Dump 'N Cheese - Organizing the EASHL into Something More

[Sakuraba19]

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

[udungoofed]

The EASHL needs to evolve IMO, it's sat on it's laurels since it's inception if you ask me.

I personally see the NHL 11 changes as mostly cosmetic. Rather than labeling the top 100 teams in Div 1, then the next 100 in Div 2, and so on......they just changed to 3 larger divisions that really had no effect. Elite teams play amateur teams (even in the playoffs), so really I think the changes to the divisions had no real change on the game.


I wish it just wasn't a massive league where it feels like games mean nothing. Does anyone really care if their 1345th or 1222nd? Seriously? Who cares. The only people are those that are in the top 100 in the elite division, that's it. No gamer takes solace in being anything but first place and in a "league" of thousands of teams, it seems like a poor design choice.


Back in 2007 I wrote a post on a forum, http://www.theisonews.com/forums/vie...league#2172657

Quote:

Being a sports addict i'd want sports games to finally go MMO. Hockey, football, baseball, soccer, basketball.....could all be done. Let's get rid of AI and the stupid ****ing gimmicks they add to sports games every year to counteract the ****ty AI's the come up with. For example this is how I'd see hockey being done... For starters it's do-able considering it would take approx 800 people to fill an entire league. You'd create your player as you would for any other MMO and would be given stat points to create the style of player you'd want. After seasons pass you'd be awarded more points based on your yearly performance and age, you could also use these points to buy new moves, dekes, etc. In the beginning you'd play in some random games with other new joining players and based on your stat points and the stats you accumulate in the games (points, shots on net, faceoffs, etc) you'd be given your */100 rating. You'd then join an league and be drafted or signed if the league was already underway. There would have to be a schedule setup for each week where all the players on the team list their availability in the given time slots and the highest percentage for both teams would be when the game takes place. Certain leagues could be designed for specific schedules as well such as weekend only leagues. The game mechanics would be rather easy, you just play your position, go off an on for line changes, etc. At the end of each month or so player ratings could be re-evaluated so that line changes could be made for more talented players. If players can't make specific games then other players in that league of a close rating could sub in, or else be filled by AI. At the end of each season not all players would likely come back so new players could be "drafted" and join into the league. Voice comms could also be added for each line as the are on the ice, and then a channel for those on the bench. Practice arenas could be provided for each team to join and just play around with the other teammates or even open arenas for players to play pickup games and hone their skills. The business side of the sport could also be implemented with players signing contracts, asking for trades, etc, etc. Just about everything that's real with the sport today i imagine could somehow be implemented into the game. I dunno, sounds cool to me. The sports genre in my mind needs help bad, it's the same **** over and over and over....yet people buy because there isn't anything else if you want a game based on your favourite sport. So either way the genre will prosper, but i think if it went MMO, that the genre would truly dominate. Anyways yeah, that's my perfect game.

Many sports games have since adopted this kind of mode (which is awesome that I called it out back in 2007) but I don't feel they've fully realized where they need to go with the mode yet.

I've since learned that with leagues of this magnitude, a set time for games would need to be set rather than leaving it up to the players. So for example a "7PM League" a "8PM League" etc.


But basically what I'm trying to say is, the EASHL needs to be more than what it is for the 99% of teams not in the top 100, because ultimately it's meaningless.

[JayhawkerStL]

"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."

Too bad it seems to mostly appeal to the biggest douche bags of today. It's such a great idea that is completely ruined by the people you have to play against. If people aren't glitching and cheating, they are whining about glitching and cheesing. So if you ever do become good, your efforts are just mocked.

The EASHL guys really ruined HUT for me. The spend so much time whining and trying to affect the tuning updates that is has ruined playing HUT offline, because we are stuck with the crybaby tuning updates.

They also ruined Be a Pro, because they are so darn willing to pay for their boosts, that BaP has been tuned to the point that it's no longer a fun experience to level up your players. I loved it in in NHL 09, but the easy money provided by the EASHL players created an incentive for EA to take advantage gamers that overvalue how impressed anyone is with their EASHL status.

As far as I'm concerned, the EASHL is a blight on the game, and I'm really sick of reading how entitled so many of the players feel about the game. They really believe that EA's NHL series revolves around them.

[milesizdead]

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...