NHL 19 gameplay updated based on recent feedback from rollback

Earlier this month EA Sports made a radical decision to turn back all the gameplay changes that had been made post-release in NHL 19, starting fresh from where the game began following its pre-release beta. After collecting consumer feedback for weeks based on that much earlier gameplay the developers have finalized adjustments that have been delivered through a tuner update that went live this morning.

♦Split the difference on the stick lift penalty tuning so it will be between Tuner 1.00 and Tuner 1.03. A majority of the community mentioned that while stick lifts were too strong in the Beta Tuner, they were also causing too many penalties in 1.03 which made them less effective. This change should help find the proper balance for them.

♦Split the difference between Tuner 1.00 and Tuner 1.03 on the incidental puck loss distance tuning but keeping the low relative speed hitting tuning from 1.00. This will help address the complaints we saw in Tuner 1.03 around players being unable to bump players off the puck at low speeds in the corner, but reduce the amount of incidental contact puck loss that we also saw complaints about from Tuner 1.00

♦AI skaters will not perform defensive actions against active puck carriers. The Beta Tuner Rollback allowed this for the first 2-4 frames, which is why people saw the change in the AI. Note: the AI will maintain their skating aggression and positioning from the roll back as people preferred it as opposed to the past gameplay tuner

♦AI skaters will not commit penalties in Online VS or HUT

♦Reduced the chance AI skaters will put the puck over the glass for delay of game penalties in World of Chel

♦Added back in the forehand stick lift faceoff win speed increase

♦Added in the fix to the energy regained at the whistle so that we see more realistic rolling of lines. Many players commented that they felt they were able to stack their lines to use their top players more frequently, which provided less of a realistic experience.

♦Tuning fixes for AI Goalie logic for when to play the puck out of their net. Sometimes goalies were getting a little too aggressive; this will help prevent that

♦Added back in consistency for user goalies to transition to post hug at extreme facing directions

♦Tuned back in the penalty logic changes around trips

♦Tuned back in the pokecheck accuracy improvements

♦Added back in puck pickup tuning fixes

♦Tuning out dropped and broken sticks again in online modes

♦Added back in the tuning to increase loose puck deke success

♦Tuned back in the changes to lower goalies’ ability to react to passes as quickly when they aren’t reading pass

♦Tuned back in fix to lower assistance on goalie passes