NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

[SVCbearcat10]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I think we talk about it because we are so used to this now. It seems like it's the same thing every year now.

1. Hype it up
2. Go silent
3. Secretly release unfinished product
4. Fans get disappointed
5. Come up with excuses for why the game underwhelms

The more the above formula occurs, the more the fan disappointment and outrage increases.

Step 3...didn't that only happen once? The ironic thing is that NHL 15 is by far the best gameplay of any NHL to date. I'm not saying how they handled the first release into the next generation of consoles is good or bad. If all the game modes were in and the gameplay wasn't different enough, everyone would have been screaming just as loudly.

Go the MLB TS forums on here. They got everything over and fans weren't as happy for the first time in years because the "leap" wasn't large enough from PS3 to PS4. I think there is going to be a generation of disappointed gamers because I don't think games are going to progress at the same rate in the past because technology hasn't had a huge leap because it's a very mature segment of the industry.

As a community, it's grown to be a microcosm of society as a whole. We are extremely impatient and have unrealistic expectations. Nothing put out (especially sports games) will ever live up to the hype because there is no way to program a game to mimic human behavior perfectly. Especially because everyone handles the same situation slightly differently. And in a video game, if the AI makes a mistake then the game is stupid, developers are dumb rather than people saying it's life-like in the fact that the AI can make errors.

[Cletus]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

The NHL series is like having a racing game with only minivans on 8 different tracks. Then last year they release sedans but only give you 4 tracks. Sure the sedans are the best we've ever had but hardcore guys still want Maseratis and Ferraris.

MLB the show is a totally different game and bAseball is a completely different sport but if they pulled the stunts that EA has with series I'd love to see how it turns out. There's still issues and I'm not a big fan of the game but it at least has all of its game modes from last gen without taking a year off. The devs at least listened and got feedback instead of disappearing and making false claims.

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

[AdamJones113]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

There's a middle ground between acceptance and complaining. I accept the game for what it is (I still play NHL 14) and enjoy it for that, but that does not mean I should stop complaining, aka trying to make the game better. I enjoy but still acknowledge the game has a ton of flaws and I would like to see them fixed. Ergo, the posts and threads.

So (due to the abysmal communication by EA) I take this stuff, as bigwill said with a grain of salt.

[brandon27]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I really hope NHL16 is fantastic, but after the letdown that was 15, I don't think I'll be buying this right away. It's going to be a wait and see for me. Theyve either got to show alot prior to release of whats new etc. Or I'm going to need to see/hear alot from folks here about how it is.

I'll be excited when they show us some actual details of the product and it's enhancements. Right now, its all just talk. Positive, yes, but I had a positive vibe from EA heading into NHL 15 as well.

Hopefully they do nail it though, and there's reason to be excited.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

Step 3...didn't that only happen once? The ironic thing is that NHL 15 is by far the best gameplay of any NHL to date. I'm not saying how they handled the first release into the next generation of consoles is good or bad. If all the game modes were in and the gameplay wasn't different enough, everyone would have been screaming just as loudly.

Go the MLB TS forums on here. They got everything over and fans weren't as happy for the first time in years because the "leap" wasn't large enough from PS3 to PS4. I think there is going to be a generation of disappointed gamers because I don't think games are going to progress at the same rate in the past because technology hasn't had a huge leap because it's a very mature segment of the industry.

As a community, it's grown to be a microcosm of society as a whole. We are extremely impatient and have unrealistic expectations. Nothing put out (especially sports games) will ever live up to the hype because there is no way to program a game to mimic human behavior perfectly. Especially because everyone handles the same situation slightly differently. And in a video game, if the AI makes a mistake then the game is stupid, developers are dumb rather than people saying it's life-like in the fact that the AI can make errors.

I disagree with NHL 15 having the best gameplay ever. They took out roster editing so every player plays the exact same way. You see 4th line enforcers deking out Shea Weber. I feel no difference between Colton Orr and Sidney Crosby. NHL 14's gameplay with the Revamped Rosters was much better in my opinion. And the best gameplay of any hockey game of all time, in my opinion, is NHL 2004 on the PC with mods.

[jake19ny]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I'm not going to shoot the messenger here and I appreciate any info the community event guys can give us but I will never believe a word that comes out of EA ever again. Bigwill pretty much said it all. I will only add that this company has hyped and disappointed in the past but nothing as bad as this year. They touted NHL15 Next Gen as this great master piece fully knowing it was an unfinished mess. Then we had a few announcements such as "Greatest Day in EA NHL History" only to be disappointed to find out its HUT packs. After acknowledging the game to be a let down they promised more communication with the community only to go ghost except questions regarding HUT. I cannot help but feel that this event was nothing more than damage control and a PR move. I am not expecting anything other than the return of game modes and other things that were in NHL 14. Sad truth is if they return season mode, editing players, roster control, and EASHL is good, I will be happy. I have given up on getting the gameplay to be what we want and I have always managed to tweak things enough to enjoy the game in the past. I do feel they have attempted to fix things in this area before but when they change something it breaks something else. If I could actually pick one thing that must be addressed is the sliders need to work properly. too many of them do little or nothing at all and if they did, along with edited rosters, we might be able to correct many flaws ourselves. I still plan on making this my first year in many that I will not preorder the game. I'm waiting until I see gamers feedback. Sorry EA but talk is cheap and the proof will be in the pudding.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I'm not going to shoot the messenger here and I appreciate any info the community event guys can give us but I will never believe a word that comes out of EA ever again. Bigwill pretty much said it all. I will only add that this company has hyped and disappointed in the past but nothing as bad as this year. They touted NHL15 Next Gen as this great master piece fully knowing it was an unfinished mess. Then we had a few announcements such as "Greatest Day in EA NHL History" only to be disappointed to find out its HUT packs. After acknowledging the game to be a let down they promised more communication with the community only to go ghost except questions regarding HUT. I cannot help but feel that this event was nothing more than damage control and a PR move. I am not expecting anything other than the return of game modes and other things that were in NHL 14. Sad truth is if they return season mode, editing players, roster control, and EASHL is good, I will be happy. I have given up on getting the gameplay to be what we want and I have always managed to tweak things enough to enjoy the game in the past. I do feel they have attempted to fix things in this area before but when they change something it breaks something else. If I could actually pick one thing that must be addressed is the sliders need to work properly. too many of them do little or nothing at all and if they did, along with edited rosters, we might be able to correct many flaws ourselves. I still plan on making this my first year in many that I will not preorder the game. I'm waiting until I see gamers feedback. Sorry EA but talk is cheap and the proof will be in the pudding.

I have the same feeling that this year is going to just be NHL 14 on next gen consoles. If that is true, well then that just flat out sucks.

[HarryHood059]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I have the same feeling that this year is going to just be NHL 14 on next gen consoles. If that is true, well then that just flat out sucks.

i'm getting the same sense as you, and am not too thrilled about it especially when you have MLB the Show go out of their way to include their customers/fan base in the decision making process- all the while conducting this process with clear transparency not at a secret gathering for a selected few.

ergo, i'm not the least bit excited.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

i'm getting the same sense as you, and am not too thrilled about it especially when you have MLB the Show go out of their way to include their customers/fan base in the decision making process- all the while conducting this process with clear transparency not at a secret gathering for a selected few.

ergo, i'm not the least bit excited.

I have always wondered this. Why is everything always a secret amongst game developers, most notably EA? What is the big secret and why can't they tell us their visions for the game? Wouldn't that just get more interest in the game and therefore create more sales?

And if they keep secrets because they don't want to make promises that they might have to break, well I think that's a little better than continuously underwhelming with their finished products.

[jkra0512]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

I have always wondered this. Why is everything always a secret amongst game developers, most notably EA? What is the big secret and why can't they tell us their visions for the game? Wouldn't that just get more interest in the game and therefore create more sales?

And if they keep secrets because they don't want to make promises that they might have to break, well I think that's a little better than continuously underwhelming with their finished products.

You basically answered your own question, and correctly IMO. I would add they don't make these promises because of expectations. Think about it, if they can temper expectations from its fanbase, then incremental improvements can be touted as monumental features.

Plus, it's a business move and one SCEA and their Show series is beginning to see, which is product fatigue. If you give your customer base everything they want in one iteration, then you need to spend money on innovation (e.g. defenseman playing sound defense), which costs much more than making small changes and touting them as game changers (e.g. new card packs for HUT!).

Unfortunately for us the hardcore fans, HUT is where it's at. EA is a business, and while it's tough for us to swallow the fact that they spend so much time & resources on HUT, that's their cash cow and they'd be foolish not to take advantage of that. That said, NHL 15 is the future of how EA will treat their hardcore fans, and I'm sure most of you have already seen that coming.

You hear it all the time, if you don't like the product anymore, don't support it. If EA is to change anything, it'll come from people not frequenting the message boards, people not hyping up the game for them, and people ultimately not buying the game. EA only sees one thing, money, and each and every year the same people are buying the same game and have the same complaints...but the one common factor is EA still gets its money. If you do buy the game, don't do it day-one, don't use HUT, and buy used or at an extremely discounted price!

Finally, in regards to this specific event, it's an EA-sponsored event, who the heck is going to come out of there and say, "Man, they've done NOTHING with this game, you should just turn away"? C'mon...

[FBeaule04]

Completely agree with BigWill on that one. Couldn't have said it better myself to be honest.

The NHL series to me is like the actual Oilers. Run by people who doesn't seem to know what they are doing, too much passengers that don't care, huge holes on defence, no goalies and over and over again, telling you that it's going to be better next year.

Like the Oilers, I'm only going to say that no matter how hard you're telling us it's going to be something next year, I'll believe when I see it!

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

You basically answered your own question, and correctly IMO. I would add they don't make these promises because of expectations. Think about it, if they can temper expectations from its fanbase, then incremental improvements can be touted as monumental features.

Plus, it's a business move and one SCEA and their Show series is beginning to see, which is product fatigue. If you give your customer base everything they want in one iteration, then you need to spend money on innovation (e.g. defenseman playing sound defense), which costs much more than making small changes and touting them as game changers (e.g. new card packs for HUT!).

Unfortunately for us the hardcore fans, HUT is where it's at. EA is a business, and while it's tough for us to swallow the fact that they spend so much time & resources on HUT, that's their cash cow and they'd be foolish not to take advantage of that. That said, NHL 15 is the future of how EA will treat their hardcore fans, and I'm sure most of you have already seen that coming.

You hear it all the time, if you don't like the product anymore, don't support it. If EA is to change anything, it'll come from people not frequenting the message boards, people not hyping up the game for them, and people ultimately not buying the game. EA only sees one thing, money, and each and every year the same people are buying the same game and have the same complaints...but the one common factor is EA still gets its money. If you do buy the game, don't do it day-one, don't use HUT, and buy used or at an extremely discounted price!

Finally, in regards to this specific event, it's an EA-sponsored event, who the heck is going to come out of there and say, "Man, they've done NOTHING with this game, you should just turn away"? C'mon...

The thing that scares me with the NHL series is if enough people dont buy the game to prove a point, there won't be a game the next year because EA would just cancel the franchise. It's NHL, it's not Madden or FIFA. Their NHL franchise seems to be becoming a cheap money-grab. And if it's no longer making money, I can see EA pulling the plug on the NHL franchise very quickly.

[jkra0512]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

The thing that scares me with the NHL series is if enough people dont buy the game to prove a point, there won't be a game the next year because EA would just cancel the franchise. It's NHL, it's not Madden or FIFA. Their NHL franchise seems to be becoming a cheap money-grab. And if it's no longer making money, I can see EA pulling the plug on the NHL franchise very quickly.

That's definitely a possibility. So the question becomes, do you continue to support a subpar product or are you happy enough with the games they release each year? For me, I could definitely move on, just like I did with their NCAA Football product (before EA pulled the plug because of the player licensing cases)...however, I can see that being more difficult for others who have grown more attached to the NHL product than I have.

[MavsUCCB]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

If EA had any guts they'd fly BigWill out for a sit down with no NDA required and let him get everything he ever wanted to get off his chest. I'm picturing Frank Costanza on Festivus but I think it would show that these community events aren't just going to be lip service.

[Simple Mathematics]

Re: NHL GameChangers Event Recap: "You Should Be Excited"

That's definitely a possibility. So the question becomes, do you continue to support a subpar product or are you happy enough with the games they release each year? For me, I could definitely move on, just like I did with their NCAA Football product (before EA pulled the plug because of the player licensing cases)...however, I can see that being more difficult for others who have grown more attached to the NHL product than I have.

Oh I have already been exploring my other options. Franchise Hockey Manager 2 is sounding like it will be much better than last year's version and I can see myself getting very into that product. I have also downloaded the NHL 2004 Rebuilt mod and just started playing that again. I have also looked into downloading the NHL Hitz Pro mod.

Of course I would prefer a brand new EA NHL game to play. But if that's not an option, there are other ways I can get my hockey fix.