IMPORTANT UPDATE: ECL ’26: Spring - All Abilities Banned

So much for democracy 

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

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.

Just now, Janikka said:

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.

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

Good news 

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.

Edited 1 hour ago by saagssy

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

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

Just now, Saviinainen said:

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

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

1 minut sedan, Saviinainen säger:

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

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

Edited 1 hour ago by Strumpan87

3 minuter sedan, saagssy säger:

because seems like goalies with abilities is realy unbalanced and will let in more stupid shots

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

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

6 minutes ago, pappeen- said:

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

sorry i wanted to say without abilities, not with abilities. And goalies best in years , ahaha you actualy kidding right?

Edited 58 minutes ago by saagssy

Nice! 

4 minuter sedan, saagssy säger:

sorry i wanted to say without abilities, not with abilities.

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.

Edited 56 minutes ago by pappeen-

4 minutes ago, pappeen- said:

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.

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..

Edited 51 minutes ago by saagssy

Excellent decision! Make sportsgamer great again!

1 minut sedan, saagssy säger:

and with sponge, showstopper we actualy can save something, what we should save anyday

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

Just now, Strumpan87 kirjoitti:

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

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.

4 minuter sedan, Janikka säger:

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.

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. 

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

9 minutes ago, Strumpan87 said:

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. 

I agree, but how i can tell my goalie to react in time, if abilities was giving me this reaction, and game core mechanic is delaying or other way around? its just what i am considered about not about making unreal saves, some saves is stupidly easy i would say, but there is so many saves what i should save everyday, and goalie acts stupid and put in self or just cant cover pad to the ice or trigger animation to move glove out or do it with delay, with all abilities on, so what will happen without abilities? maybe we will be better because skater abilities will not give errors, maybe we will be slow and stupid because we dont have this abilities to balance out, i dont know, but it will realy be 2 different worlds goalies and skaters, because skater do animation and we react, and you can control how fast where to shoot how strong how tricky, but we cant hold button longer like to get faster reaction time and aim our glove, even with instinct we cant be sure even when we do it all right, and predict shot we cant get greens and save shots. 

Edited 32 minutes ago by saagssy

1 minuutti sitten, Strumpan87 kirjoitti:

But now it is purely skill versus skill, with no other handicaps involved.

It really isn't, though. You need a game like Rocket League to get something like that or at least much closer to it.

3 minuuttia sitten, Strumpan87 kirjoitti:

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. 

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.

3 minutes ago, Janikka said:

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.

thats what i am afraid of, skaters will always be favorites for ea sport, so this all glitch goals will be a lot easier to score on goalies, because no balancing with abilities. but its need to be tested, i tested some games, there was a lot more  bs goals, then with sponge and showstopped. so i dont know.

Edited 28 minutes ago by saagssy

Just nu, saagssy säger:

I agree, but how i can tell my goalie to react in time, if abilities was giving me this reaction, and game core mechanic is delaying or other way around? its just what i am considered about not about making unreal saves, some saves is stupidly easy i would say, but there is so many saves what i should save everyday, and goalie acts stupid and put in self or just cant cover pad to the ice or trigger animation to move glove out or do it with delay, with all abilities on, so what will happen without abilities? maybe we will be better because skater abilities will not give errors, maybe we will be slow and stupid because we dont have this abilities to balance out, i dont know, but it will realy be 2 different worlds goalies and skaters, because skater do animation and we react, and you can control how fast where to shoot how strong how tricky, but we cant hold button longer like to get faster reaction time

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.

1 minuutti sitten, saagssy kirjoitti:

thats what i am afraid of, skaters will always be favorites for ea sport, so this all glitch goals will be a lot easier to score on goalies, because no balancing with abilities.

For what it's worth, I used to play goalie a lot more than now. I felt I was much better before EA introduced the abilities. It felt much easier to me, and there were far fewer goals where I felt like I was doing the right thing and still allowed a goal.

7 minutes ago, iSvamp said:

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.

i agree. but im not talking about goals, what make as be beated by onetimer, cross crease pass. im talking about shortside bs, where we need to overlap crazy to get it, and then get back to middle of net to get one timer or backdoor shot, and this times where you get sniped from blue when you top of crease and noone is even  near to block your vision, or other straight shots whats going in, this five hole shots, what we always delayed last years and more and more bs goals. and this breakaway bulshit, what you can stop actualy if skater is stupid and miss the net, if you learn to score you will score everytime, no matter what we do even if you read goalie triggers shit animation and let in or just fall in desperate save. there is lot of factors what make us goalies bad not because we are bad, but because core game mechanics is shit for goalies. and showstopper and sponge was a bit helping as to compete in net more.

Edited 20 minutes ago by saagssy

1 minut sedan, saagssy säger:

i agree. but im not talking about goals, what make as be beated by onetimer, cross crease pass. im talking about shortside bs, where we need to overlap crazy to get it, and then get back to middle of net to get one timer or backdoor shot, and this times where you get sniped from blue when you top of crease and noone is even  near to block your vision, or other straight shots whats going in, this five hole shots, what we always delayed last years and more and more bs goals. 

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

1 minut sedan, saagssy säger:

i agree. but im not talking about goals, what make as be beated by onetimer, cross crease pass. im talking about shortside bs, where we need to overlap crazy to get it, and then get back to middle of net to get one timer or backdoor shot, and this times where you get sniped from blue when you top of crease and noone is even  near to block your vision, or other straight shots whats going in, this five hole shots, what we always delayed last years and more and more bs goals. 

I actually think what you are describing is exactly the same in real hockey.

You cannot leave a gap, because if the shooter manages to hit that gap, whether through skill or luck, it is a goal. Just like in real hockey, it is not only up to the goalie to be ready for the short side, the slot, and the back post at the same time. You have defensemen in front of you who are supposed to block shots, do the right mechanical things, clear the crease, and take away passing lanes.
The idea that a goalie in a game should be like some kind of superhero who can cover all three threats at the same time would actually be unreasonable. At that point even I could play goalie.

In every situation, regardless of position, you have to give up some part of the ice. It comes down to hockey sense and making the right read. And even with sponge or abilities, there are still bugs in the game today where goalies fly around in butterfly. That is something we will probably never fully get rid of when these developers keep releasing unfinished games year after year. It is what it is.

 

 

 

11 minuter sedan, Janikka säger:

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.

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.