Is EHM:EA really too easy for some people ?

[Samperino]

Hi

I heard some people complaining about the game being too easy. Is that true ? I personally think it's well balanced.

Thanks

[Unknown User]

I think the ai is a bit messed up and its just a matter of your tactics dominating. If you play the right style for the players you have you should be able to win with mediocre players...

[Primis]

Hi

I heard some people complaining about the game being too easy. Is that true ? I personally think it's well balanced.

Thanks

My own personal opinion is: it is too easy if you allow it to be.

If you use overpowered tactics like RedBarrage and Slapshot, exploit Trade AI, etc, then micromanage every single game sim by coaching it, and micromanage player development/practice schedules... then yes, it probably is.

If you eliminate using tactics you know are overpowered, and don't coach games, etc.... it's not nearly as easy. I can tell you as someone who doesn't manually train players and never, ever coaches, the game isn't quite as easy that way. Ceding a bit of control allows a bit more randomness.

The game is what you make it. If you want it to be a challenge, make it one. If you want to goof off, then you don't need a challenge and do what you please. The potential is there for both Difficult and Easy.

[Samperino]

I just finished my first season with the habs and Pacioretty finished 1st scorer in the league with 96 points. He's also the only player with 50 goals. Isn't this a little bit unrealistic ? Just want to have your opinons on this guys

[Unknown User]

I'm finding that a lot of players are worn out by the end of the season and it is having an impact on their performances... For me though I like to use power forwards and high paced counter attack my tactics are strong lol...

[batdad]

Yeah PRimis said it right. In my challenge games I watch over absolutely everything, and that makes the game easy. However, when I do not play challenges I do not watch everything like a hawk, and manage farm team (well hire staff, I usually just hire them and then retire that GM when I play TBL Challenges). When I play solo, coach runs stuff alot of the time, and I never do as well as I do when doing things all by myself.

The scoring level with 96 points is unrealistic? Really? have you seen the scoring leaders from NHL this season?

[krownroyal83]

I see posts from people from time to time and it's clear if you know what you're doing you can easily dominate this game. To me it's not realistic and there for not fun. If i'm the GM of the Leafs i want to see Kessel finish in the top 10 in scoring every year, not finish first with 85 goals and 150 points because i'm taking advantage of the flaws in the game. With me i don't mess with the tactical settings. I keep them all normal. I just manger the lines, the players ice time and some line matching here and there and my teams usually play the way they would in real life and that's what makes it fun for me. I have not tried the tactical systems yet but as of right now i'm liking how the game plays with how i go about playing it.

[umwoz]

I've been playing the game on and off for a couple years, and I still find it a challenge. However I don't make unrealistic trades and try to stack my team, ruins immersion for me.

[Midas]

There's really three general ways to play this game in my mind.

The first is the 'fantasy' style, done offline, where you try to build a team with all the best pieces, using very arbitrary rules- not ones competitively, but ones emotionally- get the 'Nucks to the cup with '15 roster, rebuild the Flyers but don't move the core, etc. This should be fun, relaxing, and as challenging as you choose to make it. It's very easy to exploit the game's trade engine and the AI's tactical idiocy if you so choose, and you can "break the game" (e.g. get results you can't in real life but that are perfectly plausible in EHM). But that's up to you. It's your personal file, your game, your rules- and no one should really bug you about it. I love this one- it's what I enjoy doing for 20-30 minutes every other day to wind-down and just chill out. But it's just that- a lonely, time-waster meant to tickle your hockey itch.

The second is the 'offline/arcade' style, which is what you kind of see in the Challenge section. It's the EHM version of speed-running. You take a team, try to do as little as possible to it, and get it as far as possible for as long as possible with as few moves in-between. It's you against the computer, but you're in competition with others to get the best "score". This is admirable, but again, I find it tiresome after awhile; this is not a critique of those who play it, it's just not my cup of tea. I find the engine fairly predictable and easy to exploit, and playing against the AI to be generally unfun. Others love it; to each's own.

The third is the 'online/head-to-head' style, which is what you see in leagues DMA, NB, etc. It's the version of EHM that is in my opinion, the most challenging and the most fun. Although it too is full of exploits, and in many leagues it's probably as bad as offline in terms of balance, when run properly it offers the most diversity and fun for me. Each GM has their own style, own team trajectory, is actively trying to win, and a community can be built around results and team-moves that are just impossible offline. No one really cares what you did in your fantasy style game. Humans also learn, and unlike offline games- a meta can develop around how it's played, making it a constant learning process even once you've reached the top! Offline games do offer some communal discussion, but again, as it's offline- people are more interested in comparing results, developing strategies, and pointing out exploits. In online you get the best of both fantasy and competitive in my opinion, while also having to play against real people actually makes the game a lot more challenging.

If you're bored of the first, try the second or third. I was on my way out of EHM before, on a whim, putting myself on the waiting list for DMB and eventually getting promoted to DMA. It's the reason why I'm still on this forum hahaha.

[Named]

Another good solution are lower leagues and own rules like HC for example. Manage teams from lower league to First level. Of course rosters needed too but if someone started from NHL and winning Stanley Cup in first season he could be bored. Hope to see more lower leagues and challenge it!

[Francois Tremblay]

I have played the older version and this one, and I don't find it easy. But then again, I may just not be very good at sport simulators.

[batdad]

AS a note, sometimes games are dominated based on tactics and it is not really throwing the ice time and stats out of the window. Attention to detail makes that possible.

Again...my teams do really well because of that attention to detail I use and because i found tactics that work. To make the game harder I have to experiment and not coach. Challenges are fun only because I like to try and develop my own players and not make the deals and take advantage of the AI for them and for ice time etc.

In my career games you will not find me coaching, because it is too easy to win multiple cups.

Just starting my first career game, by dumping everyone over 30 on the Canucks and going for a complete rebuild. I did get some value back but all players i Got were under the age of 25. Should be interesting.

[Primis]

AS a note, sometimes games are dominated based on tactics and it is not really throwing the ice time and stats out of the window. Attention to detail makes that possible.

Again...my teams do really well because of that attention to detail I use and because i found tactics that work. To make the game harder I have to experiment and not coach. Challenges are fun only because I like to try and develop my own players and not make the deals and take advantage of the AI for them and for ice time etc.

In my career games you will not find me coaching, because it is too easy to win multiple cups.

Just starting my first career game, by dumping everyone over 30 on the Canucks and going for a complete rebuild. I did get some value back but all players i Got were under the age of 25. Should be interesting.

I do things like emptying a team's NHL & AHL rosters and releasing all rights to prospects in the PreGame Editor, and have to start from scratch, not allowed to re-sign guys that were dumped, and having to use default tactics.

[Francois Tremblay]

I'm also rather puzzled when people talk about how easy it is to trade with the computer in this game. I've never had an easy time of it. No matter how many times I inquire, or offer players to all the teams, or try to finagle some trade, the computer almost always turns me down except for very safe 1-to-1 deals with similar players. It's gone to the point where I've basically just given up dealing with the computer teams.

[Alessandro]

I haven't played much of the EA, but a thing that always bugged me in 07 is how easy was to stay under the cap. I never ever had a single finance problem. Never. Ever.

[Peter_Doherty]

Alessandro - Yup, might have to do with reputation not fluctuating... A $2.5m player who scores 40 goals will still ask for $2.75m on his new deal instead of asking for $5m+ like he should.

[Alessandro]

Alessandro - Yup, might have to do with reputation not fluctuating... A $2.5m player who scores 40 goals will still ask for $2.75m on his new deal instead of asking for $5m+ like he should.

Is the same in EA?

[Peter_Doherty]

Alessandro - Yup, might have to do with reputation not fluctuating... A $2.5m player who scores 40 goals will still ask for $2.75m on his new deal instead of asking for $5m+ like he should.

Is the same in EA?

Yes, and it needs to be fixed...

[Alessandro]

Yes, I reported something on the SI forums http://community.sigames.com/showthread ... ree-agency http://community.sigames.com/showthread ... ree-agency http://community.sigames.com/showthread ... ent-offers
Someone should post there and/or start new threads

[batdad]

No it is not the same as 2007 with reputation not fluctuating, at least nowhere near to the same extent. It was to getting to star level but it was not very hard to get to superb. IN EA it is hard to get the player even up one level. I had no problem getting many guys up 2 levels in the first 3-4 seasons of 2007.

But yeah...never hard to keep under the cap. Every once in awhile in 07 had to make a decision (5 years or so) but it was always a simple one. Like which twin should I Trade, or should I move out one of those dmen or Luongo? That may be just my hockey knowledge, and that I make that decision easily and decisive, but there should be more issues like Chicago has next year, and had 2 years ago, and last season. Constant issues with having to give your stars big deals. The fact that there were usually only 1 or 2 stars per team in EHM 2007, and the superb guys did not ask for big deals---usually 3-4 mill, was a big issue for me. In EA .... the stars are few and far between and so are superb.


After 4 cups and all kinds of personal awards the Flyers only had 1 star (Giroux) and 1 superb (Mason). In spite of the awesomeness of Voracek, Trouba, Schenn, Simmonds, Jensen and Klimchuk...none ever advanced past very good into their RFA and UFA years. 4 cups and my Salary was 15 mill below the cap, right at the floor level. No way no how that should happen. I was always able to retain everyone and never had a decision to make. Mason at superb wanted 2.4 mill. Voracek with 4 40 goal seasons wanted 3. Raffl with 3 30 goal seasons wanted 2.5. Klimchuk's RFA deal cost me 2 even though the guy had a 35 goal season. Same with Jensen at age 26.
No way that should happen. A 35 goal scorer at age 22 should be asking for 4-5 mill per year at least.


We need to be forced to make more cap decisions when we have success. Totally agree with Alessandro. Peter-just a slight thing for me...reputations went up easier in 2007 than EA, but the $ requests did not go up enough in many cases.

[helpie]

I played about 2/3 of the regular season with Blackhawks and I'm sitting lonely at the top with record 51-3-4 and 106 points, second is Kings with 38-13-6 and 82 points. I restarted with Jets and so far 26 games played 16-8-2 / 34 points and third in my division.

It does seem like so far that the game is too easy, mind you I don't coach games myself but I let my headcoach do it, with the tactics I've set myself but I don't know do they affect the simulated games...maybe I should take charge of the games myself...

[dave1927p]

it you think it's too easy, try new scenarios. I like to play as the Montreal Canadiens GM (not coaching) and have only french canadians on the roster and staff.

[Samperino]

I personaly don't think it's too easy. I let my head coach do all the tactics stuff and I really play as a GM. I'm enjoying it a lot

[Koekenbakker]

If you play the pens you will find out that cap issues are there and decisions need to be made. Also free agency is hard because every player thinks he should be either a core or key player. It's almost impossible to sign players with 1 mill or less on salary.

[Wiggums]

I'm pretty bad at the game haha. In my 3rd season as the Flyers and have yet to make the playoffs, still having fun at least.