Where did I say yearly though? I said they should update the faces that are from 2007. That's closer to by-decade than yearly. It's not unreasonable. You just don't agree with my overall complaint so you're twisting my words into something I never said. Gameplay is clearly chief, but to me, immersion is an easy #2 on the priority list. After gameplay, my number one concern is in believing the illusion and feeling like it's as authentic as possible. That's why those details become important for me. And like I said, I don't mind doing the work myself each year to edit equipment. But certain equipment has to be there. The 4500 has been something people have asked for every year since they removed it. I'm not picking some obscure, random piece of gear that is important to me only. I'm talking about the fact that they removed the most widely used hockey helmet in the world and fans have been asking for it back since the day it happened, yet they continue to leave it out. I'm not complaining about "Wahh, they have the Easton ABC and ZYX stick but they left out the EFG!!!" I'm talking about a helmet that people ask for every year. It never changes. Unlike the skates and sticks and things that get updated every year, if they would just put this damn helmet back in the game, they could leave it year after year and not have to change it. It simply should be there. It's too prominent not to be. Like I said, it's been on the cover of the last two games.
Also, with the use of a database editor that someone was able to develop for last gen, it was discovered that a wealth of old gear is still ON the game disc (thus still taking up memory) but EA just mysteriously makes it unselectable for some reason. This includes the 4500 helmet. It's there. They just don't make it an option. So it doesn't even require work on their behalf. It's in the game. They just hide it. Last year, you could edit your database and assign it to players, but you couldn't add a visor since it wasn't technically available. It's even more frustrating that the helmet already exists in the game's DNA. There's just no real reason for it being left out.
And as if you hadn't heard enough of my complaints (I get it, aesthetic is of no value to you. The players could all just have generic faces and the same stick and gloves and helmet, as long as the gameplay was solid) check out Ovechkin's skates in the part where he scores. 2015 and you still can't flop the tongue of the skates. It's just funny to me that so many of these guys claim to play hockey and be avid hockey fans, but they come up with three options for skates back in 2007 (back tuck, front tuck, full tuck) and decide those are the most accurate options possible and will never reassess, add to or change them, over 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. I can put on my skates right now and flop the tongue like Ovechkin does and I've never worn mine that way. The collective hockey fandom at EA apparently thinks more people wear their tongues the way they've designed than the way the most prominent players in hockey do. I know I'm nitpicking, but after all their talk about player likeness and about equipment finally being three separate layers, I just thought they'd have these things looking realistic for once. Very little in that video struck me as "three distinct layers of player, gear, jersey". It all looks like the same static player models and canned animations. If you played 2014 I don't really know how you can be excited about anything but the arenas and commentary based on this video, really. Might be some nicely polished cut scenes on next gen, but if you don't care about equipment and player likeness, why would cut scenes be of any importance either?
Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it just seems like the same old, after getting fairly excited about the promises of increased player likeness, independent gear layers, etc. I was expecting the jump to next gen to seem a little more significant. At this point, the only thing I'm excited about is the arenas.