NHL 16 Q&A Update - EASHL, Rookie Availability, No Face-Off Changes or Advanced Stats

[Steve_OS]

The NHL 16 team continues to answer questions about the game at their Ask EA page. The Q&A is copied and pasted below for easier reading. Other Q&A sessions have been posted here in the same fashion.

Will there be more customizablity in EASHL? (I.E. More jersey designs, more logos, etc.)

In EASHL 16, you will be able to use the logos and jerseys from the real-world teams for your club. Though this isn't complete customization, the team currently has it on the list of ideas for future iterations and it is something we will continue to look into.

Will HUT still have Collections and rewards for the Collections of teams? And if so, will the rewards be on packs or on HUT-coins?

Yes, HUT 16 will still have collection bonuses in the form of reward packs.

Will Jack Eichel be playable?

Jack Eichel will not be on the disk for when we launch. For him to be in our game he would have to play a shift in an NHL regular season game for us to be allowed to include him in the game.

First off I love the EA Sports nhl franchise and have been playing since the original nhl which I had for Sega. I noticed in be a pro mode in nhl 15 I can have up to 30 or 40 shots on goal but only end up with 1 or 2 goals while I can keep the opposing team down to about 10-15 shots and they will score 3 or 4 times. I guess what I am asking is will the players goalie be as good as the AI goalie ? This is probably the only compliant and question I have. I am very confident that everything else in the game will blow me away.

There isn't one answer to this question as the goalie and players skill vary as you progress through the different difficulty levels (Rookie, Pro, All Star, Superstar). Goalie abilities and shooting even change on different game styles. When you are playing on lower difficulties, your goalie will in some facets play better than the AI goalie whereas on higher difficulties, they play the same but the AI shooters will improve in terms of their shot selection and vision for making passes at the correct times. Game Style (i.e. Simulation vs Hardcore) will change many factors as well that will effect scoring such as how in control you need to be to get an accurate shot or how the angle of your shot and the direction you are skating in relation to your target can effect both your power and accuracy. Beyond finding a difficulty and game style that match your expectations for great competitive play, there are also sliders in the settings for both CPU and Human goalies and shooting to fine tune abilities such as Goalie Reaction Speed and Screen Effect as well as Player shooting accuracy and power that may help you dial them in closer to your expectations.

Is the face-off system being changed at all?

The Face-off system in NHL 16 will be the same as what was in NHL 15.

Are advanced stats going to be in NHL16?

Hey Sean…Advanced stats will not be part of NHL 16.

[peter21]

I'm a little confused about the answer to the first question re: customizable jerseys in EASHL. Are they saying your only options are using jerseys from existing real-world teams?

In the past you could choose some basic logo designs and alter colors. I mean, they weren't great designs, but it was something.

[BCDX97]

So sounds like no create-a-team?

I loved that feature. I don't want to build a team through the stupid HUT mode. It's a plague on sports games.

[Syce]

if you can only use NHL team logos for EASHL then EASHL pretty much has been gutted to the very very basic, and that really is a BIG let down. atleast in last EASHLs you can use a different logo that was in the list of many different ones and it made EASHL unique that way.

huge let down, honestly im really on the bubble on this now, if you cant create a team using a logo other than nhl teams then i dont know if im even going to bother getting nhl 16.

[HarryHood059]

this game, but more importantly EA itself, is a joke!

there's no way people phrased their questions the way EA makes you believe they did. they're controlling the message all the while trying to make it look like actual customers/fans are asking these questions. do they really think people are that stupid?

but, the real kicker of it is they make themselves look that much more stupid by hyping aspects of this game that no one wants (mascots), returning, yet still lacking features that were already in the game on PS3, etc

i mean, seriously. anybody that tries and defend these antics is either brainwashed or a sucker! i wish another developer would make a proper next-gen ice hockey game.

EA IS A JOKE!

[ianlast]

No change to faceoffs isn't surprising.

To get faceoffs right, EA really needs to figure out how to do two-man animations in the NHL series. They've got the collisions and that's it. All of the other two-man interactions look bad, and that's why you don't have realistic board play, faceoffs and physical defensive play (shouldering guys off the puck as opposed to flattening them in open ice).

[cmutat17]

I don't like having the Q&A. I've felt disappointed on a lot of the Q&A threads. I know I shouldn't be reading it than, but I'm nosy and curious.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by HarryHood059

this game, but more importantly EA itself, is a joke! there's no way people phrased their questions the way EA makes you believe they did. they're controlling the message all the while trying to make it look like actual customers/fans are asking these questions. do they really think people are that stupid? but, the real kicker of it is they make themselves look that much more stupid by hyping aspects of this game that no one wants (mascots), returning, yet still lacking features that were already in the game on PS3, etc i mean, seriously. anybody that tries and defend these antics is either brainwashed or a sucker! i wish another developer would make a proper next-gen ice hockey game. EA IS A JOKE!

I'm sorry, but this is rather inflammatory, and it doesn't need to be because your points are there somewhere buried below the hyperbole. Like, I hear you, I get what you're saying overall:

-"EA itself, is a joke." Not a great call to do this. Maybe it's your opinion, but it's not how we generally try to do things here when possible. You can say "I don't like EA and all that" but try to do a better job articulating it than just starting off a post by saying "Company X sucks" in so many words.

-You don't like the questions being answered. Fair point. It's an internal thing run by EA though, so like are you really surprised? Is a company going to skewer itself? Also, it's not a great look to go conspiracy theory and say "EA is making up these questions." I think your point was already made before you threw that in and sort of invalidated it.

-You don't like aspects of their marketing campaign. However, the game is not made just for you, and they have to show off things they've done, even if not every one hits on what you want. It doesn't make them "look stupid" to do this just because it doesn't jive with what you want and expect.

-"Anybody who supports this game is a sucker or an idiot." This is basically what you said to end your post, and it's one I can't justify in any way. This is just straight trolling. You can't say stuff like this, please don't in the future.

-"I wish somebody else would make a proper next-gen hockey game." -- You're so close here! I do wish other teams were making next-gen hockey too, but just take out the "proper" next time and we're good to go!