League Reaction.

It's stupid, but in their eyes there's not much they can do. It's childish but I mean, they're pissed. If you didn't plan on getting 15 then after a poll voting for which game shows 14 ahead but the league goes with 15 anyways you'd be too, they see 15 as just a patch.

Like I said eventually they'll get the game and realize its different.

 

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2014/09/09/nhl-15-review/

Good read

Senseless to argue, I won't be paying for a $60 patch, even with excess money.lol
I respect LG's decision, doesn't mean I have to buy into great game crap.lol And yes I played it with the season ticket, left over from last year.

 

That guy didn't play 360 version.. What new background menu?!

 

THIS!, not sure people realize, but this was the deciding factor from what I gathered from reading and listening to Brodie. '14 was stale and even if people started the first season strong the whole year would have had less interest than the summer seasons. It was the greater fact, that after speaking to some people and getting opinions that '15 was indeed different and there would be a greater chance for the league to continually grow on '15.

A poll of this nature would & should be considered "split", there was by no means a clear "winner" unless it was stated the vote is the deciding factor, in which case it would have been '14 vs '15 straight up without a neutral option, with the winner of votes being the winner. Also to put my final discussion about the poll (its beaten to death now), polls are not always decided by the majority votes, take the US Presidential election...

PS: MadeOfTwoFaces, this is why I hate to love you man. I know you dislike me and how I debate my opinions and that we disagree more often or not, but I always respect you point of views no matter which side of the fence you are on because in the end if you are wrong or right you'll always be a stand up guy about it. You don't just take a side and stand by your opinion, you will actually investigate and research the other side with an open mind.

 

Here's how it breaks down. EA had to have known for months that EASHL would not make it into NHL15. Had they announced the fact weeks ago and owned up to it, there wouldn't have been any major flap about it. Instead they actively concealed the fact for as long as possible to protect sales.

Then, LG holds a forced poll which isn't binding, and suggests there will be a second poll after Early Access. Instead, LG moves forward without the second poll. That felt like a second knife in the back right beside the first one, and the second one hurts much worse. No one here really trusts EA in the first place, but most of us believed in the ideals of this league.

Lessons I hope LG leadership takes away from all this:

1. Don't hold a forced poll if the outcome is not going to be a significant factor in the decision-making process.
2. In the absence of tenured owners to act as an advising council or representative body, significant decisions should have majority community support.
3. Don't break reasonably perceived commitments. LG should have held the second poll and should apologize for not having held it. If I missed the apology, then, I apologize myself. LG didn't have to be bound by the second poll's results, but they had bound themselves already to the commitment to have the second poll.

 

Since when did posted timelines matter around here?

 

I think it's safe to say that they would've put up the pool if there wasn't a definitive change between the games, but after everyone on staff played it and saw the changes their really wasn't a need for it (this is really the only thing I can think of for the move.) The poll would've most likely been in favor of 14 just because a lot of people didn't buy the seasons pass to see the game. If they made the choice to change to 15 after a poll heavily went in 14s favor, this backlash would be A LOT worse.

I'd assume they got input from reputable sources along with playing themselves before making the decision, along with the Town Hall and such. Yes they should apologize for not holding the second poll but it would've made the situation a lot worse in the long run, so not holding it was a better idea.

 

Thanks for clarifying the record. I guess I misinterpreted the feedback thread as meaning there'd be a second poll, as that would have been the cleanest way to collect the feedback.

 

That's pretty much my main problem too. If LG held a second poll like originally planned I don't think there would be much backlash. Hey, if that poll was split, you guys were right, might as well go with the new game then. But I genuinely feel like after seeing the new game, NHL14 would have received ~65-70% of the vote.

@Nutty Grandpa said it best, the widespread reviews for NHL15 are going to be lackluster at best. Why is there so much confidence people are going to go buy a poorly rated sports game and then just instantly join LG? Will the new members who buy NHL15 and join LG outnumber those who stay on NHL14? I don't think they will even come close.

Out of the ~15 or so players I've stayed close with from my team the previous season, none of them have bought the game or plan to(good call itsamemario, lol). If this changes, and more people sign up for S19, who knows maybe more people can be persuaded to buy NHL15. Right now, I just don't see how its worth it.

 

September 5th (Rough date, depends on EA Early Access) - We will let the community play NHL 15 for Xbox 360 (if EA Early Access allows it for this copy of the game), Post another feedback thread on their thoughts of EA NHL 15 for the Xbox 360

When was this ever officially done? Poll/feedback thread/any official thread to give our opinions on the direction we wanted the league to go.

While maybe it wasn't in that thread, I definitely remember there being discussion that a second poll/thread would be made after the EA Access came out.

 

Definitely a minor detail given the circumstances, but the post you guys are referring to was Bmacdonalds post at the end of the first poll. It's been deleted or hidden.

 

Thanks. I knew I saw it somewhere.

Poll closed. The intentions of this poll was to gage the opinion of the community prior to the early release of NHL 15.

NHL 15 early release is available today. A new poll will go up Saturday night / Sunday AM to reevaluate this situation. Clearly the video released puts a lot of support back onto NHL 14, but I feel we can get a better feel in a few days once NHL 15 is played by a few members of the community.

Thanks to everyone who voted and took the time to post an opinion. I suggest that once the next poll is posted that you again take the time to vote and voice opinions.

 

This is why a 2nd poll wasnt posted. People would've voted to what THEY PREFER, not to what would be best for the league. Playing the same game for 2 straight years wouldnt help the league whatsoever. (before the "14 = 15" comments, it is not. I watched people play and it was obviously not) People wouldnt want to buy 15 so they'd vote 14, even though it wasn't teh best option FOR THE LEAGUE.

15 was the right option, cause 14 would've had people in the first season, they probably none in the 2nd, due to people getting bored of the game.

I do understand and see why people wouldn't want to buy 15, but that doesn't mean it's still best for the league, since some people will still buy it. EA made this decision a lose-lose situation by not announcing earlier that there is no EASHL on X1. They just had hints here and there about it, wihtout formally saying it.

 

Guys I think more important then a poll for the players is a poll for the strong owners in the league. I'm sure something like that was done because lets face the facts players can be replaced. Without good owners any league is screwed no matter what game it uses. I will definitely not buy 15 but I'm sure the due diligence was done to figure out which game appeals to the people that are hardest to replace. Tough decision to make and a lot of people are obviously bummed it didn't go there way.

 

First and foremost, this community of social gamers IS the league. Not site staff, not tris. The initial poll was posted with almost zero information concerning nhl15, hence the reason is was decidedly "split". With the "new" gameplay and videos of 15 on the 360 now available, imo a new poll SHOULD have been posted to get an official response from the community and if that poll had too been split a move to the next title would be understandable. The league has looked at this situation with a no brainer attitude and I don't see it as that cut and dry. Without a secondary poll, we're left with bickering on the forums about was the right decision made or not. It's too late now to go back and I certainly hope the league made the right decision, but if it doesn't work out and the league is operable but stagnant for a year was it worth alienating the people against moving to the next title to bring in some new members who for the most part are going to spend quite possibly the entire title in the ahl or developmental league? Like I said since the community is league not staff, probably would have been a smart idea to get their votes on which direction the league went. Goodluck to those participating and hopefully I'll see y'all on the ice in 16!

 

All the people that bitch about LG not being on nhl14, have yet to play nhl15.... if they were ever to play nhl15 they would realize that its not the same game and then they would all shut up and just be happy to move on from nh14... All the people who say its nhl14.5 have yet to actually experience the changes first hand, the changes have made the game new, smoother, and alot less buggy/glitchy... In all honesty all nhl15 is a really good game and it will nock some of the top tier talent from there high horses wen some of there moves do not work as they once have.

 

The point people are failing to see is that all these arguments can be flipped and said if the decision was the opposite, bottom line, which ever side felt like they've lost the battle for which game to play we would be having these discussion. It was inevitably going to happen. The only difference would be the people who are making it and those defending it. There was going to be a loss to the league no matter what I'm not sure why people are so wrapped into saying "you're losing a good portion of the league" when it was known going into this that what EA did was going to cost us.

It sucks for those who chose to make a stand against EA by not following the league's decision but in the end it is that individual's decision not to play in S19, not the sites nor league's.
[video=youtube;uAHR7_VZdRw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAHR7_VZdRw[/video]

 

Can you guys just close this and get on with your lives? Buy it if you want, don't if you don't. It's been 11 pages of the same stuff written in different ways.