NHL 16 News Post

NHL 16 EASHL Beta Opens Next Week For NHL 15 Xbox One & PlayStation 4 Users

01:14 PM - July 22, 2015 by Steve_OS

EA Sports has just announced their plans to launch their NHL 16 EASHL beta, starting July 30 until August 6, for Xbox One (including EA Access version) and PlayStation 4 users. If you purchased the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version and have upgraded to current-gen console, you have a chance to access the beta as well. Look here for the details. The beta will weigh in at roughly 5GB.

Quote:


	This fan-favorite online team mode has been reimagined and lets you choose specialized player classes to deliver a balanced competitive experience on the ice. Player skill and your ability to play as a team will now be the determining factor in who wins and loses. EASHL lets you choose specialized player classes to deliver a balanced competitive experience on the ice. Choose from 12 different player classes that fit your team�s style and strategy.

Below are some notes from the NHL 16 EASHL beta FAQ.

Will I be able to customize my player or goalie in the beta?

Yes. You will be able to create a custom player in the EASHL beta. You will be able to edit a player or goalie�s general information, appearance, and equipment. Any creation or customization in the beta does not carry over to the full game. For more information on EASHL customization click here.

Will my player and team stats carry over to the main game?

Player and team stats will not carry over to the main game when NHL 16 launches in September. However, individual & team skills you learn through this beta will!

Will I have to re-create my team when NHL 16 launches on September 15?

Teams created in the beta will not carry over to NHL 16.

Does a team need to have a full lineup to play a game?

No, you can play an EASHL game without a full lineup and as little as 2 human controlled players. In those circumstances, AI will take control of non-human controlled players.

More info on the beta can be seen at Polygon.

Game: NHL 16Reader Score: Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 41 ricky24 @ 07/23/15 02:06 PM

I only found drop ins useful if I needed a game or 2 to level up. It was very rare to actually get into a drop in that was actually a fun game of hockey.

# 42 no1xdraftpck @ 07/23/15 02:07 PM

I commend anyone that plays drop in games and still has all of their hair. The amount of scum you find playing that game mode is atrocious.

# 43 Turbojugend @ 07/23/15 02:18 PM

Is that the mode where dudes park offsides to disrupt the game? If so, that sounds terrible.

# 44 bigwill33 @ 07/23/15 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turbojugend


	Is that the mode where dudes park offsides to disrupt the game? If so, that sounds terrible.

Yup, and EA has yet to do anything to counter it after all of these years. No vote to kick players, no tracking these player's movements and suspending them from the mode because of their actions, no automatic kicking of players that leave the controller idle for any amount of time. Anything that could be done to improve the situation.

And they drag out what should be a 15 minute game to over half an hour with all the pausing, fighting, and needless whistles. All it takes is one clown to ruin the entire experience and there seems to be one in every game, and they usually end up on my side. Nothing like picking defense when you have no intent on playing it, then proceeding to get in the way the entire game of me on offense.

I hope that there is a special place in hell for people like this, ha.

# 45 peter21 @ 07/23/15 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Yup, and EA has yet to do anything to counter it after all of these years. No vote to kick players, no tracking these player's movements and suspending them from the mode because of their actions, no automatic kicking of players that leave the controller idle for any amount of time. Anything that could be done to improve the situation. And they drag out what should be a 15 minute game to over half an hour with all the pausing, fighting, and needless whistles. All it takes is one clown to ruin the entire experience and there seems to be one in every game, and they usually end up on my side. Nothing like picking defense when you have no intent on playing it, then proceeding to get in the way the entire game of me on offense. I hope that there is a special place in hell for people like this, ha.

And these clowns are STILL trolling NHL 14. OTP served its purpose for me when I wanted to play and our EASHL team wasn't getting together. Since I didn't upgrade to 15, you're lucky if there are more than 1 other EASHL team on at the same time, so OTP is the only way to go. And that seems populated by a bunch of people with nothing better to do but wreck everyone else's playing experiences. It's beyond frustrating and EA needs to either crack down on this, or let the community police the lobbies.

# 46 Arrowhead21 @ 07/23/15 02:53 PM

Thanks a lot, Bacon Country !

# 47 jayman504 @ 07/23/15 04:30 PM

At first I was sorta cheesed about not having player progression etc. but I realize I've been playing with the same group of guys since EASHL started and we try and play REAL hockey. NOW it's a matter of playing team hockey and having the right mix of players rather than 3 snipers playing upfront.

I think it has a lot of potential to be an awesome game mode personally.

# 48 BigDisk @ 07/24/15 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Yup, and EA has yet to do anything to counter it after all of these years. No vote to kick players, no tracking these player's movements and suspending them from the mode because of their actions, no automatic kicking of players that leave the controller idle for any amount of time. Anything that could be done to improve the situation. And they drag out what should be a 15 minute game to over half an hour with all the pausing, fighting, and needless whistles. All it takes is one clown to ruin the entire experience and there seems to be one in every game, and they usually end up on my side. Nothing like picking defense when you have no intent on playing it, then proceeding to get in the way the entire game of me on offense. I hope that there is a special place in hell for people like this, ha.

You nailed most of the in-game issues. It's so true, they should absolutely allow people to "Downrate" trolls. But allowing people to kick others would be so easy to abuse, that's why it's not in.

You score 2 quick goals and the other team starts a kick vote. 4 guys from the same club don't want you as their 5th teammate 'cause they're elitists ****s and they start a kick vote. You see where I'm going here...

Allowing for some kind of "gentleman" up/down rating could solve that, where you get dropped along other players with similar "gentleman" ratings. This could be abused too, but if the rating takes your last N games into account it could work. But I'm not convinced either.

A potential fix would be removing the position selection race. Why can't we just pick the position first? I mean, even before you hit the Drop In button. That would put you in a queue where you are auto-joined on one team on the position you want, 100% of the time.

So kids that only want to play wing would always be on the wing. Queue times would be higher for wingers. Want a quicker or almost instant game? Learn to play D. The position contingency would balanced itself organically.

They could go further and skip the whole team AND position selection screen. It's useless and it's a waste of my precious time. Just make it like any classic Arena eSports games (DOTA/LoL/HotS): you choose your hero (position) first and you get in the matchmaking queue alone or with your party. Once teams are composed, the game loads and the action starts. The whole ****ing around the game lobby where idiots never pick a side and cause everybody to leave at the 3 seconds mark would be gone.

The matchmaker does the rest and does its best to match players around the same ratings and balance both teams. These eSport games use an ELO/MMR rating system to compose the teams and it's proven, tested and it just works. It results in a win% very close to 50% for most people, which could mean more close, hard fought games in hockey, and we all loooooove close and hard fought hockey games.

The OTP trolls exists because of an unbalanced matchmaking. 95% of these trolls would absolutely be competitive and stop trolling it the games they were in were balanced, IMO.

Maybe in NHL17.

# 49 bigwill33 @ 07/24/15 12:49 PM

I've suggested picking positions outside of the team selection screen. It's not a foolproof idea, but could be better than what we have now. They should keep the current lobby system, too. Just use the other way for drop-ins.

It still wouldn't solve the trolling. Like when someone cries that they aren't getting passed too and then goes berserk and offside all game. Or the people that just lay down wherever. For that I would prefer a boot system or ratings system.

Have it shown in the lobbies what your teammates vote you as. If your rating drops below a certain point you can't play OTP for a while. Or if your positioning score is an F and you have 5 or more offside in a period you can be voted to be kicked by your teammates. It's pretty simple.

Taking the "grind" out will only make OTP worse. People used to play OTP rather than club to rank up. At least early on they would try so they could progress. Now if stoner420guy is online alone and his teammates are done for the night, there is a good chance you will get into an OTP game with him and see him everywhere but on his RW position. And never play D during penalty kills. Fun times.

# 50 BigDisk @ 07/24/15 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Have it shown in the lobbies what your teammates vote you as. If your rating drops below a certain point you can't play OTP for a while. Or if your positioning score is an F and you have 5 or more offside in a period you can be voted to be kicked by your teammates. It's pretty simple.

I hadn't thought of that. That's actually a great idea to prevent exploiting the kick-system. Threshold about what's punishable could be tweaked to make it exploit-free.

I also agree about making your rating public and actually showing it everywhere could help promote fair play... Players must be help accountable of their actions.

I think it's gonna be EASHL first, then Be A GM when my mates are offline for me.

There's so many ways this game could be improved, it's ridiculous. At least EA's showing its commitment to listen to fans and keep on improving.

# 51 BellSKA @ 07/29/15 03:30 PM

Has there been an official 'drop time' for the beta tomorrow? I apologize if this is in another thread.

# 52 bigwill33 @ 07/29/15 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellSKA


	Has there been an official 'drop time' for the beta tomorrow? I apologize if this is in another thread.

Haven't seen anything other than "varies by time zone."

# 53 BellSKA @ 07/29/15 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigwill33


	Haven't seen anything other than "varies by time zone."

Thanks. Trying to determine if waking up with an 'illness' will even pay off tomorrow.

# 54 speedtrucker @ 07/30/15 10:11 AM

as of 7.00am CST, the beta link hadn't popped up on my NHL15/XB1. wanted to start the 6gb download while I was at work but no dice...

# 55 oasis90 @ 07/30/15 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedtrucker


	as of 7.00am CST, the beta link hadn't popped up on my NHL15/XB1. wanted to start the 6gb download while I was at work but no dice...

Quick tip: search for Rammer34 on Xbox Live (from the console search) : look at last game played, find NHL 16 EASHL beta and click on it. You'll go to store and be able to download it.
Sorry for my English but hope you understand what I mean

Inviato dal mio LG-D855 utilizzando Tapatalk

# 56 CamDMC @ 07/30/15 10:22 AM

It's not up on PS4 either

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

# 57 shogunofharlem3 @ 07/30/15 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oasis90


	Quick tip: search for Rammer34 on Xbox Live (from the console search) : look at last game played, find NHL 16 EASHL beta and click on it. You'll go to store and be able to download it. Sorry for my English but hope you understand what I mean Inviato dal mio LG-D855 utilizzando Tapatalk

Well done! Downloading it now but it just says installing. I'm not getting a percentage so maybe it isn't ready just yet.

Good work finding this though. Little head start.

Install stopped. Mustn't be ready yet. At least its queued up for when its ready

# 58 Turbojugend @ 07/30/15 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oasis90


	Quick tip: search for Rammer34 on Xbox Live (from the console search) : look at last game played, find NHL 16 EASHL beta and click on it. You'll go to store and be able to download it. Sorry for my English but hope you understand what I mean

Nice find. And if this does work, so much for needing a copy of NHL 15 to access the beta (for XB1 owners at least).

# 59 Pezell04x @ 07/30/15 11:06 AM

Come on Sony get this thing uppppppp

# 60 Money99 @ 07/30/15 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pezell04x


	Come on Sony get this thing uppppppp

Tell me about it.
For the peasants (I kid, I kid!) who own an XB1, I'm dying to hear some impressions.

Get on it MS fanboys!

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