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Survey would have been nice? Only gold abilities maybe?

Ever heard of Elite sponge? What about Elite post to post? Goalies with abilities is the best i've seen in years, so get your facts straight before saying stupid things

Not sure about the decision (I don't really have enough data on zero-ability games yet), but thanks for getting it out early as we all hoped.

So much for democracy

Democracy is slow and very good at making shitty compromises in situations like this.

Best decision ever, now will see nothing but actual skilled players/goalie and not ppl that need perks to play 💪

you are doing it every game, nothing new even more with stupid abilities, what makes goalie let in everything from 1m around

Finaly, hopefully it will be always like that, good decision. i just a bit afraid of goalies, because seems like goalies without abilities is realy unbalanced and will let in more stupid shots, because core game of goalies is broken and abilities is helping them keep out of water and drowning.

I genuinely think there were some great ideas on how to make this decision in a much better way, whatever the outcome would have been. Perhaps this is the best for the game. It’s impossible to say yet. Maybe we will actually like it much more, we’ll have to see. BUT the way this was handled, like it seems with all the other decisions, was quite poor. We are all paying for this, so I would have at least hoped that the teams/captains had actually been asked what they really wanted, instead of making dictatorship-like decisions. This was first announced too early (in the middle of the season) and then deleted after the reactions. “We have come to this decision based on community feedback.” I’m sorry, but this feels like total nonsense. Where did you get this feedback from? Not here. From what I read and understand in the comments, it’s more like 50-50.

Good decision! From goalie perspective: Imo elite sponge and other save related abilities just gives you way too many unrealistic saves when you're out of position or just too late to one tees etc. Reason for funny looking goals against are weird animations, which have nothing to do with the abilities. And I think that is sadly just part of the game at this point. Rng just throws it at you when the code tells it's time for scoring😄 What I've tested without abilities, I had more balanced gameplay and more solid animations between the pipes.

Just out of curiosity, have you ever watched a hockey game irl?

I believe this is mainly about Hockey IQ. Too many goalies today, even if they have played the position for five to ten years, do not move on long one timers. At the same time, they expect the game to bail them out with an ability and make the save for them. (Which it does today) I cannot even begin to count how many times I have been frustrated because a goalie fails to read a one timer that we skaters can see developing seconds in advance, from far away, and that should be an easy save. I do not have many games in net, but I am the defenseman who has blocked the most shots of all time on sportsgamer. And I honestly believe it is not that difficult to read the shooter’s lane. You just have to be in position before the shot is taken. In my opinion, you allow one timers as a goalie if you do not react before the puck is struck. If you stand still and your goalie freezes, then you have failed to read the play and your reaction time is too slow.If you have played goalie for about a year, this is something you should have learned by then. But what do I know, I am not a goalie. In the end, it is about getting your body behind the puck. Look at Stammer and Sere in the Elite final. It is chest to puck all the time. And when they failed, sponge was there, or it ended up as a goal.

But now it is purely skill versus skill, with no other handicaps involved. I do not understand what people are complaining about. Except for the fact that some players have started building their careers with the help of abilities that cover up their weaknesses, for example being able to execute a perfectly timed poke. Or other players who revived their careers because X factors compensated for their flaws. If you combine that with something like hybrid controls, where the game basically gives you perfect timing, then I understand why some players think this is terrible. Because now all the training wheels are gone. You schould not get help to be a better player with abilities in my opinion.

Well it goes both ways, players will need to adapt and rebuild their skaters to be more deadly in scoring scenarios. The same goes around for goalies, now you have to be better positioned to actually make a flashy save etc. So no matter what you have to say about ''goalies will have a tougher time now'', it is the EXACT same thing for skaters, and this will bring out the most skilled players and goalies out there. If you feel like you need your Elite abilities in net, sorry but then it sounds like a ''you'' problem.

Best experience by far has been without perks in different leagues. This is of course only my opinion 🍌

Fantastic decision admins! 😍 Looking forward to get back into the ECL next season! 🍌

The decision came a little later, but it’s finally here. The game itself will definitely be slower than a classic match with super abilities, but that won’t hurt the gameplay, since skaters will need to adjust their builds to improve abilities that specifically suit their style of play. As for goalies, I’ve been playing in net for 5 years, and in the last two seasons I’ve played 100 games without super abilities. It may sound strange, but the game will finally make sense here too. A smaller, fast goalie will be great for OT, while a big, lazy one will cover the angles perfectly — just like in real life. We’re talking about hundreds of games I’ve played in different competitions and practices. Whether people like it or not, players will finally have it in their own hands. And I should point out that I made my biggest saves without any problems, even without super abilities. The fact that goals go in because an opposing player screens the goalie and the goalie doesn’t have a good view is completely normal — it’s part of hockey. Good luck and enjoy the game.

Good times😭

It is tho, the game will only be skillbased? No perks = only skill

I dont have any teams i dont like( except tiki talk because then i need to stand on my own blueline all the game🤣) Ofcourse 95 percent of the players still gonna be great but the fact is still that we schould not have abilities that help you in the game in my opinion. Defend with "stick em up". I dont even need to aim the stick. Jani we schould not have that i a competitive game. Sponge, beauty backhand, rocket is the same shit.

It really isn't, though. You need a game like Rocket League to get something like that or at least much closer to it. This is a tempting sentiment, right? Especially because people have teams or players they don't like so much, so obviously those teams or players will be bottom of the barrel once they can no longer rely on their beloved abilities. But we have both been around a long, long time. We have seen plenty of changes and their impact to the game, and I think we'll find history repeating itself. The players who were good using the traits will still be good going forward, and vice versa. Maybe there will be an adjustment period to get rid of certain bad habits from using the abilities. But eventually, I think we will simply have a different flavor of the game. Possibly a preferable one.

Best news i heard in years The gameplay will be so much more fun And yes i have been playing without perks for some weeks now, it’s so much better

I understand what you mean, but I think this is the wrong game if you want to play for yourself anyway. Even without the abilities, a lot of games provide a substantially purer competitive experience. So I think the whole abilities vs no abilities debate is about different flavors of essentially the same thing. One way to optimize the experience is banning specific traits only, like we were doing until now. Banning more of the current abilities was another option on the table. I don't have a strong opinion either way, but I didn't like when the abilities were first introduced as they felt game-breaking to me at the time (specific ability bans have been a way to mitigate this). I think some of the opposition comes from players trying to do all the same things the abilities taught them they could do, such as getting off a good shot from an impossible position or punching a new hole in a goalie with a backhand shot.

Thanks for proving my point, sounds like a ''you'' problem 👍

Excellent decision! Make sportsgamer great again!

yeah, just all core mechanics is bended to the skater side a lot, and core mechanics for goalies sucks, i dont know how it will end for goalies without abilities, need to test, but if we take in considiration hockey ultimate team and 1v1 versus matches, it will suck bad. Goalies is animation based, and EA made goalies designed to be played with abilities, to counter all the bs what skaters have, and with sponge, showstopper we actualy can save something, what we should save anyday. you talking about goalies skill issues, where you saw that goalie let in frontal shot without screen? like maybe on 10 shots 1 not like 50/50. i dont care about abilities, i just a bit worried about how goalies will act without abilities because ea sport dont wanted to make them core default good..

Please people force and crash the with perks also 🤣🤣🤣

Now you have to play by yourself and not behind traits 😊.

Voitettiin 👍 Hyvä me 👍

Force hockey/crash the net, here we come 👎🏻