NHL 16 News Post

NHL 16 Q&A Day #3

08:25 PM - May 21, 2015 by Steve_OS

After answering some questions on Tuesday and Wednesday, the NHL 16 team continued to answer questions again today.

The Q&A is copied and pasted below for easier reading.

Will you be able to edit players in GM Mode? After trades, goalies sometimes have terrible colour schemes for their equipment. Not to mention masks from other teams. Also when will we be able to resign players before the resign phase? I found that was the only unrealistic part of the game trading/signing wise. Thanks.

You will not have the ability to edit players in GM mode. We prioritized bringing back features like AHL Integration, Fantasy Draft and Sim Intervention back to Be A GM over this. This is something we will continue to look at. As for the resign phase Be A GM does not have contract extensions and contract signing/negotiations during the season at this moment. Our version of this is the resign phase in free agency which is a week before the July 1st free agency period that allows you to renegotiate with your own players before open free agency.

Will the custom camera modes return in NHL 16? (custom 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)

Custom cameras are currently lower on our priority list. At the moment, we're working on a new camera for Be A Pro, OTP and EASHL.

Why aren't there authentic coaches in the NHL series, and why isn't there an option to hire/fire coaches in be a gm mode?

Authentic coaches are definitely something that we're looking at moving forward. The main reason that they're not currently in the game is due to licensing. Hire/Fire coaches is a feature that we will continue to investigate.

Will we see defensive skill stick in NHL 16?

We will not be adding a new defensive skill stick in NHL 16 but what we are doing is ensuring that all defensive mechanics are tuned and balanced so that it's fun to play every position on the ice. For example, Precision Skating will help you on the defensive side of the puck giving you the ability to close passing and shooting lanes more effectively.

Will you FINALLY have the correct goal horns for ALL teams? For the longest time, EA has used Detroit's goal horn for Dallas' goal horn.

We are doing our best this year to get the moments around goals for each team as authentic as possible. A big focus has gone into that area and we have definitely paid close attention to the fan sites dedicated to teams unique goal moment presentation.

Will there ever be the introduction of a skills competition into the NHL series? Years ago the '2K' series had it and I found it was an exciting offline mode, that foreseeably would be able to incorporate online modes also.

We will never say �no� to great feature ideas. We are always looking to add fun modes and features that are authentic to the NHL experience. We focused this year on the modes and features that were the most requested by the community with a prime focus on ensuring there was a way for everyone to play and will continue to do so.

Does the new EASHL still allow us to put XP into our players stats?

That's a good question! In developing the new EASHL, we conducted a ton of research and really engaged with the fans. The feedback we got was that gameplay balance and a level playing field are of high importance. Because the previous EASHL allowed users to grow their pro characters' attributes by investing time or money, EASHL players who started playing after launch or who didn't purchase the boosts were often at a disadvantage. While we know it's fun to boost your pro, it takes away from the goal of making EASHL the best way to compete as a team. With the new balanced player class system, EASHL players of all levels can play and succeed based on their skill on the sticks.

In EASHL will you be able to create and name your own teams so you can invite your friends? Also will you be able to customize your skaters attributes or will it be pre-set classes? Will there be leaderboards for the teams & skaters? I appreciate you guys taking the time to answer my questions.

Hi Lyle, thanks for your questions. EASHL is a team-based game mode where you can create/customize your own club and compete alongside your friends. New to EASHL in NHL 16 is the player class system where players can select from a set of carefully balanced skater and goalie classes. This is tuned in a way so that the strengths/weaknesses of each class are authentic to hockey. It's up to you and your team on what combination of classes best suits your play style. As far as leaderboards go, there will be club and player stats available.

With couch coop online on Xbox one, will we be able to have multiple people per couch?

Hi Dallas. With online couch co-op (on both Xbox One and PS4), you and three other friends can play cooperatively in a head to head online match.

I just want plain old, regular Season Mode. Beginning to end, including playoffs and the cup. Please don't skimp on the basics that built this franchise!

Season Mode with playoffs is in the game and you will be able to play in any of the 10 leagues in NHL 16.

Are the EASHL playoffs going to be monthly again?

The playoff feature as part of Online Seasons will be the same as the previous EASHL. We're listening to our fans to determine what the right cadence of playoffs is.

Is there going to be a shootout mode in NHL 16?

Shootout mode is not in NHL 16, but it's something we're continuing to look into.

In be a GM, Will there be "expectations" like in NHL 14 where the owner told you have win this many games or make it to this round of playoffs. NHL 15 lack emotion in Be a GM.

Be A GM will not have expectations like NHL 14 but to bring out the emotion of being a real General Manager we will have the new Player Morale feature which will bring out the player interaction a real GM has to deal with in his dressing room.

Can you play in the european leagues in Be a Pro?

You will not be able to play in the European leagues in Be A Pro.

In BeAGM mode, will I be able to see my AHL/CHL players statistics?

We will have AHL integration in Be A GM. So you will be able to have statistics for your AHL players as well as be able to play games with your AHL team. We do not have statistics for CHL players in Be A GM.

Hello, I would like to ask why you can not play in GM mode for two teams at once. Thus, to be able to two players on two drivers play one season for the two teams. This feature should be the basis for a game console that is designed for multiple players in the home. The option will be in NHL16? Thank you

We will have Season Mode in NHL 16 that will allow multiple users to play together thru one season as two separate teams.

Game: NHL 16Reader Score: Vote Now
Platform: PS4 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 0 - View All

NHL 16 Videos

Member Comments

# 61 jake19ny @ 05/25/15 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheels2121


	I thought the chamber was next weekend? But ya, the last poster is right. The game simply will never be geared to us simheads

I accepted years ago that this series will never be what us sim heads want, but that being said not only does EA not bother catering to us, which from a marketing stand point I understand, but not agree with, but the fact that the sliders for years have little to no impact on the game and now we can't edit players.....us sim guys are dead. If they releases and ok game with working sliders and player edit we we would do the sim footwork ourselves. We actual ask for very little in the grand scheme of things but get shat upon

# 62 Caniac94 @ 05/25/15 10:09 PM

Yeah I freaking hate how much effort is put into Ultimate Team. That's a game mode I wouldn't touch even if all the other game modes somehow broke on me. I miss the days when the NHL series used to be fun and I looked forward to getting the game each year. *sigh*

# 63 Don Jon @ 05/25/15 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by datdoodiemane


	well here it is guys https://twitter.com/MikeStrawWrites/...44729506160640 "SOURCE: The ability to edit current players IS NOT in the game. You can create/edit new ones, trade them, but NOT edit existing ones #NHL16"

The fact that they wete silent on it told me it wasn't in the game. Trust me, if EA puts anything in the game, we'll know about it months in advance. They'll put it on the back of the box and post videos about how they finally put editing back in the game! What a joke smh I wish I could put my nhl video game money in another persons hands cause this is ridiculous

Watch, this is what they'll say when asked directly why its not in "while we're dissapointed not to have editing back in the game, we're happy to have all new skill stick and new GM features. Stay tuned for more!"

Lol like their video game is coded so much differently than all the other games on this site that they couldn't possibly prioritize putting in a staple feature that's been around for decades. Lol give me a break.

# 64 actionhank @ 05/26/15 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caniac94


	Yeah I freaking hate how much effort is put into Ultimate Team. That's a game mode I wouldn't touch even if all the other game modes somehow broke on me. I miss the days when the NHL series used to be fun and I looked forward to getting the game each year. sigh

You're preaching to the choir.

I used to snatch up any magazine and online article i could find detailing the NHL series. Just hoping to get a glimpse of some small new addition, or a sentence detailing how improved certain aspects had become.

Now i feel like I'm hoping the scraps from the HUT are enough to make me begrudgingly fork over $60, while i drove home hoping i don't hate it in a few months.

EA's NHL used to be a game that I played up until the day the demo came out, and then I would play the demo to death, before trying to finish up a season a few nights before release day. Now I hesitate to get it, because I just expect for it to get dusty on my shelf before winter even arrives. It's such a disappointment. Hockey's never been more popular, and the NHL series has never been worse...

# 65 Moose24x @ 05/26/15 12:21 AM

Agree 100%. I used to play each year's NHL until the demo for the next and then play that until the day of release when I would rush to get the new game. Now I have to worry about freaking edit player being included.

# 66 nddurst @ 05/26/15 09:42 AM

Welp. Lots of disappointing news out of this Q&A.

The biggest for me is a lack of a defensive skill stick, or any addition to the defense arsenal. I'm worried that offensive players will be able to skate right through well positioned defenseman again. Intercepting passes is one thing--but giving a Dman nothing to use in 1:1 situations, aside from the flat-out broken poke check in this game, means that defense is still going to be a joke. Very disappointing. And I'm also assuming that neutral zone pressure will still be absent, although I'm not sure if anyone has asked on the website...ugh.

EDIT: I just asked. Hopefully an answer shows up in the coming weeks.

# 67 Moose24x @ 05/26/15 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by datdoodiemane


	well here it is guys https://twitter.com/MikeStrawWrites/...44729506160640 "SOURCE: The ability to edit current players IS NOT in the game. You can create/edit new ones, trade them, but NOT edit existing ones #NHL16"

Honestly inexcusable. That's not hyperbole. It is inexcusable. There is no excuse that can possibly be made that would render it acceptable. Pathetic.

# 68 jake19ny @ 05/26/15 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moose24x


	Honestly inexcusable. That's not hyperbole. It is inexcusable. There is no excuse that can possibly be made that would render it acceptable. Pathetic.

I have an excuse but its one EA wont be giving us. Every so often the NHL series makes some changes or upgrades, sometimes as a result of a new platform then the next few releases are nothing more than a new cover, roster update, and a few minor insignificant upgrades. NHL 16 is going to be what NHL 15 was supposed to be and if it delivers on all fronts promised NHL 17 will just be an update release like I mentioned. Holding player edit out until next year will be a marketing feature for us to buy NHL 17. EA does this often, addition by subtraction. they don't have a whole lot left to sell us on so remove a feature, wait 2 years, add it back in and then market it as a new feature.

# 69 Moose24x @ 05/26/15 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake19ny


	I have an excuse but its one EA wont be giving us. Every so often the NHL series makes some changes or upgrades, sometimes as a result of a new platform then the next few releases are nothing more than a new cover, roster update, and a few minor insignificant upgrades. NHL 16 is going to be what NHL 15 was supposed to be and if it delivers on all fronts promised NHL 17 will just be an update release like I mentioned. Holding player edit out until next year will be a marketing feature for us to buy NHL 17. EA does this often, addition by subtraction. they don't have a whole lot left to sell us on so remove a feature, wait 2 years, add it back in and then market it as a new feature.

Has edit ever been missing from the game since first being introduced though? I mean, when we jumped to PS3/360 and the skill stick, was edit not still included? Has it ever been removed from ANY sports game after initially being introduced? I just don't understand how removing it seemed logical or justifiable to them in the first place, let alone two consecutive years for such an incredibly rudimentary feature. Not that I disagree with what you're saying, nor find it acceptable with any mode, but it at least could be passed off as a feasible development hurdle with aspects of other modes, like sim to next shift, but something as basic as edit being omitted twice now is simply unacceptable.

# 70 jb12780 @ 05/26/15 11:14 AM

At this point in time, not having edit players/roster share feature is unacceptable. Gotta keep the HUT crowd happy though!

I'll pass.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

# 71 Beelzebot44 @ 05/26/15 02:49 PM

It makes me furious how they basically removed or stripped down every mode other than HUT then have the nerve to tout it as "the most played mode". Maybe if there were other viable options you could see what the REAL most played modes would be.

# 72 csamuelsvt @ 05/26/15 03:13 PM

For those of you who have snapchat, EA has added it whereby you can add them on it and see them working on stuff behind the scenes..

I looked briefly and it shows presentation aspects.

Looks like they have the Winnipeg goal horn in along with the smoke that comes out of scoreboard, along with the Sharks chomp the fans do and then a big bruins banner moving across the stadium...pretty cool presentation.

# 73 jake19ny @ 05/26/15 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csamuelsvt


	For those of you who have snapchat, EA has added it whereby you can add them on it and see them working on stuff behind the scenes.. I looked briefly and it shows presentation aspects. Looks like they have the Winnipeg goal horn in along with the smoke that comes out of scoreboard, along with the Sharks chomp the fans do and then a big bruins banner moving across the stadium...pretty cool presentation.

Here in lies our frustration with EA and no player edit. It sounds like the presentation is getting a really nice upgrade which is why it's doesn't make sense to leave player edit out. Authentic arenas, goal horns, crowd chants, authentic scoreboards, banners, and atmosphere yet after all that glitz my goalie takes to the ice wearing the wrong team mask and colored pads......once you see that it takes away from everything they are trying to accomplish visual wise.

# 74 Moose24x @ 05/26/15 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake19ny


	Here in lies our frustration with EA and no player edit. It sounds like the presentation is getting a really nice upgrade which is why it's doesn't make sense to leave player edit out. Authentic arenas, goal horns, crowd chants, authentic scoreboards, banners, and atmosphere yet after all that glitz my goalie takes to the ice wearing the wrong team mask and colored pads......once you see that it takes away from everything they are trying to accomplish visual wise.

This a million times over. What's the point of all the authentic gift wrapping when something as simple as a goalie having the wrong pads even after 40+ games with your team remains an issue. Or every single rookie comes into your franchise wearing the same gear and no visor?

# 75 murph17 @ 05/26/15 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csamuelsvt


	For those of you who have snapchat, EA has added it whereby you can add them on it and see them working on stuff behind the scenes..

and for those of us without Snapchat

http://imgur.com/a/fA0oX

# 76 canucksss @ 05/26/15 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moose24x


	This a million times over. What's the point of all the authentic gift wrapping when something as simple as a goalie having the wrong pads even after 40+ games with your team remains an issue. Or every single rookie comes into your franchise wearing the same gear and no visor?

For me, even if they have all these (gadgets, presentations, goal horns, etc) if the players of all teams plays the same...30 teams play the same, all these glitz will still be "old" after 10 games in BaGM.

EA improves on these because it is related to their cash cow HUT. BaGM offline, since it would really take DEDICATION to the game, they do not have enough time to make it.

At least I can play more of MLB-TS and NBA instead of playing my fav. game.

# 77 Moose24x @ 05/26/15 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canucksss


	For me, even if they have all these (gadgets, presentations, goal horns, etc) if the players of all teams plays the same...30 teams play the same, all these glitz will still be "old" after 10 games in BaGM. EA improves on these because it is related to their cash cow HUT. BaGM offline, since it would really take DEDICATION to the game, they do not have enough time to make it. At least I can play more of MLB-TS and NBA instead of playing my fav. game.

I'm so obsessive and so hockey crazed that with NHL 15, when I really couldn't stand the way a player was rated, I would move them to a national team and just create them from scratch myself. Did this for probably 40ish players. Doesn't help the big problem that they still all play alike, but that's the lengths I go to to correct EAs crap. If edit were in the game it would have saved me hours, just on that alone. In years past I've always basically done my own revamped rosters, editing all players and prospects to create more realistic skill gaps, more unique skills among players and greater overall separation. The lack of edit is absolutely killing my ability to enjoy the game but I just find it funny that even with all their focus on presentation, it still gets ruined by the incorrect gear the lack of edit leads to.

# 78 TDKing @ 05/26/15 07:40 PM

Rammer is that you lol.... J/k

# 79 jake19ny @ 05/26/15 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zoom zoom


	I'd argue the opposite. Sim guys are actually never happy. They have complained in every sim game I've ever played, be it text sims or actual sims like the Front Page Sports games on PC. Worse, they tend to not agree on what is sim or not, because, honestly, sports fans have no idea. Visit any forum for any sports team, and you will see thousands of posts from people that watch every game, care dearly, yet disagree about what stats are meaningful, and what they mean. Seriously, sim gamers are the worst demographic to market to. Look at the sales of actual sim games versus games focused on fun over realism. worse, they rage and rage over a $60 game not performing at a level that would be more like a $1000 simulation program that handles something less complicated than 12 individuals making decision on the ice at one time. And sim gamers are weird. Some go on and on about how an animation is presented over the results. Some go on and on about the results over how the game looks. No one at a AAA sports game studio is ever going to tell you how much of a pain in the are the sim gamers are, and how little impact they have sales. Heck, we are talking about sim gamers that actually pick up a controller and think it is a sim! It's not going to be a productive conversation. Sim gamers left the games on the PC, and now the few that are left flock to forums in order to demand them on a platform that is not designed to handle the simulation requirements needed, nor the market for enough gamers that will play the games. At some point, it becomes a game of when will you get a clue?

This post wreaks of bias....did you join up today just to put the posters on this forum down? Way to paint everyone with the same brush. I get it there are some guys who will never be happy and I think that applies to all gamers not just sim junkies. Clearly you haven't read much of what we are asking for and just decided to rant. I know I will never get a game to play just like the NHL but look at MLB the show for example. You can select from a variety of play styles, make slider adjustments, edit players, etc etc. you can play that game like an arcade game or have a pretty damn good realistic baseball game. Players hit, pitch, and field to their abilities. In NHL series all we need is better player separation so Brian Boyle doesn't play the same as Steve Stamkos. The ratings seem to matter little and what little tweaking could be done has been eliminated by not including a very basic player editor that has been in the game for years. We're asking for sliders that actually work because minimum to maximum on almost all NHL sliders do little to nothing at all. Were asking for player editor so we can make our rosters the way we want. We're asking for game play options that work. Very little difference from rookie to superstar. Don't take on an NHL license if your only looking to make an arcade brand of hockey. Don't have a play style called hardcore simulation that plays the same as rookie...see if you paid attention instead of being a fanboy you would see were not asking EA to make a sim game were asking them to make those things mentioned available and functioning and we will do the leg work ourselves. No two play the game the same so it would be nice to have basic features that have been around in games for ages in the NHL series and have them work.

# 80 wheels2121 @ 05/26/15 10:36 PM

He is right about us not mattering. The game is made for the casual fan and kids. It's not meant for people who want to grind on the boards, chip it out of the neutral zone or cycle.

« Previous 1 2 345 Next »

More Links

NHL 16 Q&A Day #3