My Issues with Truc/Unstoppable/Big Tipper Bans

1) Build Diversity is now ruined

Half the reason for this is EA's fault to begin with with so many useless perks, but now there is zero reason to use a power forward or grinder build with this ban. The best gold perks for each class have been taken away, and there's just no reason to even play big if you can't take advantage of being big.

2) Is there any reason for any player to not be 160 lbs at this point?

For forwards or dmen, there could have been an argument to be at least 180 lbs to get truculence or unstoppable force. Running the smallest power forward or grinder possible also made some sense with truc / unstoppable / big tipper. With these perks gone, I expect 95% of the LG community to be 160 lb PMD, sniper, dangler, or playmaker, which is sooo boring to have minimal differences in player types.

3) Defense already sucks so much to play

In no particular order, here are some changes from last year's game to this year's for defensemen: Stick lift is now penalty button, super slow skating when holding down defensive skill stick, momentum from missed poke gets you super out of position, point shots are now entirely useless at goal generation outside of a tip or rebound as goalies can middle sit on long shots (I was able to score quite a few D to D goals with one timer on in previous game). By taking away big tipper, there is even less reason for dmen to take a point shot, and by taking away truc when every other defensive play has been nerfed by EA will make it tough on dmen. So many defensemen I see in CHL and AHL are already shit cans and this isn't going to help. I'm curious if these changes are going to cause a drop in defensemen signups, and I know every team is desperate for good dmen. I know I am debating skipping summer season now.

4) Personal opinion, I think banning anything in the loadout options is dumb. If it's in the game let it play. EA sports, it's in the game

I wasn't sure where to post this you can move it if there's an appropriate forum place for it

 

You dont even need big tipper to be good bro

 

I’m just gonna lay down at the blue line and hope for the best

 

Ban all x-factors for skaters + goalies or ban nothing. (boosts are fine)

Honestly I have no issue banning big tipper because it's a literal zero skill ability that doesn't need any button input, it results in comically unrealistic goals, and because you can easily get deflections without it.

But I agree banning truculence is dumb for the reasons you stated. Playing D is beyond boring and frustrating in this game, and taking away one of the few remaining tools d-men have left is not the answer. Skaters can shrug/slide off hits even without unstoppable force, and I expect the L2 spam being abused more than ever before with truc banned.
Scoring hasn't been an issue in this game, so I'm not sure why they feel the need to nerf d-men even more.

To anyone who says "bUt EsPoRtS bAnNeD iT", LGHL isn't esports especially at the AHL+CHL levels. If people want esports gameplay they should play esports. There are plenty of events year-round.

 

Don't understand how you can ban perks for being over powered and not ban Close Quarters.

From McDonalds DM to everyone "There has been some debate about removing gold and silver close quarters. The fear is that by removing that trait the meta would swing too far one-way lowering scoring to the point where the quality of the game would be less than what we are currently experiencing. "

Basically admitting that close quarters is the reason for many goals that occur, but leaving it because the goals scored will be less.

You think skill is involved for close quarters? It literally boosts a players accuracy to 100000% and will find an opening the size of a puck for the shooter, or it makes the puck bounce off the goalies armpit, down to the ice, off his balls and into the back of the net.

If you're going to ban 1, ban em all.

 

I understand where you're coming from and I also feel like banning perks isn't the right option (even though I don't use any of the ones being removed). We are in agreement there, but I think this actually helps build diversity. It's no secret that many forwards ran Unstoppable Force and Big Tipper, while almost every defense pairing had at least one guy running Truculence. So I think this does lead to more build diversity. So while I disagree with the decision, I at least understand what they are trying to do.

I just wish that the build diversity came from EA having an abundance of balanced X-Factors instead of leagues restricting the highest performing X-Factors. Losing 3 perks hurts a lot more when there's only about 10-15 perks worth using as a skater than if they had 60 X-Factors that all felt significant in some way.

 

1. Build diversity already sucked. The vast majority of competent D-men were already using PMD to get gold elite edges and a sizable share of wingers were using PMD too. So many teams were 4 PMD and a Playmaker/PWF at center already, LOL and that's with truculence. Banning truc, tipper, and UF ain't changing that. Plus, being big should still give you strength and balance advantage over a 160 pound PMD. If a 160 pound PMD can no longer get silver Truc and bump bigger players, shouldn't the actual attributes mean more now? I don't know, I guess we'll find out.

2. If you want good strength and checking you will need to be bigger. Truculence isn't the only way to create bumps especially since the puck carrier won't have unstoppable force. Unless you are saying a 6'2 214 pound Defensive Defenseman with 90 CHK without truculence won't be able to bump a 160 pound sniper/dangler? I haven't really played like that, so I don't know if that's true.

3. Very true, there are 3 forwards to every 2 defensemen on the ice. Their combined voice is louder. I've been playing for 5 years and it feels like the only thing people talk about is nerfing defense 95% of the time. And then everyone goes out and runs a 0-5 trap and sinks into the slot on defense and complains they can't score. But I disagree about point shots. You can still get tips when players are in good position and near the net. Banning big tipper is only removing the absolute ridiculous animations. There will be an adjustment, but people will find a way, maybe you need to add shooting perks to defensemen to get extra velocity on them, maybe there's other keys, but if you are committed to a play style you can still make it work. The animations are there it will just be toned down. Maybe heat seeker, thunder clap, or one tee find a resurgence on defense builds to help with tips? Maybe the FWD needs to up the Hand Eye to initiate more animations. I don't know, there are people that have put thousands of hours into this game already so if they aren't being used maybe they don't work. But don't act like banning big tipper eliminates tip goals from the game. If you were relying on Big Tipper as your offensive scheme you are bad at the game.

4. EA really needed to balance them but it seems like they do not have much of a budget to update and balance the game after launch, so that's a pipe dream. As such it's up to the community to figure out how the game should be played. You can always play pub games with all of those traits. There are other leagues with all of those traits. LG will know if the ban affects signups and can act accordingly the next season. Things will change for NHL 24, there will likely be other perks that are OP in next year's game as EA swings wildly in the other direction trying to balance these things.

I play defense, not always very well, I really only used truculence as a way to have fun, I never considered it much in the competitive setting. I was 5th or 6th in the A in hits this season and near the top last season, so I definitely leaned on Truc to have fun, but I suck and had a losing record, I find I play better defense without the allure of a massive hit, so I won't be all that torn up about it leaving.

 

@Serpe x 13 #Serpe4President

 

Sounds like a skill issue

 

i say ban them all. no perks needed

 

I agree with pretty much everything @TheSchwartz14 said.

Ultimately EA has a huge balance problem with xfactors if esports/leagues/tourneys feel the need to ban certain ones because they are perceived to be broken. I don't have faith in them to properly re-balance any of it though. It's on the game devs to fix it, not the league. Just wait til you see what's OP next year.


As for the issue of "build diversity" (which I guess is separate from "xfactor diversity", but still I'm gonna type this in here...), I'm half joking when I say this but if you REALLY wanted to force people to use different xfactors, ban elite edges.
Almost everyone seems to use that, myself included. Again, half joking but it really would force the use of different perks IMO.

Good thread by the way.

 

I wouldn’t be opposed to an elite edges ban for build diversity purposes but everyone loves L2 too much

 

I rated your post dumb because you rated my rating of syracuse crunch in 4 dumb.

 

I'm fine with banning those x-factors because now you aren't forced to use them in order to compete. Not banning CQ is the crazy one to me tho. Like we talk about how big tipper creates wacky and broken animations, CQ does the exact same thing and you'll see that activate significantly more than big tipper throughout a game

 

Haven’t you been doing that since I drafted you?

 

Make it simple
Fwds run Fwd builds along with fwd and athleticism Abilities

Dmen run Def buulds along with Def and athleticism abilities

I mesn if Lg can makr dumb suggestions and rules, makes sense thwt I can too right?

 

i would vote against this

 

Might get Takeout tonight. Anyone have any ideas what I should get ?

Thanks.

 

If you ban edges people will l2 more

 

This might sound weird, but in my opinion, what’s causing 99% of the problems with x-factors is the simple fact that you just can’t score from distance this year whatsoever, because EA can’t do anything in moderation. Heatseeker was too good last year? Make it completely useless. One Tee was too good last year? Make goalies just about immune to one timers. The reason close quarters SEEMS so overpowered is that it’s the only good way to beat goalies this year. Because of this, the meta has shifted to getting in tight and scoring off CQ shots and tips. 99% of the time. If players could score from further out, Unstoppable force wouldn’t be abused to get in tight, Truculence would be way less reliable since forwards wouldn’t need to get the puck super close to the net in order to make something happen, and big tipper wouldn’t be abused because there’d be other reliable ways to score. Once again, EA doesn’t understand how to make anything be moderately useful, it either has to be broken good, or broken bad.