NHL esports

Hey guys,

I spoke with the guys that are in charge essentially of planning and organizing the future of NHL esports. They were recently brought in and there looks to be an actual team dedicated to it. Over the next week or so, I want to put together a document that has literally every idea you guys have. Whether its 6s, 3s, HUT, versus, reply with how you think it should be run, from September to the finals. things like format, how you think NHL teams should be involved. They want as much input from the community as possible, so fire away.

DM me on twitter if you have any questions.

https://twitter.com/NoSleevesGaming

 

so do we post the ideas here or ....

 

sorry yes, if you have anything like you want to talk to me personally about shoot me a DM. But yes post what you think it should be in here

 

You need a better game (as far as 6s goes) that introduces more of a skill gap before 6s should be considered for an esport.


The best of the best, should show and be the best of the best in 6s, and the game shouldn’t be determined based on locale. You simply do not have that in nhl19.

And no this isn’t a “I suck and am angry this isn’t nhl15 anymore” post. This is the truth.

 

I completely agree. They are also looking for mechanics from the esports community that is not liked.. so this fits. EASHL is rough to watch due to the lack of high intensity moments. Thats something being looked at

 

If you want to talk 1 on 1 anymore about it you have my discord, I just don’t think this game in its current state, is even remotely close to esports ready.

It needs almost a complete overhaul, it’s not fun to watch or play.



Again this is 6s related, I’ve never been a big hut or versus guy. But I think in the interest of 99% of this website 6s esports would be the best thing for this community (maybe not EA) and id love to be a part of helping out.

 

please don't let them try to manufacture things like "pressure/poise/intensity" with their antics. example - why do all of our players lose stamina when we START a PK? like, we're already down a player, why is EA making it even harder? stuff like that needs to go before the game goes high profile.

 

Do people still care about dressing room error? or they accepted it as being part of NHL now?

 

Ok here’s my wish list :
1- allow an esport mode. When you want to do competitive it takes 30 clicks , 60 loading.. if you’re a competitive gamer you want to game not go trough menus. How long does it takes to start an overwatch competitive game ? Not 20 minutes .. take off the crap for causal players and go with a simplify and straight to dr kinda menu.
2- create rivalry!! Nothing’s is better then a mtl vs Boston playoff game .. why ? Because they have history, compile stats when you play against others.. after a few months you could see you are 22-11 against this guy or your team is 62-17 against these shitters.. during the game you could see what happenened is the past.
3- allow reports, for cr glitchers, Throlls etc
4- allow us to warm up until people join ... you can’t have a serious esport game if we only play 50% of the time and wait the other 50.. you know that “pre game menu in any BR” so the same so we are on the ice instead of a useless DR. If impossible add a mini game like fucking pong.
5- when some one crash he should be able to join back ..
6- allows us to put a rating on the players , meaning I could put an overall of 89 because I think he’s a beast and a 62 because he’s trash. So at least when you play against or with them you have “notes” on the players you can adapt with time. It’s impossible to remember everyone , that way you can keep your internal scouting report built in kinda..
7- stop the Dr errors
8- stop the dr errors

 

E-sports should never have a mode where the CPU is involved...for any game.

 

I think if they are going to get serious about NHL in esports 6s is the way to go to get the most watchable product. Focus on 1 game mode and stick with it. Idk about others, but for me, watching 2 guys play versus could not be more boring. That becomes a game of who can work the AI the best. I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not esports material/talent, but if you want me to take time out of my day to watch competitive chel, give me exciting 6s game play with with an even playing field (server connection) and actual hockey being played.

Call me old fashioned but I enjoy watching when teams play real hockey in EASHL. What turns me off is watching a turdfest L2 happy pisswrap game with one team on a server connection disadvantage. Sure those who exploit the game the best are often deemed the best in this era of gaming, but is that the type of game you want to bring to the table when you sit down with NHL execs for partnerships? I don't think so.

With all that said, if EA manages to create such a game for NHL 20 or 21, I would think to get each nhl franchise involved they could hold regional 6s tournaments from say September to December to determine each franchises' representative esports club. From there you build a season or schedule running from January to June with the the finals taking place during NHL draft week. NHL can slap whatever sponsors they want on it to fund events and promote it on NHL network.

Am I reaching ? Yeah. Am i spitballing? Yeah. But if you want to reach the masses and get as many eyeballs on competitive esports with an EA sports NHL game, this is just some basics on what i think should occur.

 

Here we go again

 

Just spit ballin here; A wider ice surface for 6s

 

If they're looking to make an esports league they should probably try to mirror other sports leagues like the NBA 2k League. They do it where players have to first qualify for the league by winning 50 games in Pro-Am so in NHL this would be winning 50 games in EASHL. From there they have it to where they do a combine to showcase players skills more with other qualified players.

This is where it gets to be a bit trickier and the NHL and its teams would need to be on board with things more. In the 2k league they then have a draft to fill the rosters and actually pay out salaries, benefits, housing (relocation) and food for those drafted. I believe they even pay them each player a salary of like $32k. Then they have the $1 million championship prize for the team.

Doing something like that would 1) eliminate connection bias in season because everyone could essentially be in the same area. 2) would only find those players truly dedicated to the league. 3) minimize any sort of cheating and 2nd tagging.

Now this is something that would be a huge undertaking not only for EA and the NHL but for the players in the league as well because you could be asked to move to play in the league.

 

as mentioned before that 2k league is failing miserably. also if i woke up tomorrow making $32k ..... yikes. my credit would be fucked up.

 

as i mentioned on twitter - the best route here would be tournaments: group play round robin, where the top clubs of each group move into a playoff. do this twice during the year and then once at the end of the title for a final champion. see how that goes.

like any other content, the money would have to come from sponsorships (partners + ads etc...). it would be a TERRIBLE decision to try and focus on appeasing the dreams of teenagers who are going to make up most of the suggestions, and stick with trying to start small, then perfect the process, and hopefully have it be enjoyable for those participating and watching.

at that point, you can think about having the teams themselves get involved in a league etc.

 

Suggest maybe getting rid of rammer and get someone with some knowledge.

 

like you? or....

 

Build a better, skill gap centric 6's game on an even connection.

Then copy any of the hugely succesful mobas esports formula. Incentivise club play, thus building esports teams organically and hopefully thriving on streaming platforms like twitch.

But again really all starts with the core gameplay.

 

Here are a few improvements that I would make if I was working for Easports:

Gameplay improvement:

1- Take away the skating glitches. Skating was probably the best skating engine that we saw from the past alternation. It's kind of sad that the back skating is just as fast as the forward skating and that players utilize the L2 glitch to go even faster. It's an easy fix, The turning is good and the speed of the game is alright IMO. Skating backward shouldn't be a way to enter the zone LOL unless you want to be destroyed or lose the puck. Again, it's about making things balanced.

2- When you hit someone, make sure that the puck actually pops away from the player. ( If you hit someone near the board, the guy will fall, then when he gets back up, he will still have the puck ). If you get hit, it should be a turnover.

3- Fix the fact that when someone does curl toward the board, he can't brush off a hit just by rolling upward on the board as if nothing happened.

4- NHL18, the poke check was OP, the stick lift gave you a penalty. NHL 19 it's the opposite, you can stick lift way to easily and the poke checks will give you a penalty the second you go near the skates (I'm actually ok with that cause it's more realistic... like you can't poke the puck through the skates without tripping someone. ) There's gotta be a way to balance things out.

5- The reason why players go for goals that are rebounds or "Turds" its cause goaltending on NHL 19 is OP (before a goalie that had .85 % in the game was actually elite. Now in NHL19 it's the average. They save cross-crease like it's nothing. ) There's a way to make goaltending a skilled based game. Reward Good positioning and anticipation that a real goalie needs to have to be successful at that position. ( Bring in a guess the shot ) "High glove, low glove, Blocker High, Blocker Low, Five hole, etc." " If the goalie guesses the shot incorrectly, there will be a higher chance that the puck goes in or squeaks through. If the goalie is deep in his net, they would be able to save Cross crease more easily but they will be vulnerable to Short side, far side shots "just like real life " That would bring the goals up more and that would give the offense more ways to score than just turds.
Make them pick the animation they want with a couple of special animation. (Too many times, the animation that the CPU choose for them is the wrong one and they let in a goal that shouldn't go in )

Reward the good goalies that actually play the position like they should ( Read plays, move at the top of the crease to cover the angles, anticipate the shot correctly ) and punish the goalies that are lazy and just middle sit deep in the middle of the net.


Mode / servers / code improvement:


1. Of course, fix the code error and server issues if you want to make this game Esport ready. Coding error in the year 2019 shouldn't even be a thing but it is.. that's why I'm mentioning it.

2. Even the playing field: West vs East connection shouldn'T be a thing. I'm no expert on how to fix this but maybe get the connection on a central server when both of those connections are solicited.

3. Fix the menus ( going through 6 pages to play an eashl game is ridiculous )

4. Bring practice mode to the DR if teams want to practice plays.

5. Be a pro mode: That mode hasn't been relevant since nhl 09 because it's always the same thing. If you do a be a pro mode, make it somewhat interesting like NBA 2k series. A good "be a pro" mode will bring more casual fans in. And will bring replayability to the game.