News Post

NHL 09 360 Patch #2 Online -- Impressions

06:25 AM - March 3, 2009 by CupCrazyManiac

EA has just released their NHL 09 patch for 360 users. Please post your impressions here.

Quote:


	Exploit fixes: -Fixes the 99 attribute bug in OTP/EASHL by preventing players from entering games with attributes that are raised beyond the level they can reach with the card they are entitled to have. Players who have elevated their attributes this way should reset their character by changing the type and reassigning their points. -Limit the size of human goalies in OTP/EASHL games to 6'4" (NOTE: it will still allow them to be set larger, but the actual height in game will not go above the new limit). -Fixed some problems that could cause the game to hang or go out of sync when pausing. -Prevent use of LB to get up instantly after being knocked over. -Reduce accuracy of shooting while using vision control to skate backwards. -Prevent high, accurate slap shots from in close to the net. Other changes: -Reduced the ease of beating the goalie on the short side. -Decrease the tendency of the goalies to use a desperation save unnecessarily. -Strict calling of interference, though you can still clear players directly in front of the net without getting called for interference. -Added stick lift to Classic controls using LB+X(XBox)/L1+Square(PS3). It is also on R3 (press Right Stick). -Fixed shot targeting using the Always Up control when skating down ice. -Added new NHL rule to locate face-offs in the attacking zone to start a powerplay. -Prevent CPU players from getting delay of game penalties frequently while clearing the puck from their zone. -Prevent puck from being poke checked away from the goalie when he has it covered under his glove. -Reduced the amount of time it takes to get control of the last man back, holding RT(Xbox) /R2(PS3) -Reduced the amount of time it takes to get control of the goalie, holding LB+A(Xbox)/L1+X(PS3) - Reduce the range of heights on randomly generated CPU players, including goalies. -Eliminate the ability to accelerate and maintain high speed while stick lifting. -More penalties for high sticking when stick lifts are done from behind the opponent. -Made the colours of the OTP/EASHL indicators more distinct (yellow and orange). -Made face-off outcomes slightly more random and slightly less dependent on attributes. -Added assistance to prevent one-timer and shot attempts from leading to accidental hits and interference penalties. -Goalie tuning to increase goal-scoring a bit to compensate for taking away the easy short-side high goals. -Improve hit stat tracking to not count all of the small bumps in front of the net. -Increased injuries caused by CPU teams. -Prevent puck from being launched with very high speed following a hit. -AI tuning for superstar. The Aggression slider now affects how intense the CPU team is on that difficulty level.

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Game: NHL 09Reader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS2 / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 47 - View All

NHL 09 Videos

Member Comments

# 81 catcatch22 @ 03/05/09 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingFinn


	Boarding is called when the player being checked is 3 or 4 feet from the boards and checked from behind causing him the go head first into the boards. Thus, I don't have a problem with the hit from behind call. The hit in the game could also be called charging because most of the time the checker takes more then 3 strides to hit the player. EDIT: Just have to say I am loving the patch. Now when I lose online I don't feel as though I were cheated. I was either outplayed or my opponent caught a lucky bounce or 2. Good times all around

I understand what a boarding call is but when was the last time you saw a call for checking from behind. I know I haven't. Most of the calls in the game don't reflect the actual penalty like boarding, which is why I thought they need to better reflect the penalties with better animations. First they need to make the stick actually get in between a guy's leg and pull him down. Also have the guy with the puck when he is hit from behind fall head first into the boards. Since they don't have those animations I concluded that they should just have the check from behind be the boarding call.

# 82 ManiacMatt1782 @ 03/05/09 07:45 PM

on the checking from behind, I saw it called a lot the year before the lockout.

On the patch as a whole, i love the interference calls, and people not being able to hit me off the puck, makes a puck control guy like me all that more dangerous. I have been winning games 6-0 and 6-1 when now having more powerplay opportunities, and then people not knowing how to play any other kind of defense. then i played someone who actually knew what they were doing and got smoked 6-0 mysaelf. it should have been closer but i essentially stopped playing d after it was 3-0 setting my forecheck and pressure to max. still it was a great game even though i got my *** kicked. loving the new patch.

# 83 Piner @ 03/06/09 04:28 AM

I am not sure where to begin. I would like to start out by saying that I play offline exclusively and play a realistice style of hockey, no cheese goals, no checking of players without the puck, not chasing offensive players around the rink, etc. I play on PRO. I am very dissappointed in this patch.

1. Faceoffs

Forget about winning even 50% of these now after the patch. I think it was a very poor design decision to take away the advantage of a good faceoff guy in favor of randomess. This costs me numerous possessions every game. I check the stats after each game and I am lucky to win 1 of 3 faceoffs.

2. Super Human Goalies

Before the patch I could score goals, period. I would get 2 to 4 per game. Not now. The goalies are never out of position, stop everything. Not much fun anymore.

3. Penalties

While the diversity of penalty types has improved and interference is being called, which is good, I have gone 2 or 3 games sometimes with no penalties being called on either team. Reminding of the way things were before the 1st patch.

4. Computer AI

Before the patch, when on "Crash the Net" offense for example, my teammates would position themselves for good rebound opportunities. Now they just hang out at the top of the circles and watch me try to take on the hyper aggresive defense and goalie by myself.

When I skate into the opponents end of the ice I am met with aggressive defenders bumping, pushing, and poke checking me. However, when I am on defense my defenders just watch the opponent skate in front of my net and shoot.

On defense I use "Collapsing" and "Protect the Net". Before the patch I enjoyed watching my defense clog up the middle and make things difficult for the computer. Not now. My computer teammates will again just hang out at the top of the circles and watch me try to defend 2 opponents around the net.

I take no joy in these observations. I really thought this patch would make a great game even better. Unfortunately it has made it almost impossible to play. I tried to convince myself that if I just kept at it things would get better. The opposite has happened. I have not been able to score a goal in my last 5 games. Any constructive suggestions short of quitting.

# 84 mkharsh33 @ 03/06/09 11:30 AM

i think we all have frustrations with this game...i'd suggest that you clear your 360's cache and go back to the pre-patch game because you'll probably have more fun.

# 85 SuperCorona @ 03/06/09 01:15 PM

First offline BAP game post patch I picked up a charging call when I went right side to left side to hammer Erat into the boards. I've seen more hooking and interference calls with much fewer delay of game penalties. I've received a couple interference calls that were very questionable....even Clement said they were weak calls LOL.

Overall, I think the game play has greatly improved. Thanks EA.

# 86 bad_philanthropy @ 03/06/09 02:33 PM

I really like what they've done overall to the gameplay. Also the efforts they've made to tone down hitting. I was especially pleased to see a few charging call on open-ice hits that before were previously a staple of defending the rush.

The cpu also seems more capable on offense, and not just because the goalies have been toned down a bit. Post-patch if I lose my head and try to use a defenseman to chase a player into the corner I get scored on a good amount of the time.

# 87 Solucopa @ 03/06/09 03:43 PM

I'm loving the patch. The penalties are a little much some of the time, but overall I love how it affects gameplay. Have played lots of bap online and some ranked games... all were great as opposed to before when I just quit trying to play online. Their seems to still be that one weird glitchy goal around the circles, but its not to bad if you are defending it.

# 88 Ridgeberg @ 03/06/09 04:07 PM

Hey guys. Played a game post-patch using QB's rosters. Wanted to show you guys a couple of goals to get your opinion. The first is a dangle with Zherdev. I don't really have a rhyme or reason to the dekes, but they worked! Second I meant to dump it in, but it hit Montador and careened to Callahan. Cheese or legit?

EA SPORTS World: VIDEO1

EA SPORTS World: VIDEO2

# 89 savoie2006 @ 03/09/09 06:19 AM

Second goal seemed legit to me, even it a bit lucky. Definately not cheese as it was not intentional really.

# 90 canucksss @ 03/11/09 11:34 PM

now im playing much 1v1 online, i still find some gripes after the patch. and they are:

1. goalie cant cover the puck - when there is a loose puck, how come they dont cover it up? likewise that puck that seems "stuck" in his skate no reaction.

2. as you change your lines - it seems the AI (yours) so slow to react or they changed even you're not telling them to change.

3. the change line buttons - seems sluggish to me. i dont know about you guys.

so far these are my observations.

# 91 bad_philanthropy @ 03/11/09 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucksss


	now im playing much 1v1 online, i still find some gripes after the patch. and they are: 1. goalie cant cover the puck - when there is a loose puck, how come they dont cover it up? likewise that puck that seems "stuck" in his skate no reaction. 2. as you change your lines - it seems the AI (yours) so slow to react or they changed even you're not telling them to change. 3. the change line buttons - seems sluggish to me. i dont know about you guys. so far these are my observations.

I will agree with this. It's quite frustrating at times how flakey the goalies can be with a puck near their feet. Next year will definitely need to see some more aggressive animations for the goalie to deal with situations where the puck gets in close.

# 92 Qb @ 03/12/09 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucksss


	now im playing much 1v1 online, i still find some gripes after the patch. and they are: 1. goalie cant cover the puck - when there is a loose puck, how come they dont cover it up? likewise that puck that seems "stuck" in his skate no reaction. 2. as you change your lines - it seems the AI (yours) so slow to react or they changed even you're not telling them to change. 3. the change line buttons - seems sluggish to me. i dont know about you guys. so far these are my observations.

For offline play, raising Goalie Cover Puck Frequency to 4 helps to alleviate concern #1, but for ranked online play I'm not sure if there's anything we can do. Your second point frustrates me as well as I've had lines -- particularly D-pairings when I tell the forwards to change -- leave the ice when I didn't tell them to and at the worst possible time. And there is definitely some sort of button lag/delay when changing lines online. It's not there offline, or at least it's not as dramatic...

# 93 canucksss @ 03/12/09 01:55 AM

in my point number 2, yes usually its the D-men and yup, they changed in the most unfortunate time like a possible break away on your zone or that would lead to odd man rush.

# 94 matt8204 @ 03/12/09 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucksss


	now im playing much 1v1 online, i still find some gripes after the patch. and they are: 1. goalie cant cover the puck - when there is a loose puck, how come they dont cover it up? likewise that puck that seems "stuck" in his skate no reaction. 2. as you change your lines - it seems the AI (yours) so slow to react or they changed even you're not telling them to change. 3. the change line buttons - seems sluggish to me. i dont know about you guys. so far these are my observations.

Funny that you mentioned this. I play on PS3 but I have the same problem. Sometimes I almost have to mash the line change buttons with two fingers in order to get them to work. The quick play strategy buttons for offense and defense can be unresponsive at times also. It doesn't ruin the game but it's annoying.

# 95 canucksss @ 03/12/09 01:23 PM

i hope redshirt is reading so he could relay to his buddies @ EA. i dont expect this would be answered with another patch (but it would be great if they could do this for the last patch). but hopefully these 3 will not be present in 2010.

# 96 matt8204 @ 03/12/09 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucksss


	i hope redshirt is reading so he could relay to his buddies @ EA. i dont expect this would be answered with another patch (but it would be great if they could do this for the last patch). but hopefully these 3 will not be present in 2010.

One more question for you guys; do your quick plays reset automatically? I like to use the "Aggressive" offensive strategy but it always seems to reset to "Standard" when I change lines or cycle through the menu. Do you have to set them for each line? Does each line have a different default quick play strategy?

# 97 pf8363 @ 03/12/09 03:43 PM

its a curve shot fest again. it works even better now. god ea cant you get anything right?

# 98 Qb @ 03/12/09 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pf8363


	its a curve shot fest again. it works even better now. god ea cant you get anything right?

That's weird, as I haven't seen anything resembling the old "curve shot" that was ever-present prior to the first patch in about 25 EASHL games after patch #2. Perhaps we haven't played the wrong people yet...

There are some things you can do with the stick prior to shooting that put some extra oomph on the shot (usually at the expense of accuracy) or seem to confuse the goalie, but they're much closer to legitimate moves than the swoop across the high slot, drag the puck back behind you, then shoot across the grain to the top corner "curve shot" that was nearly an automatic goal if executed correctly. The latter is the one I'm saying I haven't seen.

# 99 matt8204 @ 03/12/09 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pf8363


	its a curve shot fest again. it works even better now. god ea cant you get anything right?

Is that the one where you whip the puck with a wrister from the high slot and go glove side high on the goalie? That was a pretty deadly shot in '08 but since the 2nd patch, I haven't seen anyone pull it off.

# 100 canucksss @ 03/13/09 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt8204


	One more question for you guys; do your quick plays reset automatically? I like to use the "Aggressive" offensive strategy but it always seems to reset to "Standard" when I change lines or cycle through the menu. Do you have to set them for each line? Does each line have a different default quick play strategy?

yes............ kinda frustrating. i hope ea will improve on this.

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