NHL 14: Too Much Simplifying? - Wiggy's Blog

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NHL 14: Too Much Simplifying? Stuck

Posted on April 26, 2013 at 05:24 PM.

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After posting our article with David Littman talking about NHL 14, several OS users (as well as posters on reddit) were rightfully concerned about the impact of simplified deking. In addition, there is probably reason to be wary of the new hitting system, which does sound like it will have more impact but with less skill required to actually initiate a hit. All of these changes are being touted as new features as well as improvements to the existing game, but does making something less challenging (and more inviting for casuals) actually preserve the depth of the system that was there to begin with?

It's a problem that's dogged many games, including almost every sports game, for years. The developers want to make certain features accessible to the widest possible audience of players. They come up with something interesting within the gameplay that core gamers absolutely love (or at least get used to), but then casual players just don't use it or -- worse for the devs -- don't play the game at all. I personally know several people that don't actually use the skill stick in NHL 13, lending credence to EA's move to include the NHL '94 control scheme so that certain "old-time" users would feel more comfortable. I think those users are missing out on the depth and fun of the skill stick, but that's their prerogative.

Sometimes these systems are implemented well; other times, they end up hindering the complexity of the simulation and alienating the users who are most passionate about the game. In the case of NHL 14, I worry that deking is system that didn't really need to be addressed in this way, and for hitting, the input method wasn't really the problem. On top of this, if any system needed an overhaul and simplification, it's the defensive side of the game, as that's been lacking in the last several versions.

OS users were generally wary of this simplification of deking. User "onac22" said:

Quote:


	Oh great. So now any goomba can spam dekes up and down the ice. No thank you.

On Reddit, user "tekeetakshak" said the following:

Quote:


	Who the ** is giving that kind of feedback. First of all, dekeing a d-man out of position or deking past one in real life is really ***** rare. Secondly, if you raise your deke stat to something like 80, they're incredibly easy to pull off. All you have to know is which combo does what, and when to pull them off for the most success. Honestly, this kind of feedback sucks. How about fixing things like stick lift? I'm too afraid to use it because half the time you get a slashing or hooking penalty

Then again, both communities seemed to go back and forth on the complexity of the deke system and whether it was even viable in the first place. It certainly is a situational feature, and I believe that the dekes should be rare and hard to pull off. Unfortunately, EA has always only dipped its toe in the pond when it comes to really creating "role players" on the ice. They don't want to hinder users so much that they get frustrated when a skater can't do something. They've certainly made fourth-liners pretty slow and tank-like, but there needs to be more variance with the upper echelon talent in the league and guys who are just solid players.

As for the hitting, I think it's a potentially cool idea (more impact, easier to pull off), but I worry that it means that any player (or CPU) can just steamroll you with minimal effort and momentum, creating absurd giant hits that happened back in NHL 2005 or NHL 2006. As I said before, I'm all for the system of hitting being re-evaluated and tuned, because it needed it, but I hope this doesn't just become a comical hit fest where any user can just drift into you and score a hit. There's a balance there, and I hope EA is able to find it.

The fear for the deking is that a one-button input (with automated deke results) is just going to lead to users spamming these move intentionally, unintentionally, or both. I'm sure EA will throttle the ability to use these moves too often, but it's still cheapening the simulation when something that should be reserved to top-shelf talent is going to become a main feature of every shift of every game.

Honestly, making things accessible is not really the problem. Often a game system or input is too complicated, and it should be revisited with each version of a game. But I think there's a line. When the developers have been positioning their product as a simulation for a long time, they should be careful with putting in too much arcade action and simplicity, as the unintended consequences for AI behaviour and on-line competition might outweigh the benefit gained for casual solo users.

Comments

# 1 teebee @ Apr 26

Anything to make NHL moves more accessible is a good thing I say; it's easily the hardest EA game to get used to playing let alone remembering all the crazy moves like some Mortal Kombat game

# 2 kmoser @ Apr 26

I am a casual gamer with the EA NHL series and when I heard that dekes will only be the press of a button even I thought it sounded weird. Hopefully it works out.

# 3 Simple Mathematics @ Apr 26

Sounds like the Ratings Revamped project for NHL 14 will be lowering every player's deking by a large amount.

# 4 Feldman011teen @ Apr 26

Sounds like little will change with how the actual game goes or with the be a gm.

# 5 onac22 @ Apr 26

One thought on the new hitting, the game this year allready has trouble calling way too many interference calls. Lately my cpu teammates take 4 to five a game behind the play. So now EA says next year just running into someone initiates a hit, how will interference be handled by the AI.

# 6 Dazraz @ Apr 27

I believe developers should always give the gamers the option of total control or a more simplified control system for casual players.

# 7 AP 17 @ Apr 27

Call me crazy, but EA needs to go back to their roots. NHL 04 has many elements that 13 could benefit from. Breakouts, fighting (Especially the way a fight is initiated) and cpu aggressiveness were all better back 10 years ago. I just don't understand how designers who pride themselves on authenticity continue to lag so far behind other sports games (The show, fifa and NBA). The presentation needs to be revamped, faces need to be addressed and the cohesiveness in which the game flows re-worked. Personally I feel like NHL could learned a lot from FIFA. Player attribute system, player traits and the control scheme for pulling off dekes should be copied over from FIFA to NHL in some form. If you have a 75 deke rating, that player should not be able to attempt (and successfully) pull off the same move a player with a 90 deke rating can. But this all goes back to player differentiation which is least evident in NHL than any other sports game. Long-story short, EA Canada would be well served to stop trying to advertise back-of-the-box content to wow its audience. Simply refining the product they have would overall, make the community much happier!

# 8 Storm12 @ Apr 27

@AP 17 Breakouts and fights were awesome in 04! I loved how if a fight had started it was to control physical play, the breakouts actually took more skill to start as well, but if you did it well enough you could get a breakaway from really skilled passing (This is with the 2 line pass rule on mind you.