PR isn't my specialty, but here are some sample announcements Electronic Arts could have made yesterday that might have justified their marketers' month-long buildup to the "New Era" of NHL 15, which went live Monday evening:
1) Letting PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players join lobbies and send friend invites in the Online Team Play mode, instead of being forced to rely on randomized matchmaking.
2) Adding support for EA Game Face created players to the new version of Online Team Play.
3) Finally updating NHL 15's player ratings, for the first time this year.
4) Making the many minor leagues and overseas clubs that are already included in NHL 15 part of the Be A Pro experience, plus bringing back the much-needed "sim to next shift" gameplay feature.
5) Introducing a second class of retired legends to NHL 15, bolstering the original group of 13.
6) Creating a legends-only team that could be used in Exhibition and Be A GM modes, instead of restricting these Hall of Famers to Ultimate Team, where they are affordable for only a tiny percentage of the playerbase. Doing so would also allow fans to finally see the full attribute ratings for legends without having to download a hobbyist's PC software just to discover such basic, essential information.
7) Adding offline tournaments and play a friend options to the PlayStation 4/Xbox One editions of Ultimate Team.
Nothing on that list seems like an unreasonable request for a game that's been sitting on store shelves for 13 weeks and hasn't received a content update in the past 7 weeks. Especially considering that most of those features are already present on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of NHL 15, or are currently a part of other EA Sports titles.
Unfortunately -- and perhaps predictably, given NHL 15's performance this year -- none of those good ideas were realized Monday.
The much-speculated "New Era" turned out to be nothing more than a reissue of an existing Ultimate Team card for former All-Star goaltender and current NHL head coach, Patrick Roy. The only difference between this new item and the card that has been available since November 10 is that the former sports a Colorado Avalanche logo, while the latter shows a Montreal Canadiens crest. The cards' ratings -- or at least, the five attributes that are visible in HUT -- are exactly the same.
"Blink and you'll miss it!" teases next week's NHL 15 reveal.
"It," at this point, must be referring to this marketing team's understanding of its audience.
In a week where EA Sports UFC fans are getting Brock Lesnar for free, the few people still playing NHL 15 just received the virtual equivalent of Christmas morning coal.