Re: Little things that make a big difference

by IrishOwl
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Quality of Life Requests - Little things that make a big difference

[ Edited ]
★★★★★ Apprentice

I'm just going to start off by saying Be a pro is my favorite game mode. As much as I love playing this game there's so many things that don't make sense.

 

1. We should have access to the news around the league. I want to be able to follow what other teams are doing. Trades, signings, injuries. The feature is in franchise mode, would it really be that hard to add it to be a pro?

 

2. I got drafted by Seattle. After playing 1 game and getting 0 points, the reporter told me I broke the rookie record for goals in a season. If I scored 1 goal then sure, technically you're right, but even then that's not an accomplishment you can tell me after one game, the team is brand new.

 

3. Seattle has a rivalry with Vancouver already. The two teams have never played a game against each other. How in the world is there "History between these two teams" - James Cybulski.

 

4. After pre-season ended my coach told me I made the team. That should be great news but in the animations of the conversation it just looked like he was mad at my character. It's not game breaking but ruins the immersion of the game.

 

5. Let us change our positions or at least request a change from the coach. In NHL 21 my character was a RW/LW. I played about 60 games on Montreal as a RW, with Suzuki (91 OVR) and Caufield(90 OVR) on my line. We all had around 100 points, and we were the top line in the whole league. For some reason the coach decided that Fiala, an 86 overall 2nd line player was a better fit for Caufield's spot on the LW. Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to put my character on the LW instead (since that's my secondary position anyways, I chose it for a reason)? 

 

6. Let us play in the minor leagues, not everybody wants to be a superstar right away. I want a challenge, I want to be able to earn my draft position not just be able to sim through the 5 games and automatically be ranked first overall. Same goes for pre season. If I play badly, I should be sent down to the AHL or back to the Junior leagues to improve. The mode is called "Be a Pro" not "Be a Superstar".

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Re: Little things that make a big difference

★★ Apprentice

Yeah, that coach animation where he looks angry and waving his clipboard around is really puzzling when he's there to give you good news.  Also, there are far too many challenges where it's up to the rookie to win the game.  If a coach was caught giving a rookie the gears because he didn't win the game like he was forced to promise to do, he'd be laughed out of the league.  I 100% agree with bringing back the minors.  I love playing and finally getting that call up, makes it feel way more real than just getting plunked straight into the show.  I also got a segment in about my 3rd or 4th game where they were talking about how I wasn't suffering from a sophmore slump in my second year.  3 or 4 games after I had just gotten drafted.....

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Re: Little things that make a big difference

★ Apprentice

I just want to see more player agency. Let me request a different position or even lines. Let my agent do some work during free agency and let me fire him and hire someone else if I don’t think he’s representing me well. 

Really baffled that league news wasn’t added this year. If you want some way of adding in fun off the ice stuff, take a page from UFC 4’s fake social media thing. It’s basic but you could build on it. Chirping back at other players or congratulating a fellow rookie or former teammate for doing some achievement would be more fun than the current system. 

It would also be nice to see the addition of team character. Adjust the sliders a bit for each team so even with custom sliders teams feel like they have personality.

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Re: Little things that make a big difference

★★★★★ Apprentice

I agree with all of this and I think it's ridiculous that we're on what 13 years now of be a pro? And it's still lacking so many basic features. I don't care how many different questions reporters are asking me, sure it helps but I still can't play more than a few seasons of it anymore.

Just starting up the game I feel like there's nothing to progress towards, I'm already labelled a superstar, automatically captain for every team I play for, but have no real captain responsibilities. Where's the cut scenes before games or during periods where I'm hyping up the team? Why can't I see my character talk to the refs about a bad call? Why is this mode so barebones on even the basic thing like league news? 

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Highlighted

Re: Little things that make a big difference

★★ Guide

1. We should have access to the news around the league. TOTALLY! We should be following our competition, and trades. I mean I'd like to know before I signed with Saint Louis to play with Tarasenko, that he was traded to Vegas last year... That stops me from accepting that contract. Am I right?

 

2. I got drafted by Seattle. After playing 1 game and getting 0 points, the reporter told me I broke the rookie record for goals in a season. YES! I think they should have added a few team specific quips to make you feel more like part of that team. Especially Seattle, since you know they are so new.

 

 

3. Seattle has a rivalry with Vancouver already. MEH - I mean they need something to fit here, so I'm not hating on this, plus they already said that this is pretty much a guaranteed rivalry based on the fans - so this one you might have to let go, because its a game after all.

 

4. After pre-season ended my coach told me I made the team. That should be great news but in the animations of the conversation it just looked like he was mad at my character. MEH - Again without actually having the coaches talking or putting hardcore RPG-like qualities into the game, you can't really go on computer generated body language.

 

5. Let us change our positions or at least request a change from the coach. TOTALLY! I mean you might even have the coach come to you and say, "Hey have you ever thought about trying defense, based on the way you play? Something to make your character feel like something. Also, letting us know about trades. I mean if the Best Center on the Team gets traded and the number two guys steps up, how about a little warning?

 

6. Let us play in the minor leagues, not everybody wants to be a superstar right away. TOTALLY! I mean I don't want to play a whole season in the AHL (unless you give it a good story line) because I want to get into the NHL ASAP and play there, BUT I completely agree with the idea of busting your hump in the AHL so I can start off in the NHL with an 82 overall instead of a 77 default rating. One thing I will disagree with, no one wants to play Be A Pro to be anything other then a Superstar. No one thinks, Dang I'm happy to be a 4th line Grinder. LoL

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Re: Little things that make a big difference

★★ Novice

It would also be great if you could have conversations with more than 1 teammate, it's always the same person, there is a whole locker room full of players let me talk to someone else besides Gabriel Landeskog. Also wouldn't it be nice if there was player morale in BAP? Maybe after each game you could modify something because someone didn't pass you the puck or set you up for a nice goal. 

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Re: Little things that make a big difference

★★★ Novice

1. We should have access to the news around the league. I want to be able to follow what other teams are doing. Trades, signings, injuries. The feature is in franchise mode, would it really be that hard to add it to be a pro?  This really needs added.  Like said above, This could be a big help for when your a free agent

 

2. I got drafted by Seattle. After playing 1 game and getting 0 points, the reporter told me I broke the rookie record for goals in a season. If I scored 1 goal then sure, technically you're right, but even then that's not an accomplishment you can tell me after one game, the team is brand new.  At least have scored a goal before this this prompted.

 

3. Seattle has a rivalry with Vancouver already. The two teams have never played a game against each other. How in the world is there "History between these two teams" - James Cybulski.

I believe Seattle and Vancouver have a city rivalry prior to sports teams.

 

4. After pre-season ended my coach told me I made the team. That should be great news but in the animations of the conversation it just looked like he was mad at my character. It's not game breaking but ruins the immersion of the game.

 

5. Let us change our positions or at least request a change from the coach. In NHL 21 my character was a RW/LW. I played about 60 games on Montreal as a RW, with Suzuki (91 OVR) and Caufield(90 OVR) on my line. We all had around 100 points, and we were the top line in the whole league. For some reason the coach decided that Fiala, an 86 overall 2nd line player was a better fit for Caufield's spot on the LW. Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to put my character on the LW instead (since that's my secondary position anyways, I chose it for a reason)? 

Maybe this was a chemistry thing? Would be nice to have an explanation of the changes of some sort.  Maybe show the chemistry like franchise mode.

 

6. Let us play in the minor leagues, not everybody wants to be a superstar right away. I want a challenge, I want to be able to earn my draft position not just be able to sim through the 5 games and automatically be ranked first overall. Same goes for pre season. If I play badly, I should be sent down to the AHL or back to the Junior leagues to improve. The mode is called "Be a Pro" not "Be a Superstar".   I liked playing in the minors.  I think the game advances you lines by your position grade mostly. I wouldn't mind being a 3rd liner for a couple year if that was what my rating is.  My current BAP I'm on the first line rated at 75.  What sense does this make when the entire leagues first line players are 85+?  Someone else would be better in that spot over me.  One thing I cannot stand on the game is, If my player is not scoring, my team is not winning.  I shouldn't be relied on to score or assist on every goal.  That is very unrealistic.  

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Re: Quality of Life Requests - Little things that make a big difference

Community Manager

@Wobblaa 

Awesome post. I'm going to float this to the top of these forums for a while to gather some feedback from the Be a Pro community for the team to digest throughout the year. 

Blueberry.png
Message 8 of 29 (10,373 Views)

Re: Quality of Life Requests - Little things that make a big difference

★★★★★ Apprentice
@EA_Blueberry

Thank you, I really love this mode and I've been excited for it ever since NHL 09 on ps2. I want to see it live up to its full potential. I understand that there's not always enough time in the year to add everything, but I always appreciate the effort you do put into this mode. There are a few more things I'd like to add to my list as well.

6. Contracts/Free agency. We all know how basic this part is. An offer from the team you're on, and one other. It would definitely help to have multiple offers depending on how good of a player your character is, but I'd also like to see contract negotiations and being able to deny a contract to be a RFA or UFA. So instead of just right away getting an offer from another team, let us wait and see if any team even wants us after denying contracts for a month. Maybe teams will give us less money after a certain amount of time. For the negotiations, if I become a $10m player, I could potentially only ask for 7-8m for a team I really want to play for.

7. Captaincy. This one's probably a little more out there, but it would be great to be able to give a speech to my team for a big game or if we're down a couple goals going to the third period or something. Even just a quick cut scene or hearing the announcers say I hyped up my team would be amazing.
I remember seeing this before but can't remember if it was in NHL 22, but a little cut scene of my character as a captain complaining to the refs about a bad call would be cool.

8. Stanley cup celebration. This one I wouldn't really mind waiting a couple years for, but I have to take something from 2K's nhl games. Being able to skate around with the cup. It made it so much more satisfying when I won to be able to skate around, pass it to another player that I chose, raising it above my head to get the crowd to cheer louder, even kissing the cup was an option.

9. Winning the chance to be on the cover of an NHL game. This one happened to me in NHL 14 and I thought it was pretty clever. Loved it.

10. Training. I absolutely love the new training menu that was implemented last year. It makes it so much easier. But I did notice that I never get the weekly reminder popup to do it anymore. I like being able to choose my own hours to put towards certain skills but sometimes I just forget to do it.

Side note: I stand corrected about the Seattle-Vancouver rivalry, I didn't know something pre-existed there so props to EA for adding something there. I'll update my list again if I find anything else worth mentioning.
Message 9 of 29 (10,355 Views)

Re: Quality of Life Requests - Little things that make a big difference

★★★★ Novice

I think the rink announcer should say your name when you get a point or a penalty, even better it should be in English and French when you play in Montreal and Ottawa, like in real life.  

 

When you fight, your player should have some trace of the fight on his face and they would disappear eventually, a few days after the fight.

 

A couple more beard length...

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