Ask NHL 16 Q&A Updated Once More - More Talk About HUT, EASHL and More

[ericromain]

It's disappointing that there's no custom music again, but i'm intrigued about arena authentic music.

I think you guys are being a little overtly negative. I admit there's not a lot of wow factor this year, but I gotta say i'm impressed with their honesty and transparency in this year's Q&A. In recent years they've been ignoring the "no/maybe" questions.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kolbe31

You're 100% right, people will buy it because they're starved for a new hockey game. For me, this is the only game I buy. I may get Madden or PGA every couple years, but NHL is purchased every year, day 1. It's gotta be tough, making these games every year, trying to be innovative and fresh. The things they do, the features they put into the game, it's all calculated. Features being taken out, then added again in a few years. There's no "we ran out of time". It'd be interesting to know what the process is, how they decide what's in and what's out. Can they get it ALL in? I'd say so. But then what's left for next year? The perfect game simply can't exist, nobody would buy NHL 17 if 16 was perfect. It's a harsh reality, but this song and dance will continue for as long as this (or any other) company makes an annual NHL game.

I don't think anyone will ever get perfect. But, taking The Show as an example, you can at least get a very good representation of the game, and still have fun and depth together.

People still line up to get that game every year, despite not needing to. I've been clamoring for The Show's most recent release, and I was still playing 13, only because I have yet to upgrade.

To a lot of people, myself included, I will buy a new version of a near perfect game, just to support the company. Because the plus side is, when something's close to perfect, they're usually just perfecting things, and adding user requested items, like jerseys, and other game modes. Nailing the core gameplay allows them to tweak and perfect it, while focusing on more fun or extra items. NHL isn't even close to that, in my opinion. The gameplay has been stale for a while, and the same annoying bugs have existed for years now. They've fixed a few things, but this year, and last year, it just seems that HUT was the focus, and will continue to be.

I don't expect perfection from anyone, be it a person, or a company. But with EA's NHL series, they've been missing the mark, and now just focus almost exclusively on HUT to the detriment of the rest of the series. I don't blame Rammer of the developers, I think they get their orders and have to execute them as best as possible. I know game development is a hard job. You work a lot of 60+ hour weeks, trying to perfect a game, only to have the higher ups tell you what to change, what to cut, and what to focus on. It's possible the guys on the team may be dying to get a real simulation game, and stick-on-stick collisions, but sadly, they're not the ones calling the shots. The guys above them are, and to them, it's about profits, and when you take people dropping 60+ at the door to get the game, and more money after that for card packs, and use of servers (with board advertising) then it's obvious that someone just dropping 60 and playing offline isn't as valuable in terms of profit as someone who's willing to spend double the price of the game over a year.

It sucks, but that's business.