NHL 17 Q&A - Skating Improvements, Crease Battles, EASHL, Creation Zone & Much More

[BruinsHockey08]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moose24x

In summary: No, we haven't added a defensive skill stick, mid-season contract negotiations, coaches challenges, or made any improvements to BaGM but we have made it possible for you to set the prices of hamburgers and hotdogs, sell advertising around the arena and create your own teams and arenas (which will undoubtedly lead to ungodly obnoxious and ugly innovations). Enjoy!

It is funny that I got a warning for trolling a couple weeks ago and this guy pretty much did the same thing.

On topic though, I am excited for any additions to Be a GM and I love the idea of having to handle more of the financials in the mode. As a Financial Services degree seeker it is right up my ally. The 100 point sliders should be pretty good too!

[swimfunk]

Focusing on a custom arena is so lazy and honestly means nothing to the actual gameplay. For one you hardly see the actual arena when you play and it's in the it's just ice. So you can color the seats or choose from a preset number of scoreboard options. Meanwhile we've still yet to see an online league NHL on PS4/XB1. The World Teams Play is literally a roster update.

The only "meaningful" online 1 vs 1 game mode is ranked which after a while loses it's luster when you are just facing the same teams over and over. How can a old gen game have more game options than a game 3 years in???

No thanks NHL

[Retropyro]

So, I'll just pass on it and grab it from the EA Access Vault in February.

Seriously, no GM Connected???

[voodoo_magic]

I hope one day we will get the chip n chase that is in real hockey, especially in the playoffs.
Teams rarely just dump it in anymore, except on line changes.

If they could modify the dump button or the saucer pass and have the cpu aware of how to get in your way it would greatly help with making the game more sim.

[ericromain]

The improved defensive coverage around the net along with updated goalies could be the biggest gameplay contribution in a while.

I'm assuming the authentic international jerseys only apply to the World Cup teams. No IIHF versions.
That's fine though, a definite improvement.

[SocialAssassin]

One thing that bugs me, why hasn't Sony and Xbox allowed file sharing like they did on the 360 and PS3?

[Money99]

A defensive skill-stick would be nice, but if you add that, then you must be able to program dynamic offensive AI for the CPU.
I'm already nervous about the stick tie-up's. I love being able to mark a guy in front, but will this basically stymie any and all of the CPU's players?
Will the CPU be given cheats in order to compensate for these new defensive moves?

That's one of the biggest gripes I have with the NHL series. The CPU is just plain dumb forcing the programmers to give them cheats and the ability to do things you can't.

I hope that's been fixed in NHL 17.

[spidertour02]

Quote: Originally Posted by HartmanTeets6

Create a team vs. relocation. Obviously the relocation only has 15 cities, and he said for Franchise mode. Is everyone thinking that means our created team, can't be played in franchise, but that we'll have to relocate? I was looking forward to creating a new team, sub them out for a crappy, existing team, and play that way.

I assume that if you can't use a created team in Franchise, it's because of AHL and ECHL affiliates. They may have some kind of system for changing affiliates in the game to more geographically-appropriate ones. (For example, moving the Arizona Coyotes to Hamilton could automatically move your AHL team from Tucson to, say, Kitchener.) That would have to be fixed to the relocation cities.

Quote: Originally Posted by wheels2121

I agree. I want to put Hartford and Quebec in for Florida and Tampa. Why bother creating a team if you can't play them in the league?

I would imagine that you can use them in Season Mode, much like how you can now by swapping in teams from other leagues.