential treatment because they happen to be two of the places that have had culminating members for a number of years.

Having difficulties interpreting a pretty simple application post is another cause for concern. If you require clarification on what the post entails, then the first thing you do is ask. Why? Because you know what they say about people that assume.... No one asked a single question about the details of the application request.

Having a private vote at OS seemed most logical to me. If people wanted to vote they would have to join. It would benefit OS to have the traffic influx if outsiders wanted to make their pitch and have their followers come in and vote, no?

Instead something was dangled in front of this community, which hasn't really had the best relations with EA Vancouver of late to begin with, and then pulled out from under that same community. That is why people are upset.

A private vote? You want the votes of perhaps 100 people to determine what occurs in a game that sells over 250,000 copies a year? Not a good idea, at least not from the perspective of the masses, which unfortunately, is what EA tends to cater to. Would I have been in support of this? Maybe, yes. It would be nice to be able to hand select the cream of the crop from each community, but then how would EA advertise that the Committee was actually formed from the entire community, rather than one small niche?

I haven't really heard anyone that is upset about the two people that got voted to be in the committee. That isn't what people are saying at all. It is the blatant disregard and misrepresentation that occurred and caused us to truly be left out in this situation. Nobody here would have probably said a thing had this all occurred and OS wasn't included in the first place, but the post was made and OS was mentioned specifically as having a voice in the community with this opportunity. That didn't occur in the slightest.

Sure there were quite a few that put their names in for consideration that really didn't understand the concept or didn't fit the bill, but there are still plenty of people here that could have made a difference for the better had they been selected. Those people could've worked with EA and OS to be a liaison. And the two people that were voted in from the Youtube community could've still went in some capacity and OS would have never known or cared because it has no ties to those people.

All-in-all, this was handled about as poorly as everything else has been with NHL of late. So please don't come in here and attempt to rationalize it to this community who feels slighted. An outsider cannot see it through their eyes and it just comes off as ignorant. And that isn't directed towards just you, StLHokie.

Just know that people here care and want to help. We were asked for help and then did what we were asked to do to take part. In the end, we were ignored once again.

It's EA. Their practices have become terrible as of late. It's caused many folks, including myself, to turn elsewhere for their hockey fix. I'm in complete agreement that their communication continues to be completely terrible. But there is only one way that we, as players, can send a message. And that is through limiting the amount of money they receive. It's important to stop buying the game if you want a better product, but it is also important to dry up other means of revenue, like watching EA related youtube channels. (More viewers = more money for advertisements = more money to spend on HUT = Bigger Pack Pulls = More viewers = ..... it's a cycle)

And I'll also throw it out there that I would not consider myself as an outsider to this community even if you might. I've been reading here since I started playing the game. I've read through hundreds of pages of "How's your GM going" just because it's interested me in what people are doing. I've gone through revamped rosters to see they types of updates that users within this community were making. I've followed the custom music tracks, I've played around with sliders, and I've done just about everything else that anyone within this community has done. The difference is that I just chose to post more over at EA Forums because there is typically more activity.

So maybe, it is not me who is the one coming off as ignorant.

[drog1602]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Well I don't expect much change if any at all. Besides, it will take at least a couple of years to get any suggestions implemented into the game (thats if they even use any of the suggestions). At best for next year, we can hope for a bare bones EASHL on Xbox 1 and PS4. My question is how stripped down will it be. Where is this transparency they kept talking about?

The EA forums are a mess, not worth the time of day. Its not what it used to be over there.

I have zero faith in EA Sports and this franchise.

[THESHAMISASHAME]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Well I don't expect much change if any at all. Besides, it will take at least a couple of years to get any suggestions implemented into the game (thats if they even use any of the suggestions). At best for next year, we can hope for a bare bones EASHL on Xbox 1 and PS4. My question is how stripped down will it be. Where is this transparency they kept talking about?

The EA forums are a mess, not worth the time of day. Its not what it used to be over there.

I have zero faith in EA Sports and this franchise.

Agree on the not much will change as they dont even have all the modes back in the game so they should be busy with that but hopefully they bring back real physics like when NHL 15 was released and not mess with gameplay too much .

[Gotmilkman24]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Does anyone think our votes will actually matter? I mean cover voting didn't matter?

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL Community Committee

I think we all need to forget about this one. Good luck to the guys who were voted in and I really hope they make a difference for EASHL. I agree that it sucks to feel like we weren't really considered, but what's done is done and we can't change that. Let's look towards the future committee meetings. The ones we OSers will care more about anyway - gameplay and offline modes. Let's hope that we will be heavily considered for those ones.

[AdamJones113]

Re: NHL Community Committee

(They went at the end of January)

According to one of the GameChangers (the new name for the program), that will be the sole committee and those involved are GameChangers for all aspects of the game.

So yeah, Simple, I do care about it now.

Ya screwed us EA, ya screwed OS hard.

[bigwill33]

Re: NHL Community Committee

(They went at the end of January)

According to one of the GameChangers (the new name for the program), that will be the sole committee and those involved are GameChangers for all aspects of the game.

So yeah, Simple, I do care about it now.

Ya screwed us EA, ya screwed OS hard.

So, there will be no other committees formed based off of other portions of the game? It is going to be those guys for everything, not just online?

How did you find out about this? Because their certainly wasn't any mention of this occurring on OS. Not that we should be surprised, but we are being represented there.

[AdamJones113]

Re: NHL Community Committee

So, there will be no other committees formed based off of other portions of the game? It is going to be those guys for everything, not just online?

How did you find out about this? Because their certainly wasn't any mention of this occurring on OS. Not that we should be surprised, but we are being represented there.

Here's a link and copy-paste of part of a post by one of the GameChangers, from the EA Forums.

"Not long ago a vote was held so that you, the community, can select the best possible representatives to form an EASHL Committee. While at first this committee started its focus solely on the initial
Game mode it was created for, the situation and timing allowed for this group to evolve into one that is more involved in all the other modes as well."

"The biggest change is that this is not just about an EASHL Committee anymore. So for those of you that I talked to and said I would try to bring up other issues if I can, it is now a reality. Please continue to provide what you think could improve the game in the future, including current gameplay issues!"

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL Community Committee

So we have a bunch of EASHL guys calling all the shots for BaGM? And for rosters? So maybe instead of more player separation, player specific traits, and editable rosters, we might get different colored helmets and skill boosts for using the CCM purple camouflage stick. But don't worry. Instead of more realistic rosters, maybe we will get players skating with a Santa hat on and more black guys with blonde hair.

[AdamJones113]

Re: NHL Community Committee

So we have a bunch of EASHL guys calling all the shots for BaGM? And for rosters? So maybe instead of more player separation, player specific traits, and editable rosters, we might get different colored helmets and skill boosts for using the CCM purple camouflage stick. But don't worry. Instead of more realistic rosters, maybe we will get players skating with a Santa hat on and more black guys with blonde hair.

... Yup

I don't think it will be that outrageous in non-EASHL modes.

I do know that EA cares less than zero about OS, dedicated to sim gaming.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL Community Committee

I've seen this mentioned a few times now - that the Gamechangers and the EA devs "share a vision" now. Call me pessimistic, but am I wrong for being absolutely terrified of this vision? I have a bad feeling about the future of this game.

[utp102]

Re: NHL Community Committee

Hey guys

The event was phenomenal, it was everything I expected.

The game is no doubt headed in a much better direction.

Now I'm not allowed to say a lot but here goes nothing.

In regards to EASHL, it looks awesome. There is going to be a whole new system which is crazy to think. It has a lot of potential to be a system that makes everyone happy and play very well.

As we learn more about what we can and cannot say I will try to relay more info.

They also changed the committee to focus on ALL game modes not just EASHL.

If you have any questions I'll try to reply to the best of my ability within my limit of what I can say. Thanks.

Kyle