How EA Can Bring Fans Back to NHL's Franchise Mode

[RaychelSnr]

Overhaul The AI

In a year where FIFA 16 and NBA 2K16 both made tremendous improvements to their on-field/on-court AI, it's sad to see NHL 16's CPU skaters still aimlessly wandering at times.

AI teams still struggle to gain possession inside the offensive zone, mostly due to poor decision making coming through the neutral zone. On many shifts, they will either hesitate and zig-zag around the red line before launching a futile dump attempt, or they'll skate the puck in a straight line down the side boards where you can easily crush their oncoming forward with a check.

Read More - How EA Can Bring Fans Back to NHL's Franchise Mode

[northmen24]

All they need to do is read these boards and maybe hire a couple of us who break the game down.

Put in a slider system more like madden (a scale of 0-100 instead of 0-6 or 4) also expand the sliders like they were in the 2K series below is sliders from NHL 2K5

General:

All-Star
Game Speed: 2
Period Length: 10 Minutes
Penalties: On
Fighting: 1
Speed Burst After Fight Win: Off
Puck Friction: Full
Ice Friction: 0
Freeze Puck Time: 4
Goalie Freeze: 0
Glass Break: 0
Net off Moorings: On
Pinning: On
Offsides: On
Icing: Auto
2 Line Passing: Off


Advanced:

Manual
Manual
Manual
Manual
Referee: All
OT: 10 min OT, 5 on 5 SO
Clock: Accelerated
Clock Type: Auto
Last Minute Real Time: On
Penalty Time: OFF
Roughing: Full
Elbowing: Full
Cross Checking: Full
Boarding: Full
Charging: 25
Interference: Full
Slashing: Full
Hooking: Full
Tripping: Full
Spearing: 17
Penalty Shots: Full


CPU/Human

Goalie: 1/1
Offense: 6/4
Defense: 6/4
Speed Burst Effect: 1/2
Speed Burst Time: 4/5
Speed Burst Recovery: 14/12
Fatigue Effect: Full/Full
Fatigue Recovery: 6/6
Fatigue Time: Full/Full
Hitting Power: 5/3
Shot Accuracy: 5/5
Pass Accuracy: 0/8
Pass Speed: 5/5
Pass Interceptions: 5/5
Rebound Distance: 5/5
Shot Blocking: 6/6
Puck Retention: 0/0
Puck Control: Full/0
Goalie Anticipation: 0/0
Goalie Cover Depth: 5/5
Goalie Saves: 0/0
Goalie Wraparound: Full/Full

Audio Presentation:

Menu Music Volume: Full
Menu SFX Volume: 30
Commentator Volume: Full
Announcer Volume: 30
Crowd Volume: 21
Chants Volume: Full
Arena Music Volume: 24
Arena SFX Volume: Full
Arena Horn Volume

THATS HOW YOU DO SLIDERS

[Tsuki]

TEAM STYLES/SIGNATURE PLAYER STYLES/PLAYER SEPARATION.

^should be priority number one. It is sad that the NHL franchise will be the last to attempt to establish this into their gameplay.

Right now every player moves/shoots/checks etc the same regardless of overall. My biggest gripe is that in 2k if I attempted a triple double with brian scalebrine I would actually have problems doing so based on his animations given to him by his ratings, and in NHL I can go in with any scrub and pull a hat trick easily.

I suggest that the NHL series could be the first game to actually "hide" player overall, and just rate players on their core abilities with a GOAL of trying to re-create how each individual player actually plays. Badges like in 2k something just try something different jeez.

[joshdm21]

I think MLB the show sets the standard for a franchise mode...for example id love to be able to hire coaches and have there systems change how my team plays and the players I(theGM) need to have on my roster. also would like the sim stats to be more realistic. im a huge offline franchise player and the nhl16 be a gm mode is average at best.

[TDKing]

Player separation !!! And Bring back GM connected with custom season length and league sliders. Shorter seasons for offline and online.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

[AdamJones113]

What an article jyoung! I sincerely hope you passed this along to the developers, because this is a fantastic list with the priorities in the right order.

What can I even add? Perhaps effective sliders and more of a community (this community's) influence. Wish I could have written something like this for my packet. I focused a little more on gameplay, but this article brought up some excellent points.

I hadn't really thought about it much, but having played a Madden CFM this year really made me pine for GM Connected. An OS GM Connected would be amazing... assuming the gameplay is improved and less robotic, which you adroitly placed before all.

Great work.

[Dazraz]

Great list. Why are we still suffering lag on Menu Screens with today's technology. Madden is the same. Why can't EA sort. MLB The Show & NBA 2K have far more detailed Menus & they are really slick.

[Simple Mathematics]

Absolutely fantastic article. I agree with every single point in there. EA needs to see this. Please send it to them if you haven't already.