NHL 15 Leaves Fans Disappointed Again with Overhyped 'New Era' Announcement

[nanman2012]

Its simple guys. Hockey is not as popular as Madden or FIFA. It doesnt make as much $ as those two games. It will never no matter how they improve the game match those two games. Unfortunately they must not see a good investment regarding the NHL. Scary to think of not having a hockey game in a few years.

[13whitebread]

Quote: Originally Posted by nanman2012

Its simple guys. Hockey is not as popular as Madden or FIFA. It doesnt make as much $ as those two games. It will never no matter how they improve the game match those two games. Unfortunately they must not see a good investment regarding the NHL. Scary to think of not having a hockey game in a few years.

After I pay for a game I will never never pay any extra money for anything. Maybe I am in the minority and that's fine with me. And if they want to not make the game I can't control that so be it. I will miss it but there are other things to do

[JimmyDeicide]

Maybe if i could change to a player actually closer to the puck or not fan on a dump in every time or have a pass go where it was intended or play EASHL sales would be at least 1 better.

[bigwill33]

Quote: Originally Posted by nanman2012

Its simple guys. Hockey is not as popular as Madden or FIFA. It doesnt make as much $ as those two games. It will never no matter how they improve the game match those two games. Unfortunately they must not see a good investment regarding the NHL. Scary to think of not having a hockey game in a few years.

It never has been as popular as those two games, but there was a good stretch of years there where the NHL series was far better than those games that you mentioned. It has been a sharp and steady downfall since those years, however. It doesn't take much digging to unearth the reasons, and it has little to do with the popularity of the sport or game itself as much as it does with the company and crew making the game.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

It never has been as popular as those two games, but there was a good stretch of years there where the NHL series was far better than those games that you mentioned. It has been a sharp and steady downfall since those years, however. It doesn't take much digging to unearth the reasons, and it has little to do with the popularity of the sport or game itself as much as it does with the company and crew making the game.

Not to sound like a bitter person who doesn't play HUT, but i think it's going to kill the game.

EA seems to only care about that, and can't seem to find much room to care for anything else.

[Gosens6]

Quote: Originally Posted by actionhank

Not to sound like a bitter person who doesn't play HUT, but i think it's going to kill the game. EA seems to only care about that, and can't seem to find much room to care for anything else.

I wouldn't be shocked if pretty soon the game was renamed, NHL HUT 20**

I used to love this game, would buy it every single year religiously. For some reason that stopped with NHL 12. They haven't done enough to warrant a purchase from me over the years, and the first release on next gen continues that trend.

I'm too busy, and there are much better games to spend 65$ on and find time to play. These guys really need to step it up or there will be on more EA NHL franchise.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gosens6

I wouldn't be shocked if pretty soon the game was renamed, NHL HUT 20** I used to love this game, would buy it every single year religiously. For some reason that stopped with NHL 12. They haven't done enough to warrant a purchase from me over the years, and the first release on next gen continues that trend. I'm too busy, and there are much better games to spend 65$ on and find time to play. These guys really need to step it up or there will be on more EA NHL franchise.

That's pretty much my exact story.
I was really thrilled for NHL12. I played the demo and loved it. Got the game, and had fun. There were still issues with the game that had been around for a little while, but they weren't to the point of being a deal breaker, and i still liked the little changed. Then NHL13 came out, and the new skating was more enjoyable, and provided a better experience, but there were still a lot of odd things with it (It seemed to be when things like players taking oddly wide glides into other players, resulting in interference calls because contact=checking animation which flattened the guy every time, or the players kind of spinning in place and not really moving, just unrealistically pivoting and proving impossible to defend) and the goalies had just gotten to the point where nothing seemed to make them really feel real. They added things like the individual limb movement, and the new animations, but the problem was that it was still tied to animations that often would clip together or end up leaving gaps in net coverage, or just not work well (the number of times i had a goalie get hit in the pads, only to have the puck stop, and then have them do that awful animation where they slowly hunch over trying to cover the puck, only to get it roofed past them drove me insane).

Since then EA has shown where their focus seems to lie. It's gradually shifted from the game as a whole, to almost exclusively online content and HUT. Roster updates this year seem to be even slower than usual, which is saying a lot because they were pretty sparse and lacking in accuracy to begin with, but despite that, tons of HUT posts about potential cards to win, and historic players to play with. Things that aren't bad on their own, but when they appear to be at the expense of promised fixes, and accurate rosters featuring current players, it leaves a really sour taste in your mouth.
I'm waiting until NHL16, but short of a miracle turnaround, I'm guessing NHL14 was the last of the NHL series for me. I occasionally turn it on, and get maybe 2 or 3 games into a GM season with the Revamped rosters/ratings added in. The game plays better, but EA's lack of sliders that really change much, and the same goalie issues still leaves me frustrated after a few games, so i shelve it again for a while.

We'll see what NHL16 brings, but as disappointing as it is to say it, I'm not holding my breath.

[capnlarge]

Quote: Originally Posted by TSGuy

Just hope this series doesn't kill themselves like NBA Live did, it took em years and now there finally starting to get something going.

If only 2k had anticipated EA dropping a stinker. Would've been a good year for 2k hockey