NHL 12 Updated Hands-On Preview

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vikes1

Hey Chase.... Did you happen to notice if the AI controlled players seems more aggressive towards the puck carriers? Ie....less of an up and down playing game. Thanks.

I think the play in the neutral zone is a bit more prevalent just because in general guys are reading lanes/passes a bit better. This causes less jumbled masses of players and thus less room at points.

[ChaseB]

Oh yeah, one other thing. I forgot about the discussion about a lack of "ratings spread" for teams in the NHL in this game.

Most of the NHL teams are still chunked together, and as I understand it, they do this because of all the leagues in the game. They have trouble finding a proper spread because they always have to account for team overalls for all the other leagues. So if the NHL is the big times, then all of those NHL teams generally have to be higher rated than all the other squads. So it acts more like a tiered system for each league than an actual varied spread per league.

[Rogie Vachon]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Oh yeah, one other thing. I forgot about the discussion about a lack of "ratings spread" for teams in the NHL in this game. Most of the NHL teams are still chunked together, and as I understand it, they do this because of all the leagues in the game. They have trouble finding a proper spread because they always have to account for team overalls for all the other leagues. So if the NHL is the big times, then all of those NHL teams generally have to be higher rated than all the other squads. So it acts more like a tiered system for each league than an actual varied spread per league.

I think the problem lies in the way they alot attribute levels to players.
Too many "3rd and 4th line" players,forwards and defencemen, are given too high ratings in some attributes,.....which inflates their individual OVR ratings,.......and the team OVR ratings change with them.

The result is the clumping in team OVR,...and game play where player`s skill differences are sometimes hard to notice.

It`s not all EA`s fault,......too many people complain about their favorite plugger being rated poorly,or that they can`t score with their BaP guy,....and then you get shooting accuracy ability jacked to the heavens and all the other arcade game play settings.

It`s probably going to come down to having to edit the attributes of all the players in the game.
I had to do it for the goalies in NHL11,and began experimenting with the skater`s tunings.

[speels]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Oh yeah, one other thing. I forgot about the discussion about a lack of "ratings spread" for teams in the NHL in this game. Most of the NHL teams are still chunked together, and as I understand it, they do this because of all the leagues in the game. They have trouble finding a proper spread because they always have to account for team overalls for all the other leagues. So if the NHL is the big times, then all of those NHL teams generally have to be higher rated than all the other squads. So it acts more like a tiered system for each league than an actual varied spread per league.

And this is the issue that some don't understand. If your worst NHL player is rated a 50, what would that make your worst WHL or DEL player rated, or for that matter, what would it make your best player in those leagues rated? EA requires 2 sets of attributes per player, one for the league they are currebtly in, and one for their NHL equivolent ratings.
For example, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick would most likely be a 90 compared to others in the WHL, but only about a 68-72 when compared to NHL players. The current system forces EA to have the best junior players rated so low that playing with those leagues is not as much fun. Now, using WHL players instead of NHL players is a little far apart, but asssume DEL players and NHL players. Both are professional and have great players, however, right now if you have a 90 rated player in the DEL he would most likely, in a BeaGM mode, get picked up by the NHL teams, which would lead to highly rated teams anyway.

Like I mentioned, 2 sets of ratings would make this game great and allow the NHL team to better separate the players of the NHL. The other thing.....get rid of overalls. Tomas Holmstrom is not a 90 rated player, unless you are considering net presence as the deciding factor, then he may be worth a 99 overall. By making different attributes add up to the total and having them different for different types of player, you really are just setting yourself up for controversy.

I am so excited for this years game and I look forward to hearing more about it.

[flakeypastry]

As long as the AI is truly improved, and the goalie physics works, I'm all in this year . Just add some good presentation next year, eh EA?

[FBeaule04]

Quote: Originally Posted by flakeypastry

As long as the AI is truly improved, and the goalie physics works, I'm all in this year . Just add some good presentation next year, eh EA?

If the AI and goalies are better than NHL 11, I think we could be up for one of the best game since a few years. Again, they'll be few modes that would lack works, but when you have so much on the plate, it's almost normal.

[stever75]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pringles

they really need to put a camera in the net for realism especially with all the contact that will happen with the new goalie physx and replays to decide if the goal stands or not. i mean with us being able to now make contact with the goalie and the net can come off its mournings this will make goal review a lot more interesting and the best replay view is the overhead or the one in the net.

Not sure why this reviewer has such a hard on for presentation. The presentation in the NHL series has ALWAYS blown away every other sports game.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by stever75

Not sure why this reviewer has such a hard on for presentation. The presentation in the NHL series has ALWAYS blown away every other sports game.

Are you being sarcastic? The EA NHL series probably has the worst presentation of them all.
Play 5 minutes of NBA2K11, The Show and even MLB2K11.

It's not an exaggeration that NHL11 could have the most shallow presentation of any sports game on current-gen systems.