Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL Into Something More

Feature Article

Submitted on: 10/21/2010 by Juha Leskinen

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.

Half a million people playing the same game mode all around the world. Looking at the forums around the Internet (I confess, I spend too much time reading about the EASHL, but that's only because I can't play the game at work), players tend to think alike about the game. They mostly have the same pros and cons regardless of language or location. Of course people who bother to write on the forums are generally those who take the game seriously, even too seriously at times, but that is just an indication that EA is doing something right. The game is just so good that you keep playing it regardless of minor flaws, and many spend hours and hours discussing the game on various forums.

The members of the NHL online world may never be able to match the number of players of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty or even FIFA, but we can match them in the passion that we show regarding the EASHL.

What I'm leading to here is that I think that it's time for an EASHLPA. It is time to formally open communications between EA and the players of this wonderful game mode. Each year the developers bring forth new features, and sometimes they take them away even if the players are happy with certain ones -- multiple dressing rooms anyone? If we stood organized instead of all of our voices getting lost in the forums, maybe they would listen to us even more.

Think of the possibilities:

Beta testers could be selected from the EASHLPA, voted in by the players themselves.
There would be an easy way for EA to organize events, tournaments, etc. on even a local level.
What better way would there be to get feedback from the gamers, in beta or retail, than from trusted members of the EASHLPA?
There would be a chance to actually do something more about glitchers, boosters and cheesers. For example, a certain amount of votes from official EASHLPA members would be evidence enough without video capture cards.
The developers could poll members about new features during the next game's development period.

And these are just a few examples. For EA, this would practically be a free method of improving the game via beta testers and the players' opinions. For EASHLPA members, this would be a chance to influence where the game went in the future.

May or may not be a member of the EASHLPA.

I am sure that there would be an adequate number of active players that would participate and be of some use to EA. And of course for EA, what a marketing tool. This would be an all-new interaction between developers and players, all with the common purpose of making the game even better than it is already.

The EASHLPA could be localized. You could have a sect in each region so local tournaments and competitions would be easier to organize. EA and the Players Association could have annual tournaments and visibility in the gaming media as well.

Compared to other virtual sport franchises, EA NHL's smaller fan base would be a perfect place to try different things for EA. If it works with the NHL franchise, it could be implemented into bigger games and larger customer groups.

I am ready to do my part and so are a lot of other players out there. Is EA?

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Member Comments

# 1 Sakuraba19 @ 10/21/10 12:02 PM

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.

# 2 adayinthelife @ 10/21/10 12:23 PM

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.

# 3 speels @ 10/21/10 01:19 PM

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.

# 4 adayinthelife @ 10/21/10 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

# 5 kerosene31 @ 10/21/10 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adayinthelife


	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.

# 6 milesizdead @ 10/21/10 02:43 PM

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.

# 7 Redskins Pride @ 10/21/10 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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?

# 8 Sakuraba19 @ 10/21/10 05:08 PM

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

# 9 milesizdead @ 10/23/10 05:07 AM

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...

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