Pucking Ridiculous: Your NHL 11 Experience

[milesizdead]

Apart from a quick trip with HUT, EASHL all the way.

Offline just doesn´t deliver like EASHL does and HUT is just a bunch of Fantasy AllStar Teams without personality.

A great game, and looking forward to NHL12 making huge strides in improving online game modes, and Bap offline as well.

[actionhank]

I've had a great time with it.
I've only had my time spent in Be A GM, but i think maybe some day i will take it online.
I've had some good sliders, and while there are frustrating moments, i really love the game, flaws and all.
One thing that bugs me, is i feel like my team mates just lack any sense of wanting to make a play.
If i puck up a puck mid-rink and a team mate skates in behind the D heading to the blue line, instead of going for the break away for a scoring chance...he just stops and waits for me...
Little things like trying to control your guys in front of your net to keep the crease clear can be frustrating when your guys seem to just slide every where, but it's not bad at all.
I've had my bouts with rival (Being St. Louis i nearly launched my controller through the wall playing Chicago. True to life the first meeting they stoned me ,and shut down my come back attempt, but then lady luck came to my bench for game 2 of the home and home series and we rallied in the 2nd to beat them 5-4 in overtime on a short handed break away).
It's little moments like that, that i absolutely love.
They make all of the frustrating moments seem insignificant. While it can be difficult trying to get a fair trade, or keeping those damn grinders from crashing down on your goalie (Also, can they please get rid of the goalie deciding when he wants to push the puck into the corners, or back into play for NHL12 and let me decide. Halak seems to like coming out of his crease to slide the puck to the other team...i can't figure him out. It's like he hates me).
But all of those moments don't matter when you get a perfect set up in the offensive zone and score the game winning goal in over time.
Then again, nothing compares to the frustration of losing a game in overtime after working for 2 periods just to get back in it.
But that's life.

[plaidchuck]

One word: disappointment. The patches and tuners seem to fix one thing and break 10 other things. The most annoying aspect is that the offline aspect of the game is becoming so bad it might as well be phased out, with the broken BAP XP earning, sliders that may or may not affect the game, and boring/predictable AI. For someone like me with neither the time nor internet connection speed to play the EASHL/HUT online regularly, these deficiencies make the game pointless to really play seriously.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I pretty much play online drop-in games exclusively, but that's pretty much tapered off now. Basically, I can recognize that it's a fantastic game, but I'm having trouble personally getting invested in it. I've been playing video games for nearly two decades now, but these controls are still giving me fits. They're slightly less complicated than an F-16 cockpit. I do appreciate what EA is trying to do. You can replicate pretty much any move an actual NHL player would make with these controls, but I just haven't mastered how to process them at the speed of video game hockey. I've completely given up on offense, because no matter what I try my player seemed to blast the puck right into the goalie's chest logo.

And that doesn't even get into the absolutely obnoxious Skater Boost system, which requires players to grind in the single player in order to be remotely competitive online. WTF is up with that EA? I'm not a fan of giving any player upgrades over another in competitive multiplayer. The only time it works, in games like all of Duty or Team Fortress 2, the stuff you unlock is at best a sidegrade to the equipment you start with so newbies are on relatively level footing. Here, I'm being matched up against guys who not only have mastered the game, but are also stronger, faster, and more agile so I'm screwed coming and going. I could, of course, buy the upgrades but that only infuriates me more.

[addybojangles]

I'm happy with it, aside from the fact that ridiculous amounts of hitting is a viable tactic in EASHL. You can say "Just pass before you get hit" and it works, but with so many hits you start to get intimidated and stats-wise, everything drops.

The legend card is complete BS. I helped my team to a 19-game winning streak and can't get my team play higher than a B. It's like you have to play completely differently. Now I'm at 250 games played, no legend.

[FBeaule04]

The hope was high, the feeling was great. I even took a week off to play the game as much as possible. At first, I was pretty stunned by all the details, and the game.

It didn't took me long to get back to Earth though. Not that the game is bad, it's not the case. But there's again exploits, AI stupidity and lapses that makes the game less enjoyable than last year.

Online, I have to say that it's been ok overall. Lately, been running against a bunch of glitchers and since the patch, I've seen more and more goals that I didn't saw at first. Physical part of the game is way out of control too. There's too much bang and boom for my liking in the game.

Like someone said, the problem with fixing something is that it opens up the door for new problems. They patch the Boost glitch, 99 glitch is back in full-force. They patch robot goalies, then people are starting to score from everywhere and try the peek-a-boo shot all game long.

So, the game is still good, but for me, I'm enjoying more NBA 2K11 than NHL 11 so far, even if I'm a hockey fan at first.

[GlennN]

Let me first say I only play offline franchise (BeAGM), so HUT, online, etc, not my thing. I'm disappointed with 11, but only because I loved 10 so much.

I have buyers' regret on 11, especially because I bought on day one, at full price. The changes in 11 are, for the most part, meaningless to me. The few shortcomings in 10 (sometimes wonky stat sim engine, goalies who play 82 games, hard to view rosters, non-existent display of stats, awards and records) are all still present in 11. Plus, I liked the pushing and shoving after the whistle that is gone in 11, the scouting (with juniors in now) is too spread out, there are no impact rookies, and I detest autosave. I keep switching back and forth between 10 and 11, because I really want to like 11 better (but, I seem to always gravitate back to 10).

I just hope I have the self control to wait before buying 12 next year, to make sure there is actually some improvement being made. Again, I feel bad ripping on 11, because it remains a fantastic hockey game; unfortunately, it is only almost as good as 10.

[TDKing]

BORED!! Don't like playing randoms, BAGM and Be a Pro seasons are too long, having to play 82 games kills those modes for me. (I don't like to sim, we already had those discussions).

[GrandMaster B]

The difference between All-Star and Superstar. (offline with no sliders) I can destroy the CPU on All-Star with 8 goals and then can't score on Superstar.

I also don't like how the CPU magically gets to pucks with super human speed and how their D-men can keep most pucks in their own zone in front of the blue line when you try to chip it out.

The Legend card online has been mentioned. Really hard to get. I think there is an issue with the team play rating.

Never got into HUT because you can't change any of the settings and the speed is just too slow offline.

[Juiceman612]

I am a HUGE fan of the series and I haven't touched NHL 11 for months now. I have been at 51 games played in EASHL for months.

Here is why I quit playing: Boosts and poor matching (arguably non-existent game matching).

The grind to get XP points is a chore and bore. Your guy is going to suck until you get to at least 30-60 games played. What if you don't want to buy your boosts? Well, if you don't play hours on end from the second the game is released, then you'll go up against giant opponents who have more skill from playing more AND much more powerful player attributes than you. So plan to get worked while you grind to 60 or 100 games and up. But they keep getting better too as you play - so unless you are going to poopsock, might as well count yourself in for some serious frustration in a good 50% of the games you play - more if you're not very skilled at NHL. The team matching system is horrid. I don't even know if it exists. It's frustrating when I have 60 goals and 70 assists and my opponent has 500 goals and 1100 assists. Those numbers are not exaggerations. I should never be matched against an opponent of that level.

I've said for years now that in order for EASHL to be fun there needs to be a division for teams who purchase boosts and a division for teams who earn boosts PLUS there needs to be a good team matching system. Without those two things EASHL is becoming a losing grind most of the time and ultimately led to me rarely playing the game. Not having popped the game in for two months is a record for me. It's too bad because I think the gameplay is great and it's a fun game overall. But I like playing human opponents and EASHL is a broken league due to boosts and lack of reliable team matching.