I'm on playstation, but I was surprised that some of you liked the beta so much. I was a regular at playing goalie in the older EASHL modes, and I have to say the goalie controls are just terrible and way to complicated for what it is. Honestly in the older version I never used precision control because I felt that the goalie moved to little side to side that being out of position was easy. The regular movement was perfect to stay square. No the precision controls are a bit better, But not enough and I don't want to have to hold down a button the whole time. The regular movement is WAY too much that there really isn't a reason to use it, even in desperation mode, it goes to far. The hug the post is insanely horrible, as even holding the buttons I couldn't get my guy to hug the post right or move side to side.
I am extremely disappointed with the way it controls and won't be doing much in EASHl when it's released.
Yeah, I haven't played goalie myself (rarely ever do)...but in playing with the others, I've heard how bad the controls are. And I agree, it's dumb for EA to think people can just drift freely with "precision controls" when you consider how long it takes to stop your momentum and go back the other way in this game.
Playing last night with the new tuner, in general, some things felt better (or maybe I was just trying to see the good things). Specifically, this is my good and bad list so far.
Good:
Set Player Classes - No more 50 balance/99 speed players...however, this is only relevant assuming there are no other exploits
Positional Defense Actually Gets Rewarded - I noticed a decent number of times where being in the right spot finally made a difference. There's a specific animation for knocking down a pass now. So, instead of having to poke check and pray that your timing is right/person doesn't have 99 passing and the puck clips through your stick, you can break up a play by actually understanding defense and being in the right spot. This is long overdue and hopefully whiners on the forums don't get it changed back to the old way.
Variety Of Goals - I haven't been seeing the same goals every time. Sometimes the goalie will miss a slapshot, sometimes a crosser will work, sometimes you can snipe from the slot. But it doesn't seem to be every time. Could just be a small sample size and people not having figured out the "go to" spot yet.
Bad:
Still Not Enough Penalties - People play way too aggressively because they continually get away with it. I do think there are more calls than in previous games (the reason we've seen as many as we have). But it's still not enough to make people scale back their hitting on the boards (no misconducts), their pokecheck spamming from behind (the success rate of knocking the puck away cleanly from 5 feet behind somebody skating at full speed is truly retarded), and their ramming of the goalie when crashing for a rebound.
It still feels like EA is afraid to make people learn to play legitimately here because they know most of their target audience doesn't have the patience.
Cherry Pickers Still Prosper - Douchebags who refuse to help out and play defense still don't pay a high enough price. Their goalies will still make save after save while they're standing at center ice or beyond. I still want to see goalie composure or some kind of teamplay attribute that increases the other team's chance of scoring. Again...EA seems unwilling to target the people who choose to play the game wrong.
Faceoffs - I always struggle with whether it's just me or not, but seeing (and hearing) MVP play center last night, he had the same issues I do. Faceoffs really feel almost predetermined. Sometimes you'll win 15 in a row...then all of a sudden, you can't win one the rest of the game. I refuse to believe that the other player just magically figured out how to beat you or that your ability got worse.
I guess lag could explain some of it, but the way it changes from period to period just seems odd. But the timing never feels consistent. And it doesn't really feel back and forth either. It feels like you have a turn to win some...then they have a turn to win some. This is highlighted by the times where I try to tie up and can't do anything...or the times where you don't do anything and end up "winning" the faceoff. Half the time, I feel like I'm just guessing when I take a draw. And it's probably been this way since NHL 13.
Good and Bad:
Poke Check - Don't get me wrong, it's great that it works and that defensively, you have a chance against people trying to dangle through the slot. But if EA can't determine its effectiveness situationally, then it probably hurts more than it helps. And since you can play positional defense now and/or use left stick hitting to knock people off the puck better than in the past, people shouldn't need to rely on poke check as the only means of playing defense (though we have been conditioned to play this way thanks to the shitty programming from previous games). Again, since penalties don't happen often enough and the chance of success is so high, people are way too aggressive with this.
Are you guys planning on getting jiggy with it tonight?
Yes. I'll be on around 9PM CT. And if we have a full boat, we can rotate people in and out. I'll have Rocket League on standby, haha.
Kane and his mutton chops.
