ColdForged wrote:I admit, I preordered from Amazon.
I admit, the reason I payed the sucker fee for EA's Season Pass last week to play Madden was that I knew I could download NHL 12 on Friday this week.
I'm posting this here rather than necroing the NHL 11 thread. Is that cool? It's basically the same game. Anyway, I just finished a great game in NHL 11 (wall of text incoming).
Lately I've been going home during lunch and playing a game of NHL 11, eating while playing. I started a Be A Pro game with my self-updated rosters (probably won't get NHL 12 because of this) and have been playing as a Two-Way Defenceman, on the Leafs, on All-Star with the AI difficulty slider most of the way up.
It is hard. Man is NHL 11 ever punishing if you're out of position. But it's a teaching me too, because I've played all the way through my first season and my positioning is tons better. Players were skating past me on 2 on 2s before, no longer. I block more shots, intercept more passes.. I'm still having trouble pushing traffic out from in front of the net, but I'm getting better. My +/- still isn't that good because my teammates can be &*@#% idiots a lot of the time, but +/- is a ridiculous stat anyway. This game is just incredibly fun.
There are real problems though - a lot of the time the AI completely fails to anticipate play, and I use that to my advantage. I scored ~65 goals on the season (crazy for a d-man), and probably half were because I just simply anticipated the play better than anybody else on the ice and took a good shot from a good position. Initially I got a ton of breakaways and I victimized goaltenders on the backhand, but the AI has figured that one out and basically shut it down. The game tells me my positioning could be better (usually get about an A- feedback from the coach), but I could care less when I'm averaging about a point a game.
I just finished the first round of the playoffs today at lunch, vs Washington. What a great series. I refused to change the difficulty slider at all during the series, because I'm determined to win the cup honestly. Won game one 3 - 0. Basically played smothering defence and didn't give them any space to get a decent chance at the net. They had maybe 10 shots in the game. Game 2, went up 2 - 0 in the first, but they scored just before the end of the second period and momentum went their way. Momentum is infuriating in NHL 11, because bad momentum on your team means the stupid AI gets a lobotomy. WHY WON'T YOU DRIVE THE LANE AND GET THE PUCK OUT OF THE ZONE? We lost 3 - 2. Game 3 was more of the same, played back in Washington and my team looked like sh*t the whole time. I picked a fight with Semin in the 3rd period and my Leafs woke up a bit, but it was too little too late.
Game 4 I scored the first goal right away, and Washington responded with 3 goals in the first. Stupid teammates were playing like sh*t and I was getting pissed again. Lose this game and we go down 3 -1 in the series and first round elimination is just around the corner. If I was going to be eliminated I would be eliminated, but there was no way I was going to give up. I started a fight with Brooks Laich in the beginning of the 3rd, and Washington scored again while I was in the box. I cursed my tv. When I got out on the ice again, I pinched aggresively and got pucks on the net. With just over a minute left I scored, making it 4 - 2. I was going to come back and win that game. I was determined. I was going to be freaking Messier, and win that damn game myself if I had to. 30 seconds left I scored again. 4 - 3. A tie game was in reach, I just needed to get to overtime. 15 seconds left I had half a step on a defender and drove to the net, went to my patented backhand move.. and got stoned. They cleared the puck, and we lost. Damn it.
But we had our momentum back. Game 5 was on home ice again and we shelled Washington. 40+ shots, 4 goals, one against. Game 6 in Washington looked like it was played in Toronto. Stifling defence, win 3 - 0. Game 7 back in Toronto we went up 2 - 0 quickly in the first period, and had Washington penned up like before. But freaking Ovechkin got a lucky bounce in the second and took a shot from a half-decent position - right over Reimer's shoulder. 2 - 1 Toronto, but Washington was back in the game. Memories of the game 2 collapse came flooding back.
Except this time we didn't crack like before. Rather than folding under the energetic Washington pressure, my Leafs AI didn't go into full lobotomy mode. Made some decent passes and got the puck out. Gave it back to Washington hit for hit. In the third period Grabovski scored with 5 minutes left to go up 3 - 1, and Washington cracked. We ran over them and went up 5 - 1 by the end of the game, won the series, and I did it without messing with the difficulty.
Wow.
That was one of my best ever moments in a video game. I watched the after game celebration video (the handshakes and everything) just because I was so relieved at having won the series. What a great game NHL 11 is, and that was only round one.
Just awesome.
It took pretty much all of last night, but I got the EA Season Pass copy of NHL. Of course, I have a full weekend, and I don't really have much time for games anymore these days, but I'll be getting it.
Not played NHL since 09. I enjoy sports games though, more than any other. Took me a long time to work this out to be honest. Hopefully I'll be able to pick it up at some stage when I have the money.
Tomorrow! Huzzah!
I realize our record is less than impeccable, but any regulars want to try some kind of league this year? I'm open to suggestions: HUT, fantasy draft, or just regular.
Dont think of it as a grind.
I love team play aspects of online gaming.
I'd be interested, but I don't feel comfortable committing to being in any league you guys start at this point.
Put me down as a strong maybe, though.
Anyone is welcome for the EASHL team. It isn't a "League" thing where we organize games. You just pop on and hop in my party. I already have a few people lined up and excited for the game. My team generally ranks around the top 1000. I've been as high as 250 in the world in terms of EASHL players. we just go out and have fun and curse a lot.
Should be getting my copy from Amazon today. Haven't played since NHL 09, but if you see me on I am usually more than willing to play a game with a fellow Goodjer.
Should be getting my copy from Amazon today. Haven't played since NHL 09, but if you see me on I am usually more than willing to play a game with a fellow Goodjer.
I thought I was getting mine today from Amazon. Instead, it will be here tomorrow :shock:. I admit, Amazon's "release date shipping" things are a mystery to me. Apparently if you ordered too early (I ordered July 26th), you got a $20 credit and no release date shipping. If you order slightly later, you got a $10 credit and release date shipping. All things considered, I'd rather have an extra $10 but I'm sad I won't be playing tonight.
I think you should buy a copy from Best Buy today, play it tonight, and then return your Amazon copy back to Best Buy on Thursday.
/evil_genious
maxox wrote:Should be getting my copy from Amazon today. Haven't played since NHL 09, but if you see me on I am usually more than willing to play a game with a fellow Goodjer.
I thought I was getting mine today from Amazon. Instead, it will be here tomorrow :shock:. I admit, Amazon's "release date shipping" things are a mystery to me. Apparently if you ordered too early (I ordered July 26th), you got a $20 credit and no release date shipping. If you order slightly later, you got a $10 credit and release date shipping. All things considered, I'd rather have an extra $10 but I'm sad I won't be playing tonight.
Complain about this to Amazon. You might be able to get additional credit.
Going to be Versus-ing all night from about 1 to 5AM PST. If you happen to run into Axisdotblack out there, pray for mercy.
maxox wrote:Should be getting my copy from Amazon today. Haven't played since NHL 09, but if you see me on I am usually more than willing to play a game with a fellow Goodjer.
I thought I was getting mine today from Amazon. Instead, it will be here tomorrow :shock:. I admit, Amazon's "release date shipping" things are a mystery to me. Apparently if you ordered too early (I ordered July 26th), you got a $20 credit and no release date shipping. If you order slightly later, you got a $10 credit and release date shipping. All things considered, I'd rather have an extra $10 but I'm sad I won't be playing tonight.
Definitely complain. I went to my amazon account on Sept 12th and noticed my delivery date was the 16th. When I preordered back in August, release date delivery wasnt an option, but as you said the 20 promo credit was. But on August 31 I got an email saying release date delivery was now being offered and my order was automatically upgraded.
I started a phone chat and a net chat with amazon at the same time, just in case one took longer to initiate. They both responded at same time. Net chat customer service said there was nothing they could do to speed my order up but gave me additional 5 promo credit. The phone rep however, told me I could cancel and rebuy and get release day delivery and she'd force the 20 promo credit to my account. She did this. By some weird stroke of luck, she forgot to take off the current 10 promo credit offer when she forced it to 20 and I got an email saying I got the 10 as well. So All in all i got the game on release date and $35 in credits.
In the end though, they still weren't able to explain how I got the email saying the order would be updated to release date delivery but the system never processed it.
I have to say, I am very impressed with things so far. All the goals I've seen have felt like legitimate hockey goals, as opposed to the strange nonsense I used to get away with on a regular basis in NHL 11. However, this may simply be because we haven't yet figured out the tricks that break this game entirely.
My friends and I decided to warm up for Versus by playing against the new 'Legends' team on the highest difficulty. We lost 2-1, with both Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux dangling through 3 or 4 defensemen to light us up. Hard to complain, I suppose.
it's tough to say that is cheap when they used to do that in real life on a game by game basis.
Got 10 games played with my EASHL team, 4-5-1. Not thrilled with our start but I can't complain too much. We brought in 2 new guys to the team(1 new, 1 from 2 years ago) and they are a bit green.
Definitely complain. I went to my amazon account on Sept 12th and noticed my delivery date was the 16th. When I preordered back in August, release date delivery wasnt an option, but as you said the 20 promo credit was. But on August 31 I got an email saying release date delivery was now being offered and my order was automatically upgraded.
I went back and checked my mail after you said that, because frankly I couldn't recall receiving that. Whadyaknow...
Hello from Amazon.com,
We are writing to you today because you purchased a pre-order copy of 'NHL 12.'
We are now able to offer Release-Date Delivery for this video game. This special delivery option is available to you free of charge and has been automatically applied to your order. Your copy of 'NHL 12' will arrive on 9/13/2011.
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.
Sincerely,
Customer Service Department
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com
So I chatted with them and got an extra $5 as well. I thought it was just "oh well, I missed out on the release-date shipping". Nope, they boofed it somehow. Thanks for the heads up.
EASHL hass no commitment. It's basically pick up hockey with people you know.
Played 10 games last night, unlocked my "rookie" card. really enjoying it right now. Gonna have to keep an eye out for the glitches.
The rebounds seem to correspond more closely to the physics simulation, whereas in 11 you pretty much had to go low far-side pad (and when you did, the result was entirely too predictable).
I have to say, I am very impressed with things so far. All the goals I've seen have felt like legitimate hockey goals, as opposed to the strange nonsense I used to get away with on a regular basis in NHL 11. However, this may simply be because we haven't yet figured out the tricks that break this game entirely.
Totally agree. The fact that the puck used to "stick" to your player allowed me to do things like wade into a bunch of defensemen, and still pull off a big slap shot. No more.
Also, I'm loving how many rebounds I'm seeing off goalies right now. It could be because I'm playing against a bad HUT team, so we'll have to see, but currently I'm seeing all kinds of crazy ricochets off the pads, whereas in NHL 11 I felt like goalies would just suck up the puck every single time.
I never tried EASHL last year, and I'd definitely be interested in giving it a go this year, depending on how much of a commitment it entails.
I spent some quality time with both Be A Pro and HUT last night, two modes that I entirely ignored in NHL 11.
At first, as I spent 30 minutes arranging various unknown European players into my lines, HUT seemed a little tedious. However, once I started to understand player potential and things like career and contract length, I'm getting more into it. I got all of the free card packs available to me, played a couple games and grabbed the PeeWee pack. I got Phil Kessel in that pack, so now I have a bunch of unknown Europeans and Phil Kessel! Anyways, I'm starting to see how this mode can be highly addictive. My major complaint is that the UI for managing your roster and collection kind of sucks.
Be a Pro is pure fun so far. I'm playing as an OFD and enjoying the different look at the game. The one oddity is that my first 4 games have all been like 10-1 blowouts, and not because of anything I've done.
Uncharacteristically (which, incidentally, is a long Goddamned word) I haven't even touched season mode or even seen the Hurricanes yet. Usually that's about all I do. Instead I tried HUT and cranked up Be A Pro.
It's possible that it will get old, but so far Be A Pro has been a revelation. I'm starting in Drummondville as a 17-year-old right winger so I can chase Canadian teen tail. Gotten through 3 or 4 games at All Star and have been averaging a point per game. I think we're 2-2. The ability to sim to the next shift is fantastic, but I often find myself actually watching the simulation which feels a bit ridiculous, but it's surprising how often it's entertaining. I've ended up with A+ ratings for position, team and stats each game so far so I guess I'm going to hang on the first line for a bit. I'm playing full 20 minute periods which, again, feels ridiculous if I think about it too much but it's surprisingly doable.
I like a whole lot of the additions this year. I like the obvious impact longer shifts take on players when they get fatigued, how they get that hangdog look and they're obviously slower. I like that there are attributes for this so you can work at staying out there longer. The tie ups and crease battles are excellent. My first goal in my first game was as a result of my positioning in front of the net and breaking free to mop up a rebound. I need to practice the "spin off the tie-up" that's apparently available because I have yet to pull it off.
I played one single-player game of HUT with my oh-so-poopy team. We won it. I've never been a franchise guy, so I'm not sure how much I'll get out of it. Chemistry would be easier to manage for me if there was a quick way to know at a glance which league my players are in. I don't know them all and I haven't found that info easily available. Is it?
It's too early to tell the kind of legs it really has -- I sold NHL11 last December after it ended up simply frustrating the hell out of me -- but I have some hope that this one will last a while.
Flick your RS to the left or right and it rotates to all of the available information each player has.
May a thousand hot Canadian teens... etc, etc, etc.
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