Ask NHL: More NHL 16 Questions Answered, In-Game Sims Are Back, EASHL Questions

[RaychelSnr]

EA Sports is busy answering questions again about NHL 16 on the Ask NHL page. Here are some of the highlights from tonight:

Will there be in-game simulation in be a gm?

Sim Intervention is back in the game and will be a part of Be A GM.

Will we be able to hire coaches this year in GM mode? If not, are there plans to add this in the future?

You will not be able to hire coaches this year in GM Mode. It is something that we are continuing to look into.

Will there be a Zamboni racing mode?

There will not be a Zamboni racing mode.

Will there be warmups?

No. There won't be warm-ups in NHL 16. We have spent all of our time as a gameplay team this year focusing on the core balance of the game during play with a specific emphasis on core mechanics.

Are the animations back where the offensive players try hard to stay on-sides by dragging their leg a little at the blue line, or any other animations to help the players stay on-sides better?

Yes, one of our gameplay engineers spent time specifically tuning how players use a dragged skate to stay onside. We have seen some great moments where players are just barely onside using the technique before receiving a pass.

In EASHL, will we be able to play 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 5v5 (like in the past) or is 6v6 the requirement?

Playing 6s in EASHL is a great way to experience the game mode. However, we know that isn't the only way our fans want to play the game (that plus sometimes it's just difficult to get your friends together to play at the same time!). You will be able to play the same way as before where teams can enter gameplay with at least 2 human controlled players.

Can you update the roster more frequently in NHL 16? For comparisons sake, MADDEN updates the rosters weekly.

We are currently assessing the feasibility of more frequent roster updates. The most challenging part for us is the total number of leagues and players that need to be updated and are often dependent on one another. As an example, we cannot update just the NHL without making the corresponding changes to the AHL for players that have moved up or down.

Can you still play as your EASHL pro in Ranked OTP?

Hi Martin, thanks for your question. You can play as your EASHL Pro within EASHL while OTP players will use skaters from the authentic team rosters.

Can you show us some of the excitment and pitch up and down of Doc's voice that you promise? I think it was awesome they way you changed from Gary Thorne etc but Doc is all about his excitement so that was a bit dissapointing. But good that you fix it! Do you have any plans on making the intros longer? I love them and always watch them, feels more like a real game on NBC.

We have added a lot more contextual intros so that Doc and Eddie can follow along even closer as you progress through a season and take on different opponents. As examples of the detail, they even understand how you have fared on a long road trip or how important the final game of a home stand is before heading out on the road. They will track team and player success in the league and the new NBC overlays will back up all the stats and provide even more detailed information. As far as Doc's level of excitement, that was the great challenge our audio team took on when Doc joined our team. For NHL 16, we wanted to try and get even closer to the level of energy fans have grown to expect when Doc calls a game. Doc can now get extra excited when a team is really putting on the pressure or trying to score late in a close game. Extra attention was also put into his goal calls.

[Simple Mathematics]

So basically they aren't going to update the roster any more frequently than they did this past year. And apparently this is because there are too many players to update.

Hire me. I'll get a MINIMUM of weekly roster updates out. Probably even daily.

Or here's a wild idea... how about you put player editing back in so you don't even have to do a single roster update? We will provide more accurate ratings anyway.

[bad_philanthropy]

Something something player editing.

[redslumber]

I seriously hope the new Be A GM "relationship" mechanic translates on ice, in terms of line combinations.

It's pretty lame right now where you wouldn't put Saad on a line with Kane and Toews because his rating is too low.

Would be so much better if they followed a little of what HUT is doing and promoted chemistry on the ice. Otherwise, trades are pretty boring, knowing that all you have to do is get the highest rated player and not worry about which players play best with others, like in real life.

[bigwill33]

Confirmed: no custom players in OTP.

So lame!

[bwiggy33]

Man oh man. Really, rosters take too long to update due to the amount of players. My absolute butt that is the case. If they were smart they'd go day by day and wa la by the time you put out a roster update you don't have to do all the transactions in one day. What is there maybe 1 NHL roster move a day sometimes a couple more. I guarantee they aren't trying to get the other leagues in the game 100% accurate. That's a lot of moves to make I tell ya. Then there's the fact that people here would update the transactions and I guarantee EA can move players around way faster than we could through the menus. I just don't understand it. So many of these answers to questions are just walk arounds and a bunch of excuses. I understand they face challenges but some of this stuff is just baffling. We have people on this website who are unpaid and have their own jobs, yet they are able update rosters by themselves (including full ratings edits) faster than when EA releases their updated rosters.

[bigwill33]

Exactly.

Either they don't understand the consumers at all, or they are just incapable of making a competent product.

Either way it is beyond pathetic by this point, because it passed just being sad years ago now.

[himynameisao]

can we get authentic goalie masks and authentic arena music? everyone is talking about editing players, how about something else to add?