NHL 08

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Broda
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NHL 08

Post by Broda »

Hey guys hows it going?

Just wondering if any of you guys have played the latest and greatest.. minus a number of annoying bugs.. hockey game from EA. Just wondering because now that im an artist there just wondering what some ideas are or complaints.. or somethings we could build on. I usually spend a half hour or so a day thinking of ideas of things that should be introduced or bettered in the franchise. Just hopeing for some input. And im asking this from a stand point of me loving this series and wanting only to make it the best hockey game ever made. Anyways thanks guys
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Post by Kowch »

I've got it for the 360 and I love it (we've already won the cup :) ).

Seriously though, besides the bugs (like the game hanging, the right players photos not appearing, etc), here's a few things I wouldn't mind to see changed. Most of them are minor annoyances, but would build on a really great game.

Player Management: While I love that it's fairly realistic, it's a PITA to move players around while staying under the cap. It would be nice to be able to make your line changes AND send players between the NHL and AHL in the same menu WITHOUT having to scratch them. It's a little cumbersome.

Player Trading: Again, I know it'd probably be difficult to do, but it'd be nice to see responses from GM's to what you propose for a trade. If I offer up Player Type A, but they're looking for Player Type B it'd be nice to know so I can see who's actually available and what they're looking for in return.

Player Trade Requests: This really bothered me actually. Playing in Dynasty Mode, Luongo asked for a trade despite having the best record in the league and winning the cup (not to mention most of the hardware at the Awards). Fine, he's not happy about something - but what exactly? I have no idea except that he wants out. Too many shots against? Too many days off? Wants more money? Beats me. It'd be nice to be able to fix whatever your star players are not happy about so they stay.

Gameplay: For the most part it's flawless - the skating looks VERY good. Very lifelike. My biggest complaint is that I think I've set records for the number of posts hit in a game. I've never heard so much ringing metal. I know that one of the lead developers said they wanted to limit the number of "cheesy" goals scored but this is a little rediculous (IMO).

The game though is fantastic, and I can't put it down. Keep up the great work!

(oh, and is it just me, but can you not create your own player in Dynasty Mode?)
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Post by Bartman »

I've yet to buy it. A complaint I've had about prior versions and have heard about this one is in regards to the trading. When the system generates trades between teams other than the users they make no sense and are rarely balanced. Sydney Crosby for Pascal Dupuis and a 3rd rd pick and so forth. Makes it hard to have a realistic dynasty when the star players bounce around with little rhyme or reason.

If EA Sports could internally identify franchise players on each team and make them harder to trade for or insist on the player values being equal this might help.
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Kowch
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Post by Kowch »

Bartman wrote:I've yet to buy it. A complaint I've had about prior versions and have heard about this one is in regards to the trading. When the system generates trades between teams other than the users they make no sense and are rarely balanced. Sydney Crosby for Pascal Dupuis and a 3rd rd pick and so forth. Makes it hard to have a realistic dynasty when the star players bounce around with little rhyme or reason.

If EA Sports could internally identify franchise players on each team and make them harder to trade for or insist on the player values being equal this might help.
This hasn't seemed to be an issue so far - I've been watching the trades going on. Keep in mind that some moves are done purely for cap reasons.
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Post by Madcombinepilot »

I haven't bought 08 yet( I own every other one), but I have a question... do you guys prefer a playstaion/x-box version of playing off PC?

The only complaint I had (playstaion) was the injuires... my guys never got hurt for any duration (they might get injured for the rest of the game, but thats it) so I only carried 20 guys on the team. Not sure how that worked on PC...
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Post by JoeKnows »

You know what I'd love to see? Customizability on the newer consoles. I have 07 for both the 360 and the PC, and on my PC, I have a 12 team custom league playing under the Swedish League banner that I'm enjoying a ton, but on the 360, I didn't have the option to even create a team. I wasn't all that impressed by the 360 version to begin with, and I can't rightly comment on 08 yet, not having seen it, but keep in mind some people like playing God.
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Post by JoeKnows »

One more thing, though. Even if you don't add many new features, please make sure the new ones function the way they are supposed to, and any gameplay changes don't result in breaking something that worked. It's something EA has been guilty of in the past.
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Broda
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Post by Broda »

I personally since you could edit the game for pc was always a pc guy, but now with the Next gen of the new consoles you can't not get it .. if you can afford the upgrade of course, becuase there isn't much they can dowith the old current gen games other than roster updates.

Yeah those are some good ideas, i have been talking about some of them, we also have issues witht the number of posts, but it seems if you put down the shooting acuracy that the number of posts drops some what, if you guys are looking for a slightly more sim style game i can give you guys my setup or some guys at works set up for a much better game.

I have been brainstorming about some of these things like the trading system.
That issue with Luongo asking for a trade... that was this year? because i know that feature was in the game last year, really annoying you could be winning every game and goalies confidence goes down for some reason.

To answer questions about creating teams, you can in this game, It works pretty well, in my franchise i actually moved the preds to Hamilton, and created a team for them. you just do it prior to starting a franchise. Then when starting a franchise you subsitute teams in and out for created teams.

Created players just make them before you start and you can have them in it. Im on the moose in my game.

Anyways thanks for the input
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Post by tuzzi44 »

i bought this game yesterday for the 360 and im loving it!! it took me a few games to get used to it and now its going well. im glad they reintroduced the create a player mode and have improved it as well. in the dynasty mode, its the little things that have caught my attention. having a list of free agents for the end of the season can kinda help you plan ahead. i also like how the UFA's give you a better response now... like whether or not they want a one way contract. good stuff IMO. the skating looks great not to mention the new jerseys. the new deke thing is cool too once you get used to it.
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Post by tey »

I'll be down in Vancouver in a couple weeks, I may have to pick the game up from my buddy (he works for EA) while I'm there...
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Broda
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Post by Broda »

Whos your buddy? just curious.. if he is an artist... i might know him
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Post by Badfish »

I've also got a buddy at EA. Won't name names (for sake of net privacy) But he's a texture artist ;)

I've yet to play 08, although I should be grabbing a copy any day now
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Post by Kowch »

Broda wrote: I have been brainstorming about some of these things like the trading system.
That issue with Luongo asking for a trade... that was this year? because i know that feature was in the game last year, really annoying you could be winning every game and goalies confidence goes down for some reason.
This is indeed a problem again this year. It seems that no matter what I do, I can't keep the goalies confidence level up and they request a trade. Other people seem to be having the same issue. I've e-mailed EA about it in hopes there's a fix or a guide to "Keeping your Goalie Happy" but I'm not going to hold my breath. :)
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Post by Kowch »

Got my canned response from EA:
Kowch wrote: Having a little issue with NHL 08 (looked around the forums - lots of theories, no answers).

The only players that are having confidence issues are the goalies - many people (including me) are having issues with goalies requesting trades even though teams are winning, etc. There's not information as to why their un-happy or what players can do to make them happy.

Is there any information to this issue? It's really detracting to what is a great game.

Thanks in advance
To which I got:
EA wrote: The question you submitted seems to be related to the mechanics of playing the game. I am sorry but EA Technical Support is only able to assist with issues of a technical nature, such as error messages, game lock-ups, or game crashes. For suggestions on how to play or utilize features of our games, we recommend visiting the game’s message board forum. You can reach the main forums web site for EA games at http://forums.ea.com. From that page you can select the game you have a question about. Other players are often the best resource for game play questions, and chances are good your question has already been mentioned. If not, you can post the question, and should receive answers shortly thereafter.

If you find that your question is not being addressed on the game’s message board forum, there are other online resources to try. Web sites such as www.gamespy.com and www.ign.com have reviews and information on almost every game, and www.gamefaqs.com has walkthroughs for most games currently available*.

Another option for game play help is to try the official game guide for the title in question. While not every game has an official game guide, most of the more prominent ones do. One of the leading publishers of strategy guides is Prima, you can find their website at http://www.primagames.com/. Their guides can also be found at most video game retailers.

Again, I’m sorry I can’t help you out with this particular question, but please don’t hesitate to contact us if you ever have a technical problem or question.
I've replied to the extent that I belive it's a bug not a mechanics questions since there's tons of people out there having the same problem and no answers available anyway - just tons of speculation. We'll see if that garners another canned response.

Broda: any chance of speaking to someone that might be able to actually help? Or can you forward this concern/thread to someone that can help?
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Post by tey »

He's a Build Engineer
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