NHL 17 News Post

The Psychology of Sliders: How the Community is Changing NHL 17

12:04 PM - November 29, 2016 by RaychelSnr

Earlier this year in an Operation Sports feature titled, “Fact or Fiction: 2016 Sports Gaming Predictions,” I said “NHL 17 will be a sports game of the year candidate in a big way.” With Madden, The Show and NBA 2K showing relatively standard -- yet still very good -- improvements this year, NHL 17 arguably has made the most progress of any of the major sport titles for consoles; it’s a much improved and complete game this year compared to its predecessor.

One of the game’s deepest enhancements has been the expansion of available gameplay sliders. There are far more sliders available in this year’s edition compared to '16, and perusing the slider sub-forum on Operation Sports, I was curious as to how folks were handling this year’s new edition (bad pun) when it comes to adjusting gameplay.

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# 1 SuperGoalies @ 11/29/16 12:45 PM

It's about time us slider makers get noticed, am still learning how Sliders work in this year's NHL 17, but seems others have figured how it works and that am greatful and proud they are having success, am personally calling this a year of improving for my (goalie sliders) , but am tremendously honoured that we get noticed finally , sometimes we borrow each others settings and add it to there's and stuff (but only sorten value), am just glad we all came together and worked together to get post about us sliders makers *CHEERS!*

, we all stayed together for this long and we are having fun at the same time

.

*Cheers for us Slider Makers Community*

# 2 shotclockcheese @ 11/29/16 05:54 PM

I don't know if it's just me but the penalty sliders won't save for me in BAPro. It saves on the menus of BAPro but after starting a game and checking the sliders ,it's back to the default settings

# 3 SuperGoalies @ 11/29/16 06:35 PM

you have to put them back manually before each game, make sure you have photographic memorie.

so ... do this

1.press okay and another okay
2. don't click start the game, instead go in to game settings and game sliders
3. make sure you have a photographic memorie and put sliders at correct values and do this before each game, cause this issues been in this game sense NHL 13-17.
4. when all slider at correct values start the game up
5. make sure visual and other stuff is at correct values.
6. then start game up.
7. have fun!

I've told about 5 people this so far .

# 4 Millennium @ 11/29/16 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGoalies


	It's about time us slider makers get noticed, am still learning how Sliders work in this year's NHL 17, but seems others have figured how it works and that am greatful and proud they are having success, am personally calling this a year of improving for my (goalie sliders) , but am tremendously honoured that we get noticed finally , sometimes we borrow each others settings and add it to there's and stuff (but only sorten value), am just glad we all came together and worked together to get post about us sliders makers CHEERS! , we all stayed together for this long and we are having fun at the same time . Cheers for us Slider Makers Community

Apologies for possibly lowering your excitement regarding this article but I got a strong sense of 'sliders vary differently from user to user not because they make the game more realistic but because each user has their own view of the game'.

I'm not sure you should be cheering as much as you should be pulling the point of the article and examining that.

# 5 karlos @ 11/30/16 07:00 AM

Could anybody suggest a particular slider set please ?

I haven't delved into NHL17 this year but have 10 hours ea access. I like a sim type experience and consider myself slightly above average at the game having played it off and on for many years. Being in a league with Rich Grisham, thatsportsgamer etc when we had GM connected (Those were the days !)

Cheers

# 6 Mike Lowe @ 11/30/16 08:25 AM

Default All-Star Sim/Realistic settings.

Thanks for the feedback on this piece, folks!

# 7 karlos @ 11/30/16 09:47 AM

Thanks will switch to that instead of standard upon boot up. Cheers

# 8 BigBadAss33 @ 11/30/16 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karlos


	Could anybody suggest a particular slider set please ? I haven't delved into NHL17 this year but have 10 hours ea access. I like a sim type experience and consider myself slightly above average at the game having played it off and on for many years. Being in a league with Rich Grisham, thatsportsgamer etc when we had GM connected (Those were the days !) Cheers

i say use FIDDY's slider Set found here - http://www.operationsports.com/forum...7-sliders.html

give them a try.. they are tough but fair

thanks

# 9 jake19ny @ 11/30/16 01:08 PM

Great article. Psychology aside I think the one reason we all get different results from the same set of sliders would be because individuals play the game differently. I still think because of the speed of real hockey and how many physical maneuvers are involved in a hockey players game as well as the quick thinking aspect of it makes duplicating the sport in a video game one of the hardest in all sports.

All that said I have never been convinced that sliders make a huge difference. Last year (NHL16) I experimented with just about all sliders maxed and just about all sliders minimum and the difference in many areas were negligible. That was based on 0-6 sliders. Now we have 0-100 sliders and I simply don't have the patience to experiment like that with these. I have doubts about the effect of some sliders.

Example:

On default for example shot accuracy had CPU at 50. The CPU averaged 25-39 shots per game. I lowered it to 10 and the CPU still averages same amount of shots

On Default pass accuracy and pass reception ease are 50 and 25 respectively...the CPU shots were 25-39 and pass accuracy around 84%. When lowered to 10 each the shots remained the same and pass accuracy was around 79%, a marginal difference.

# 10 Gbpackerowner @ 11/30/16 06:12 PM

The ability to adjust the sliders to suit ones style of play is a wonderful thing. There are many great sets out there. The problem I have, is once I settle on a set, Ea releases a tuner update that completely throws the set out of kilter and then much time is spent tuning it again.

# 11 jake19ny @ 12/01/16 09:27 AM

^^^ This 100%

# 12 DiddyGotGrillz @ 12/02/16 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay D


	For me, sliders nearly ruined my love of sports gaming. I've been playing sports games since the vibrating fields of electric football and the cards and spinners of All-Star Baseball. Whether it was the LED lights of Mattel's handhelds or even slot car racing, we tracked everything, filling countless wired bound notebooks with box scores and stats. And yeah, we were always wanting realistic results, even when it was just a fantasy. Sports gaming on the early consoles was just fun. There was nothing remotely realistic about it. I mean, we thought Intellivision Baseball was the most realistic thing that could ever be created. But man, we played everything. Even our C64 was a sports gaming machine, with Summer Games, The World's Greatest Baseball Game, Hardball and Larry Bird vs Dr. J being our heavy favorites. When siders first began appearing, it was welcome method to achieve realistic results in CPU vs CPU games. The idea was that once the CPU was generating realistic results, then it was fun to see how we stacked up. But at some point that changed, with sliders being created to give users a boost or to limit their results. That seemed great, at first. The problem was that sports games then became a paint-by-numbers project. I wasn't playing for the fun and enjoyment of competition anymore, but to re-create reality as I perceived it to be. Now, instead of a long season where I competed, I was trying to force the games I played to re-create the results I thought validated the "sim." Soon, that's pretty much all sports games became. And it wasn't pleasant. It was hours and hours on Usenet and forums, trading ideas and bitching about the "lazy developers." All we wanted was reality. could it be so hard? Well, yeah. Before sliders it was never close to realistic. But it was fun and competitive. Now, with games becoming so much more realistic, we often spend weeks or months before we will even start a season, if at all. And even if we start to get realistic results, then we began picking apart how it looked getting those stats. I'm not saying that doing all of that can't be fun. It is very much like working on puzzles. But I also saw how I and others began interacting wit the games and the developers. Our entitlement shot through the roof. We had sliders, just like we wanted, but now we hated that they weren't better. I came to dread new releases for the work and lack of fun. And you see it in these forums. People have some of the greatest sports games ever created, but no one seems to be really happy. Well, some are, and they are mocked. So I changed my outlook. I'll admit that Ultimate Team modes helped clarify what I liked about playing sports games. I wanted to compete, to have those moments in games where you had a hard decision strategically, to have moments when execution was critical, to enjoy the success of a well executed strategy. I stopped worrying about the stats, and just concentrated on playing the games. First, the stats are never too far off. Games are great today. Second, by playing on default settings, it's like every other competitive gaming genre. I'm comparing myself to others using the same settings, the same playing field. I mean, if you have tweaked the settings to get a result, how exciting is it really to see your stats? Not scoring enough goals? Tweak. No you got more goals. Yay? I'm glad we have sliders. I'll still tweak a setting or two in a season mode. But I am enjoying sports gaming like a I did almost 40 years ago. That period where I didn't, I used to think it was the developers ruining games. I now look back at it as how I ruined my experience.

(Mic Drop)

Very well said, sir.

For me, I have no problem getting beat by the CPU - in fact, I LIKE to get beat to know that I can't win every game. What's the fun in that?

When I adjust sliders it's to do one thing - to limit the CPU for doing things that I can't. That is the one thing that kills sports games for me, and as good as NHL '17 is, there are several things that need toned down.

(And I do think goalkeeping was broken out of the box. They couldn't stop anything! That would have killed my experience if we didn't have sliders to adjust.)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 13 Mike Lowe @ 12/02/16 08:33 PM

These responses have been great to read. Thanks, everyone!

# 14 DJ @ 12/02/16 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay D


	For me, sliders nearly ruined my love of sports gaming. I've been playing sports games since the vibrating fields of electric football and the cards and spinners of All-Star Baseball. Whether it was the LED lights of Mattel's handhelds or even slot car racing, we tracked everything, filling countless wired bound notebooks with box scores and stats. And yeah, we were always wanting realistic results, even when it was just a fantasy. Sports gaming on the early consoles was just fun. There was nothing remotely realistic about it. I mean, we thought Intellivision Baseball was the most realistic thing that could ever be created. But man, we played everything. Even our C64 was a sports gaming machine, with Summer Games, The World's Greatest Baseball Game, Hardball and Larry Bird vs Dr. J being our heavy favorites. When siders first began appearing, it was welcome method to achieve realistic results in CPU vs CPU games. The idea was that once the CPU was generating realistic results, then it was fun to see how we stacked up. But at some point that changed, with sliders being created to give users a boost or to limit their results. That seemed great, at first. The problem was that sports games then became a paint-by-numbers project. I wasn't playing for the fun and enjoyment of competition anymore, but to re-create reality as I perceived it to be. Now, instead of a long season where I competed, I was trying to force the games I played to re-create the results I thought validated the "sim." Soon, that's pretty much all sports games became. And it wasn't pleasant. It was hours and hours on Usenet and forums, trading ideas and bitching about the "lazy developers." All we wanted was reality. could it be so hard? Well, yeah. Before sliders it was never close to realistic. But it was fun and competitive. Now, with games becoming so much more realistic, we often spend weeks or months before we will even start a season, if at all. And even if we start to get realistic results, then we began picking apart how it looked getting those stats. I'm not saying that doing all of that can't be fun. It is very much like working on puzzles. But I also saw how I and others began interacting wit the games and the developers. Our entitlement shot through the roof. We had sliders, just like we wanted, but now we hated that they weren't better. I came to dread new releases for the work and lack of fun. And you see it in these forums. People have some of the greatest sports games ever created, but no one seems to be really happy. Well, some are, and they are mocked. So I changed my outlook. I'll admit that Ultimate Team modes helped clarify what I liked about playing sports games. I wanted to compete, to have those moments in games where you had a hard decision strategically, to have moments when execution was critical, to enjoy the success of a well executed strategy. I stopped worrying about the stats, and just concentrated on playing the games. First, the stats are never too far off. Games are great today. Second, by playing on default settings, it's like every other competitive gaming genre. I'm comparing myself to others using the same settings, the same playing field. I mean, if you have tweaked the settings to get a result, how exciting is it really to see your stats? Not scoring enough goals? Tweak. No you got more goals. Yay? I'm glad we have sliders. I'll still tweak a setting or two in a season mode. But I am enjoying sports gaming like a I did almost 40 years ago. That period where I didn't, I used to think it was the developers ruining games. I now look back at it as how I ruined my experience.

A great post here, and I echo many of its sentiments. I made the move back to default sliders for all sports games a couple of years ago and it was refreshing. The games are more enjoyable now that I'm not stressing over if sliders are working, not working, reversed, etc.

# 15 karlos @ 12/03/16 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBadAss33


	i say use FIDDY's slider Set found here - http://www.operationsports.com/forum...7-sliders.html give them a try.. they are tough but fair thanks

Thanks I'll give them a try.

Cheers

# 16 charter04 @ 12/03/16 04:15 PM

Great read!

I know more about the Madden side of things in regard to sliders but, I think it's all pretty similar.

I often wonder why so many won't even give an out of the box game much of a chance.

Some might play one half or one game and make whole sale changes but, then tell others that it takes 5-10 games to get a feel for their sliders. lol

I think for some it comes down to control. They want to get a certain level of recognition for the game they love. So they "work" on sliders year round.

Admittedly I was one of those people to an extent. I realized how much of a waist of time it was personally and just enjoy sports games for what they are and make changes if I need to but, stay closer to default.

I do think some of the reason we mess with sliders at all is because any company is releasing a game to the masses. So they have to make settings have the broadest appeal.

Because of that you have certain aspects of sports games that they feel can't be quite as real as real life because it may be too difficult or confusing to the masses.

This is where sliders can come in. We can adjust certain parts of a game to our liking.

Does it make the game better? Not necessarily.

I am for more settings to adjust personally. So I'm glad games like NHL are going that way.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 17 KingTocco @ 12/03/16 05:39 PM

There are some great responses in here for sure and I'd like to shoutout Jay D for his perspective because it echoes some of my sentiments towards sliders in Sports games.

This is my first NHL I've bought in at least 3-4 years, I played NHL 16 for about a week or two right before 17 came out using my EA Access trial. I took a hiatus from the series and actually from following/liking hockey in general. I don't know what happened but one day I just flipped a switch and stopped liking the sport I spent 15 years of my childhood playing and loving.

Anyway, I'm back now and having acclimated myself again with the sport and video game series I've now moved up to All-Star difficulty and can consistently play well. I was previously playing on the 3/4 setting as it said it was the default for the online competitive side I thought it made sense to keep it uniform throughout all the modes.

On All-Star 3/4 setting there were way too many goals being scored and I felt my goalie was terrible even with pretty solid defense from me. So I messed with sliders for one game and then it got too easy for me again, I was in that back and forth spot where I was trying to make it not too hard but not too easy and was over analyzing ever part of the game.

So I decided to try out All-Star Full-Sim and initially liked it, it felt more fair. I was getting more realistic scores although my passing was terrible. I messed with the pass assistance rating and made it higher for me because the computer was still averaging 90%+ passing every game. It then became too easy IMO and I was scoring 5-6+ per game still.

I thought it was time to bump my settings back down to All-Star Full-Sim completely default and I am now playing on that setting and greatly enjoying it. I've had some really fair games while also trying to accept that some games I'll score a lot and others I won't, it's a game after all.

So I love sliders and I think they are great to add customization for gameplay and modes, I know some people really love them and do a great job of making sets for the community (shoutout to the guys here). I also love playing a default setting and know I can still get a fairly great and sim-ish game out of the box too.

# 18 onlybygrace @ 12/04/16 01:26 AM

Great responses...I feel somewhat obligated to say something, being one of the slider guys around here...then I changed my mind because it really doesn't matter what I think. lol

# 19 jake19ny @ 12/04/16 04:00 PM

Funny, I was one of the many screaming for more sliders and 1-100 sliders and now we have it I became overwhelmed and didn't want to go insane tweaking. I basically use default sliders and tweaked only
Game speed
Pass accuracy
Shot accuracy
Penalties
I think that's partly credited to the fact that this years game plays pretty darn good out of the box and I just made adjustments to the little areas I felt suited my game style and preference.

# 20 SandGropeR @ 12/04/16 05:31 PM

Is there a way to save them when in BAP so they load up as default, I always have to fiddle with them once in the BAP menu as they revert back to original and it becomes a chore.

a big thanks for this thread by the way

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