imosi

You do have an excellent point, but the problem is the animations. You can only unlock certain animations with abilities, and you cannot do anything about it even if you have a sniper with over 90 wrist shots. It wasn't like that in NHL 25, for example if I remember right. It has been 8 days now and I've been playing quite much. The meta has clearly changed and it's boring. Think it this way.. let's say for an example like CS2 when certain weapons or movement or headshot mechanics are gated behind skins. Just like in CS2, where some players feel restricted because they don’t have the “right” loadout or gear, in NHL 26 you’re limited by abilities, not skill. Like Savi said, there are plenty of people who thought the previously banned set of abilities was just fine, even in the Elite Division. Almost everyone I've been talking to are saying something different and would be just fine even with only golden abilities. I know that the elite players especially wanted to get rid of the elite sponge but for the rest I really don't know. So I’m really curious..who are these people or this “majority”? It makes absolutely no sense.

Maybe “slow” is the wrong term to use, but I agree 100% with Savi. Right now it’s about waiting for the opponent to make a mistake while sitting in a turtle defense because you dont need to cover all the areas you had to before, then going full speed and crashing the net off the counterattack. When you don’t forecheck, the opponent are making motivation carpets Allowing the golden abilities would at least bring something to the gameplay and it would also add more tactical plays and creativity.

When abilities were in the game, you at least saw some people using smaller players and different player types. Now the gameplay feels so slow that you almost have to use big players and just crash the net to score. Overall, the gameplay feels much slower. It also feels like you score more often by simply crashing the net with big players than by taking a shot from a well-played situation. I think the gameplay would be much more enjoyable with golden abilities. All the tactical plays are now gone as you really don't need to defend shots from far away. Now its like "madden": hitting people, getting pressure, spinning in the corners and then forcing. It's still playable, but it's not that fun anymore. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if fewer teams attend the next ECL. It was fun for the first couple of days, but now it just feels like the same shit every night.

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.

So much for democracy

You make an excellent point here, but the problem is that they should have banned them all from the beginning, not in the middle of the release or during tournaments. I do agree that at some point we have to make a decision, but the best timing would be before the new release so we already know there won’t be abilities when the game launches and that it stays that way. I believe EA will not get rid of the abilities anytime soon (ever), as they make money from them. I’d also like to comment on the statement that “bans would not be based on the opinion of the loudest people in the community.” It’s not about who happens to speak up; it’s important that everyone who has an opinion feels encouraged to share it so all viewpoints can be heard. That was the whole reason I started this conversation. SportsGamer should make some decisions or conduct a poll as soon as possible so people have time to adjust.

Good idea, but I see a problem with having a single password: Pro and Elite teams probably don’t play against Neo/Core/Lite teams. Of course all the teams who just want to test how it feels to play without abilites could you use a password like ECLTest or something like that.

Agree 100%. Whatever the decision is, it would be fair for everyone to have time to adapt if there are going to be major changes not just one or two weeks before the new season. So the sooner the better.

To continue the conversation from the old thread... Now that the season is almost over for everyone, I would like to start a discussion about the upcoming tournaments and the ability bans. After playing the game more, I have to admit that I’ve started to doubt the “ban them all” approach. Why do I think we need abilities? I feel that the whole game has developed around the abilities, and I have a feeling that it will turn into a lot of turtle defense vs. turtle defense if all the abilities are banned. It could also force players to use builds that they normally wouldn't want to use. I propose banning all the Elite abilities. The currently allowed gold and blue abilities are pretty well-balanced. You could also keep the currently allowed gold abilities only if the community prefers that. Another interesting option would be allowing only one (gold or blue) ability per player. Please share your opinions. Does anyone else have doubts about the “ban them all” approach like I do?

If you have to make this change in the middle of the season why wont you ban all elite abilities then to make it fair? There is absolutely no point just banning certain abilities. Elite stick em up is also a pay to win perk? Elite backhand is very broken. Elite sponge the same. You can make a glitch goal with elite backhand shooting from the boards. Goalie goes to some weird animation.. So while your at it. Ban all the elite perks from skaters and goalies!

Guys, hate to say it but you’re wasting your time. There’s no way they’re banning anything this close to the start of the season. Go touch some grass or something else before the ECL starts.

Honestly, the more I’ve played the game, the more I’m leaning toward “ban them all.” For skaters and goalies.

Okay… so whose great idea was it to ban almost everything for skaters but nothing for goalies? I’ve only played the game for one night, and I’ve already seen countless desperation saves from goalies whose positioning was clearly off. It feels like they just stand in the middle and still manage to stop most one-timers, even when half the net is wide open. Maybe I haven’t played enough yet, but this has happened in every game so far. Also, Elite Stick ‘Em Up seems a bit questionable… and you even get a speed boost from Send It (Receiver). Before any goalie or defender starts whining I’m only sharing my personal opinions here. I just think the banned abilities should be equal for everyone, also Goalies. It feels really unfair that goalie traits are completely untouched at the moment, and I’d love to hear an explanation why? At the very least, ban all the elite abilities. In their current state, these abilities are ruining any sense of “competitive” gameplay and make the game feel more arcade-like with all the speed boosts and other nonsense. It’s like Super Mario grabbing a star suddenly you’re immortal and super fast :D.