Official NHL 2K9 Wishes and Wants

[CrazyCougar]

Hey guys,

I have seen a lot of good ideas floating around these forum, including many inside the NHL Wishlist thread that i stickied for quick reference. NHL 2K9 is well into devleopment and looks to be an amazing game. I am literally bouncing on my seat awaiting the moment that I can begin to reveal some of the new features and ideas that will be included with the upcoming title. Unfortunately, mum's the word at the moment and I can't go into detail on specifics just yet.

With all that being said, now is your chance to make your ideas officially known to the devleopers. The information in this thread will be delivered directly to the devleopers which they will use to mold and create the ideal hockey game our comsumers are looking for. I personally believe they are well on their way as it is, but many of your ideas will only make this game all the better.

So, start posting your ideas. Try to be as specific as you possibly can when describing a feature or idea you would love to see included. Also list the platform that you would be purchasing and playing the game on. I look forward to hearing your ideas and forwarding these ideas to the development team. I am looking at about a 2 week window until i compile the ideas from this thread. So be sure to post them well in advance of April 30th.

Thanks
CrazyCougar

NOTE: Any posts venturing off topic or being counter-productive will be deleted. I will make note of users who continue to make demeaning posts within this thread and they will be dealt with accordingly. Lets keep this thread positive, and who knows, you may see your idea in NHL 2k9!

[RoadDoggFL]

A big thing I'd like that's been ignored in sports gaming:

LAN play. I gotta go, so I'll edit this later, but LAN play would rock for playoff parties. ( Edit: ) In addition to just asking for LAN play, I'd like to specify (for the record, everything I'm requesting specifically for LAN play, I'd like to request also for online play when 2K/VC/Kush is comfortable making these specific requests possible in a real-world, less than ideal bandwidth/latency online environment):

12 players. Each and every player on the ice should be able to be controlled by a human being on anywhere from 2 (PS3, 3 for Xbox 360) to 12 separate consoles. Games (maybe unranked?) can also have the option of allowing new players to join in the middle of them and a player quitting (hopefully, even the host) wouldn't end the game.

The camera. With so many human players on the ice, the camera will become an issue, since you can't play positionally when you can't see yourself, and you can't see what the hell's going on when you can see everybody, a camera should be worked out that always keeps the puck and every player playing on the console on-screen at all times. For LAN parties, this would have the added bonus of encouraging similar positions to sit next to each other anyway, so they have the best view possible.

Dedicated host. This is a holdover from playing Unreal Championship but I love it. To possibly ease the strain of the host box, maybe give the option to keep a dedicated server running that other consoles can join. And the server console's screen can display either the game in a free cam view (kinda negates the advantage? I don't know), or a play-by-play summary of what's happening in the game. But if this were online, it would be great for running 6v6 games with specific gamestyles.

Position lock ratings. Go Halo 3 with it and let players earn experience for good performance at certain positions. It'd be nice for bragging rights and it would be good to know how successful your linemates have been on the point, in net, or at forward.

Host tournaments coordinated through your 360 (dedicated or as a participant). A single console should be able to run a tournament that other consoles (again, either on a LAN or online) can connect to and participate in.

Edit 1 (4/17/08):

I just thought of this, fix the sliders so they don't interact with each other so much. Now with shared gamestyles, you can make sliders as detailed as possible and it won't be so daunting because you can just download somebody else's work. So the Offense and Defense sliders won't be a balancing act between getting offense and defense speed right in relation to each other without having forwards with cement skates on a breakaway or them blowing by the D without having to even skate hard. We could use a lot more new sliders that actually work, since they'll make sense when editing and will allow for a truly authentic experience to be created when people like VeNOM get their hands on the game.

There should be a rating for a player's chemistry type, and players should be able to have maybe 2 or 3 chemistry types with varying emphasis on certain ones. But anyway, it would be nice to be able to quickly and specifically look for good utility players that might have low Overall ratings but are really the perfect players for what you're looking for.

Have some control over how the CPU auto-edits lines. If you have a star winger or center, make a way to ensure that the CPU never takes him off of your special teams because centers aren't assigned to 4-man PK lines or wingers aren't on 3-man lines.

Auto-fill line options. Let me set the CPU to fill me lines up automatically by highest chemistry. So in addition to showing me the offensive line with the highest chemistry, let me fill out all of my lines to maximize chemistry without repeating players (and there are two ways to do this, I'd be interested in both: 1. showing the line with the best possible chemistry, then the line with the next best chemistry with remaining players, and so on or 2. the combination of lines that will get you the highest average chemistry value, so your whole team is playing with the (almost) best linemates for them.) Note: that's not to say that you shouldn't be able to auto-fill straight across the board with the highest overall ( or chemistry... :-) ) ratings. Also, if you could somehow give the option of the straight across the board auto-fill to only worry about getting three forwards and sticking the best face-off man at center, it's a route I've wanted to take with it before. Just a personal preference but I'd think it's cool.

Edit 2 (4/18/08):

Completely customizable controls. I keep getting called for penalties because when I'm executing a breakout saucer pass, the defenseman I'm controlling ends up committing a penalty (X button without the puck) on a nearby opposing player about 20% of the time. I think I've tried to swap things out but found the restrictions frustrating (don't know, maybe I tried to remove the action altogether). But it would be nice to be able to set the controls to whatever you liked.

Add a team loyalty rating to players, along with maybe a list of favorite teams for players. I like to create myself, and as a Panthers fan I want my player to have a lot of loyalty to Florida and never ask for a trade and be willing to take a smaller contract to help the team. So you won't see someone like Sundin demanding a trade because he wants to stay. This should definitely be a changing thing, and there should be multiple values to team loyalty. Also, players could have their own favorite teams or teams they'd most want to play for (I know it would be hard to make this accurate, but it would be great for franchise 10 years down the line).

Edit 3 (4/20/08): Another huge thing for online play: players you've avoided should be noted in the game lobby as having been avoided. If I don't want to play against somebody who abuses the same moves over and over again, I'd rather just be able to avoid them myself instead of having to write down a bunch of names. This should also go for preferred players.

Edit 4 (4/21/08): Please, for the love of god, SHIP THE GAME WITH GOOD SLIDERS!!!!!!!!!

Really, you'd think 2K7's reviews would tip you off but the series is getting trounced because of moronic reviewers incapable of understanding that they're not even reviewing the same games that 2K fans are playing. Please, please, please, take VeNOM's sliders and go from there. Or better yet, bring him in and have him create the Sim pre-set. Something, I'm sick of ignorant EA fans thinking they know what they're missing out on.

Edit 5 (4/24/08): Fix the training and player growth feature. The stats column doesn't make any sense (my goalie can have a shutout week and have a negative value) and putting a player through training actually hurts his progress.

Since this is a wishlist, why not support the Xbox Live Vision Camera? I know it would make me buy one, especially if the results are as good as claimed in other games.

It should go without saying, but fix the trade finder, and let us specify more attributes. Also, make players' salaries more prominent in the trade window. In fact, let us customize our views, because the most important things to me are position (can be filtered so not too important), age, salary/cap hit, and ratings. I'd like to be able to create a personalized weighted rating, but I don't expect it. Overall or (please?) a "best chemistry type rating" would work fine.

Edit 6 (4/25/08): When simulating any number of games, let us press a different button on "Sim Game" to mean "Advanced Sim," which would let you automatically pick reactions for the game to handle coaching/GMing issues that come up during the simulation. If I have my lines set to maximize chemistry, let me set it so the computer continues to do so in case of injuries. I'm also not convinced the game replaced recently healed players to the lineup as soon as it can (I suppose it shouldn't if the player filling his role is performing well... but I don't know how that would be set).

Maybe include more frequent hot and cold streaks.

When taking control of the goalie to come out and play the puck, help guide players to intercept it. Right now when I leave the net to play a dumped puck sooner, the goalie controls like a wild car and I frequently miss the puck. Also, is there a command to have your goalie receive the puck cleanly? Holding a certain button should hunch your goalie over with two hands on his stick, ready to handle the puck and pass it up to his approaching defensemen.

Edit 7 (4/26/08):

When simulating seasons, let us create workout schedules for players. Let us set thresholds like "Endurance above 80 & no game for two days & fatigue below 50 = intense workout" or something similar. Or even have regimens logically pre-created (preferably with the option to tweak and share them) selectable in the Coaching menu. I'm simming through a franchise right now and it sucks to know my players aren't being worked out at all (though I've read that workouts actually hurt player progression, so I know I'm not missing out on much until it's fixed).

Let us queue up time outs to be called at the next stoppage of play.

**This post got too long, wishes continued here (http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171163&page=4#post1781260)***

[FSOTG]

Here are my wishes for NHL 2K9!

You should do a little clean up in the free agent list, Bondra, Mogilny, Ricci and some more players that have stop playing should be taken off that list.

You should also tweak the commentary. How many times they talk about a goalie having a bad game "he gave up 5 goals..." and the game is 2 to 1, or when they speak about the +/- rating of a players they are always wrong or when they speak about the PP or PK performance of a team during the game, they're always wrong on that also.

You should tweak the penality, it's not normal that I can play 2, 3 or more games and the CPU team don't have any panality and I put the penality to 100%.

You should tweak the Power Play, so they're more realistic, we should have the ability to work in the zone (a bit like in NHL 08, but only on PP not all the time like in NHL 08).

Fix the one timers and the goals from the blue line, maybe before it was too easy but now it's almost impossible to score.

Fix the hitting, don't get me wrong, I like the hitting but not every players should be able to hit with power. Like Hemsky, Brière, St-Louis, Streit, Selanne and many more, they should be able to hit but not very hard, so the opposing players maybe lose the puck and his balance a bit, but they could stay up, so they don't always end up falling down to the ice. You did it for the puck control, you certainly can do it for the hitting.

More customising for the goalies masks, more patterns, more logos even some logos that don't have anything to do with the teams, like snake, wolf, ship, lion, tiger, bears... you know what I mean. Maybe an option to choose the size and the placement of the logo on the mask. You should be able to chose the pattern you want (like in 2K8) but more importantly, there shouldn't be any black area that stays black no matter what. Don't forget to adjust the mask on the goalies head, so their head don't come through.

It would be great to be able to make the face of the created player, like chosing the shape or your face, the nose, the eyes, the color of the hairs, the hair cut, maybe some scars, but no black eyes or bruises like in NHL 07, it's just riddiculous, someone having a permanant black eye..., put the facial hairs option back in, and put back the missing teeth option too.

Why a young created player don't have the rookie salary cap?

The injury should be more realistic. Most of the times, the player get injured when receiving the puck from a pass or just having a little contact with another player, sure it can happen like that but more injuries should happen when a player blocks a big slap shot, or if he receives a shot on the face and when he gets crushed in the boards or in the middle of the ice.

The fatigue is just not right, I play all my lines and every team I play against just play 2 and a half lines and it seems only my team gets tired and it gets worst and worst when you play at higher levels.

Adjust the higher levels of play, I play on pro because it's just to frustrating at all star. It's just unfair, even when you win the faceoff you can't do anything, the CPU is too fast on the puck. The CPU players all skate and control the puck like they don't have any difference in the rating. It's really hard to make the CPU lose the puck, while the CPU makes me lose the puck just with the wind he makes when he comes near one of my player, if you add the fatigue to that it's even worst. Also the CPU controlled team A.I. seems way better than the A.I. of the CPU controlled player on my team. The CPU hooks and interfere alot at all-star and all of famer and never get a punition...

Fix the major bugs before release, the franchise freezing bugs, you surely heard about them, not that it has happen to me too often, but it should be fixed.

You should fixe the Stanley Cup winning cinematic, I played a season with Edmonton and won the Cup in Pittsburgh and when they gave the Cup, Malkin was the first player to get his hands on it. The thing is, the trades were off, so Malkin was still a Penguins so what was he doing on the ice with my Cup in his hand???

Don't do too much to the new controls, I really like them this way, maybe a little tweaking here and there, like making the poke check a bit more efficient, but not too much.

Finally, bring back the all star skills competition.

Edit: I have some more things.

The chemistry should be determine in real games, let me explain, if a D block a shot, + chemistry, if a player score a goal, + chemistry, if the opposing team score a goal, - chemistry for the players on the ice, you lose a game, chemistry for the team, if you win, + chemistry for the team...

The trainning should be use to determine the skills and the conditionning of the players.

You should be able to play the practice with 2 line of offense and 4 defense player, the scratch player could fill the spot for the forth D or something like that.

You should have plain jersey for the practice, with a different color for each line, like they do in real life.

OK, that's all for now!

[xSweep]

I'm sure a lot of the weird issues from 2k8 are already being ironed out. So with that in mind, I'd like to see some more depth added to the game. NHL 2k8 is extremely deep and that's generally why I prefer it over the EA franchise.

More stats such as:
-Intensity of backchecking
-Intensity of forechecking
-Offensive player creativity (with and without the puck)
-Defensive player creativity
-Blocking shots
-Drawing penalties
-Agitation proficiency

More meaningful stats. Knowing my play maker with 90+ passing is going to thread the needle significantly better than my shutdown defenseman. Stats for super-stars. It's weird knowing that in real life players like Lemieux and Gretzky played that game at another level (perhaps we will see Crosby and Ovechkin do the same) and then come to find them in a video game with an overall of 99. Just 2 points ahead of the next guy who scored 100 fewer points that year.

Stat growth based on players developmental stages and point totals. Knowing a rookie in real life could have a break out year and put up point per game numbers is always important come drafting season or trading time. However in video games a rookie could be and stay as a cruddy player as far as overall stat ratings are concerned for 10 years. It would be nice to see your rookie go from 10 goals and 15 assists in a year as a 65 overall to 35 goals and 45 assists in a year at that new 80+ overall.

Goaltending injuries and long term/short term fatigue. That way having a decent back-up or even a third stringer becomes a necessity. Fatigue also factors on whether or not you have that super-star 70+ game work horse or the reliable 1A/1B tandem.

GM relationships in trading. Lowballing a team too much? Maybe the GM isn't interested in even fair deals for a few months. Strike up a trade both parties enjoy? Perhaps said team will be more interested in more reasonable trade proposals. Perhaps come deadline time you'll even be offered a -reasonable- trade from the other GM.

Blockbuster trade's at the deadline involving teams no longer in the race with teams making a run for the cup.

Role players playing more important roles. My 3rd line doesn't really play the role of a checking line very often. More like a 3rd scoring line. Which may be realistic for some teams. But unrealistic for others. This is where a backchecking/forechecking stat could be applied.

How come my 4th line never comes out unless I'm up 7-1 after the first period? My energy guys/agitators need their ice time too. The option to set the amount of ice time each line plays would be great. Same goes for D-pairings.

AI playing as a team mate. With more proper use of roles and stats. Creativity without the puck could mean my scoring winger actually finding a way to get open or my power forward standing by the net waiting for garbage on plays.

Forward types controlling the puck differently. My Todd Bertuzzi might just push you down to get by you, but your Marian Gaborik might just burn me.

Higher stats (status specific stat, super star stats?) enabling players to execute and pull off desperation shots such as spinning shots/passes or diving shot/passes with relative success rates.

Player animations specific to players such as Crosby's 1 knee slap shot.

Subcategory sliders controlling pass/shoot preference. Rather then a stat that can grow to 99 on each over time. Same can apply to shot type preference (a d-man slapping rather then wristing on a breakaway), butterfly vs stand-up, sprawl vs stacked pads, etc. Even the new drawing penalties stat could be tied to penalties being drawn from either just being a skilled player target, or being an adept Agitator.

Franchise mode could featuer player equipment customizability. With stats and prices for the different sticks/skates/gloves/pads/etc. An equipment related budget can rise or fall due to things such as scoring hatricks or super stars having slumps. Maybe include player sponsorship and even team sponsorship. That way if the Reebock sponsored Luongo goes on a shut-out streak, maybe your team gets 3,000 dollars . Maybe if he lets in 5 or 6 goals in a game, you lose 10,000 dollars. Maybe if he goes on a 10-game losing streak, he loses the sponsor for himself or even the team.

Play-off beard growth!

(Edit 4/25/08):
Rookies who are sent down to the minor club spend contract years anyway. It doesn't make sense trying to let my player develop in my minor league team because of this. By the time I am ready to pull him up to give him a test run he's already asking for a 5 million dollar contract rather then playing the first 3 years with the ever friendly rookie salary. Things like CHL players not being able to play in the AHL until they are 20 (so they either play CHL or NHL in that time frame) and European/College players having the option to stay in their native club/college for those early developmental years would be nice. Since features like these are advanced CBA rules it might be a good idea to have an "advanced CBA settings on/off" switch when starting a franchise.

During player contract negotiations I've experienced players who I consider to be 2-way contract kind of guys getting frustrated when being offered a 2-way contract.

[CaptainCanada11]

1 main thing 2k needs to fix, and that is the ability to score 100% of time on a breakaway. i see it all the time ONLINE, sidepost goals.

[kingbrehm]

For Xbox360:

1. First and foremost; the atmosphere of the rinks this year left something to be desired. Even with the crowd noise slider all the way up and everything else decreased significantly, it was still very unimpressive.

2. Penalties were too uncommon. Finally near the end of my first season I figured out how to draw 1 or 2 hooking penalties a game; but other than that; the CPU would very rarely get called for anything. Rarely should there only one or two powerplays in a game; this really needs to be fixed.

3. On the subject of penalties, please add in all the calls. Majors for boarding, checking from behind, and slashing. High-sticking double minors. Even holding I don't think is even in the game. There should be 10 minute misconducts, game misconducts, and goalies should be able to slash and trip. Maybe some accidental clears over the glass for delay of game penalties.

4. I've always always always wanted to see 2k have scrums in after a whistle; especially in front of the net if the goalie is contacted, or after an icing call if the player is checked. It could be a little push and shove, but is something that can be escalated. Like pressing select to fight; you could press select for a scrum, and then like a fight; "A" or "B" could escalate it into a fight.

5. Why are there no fights in the third period? I can understand not having many; but if the game is 6-0; then there should be fights; especially in a playoff series. That and the fighting needs to be redone. Quicker fights; better fights.

6. Okay away from the violence; someone mentioned practice jerseys; I agree 100%. That and chemistry should not be based on practices; or at least most of the chemistry should be based on in-game performance.

7. Hitting for all players should be based on their hitting skill and size.

8. Defensively; when skating backwards against the CPU, say one on one along the boards; the defenseman needs to be able to clutch on to the forward and drive him into the boards. This will take away some of the huge open ice hits.

9. Bob Cole is an awesome announcer, but when he is wrong about most of the stats he announces, it's kind of annoying.

10. Poke checking and diving sweeps need to result in players getting tripped; and penalties being called for it.

11. I loved the skills competition

12. Broken sticks on slapshots and goalies losing their sticks from time to time; but not too often! Maybe a slider for this as well as the "shot breaking glass" slider. The player who loses his stick either changes for a new player or does a driveby past the bench to pick up another stick.

13. The create a player this year was disappointing. Bring back more faces! I think there were 80 or 90 last year and we dropped to a handful of useable ones this season. The type of gloves and skates are less important than having hair length and more customizable options on the face.

That's it for now...

[FSOTG]

For Xbox360:

...
8. Defensively; when skating backwards against the CPU, say one on one along the boards; the defenseman needs to be able to clutch on to the forward and drive him into the boards. This will take away some of the huge open ice hits.
...



Wow! That would be really cool! Very good idea!

[CrazyCougar]

Wow guys. Great ideas! You guys are really thinking out your ideas and tranferring them well into words. Keep up the great ideas. I'll am excited to send this off in 2 weeks.

[Joedon216]

Sorry I keep throwing this around but I just want to know about the possibility of the game being ported to PSP, its the only system I own and I Don't really enjoy playing EA hockey games. PSP seems to have become very popular lately because of the new titles coming out, I'm sure it would profit, the guys I know with PSPs would enjoy it as well. Is there any possibility of this happening?

[FSOTG]

It's me again! I've think of something else.

The assists in 2K9 should be more realistic, let me explain. Lets say you're playing with the Oilers vs the Flames. The Flames have the puck, the guy with the puck makes a pass, you put your stick in the passing lane and the puck hit your stick and another Oilers gets the puck from that play, he then gets a breakaway and score a goal, the goal is unassisted but in real hockey the player who have deflected always gets an assist.

In 2K8 you lose many assist on rebound goals, you should do something about that, most of the times the opposing player or goalie never really have full control of the puck but you still lose all the assist. So you should do something to establish what is the full control of the puck. Is it when your player got a circle around him even if can't do anything before he lose the puck or is it when you can retain the puck at least for 2 or 3 seconds.

CrazyCougar it's good to know that the idea we post here will be sent to 2K Sports. :thumbsup:

[CrazyCougar]

CrazyCougar it's good to know that the idea we post here will be sent to 2K Sports. :thumbsup:

I am just as excited to see everyone's ideas as I am to pass this information on. 2k9 is already looking amazing, and the ideas that you guys come up with could take the game to an even higher level. The developers are looking forward to seeing all the ideas as well.

[xSweep]

Are you going to be sharing the compiled list of idea's that you'll be showing the developers with the community? Or is that not likely for any specific reasons?

[CrazyCougar]

I see no issue with sharing the list before it is sent on. So, yes. Once I compile the list I will gladly post it up for everyone's viewing pleasure.

[Kohmrad]

From the posts, the only thing that i could think of that others haven't touched on was the fact that i actually dont ever play the game, i set myself up a fantasy draft, and gm my franchise my way to the stanley cup, I would really like it if 2k made it so that, if i switch my sliders to full, my period length to five minutes, and all of that, the whole LEAGUE should be like that. I dont want to watch my team play Five minute periods and win 3-1 with sakic having 6 goals after 11 games, to find out that iginla is already at 17 in 14 games. and other than that, i think you should make the ai a little smarter when playing against other AI, for example, Shooting more often, less passing, ACTUALLY SCORING ON BREAKAWAYS, i dont even get excited anymore when my team gets a breakaway, cause they either dont shoot the puck, or wait to long and hit the side of the net.

And the last thing i could think of, (other than the whole chemistry thing, but thats been touched on, and the goalie getting screened more often) was Goal celebrations. I want more enthusiastic goal celebrations, especially when my team is clutching it, and score the game winner with 3.6 seconds left in the 3rd.

Lookign forward to 2k9! Later Dayz

[Jylli]

Possibility to score with one-timers with the defenders! Now it is impossible! Occasionally the shot is redirected / deflected in but why is it impossible to score with a defender like Bryan McCabe from the blue line with a wickedly hard slap-shot? It should at least BE POSSIBLE to score like that if not very often! Now one of the most fulfilling type of goal of in hockey is denied. It isn`t possible even when the goalie is screened! It is even worse to not be able to score a goal like in a true hockey match than having "moneygoals"...

[navarz]

For the XBox 360

The most important thing for 2K9 is I would like the franchise mode freeze fixed.We should not have to turn off injuries and trades to be able to continue playing.I find the computer can not manage there rosters with the salary cap properly and the trading and injury asspect of the game.

If possible I would love to have online multyplayer franchise mode.It would be so cool for me and my friends to play online against each other more often instead of just on the weekend when we get together.

More types of penalties and suspensions like 10 min misconducts,fight instigator, delay of game and so on. A suspension for cheap shots and maybe penalties for hitting after the whistle.

highlights of other games and if possible post game interviews.

A better scouting system for franchise mode. It would be nice to get a better idea of players skill level before drafting. However Not having to go through scrimmages and that kind of thing.I was glad to see that dissapear in 2K8 That is what scouts are for. It would also be nice to get a few more high end players in the draft not just 1-2.There seems to be a high drop off after 1st and second picks. Mix it up from year to year

A friends request: The option to play on Internationl size rinks in franchise mode.

Thank you

[kingbrehm]

The assists in 2K9 should be more realistic, let me explain. Lets say you're playing with the Oilers vs the Flames. The Flames have the puck, the guy with the puck makes a pass, you put your stick in the passing lane and the puck hit your stick and another Oilers gets the puck from that play, he then gets a breakaway and score a goal, the goal is unassisted but in real hockey the player who have deflected always gets an assist.

In 2K8 you lose many assist on rebound goals, you should do something about that, most of the times the opposing player or goalie never really have full control of the puck but you still lose all the assist. So you should do something to establish what is the full control of the puck. Is it when your player got a circle around him even if can't do anything before he lose the puck or is it when you can retain the puck at least for 2 or 3 seconds.



AGREED! A ton of assists are robbed from this... but the deflection also causes offsides errors. If the Flames are breaking out and make a pass from their own zone to the neutral zone; if an Oilers player puts down his stick to block the pass and it deflects back in the Flames zone; it is not called offside when it should.

[kingbrehm]

I see no issue with sharing the list before it is sent on. So, yes. Once I compile the list I will gladly post it up for everyone's viewing pleasure.

That would be totally sweet

[kingbrehm]

Xbox360:

One more I forgot about. Injuries. I think about 90% of the injuries that occur in this game are caused by either a blocked PASS, or running into a teammate. It would be nice to see an injury caused by blocking a big slapshot; or getting creamed with a huge check. Once a player is injured, he should try to get to hobble to the bench, or if it's a bad injury where the player stays on the ice, his team should gain possession before the whistle goes... I'm sure I'll have more.

[hockeykid]

i would like new anouncers and better jerseys

[imidude]

Things i would like to see fixed

-new camera angles in shootoutsj. I hate the 3/4 camera angle in shootouts. I like the ice level camera in nhl 08.

-Although i know the developers probably won't be able to do this, a career mode would be very cool. like RTTS in MLB 08 the show. This is where you can make a player, and take him the the minors until he makes the big time and try to get him in the HOF.

-better AI. The game is too easy on all star. When the difficulty is increased, the CPU doesn't get smarter, they just get way more agressive. I don't like that because that is not how real hockey is played.

-cycling. In this game it is hard to get a good cycle going. Especialy on the PP because the CPU is way to agressive in PK situations

EDIT:
-All star game. There is so much hitting and agressive play. In the real allstar game, there is almost no hitting.

-All star skills competition. This was so much fun in nhl 2k5 but then it disapeared. If there is a legal prolem with using it them they should call it 2k skills competition.

-One Timers. The current system is very good, but i would like to see a bit more goals on one timers from the blue line. I think that this could be achieved by increasing the accuracy of shots on net from the blue line. Just look at NHL playoff games and the type of goals that are scored

That is all that i can think of for now.

[KINGJAMES]

things i would like to see in nhl2k 09
1. using the boards more being able to shoot or pass onto the boards not having every dump or shot head to the goalie as it is now.
2. broken sticks i want to see the players trying to play defence till there team retains puck having that player run to bench to get another stick as well the goalies need to loose there stick while teams are in traffic in front of goalie i have seen this alot in playoffs broken sticks and the goalie running to recover his stick.
3. a new face off system one were you use the controller buttons so when you go into the face off you have to follow the pattern that the screen shows you for example lets say sidney crosby enters the face off and the ref dumps the puck you use the one stick to point were you want the puck to go and then on the screen you might see y-y-x-x-b-a or what ever combinations so the better and faster you are at following the combos the higher chance you will get to actually win the face off and then you could have to keep doing it if nobody has won it that would make the game more intresting and fun to try and get the combos right.
3. entrance music why not have the players skate on but once they do you zoom in on the teams scoreboard jumbotron were it plays music and shows highlights of your players that way i can create my own entry music and plays to be highlighted in there and see during games created by highlight reel maker as well as my inputed mp3s.
4.more ice scratches and ice effects late in game wich means slower gameplay late in periods.
4. the ability to purchase goalie masks or uniforms as the real nhl season goes i have seen teams bust out uniforms or goalies have kick azz masks why cant we get them. that to me gives the game great value.
5.more penalties and penalty types there is not enough penalties called period the slider for it should be really sensative.
6. please fix the cpu sending down its star players or releasing them i dont want to see the teams get busted up like that.
7. ok the stanely cup winning celebrations why not make it were its as great as you are for example you come up with a formula were every person who scores a point on the winning team gets to hoist the cup and the one who scores the most gets to hold it first so that way its never the same so if you have a ton of players who score guess what you get a bunch who actually hold the cup if you score with just a few then only a few hold it. so the greater you are at team play the greater the celebration at the end.
8. ok goal scoring replay i think you should have stoppage of plays and they check goals having some taken away just like real life maybe it went in after the buzzer or maybe it was re directed with the stick to high or maybe the guy kicked it in with skate all to be taken away lets put drama into the game as real hockey has.

[Simonsays]

From a different site but so much pinpoint:

http://www.2khockey.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=18213

I have no credit for this but give it to VeNOM...

From a loyal Montreal 2K Fan on a PS3... Go, Habs, Go!

[CrazyCougar]

Hey guys, this is some great stuff and I want you all to know that the Project Manager for 2k9 is well aware of this thread. Keep the ideas coming. Still another week left to post your thoughts.

[DemonsEye]

more on the fly coaching like attack the boards for offence and deffence

[Alex the Gr8]

The ability to make changes online in the menu when the other player presses start, both players should be able to change their strategy at the same time. Most importantly ROSTER UPDATES AFTER THE TRADE DEADLINE!!!!!!!!

[Danosou]

Seconding roster updates after the deadline. I'd sacrifice all other roster updates to just have the post deadline one.

[KINGJAMES]

cool glad there reading are ideas on how to improve thew game.
1.as i stated above about using the controller with combos for the face off system you could also incorporate that into when your tied up on the boards means you have to hit a certain combo of buttons example x-x-a-a-b-x-y in order to come out with the puck now of course the combos wil be harder on harder levels.
2.lets talk about puck physx the puck should be on end to end or on edge alot if you were to watch a real game 10 percent of the time its flat 90 percent its moving al diffrent ways and
this effects passes you ight have it go over your stick or you just might wiff a slap shot one timmer this needs to be implemented into the game.
3.the goalie should be able to go behind the net get ahold of puck and just shoot it along the back boards trying to get it out of zone or to a team mate so that is pretty much what the cpu ai should do. i dont know how to put it but the boards are used alot to pass to dump and the sounds of it need a overhall.
4. why not have screen were you can see how many miles your team travels from one game to another so if your on the road alot and your traveling far it effects your teams over all stamina if your home well then not as bad or if you travel but not far then not as bad but lets get real here if you bouncing all over for each game when you hit that tough part of schedule your team should be effected by it.
5. multiple ref crews some call every penalty some let things go this is true too and would help having the game engine call more penaltys besides a slider.
6. more individual skating styles or shooting like the nba 2k series each player has there own shooting motion lets give this game it as well.
7. if you make a better cyber face creator were we can create are own players and can lock the settings so everyone can get that same player you would see alot of people create whoever and share there creations.
8. each home team should have there own logo on the puck as well as the allstart game.
9.broken sticks from blocking shot random and broken sticks for trying to take slap shots random.
10. players or pc logic that will try to kick pucks to team mates
11. your coaching staff i want to see the coaches more call in plays or emotion from them
12. take apf2k8 aproach were they have the huddle or feild pass were your teammates are talking to one another or calling out plays it gives us some realisim or emersion into it
or maybe were talking smack to the other team besides the realisim or the feeling of being drawn into the game you would create a better chance to see your players cyberfaces or your goalies masks eather way i think that was one of the coolest features from apf2k8.
13. nhl records and individual team records veiwed on your team pages so if your players pass legends the game should reconzie there feats as well as zoom in on the jumbotron or scoreboard.
14. when you do your copper stopper replays can the team that is getting the replay also have there team logo displayed in the replay box.
15. do us a favor watch the nhl finals and everything that happens in that series ask yourself is it in the game if not it should be.
16.an overhaul in sound quality i hate to compaire but there is only 3 things i liked about nhl 08 one was the clean sound and the quality of it the pucks dumping hitting the boards you name it it was great, two the anouncers they really are top notch three the passing symbols when your in the zone that is a cool feature other than that 2k was the better game.
17.the crowd ambience needs to really be redone it should be like rocking late in games or in the playyoffs.
18 home ice advantage or a toughest place to play ranking so if your team is ranked number one the visiting teams should have a hard time wining.
19.lets take mlb aproach too were at the beging you have your anouncers kinda draw up the game what it going to be like then as they do that you do a tour of the arena inside and out to get a better feel of the venue your playing in and to add some realisim. besides some of those arenas are kick azz and the baners hanging have so much memory or nestalgia.
20.if you win the cup you should be able to veiw a stanley cup ring some how eather on your franchise page or in your user profile.

[KINGJAMES]

imidude i like that idea of the shots from the blue line but lets take it one step forward did you see the redwings game were lidstrom shot it and it bounced like 10 feet in front of the goalie only to go past him that was a crazy shot that bounced and once it did it froze the goalie they should have those crazy bouncing shots added.

[lokar]

I would like to see the following issues addressed:
1. What others have mentioned, there is a lag between when you press the pass button (especially as a defenseman) and when the pass is actually made. Frequently during this lag the puck will be stolen from you and if it's a defenseman, there is a free breakaway for the other team. Also the offsides bug has been happening 2 games in a row now I believe. Other bugs not fixed since NHL 2k2 include players attempting backhanded one-timers, passes to the center constantly going to the opposite wing or defenseman, and poor AI for defenseman. Also goalies refuse to go to the puck when it is right in front of or beside them.
2. No voice chat for PS3.
3. No online league web pages for PS3. These first two are in the PS2 version of the game which cost $40 LESS!
4. Half speed online play for PS3.
5. No roster update for trade deadline. For paying $60 for a game, we are entitled to at least one year of rosters, not four months. Just because Crazy Cougar deletes and/or closes every thread on this topic doesn't mean that people aren't upset about it. In fact the constant closing makes people including me less likely to buy 2k in the future. 2k9 may indeed be a great game but 2k is angering a lot of their core constituency so many people may not ever see it.
5. PS3 ineligible for 2k tournaments. The FIFA Interactive World Cup was on PS3 so any claims you have made that the PS3 can't support a tournament like yours is obviously wrong.
7. Half-hearted gameplay improvements. The new puck checking mechanism is interesting but works less than half the time. Likewise for the new faceoff mechanism. These are good ideas but they should not have been implemented until they worked better. I did like the pro stick even though I know many others didn't.

[RoadDoggFL]

People need to stop complaining about the roster updates.

This year was the exception, not the norm. You all need to realize that and stop acting like it's the end of the world.

[CrazyCougar]

5. No roster update for trade deadline. For paying $60 for a game, we are entitled to at least one year of rosters, not four months. Just because Crazy Cougar deletes and/or closes every thread on this topic doesn't mean that people aren't upset about it. In fact the constant closing makes people including me less likely to buy 2k in the future. 2k9 may indeed be a great game but 2k is angering a lot of their core constituency so many people may not ever see it.


Deleting and closing threads are not meant to hide people's anger or disappointment. Lets get that straight now. Those threads are deleted or closed because they fail to have anything constructive or positive content, and tend to flame and degrade 2K and others. Its the same old rants over and over. So, in order to keep the forum orderly those threads are closed and deleted. Simple as that. Roster update information is posted for all to see, and thats all the discussion that needs to take place on that subject.

Anyhow, this is not the thread to discuss this and we'll now proceed on topic once again. Any posts not holding to the thread topic will be deleted.

[Grandmaster D]

A roster share feature like in College Hoops would be nice (although I only heard about it, since Take2 is good in missing out revenue-opportunities again by not releasing a region-free version of said game in the US. In that way, there's no legal way to play it on my PAL 360).

In that way, forum communities could improve the situation of roster updates (just look at venom's sliders - i think the majority of sim-players orientates their sliders at his rather than on the pre-set sim-settings) and at the same time some could try and add other leagues to the game, if there are empty team slots - I really would like to recreate Europe's top clubs, so please do not limit the number of teams one can create and hopefully share.
A logo-creator or photo/image-import function would be helpful.

EDIT:
another thing:
While the idea of having mini-games to pass some time is great, those suffer from the loading times, which killed them for my friends. The mini-games don't seem to make extensive use of the system memory, so please find a way to load all selected games at once. The waiver of an extra player selection this year was already a good thing.

EDIT2:
please, redo the cut scenes after goals in a way it is handled in Pro Evolution Soccer. Even though there are close up scenes after some seconds of the player running around, these scenes are more connected to the situation on the field than in NHL2k (with some exceptions). It seems to me, that in your game, there is a small set of scenes, always from the same camera angles and so on, with only different players, while in PES you can often see in the background players moving from positions they had when the goal was scored or the camera catches the scenes animation from differing angles - as a result, their scenes add a big bunch of variety to goal celebrations.

EDIT3:
Enhance managment options and make it possible to simulate games while having a more of coach options while you can intervine in the simulated game.
Thoughts on the market-situation: Without Eastside hockey manager, there is little competition on the management simulation market. At the same time, more and more PC owners, who are into sports (and generally have a higher affinity to such managing simulations) tend to buy a console (EA won't release all their line-up for PC this year). Also, other publishers have tried and try to bring management sims to consoles (EA's headcoach and that English Football Manager) You should try to capitalize of that situation by implementing more managing and coachiching options in 2k9 and market your game accordingly in markets, which are into such games, especially Germany and England. That's more of a problem for the marketing-department, I know, but you should have an eye on it, it's your product.

EDIT4:
While I'm glad that there are finally replays in the International Arena, there are still no cut-scenes in it like celebrations and so on - please add that, too.

Give some love to the national teams; add some more and at least slightly update their stats (I understand that you won't license them, but you sure can orientate a bit more on the real teams). With the share-feature mentioned above, it would be less of a problem.

[KINGJAMES]

1.i think that human error needs to be added as well what i mean by that is there should be random skaters who fall or get tangled up and fall allowing the other team to take advantage it dont have to happen all the time but you know when you have the puck and your racing to try and beat both defence line to get a break away or open shot its kinda boring to see the cpu logic of 2 guys skating backwards it would be nice to see one fall once in awhile cause you juked him good or stoped on a dime causing him to loose ballance. plus i dont know how many times i seen guys go into the zone having one of there players allready in it not to be called refs sometimes let it go to keep the flow of the game going or they just plain miss it that is human error too.
2.being able to sprey the goalie and getting a response from him or one of the cpu skaters
they hate that and its done in the game alot.
3.stoppage of play for bad spots on the ice get us a zamboni lol
4.lots more random generated ad boards i love that stuff im sure you can make alot of money from potential clients on a ton of products by using them in our game we do pay attention to what is on the boards and not having the same things on it all the time is a nice touch.
5.a cam for replays in the net for replays.
6. heck on time outs or stoppage in plays or at end of the periods you could use the jumbotron or score board for ads as well wouldnt it be cool to advertise your upcoming games or deals or other products i would love to see it show full avi movies of stuff that is comming if your hooked up to the net its just a download anyways a great selling tool .one thing your company lacks is thinking outside of the box.
7. you should have full crowds and not so full crowds if your play is bad.
8.you know ever since hockey did its strike it has had a hard time getting back to were it was they lost the espn contract and that pretty much killed it now you get 1 game a week on nbc and the other prim time games are on versus thank god for versus you should use them in the game give them some love i sure they could give you a hockey centeral for updates and post game comments that channel needs exposure and so does your product
if it were not for the nhl contract they would not have anything going for them work together and bring nhl back to were it was. and do it before the evil empire buys them up only to shelf them i can guarantee if nhl gets back to were it was they will try to buy them as well.
9. i kind like the feature were in nba 2k series you can choose what you want to work on as for your team freethrows fast break whatever that could be incorporated into this game.
10.flexing sticks for hard shots.
11. notes or e-mails from staff if minor leaguers are tearing it up and should be brought up
12. one of the most boring things about nhl is the draft its nowere to the level of nfl what can you do to spicen it up? ok lets add drama to it lets say you draft a guy and he is a star in the making a sure cant miss prospect. wouldnt it be cool if after you draft him he informs the club that he wants to go to college first maybe he leaves after 1-2-3 yrs or he says i will play after my european contract is up so you go into the season and at some point you get a e-mail from him or agent informing you he will be ready to play next season or hes is ready to finish the season that would be a cool thing to add. as well lets cyber show the drafted players walking up to podium take a few mug shots they hold up the jersey the crowd cheers or jeers in the background is a big board with the names of players taken with team logo slots next to it.

[imidude]

I also think that PRO STICK needs to be improved to incorperate smoothers animations and more variation in moves.

[Marko82]

I would like to see the option on the player's card when you click on them and you can see how many points they have in the last ten games like in 2k6

[RoadDoggFL]

Edit 8 (4/27/08):

All-Star Voting: The All-Star teams should be selected by a mix between career stats (making the player well-liked among voters) and current season stats. Week-by-week voting totals should be kept from around November/December until the game (I don't remember how long voting actually goes for). The dynamic part will be that weekly performance combined with timing will be crucial for players to get votes. So let's say there's 10 weeks of voting. Week 1 will see 5,000 votes, and those votes will be distributed proportionally to the top performers at each position that week (maybe ensuring each vote contains a candidate for each position like in real life). Week 2 will get 7,500 votes. Week 3 will see between 10,000 and 11,250 (don't know what formula you want to use for vote increase, maybe a * 1.5 would work out well, but it might make early performance irrelevant). But I really think this is a great idea. Actually one of my favorite ones I'm suggesting.

Make the player ratings mean something. Speed demons should be able to leave slower players in their dust, even on sim sliders. And I might've said it before, but don't be afraid to create extra player ratings categories (as long as they're not meaningless). A Clutch rating, or even something like a Push/Shove/Nudge/Strength rating to show how good defensemen are at clearing the crease without a check (or how good forwards are at staying there). That reminds me:

There should be an animation to push players with your body weight. Maybe the B button without holding any triggers? It would help reduce the hit-fest if there were other ways to clear the crease. This could also be used to try and force forwards towards the boards on defense. Right now you can just try and get in front of them and poke-check. Maybe holding B while skating alongside a player (without enough momentum to hit him) would make you put your hands on him and force him in a certain direction.

For weekly player progress, I don't know if it's common, but I just noticed my 30 year-old defensemen in the minus for the Ageing (btw, Aging looks better...) column. Defensemen develop at different rates than forward, and the Ageing column should be positive for them a good deal into their thirties.

Player progress should be viewable over a long period of time. During the off-season give the player a way to see a player's progress (in various ratings) throughout the year, also showing how playing time factors into it. Also give the option to view progress over the years in a similar fashion.

Let us change our teams' jerseys in Franchise. Include a handful of alternate logos for each team (shoulder patch logos, and original art inspired by the current team name/colors/logo) to select from.

Include more goalie helmet designs. Realistic designs that you'd actually see a goalie wearing. Stuff like maybe some cars racing for a Red Wings goalie and an eagle or something for the Capitals. Maybe even license out the art for masks currently being sold for youth sports. I could imagine how cool it would be for a kid to create himself in the game and actually have his own helmet. Also, make sure goalies wear their correct helmets in All-Star games.

Edit 9 (4/28/08):

Puck handling. Player ratings at puck handling shouldn't affect a player's speed at moving the puck from one side to another (by the way, a player with a 99 rating should be able to go back and forth very quickly like players can in real life), the ratings should limit how fast a player's sustained puck handling rate is. Those first and second pushes from one side to another can be done pretty quickly by almost anybody. And again, as it is right now, a 99-rated player puck handles WAY too slow.

Game 3 of the Habs vs Flyers made me think of this, but include major penalties called by the refs. I don't know how it would be incorporated (I wouldn't be surprised if it already was), but it would be a good touch.

All more penalties. Right now all I see are Boarding, Charging, and Interference (and fighting majors...). I know there's more in the rule book, let's show it.

Let us start a franchise of by participating in the previous off-season and draft.

When creating a player, let us select his draft year/eligibility date so he can come up in the draft a few years down the line. Also, maybe include a few standout 15-17 year-old prospects for scouts to keep an eye out through the years. It could make scouting more interesting. And of course, that reminds me:

Bring back player scouting, and maybe team staff (along with team budget comparisons). Of course, let players simulate the scouting period (I know I got sick of spending so much time watching crappy players play against each other in 2K5), but if a person wants to get that in-depth, why not?

[justabill37]

IT'S A WISH LIST SO HERE GOES...

Commentary...Yeah it would be cool too stick with the same guys, just update their dialog and it would be great if they noticed what ranking your PP is and the opposing teams PK. The n0.1 pp against teh #30 pk..blah blah... also it would be cool to single out the leagues top ten when you play against them or with them. So and so is the #1 goal scorer this guys got the best GAA in the league. Also a Being called teh DEFENDING CuP champs every now and again, especailly on the home opener would be cool.... And one more idea for commentary.....Maybe you could record say Pierre Mcquire and some other guys so maybe we can pay and download alternative commentators.....just and idea....

On ICE=chatter....more, more, more..I play Ice Hockey and I love the On ice chatter it really brings the game to life. Update that and add more. and didi I mention to add more On ICE chatter.

I am a sim player so the only other thing would be to add something during that training that explains the strategies and each positions role in the strategy. So that way if your out of positon, you know it and that's probably why they gt a break away, or kept in the zone or why they scored... And same for them, if they are out of position we would pick up on it and exploit it. Like real hockey... Maybe even in the pregame the coach or the email could say that so and so defensmen for this Comp team is slow and easily beaten on the inside.....stuff like that....

So in conclusion, More Chatter and more Strategy...Deep, deep, deep...oh and 1up sucks...

[2K Admin Ron]

Please get your final ideas in today as I am hoping to submit a list this week. Thank you.

[RoadDoggFL]

Please get your final ideas in today as I am hoping to submit a list this week. Thank you.
This whole thread will be looked at when it's time to compile the list, correct? If posts have been getting looked at the whole time then edits won't be added to the list. Just curious, and I'd also like to suggest the wishlist forum at 2KHockey.net's forums and the one in the HFBoards NHL 09 wishlist thread. A lot of crap to filter through, but there are some sound ideas to be found in there.

[kiddstyle]

I posted this over at 2khockey.net awhile back.


I think 2k8 is a great game and have been a fan for many years but this series has been surpassed by EA in the minds of video game hockey players around the world. EA has focused on the skill stick while making the game really simple. I believe that 2k needs to make things simpler in order to grab the attention of the casual fan. I believe if they don’t make drastic changes, the 2k hockey series will cease to exist in three to five years.

If one reviewer thinks the controls are cumbersome and tough to master, many readers are going to pass on the game based on this. I like the controls, but I still find myself hitting the wrong button, or swearing at the responsiveness of the bumpers. I understand what 2k was trying to do, but I think they lost their path and true goal along the way. To make a fun game for anyone who picks up the game. The controls are too confusing for a new player looking and need to be resolved.

2k needs something big to get back on top of the hockey video game world. If 2k were to state something like EA did by stating they have a three year plan to fix this game, it would at least keep fans interested and waiting to see what else is in store.

Here is my wish list for 2k9 and beyond in a semi point form list.

Skating
- Circle under the player makes it hard to see the actual skating.
- Skating looks weird on slower speeds. On higher speeds the skating looks ok, but once the speed is lowered, the player looks like they are moving in the same spot.
- Remove speed burst and spring and map skating to the left stick. Similar to NBA 2k8, if the stick is pressed lightly, it moves the player slower, press it full tilt and the player sprints. Don’t make the player run out of sprint, just make them sprint slower. Most NHL players sprint more than any other speed on the ice.
- Whoever did the motion capture for skating prior to taking a penalty shot did an amazing job. The way the player turns the corner and skates up to the puck looks amazing. Use more of this style within the game.

Shooting
- I do not have any major issues with the shooting implementation currently being used, but it could be simpler. Most fans want simple controls that are responsive and fun to use.
- The way things are currently done needs to be tinkered with. The casual fan, and the longtime fan, finds these controls too complex or too cumbersome. There are too many buttons and the wrong buttons are utilized. The bumpers are not the most responsive buttons and should be used sparingly.
- Shooting should be on the right stick only; get rid of the buttons for shooting. 2k could keep the deke moves by mapping them to the modifier. For example, you press LT and move the right stick to shoot, or use LT and the right stick to deke. It allows 2k to keep their existing style while moving to the stick for shooting.
- I believe that if 2k does not change their shooting method, sales will diminish and game of hockey from 2k will cease within five years. This is crucial to bring back the casual fan and keeping the hardcore fan happy.
- I would like to see one-timers that are bullets from players like Ovechkin and Kovalchuk. These players have rocket shots and it should show in the game.

Goalies
- Goalies look great this year and I would like to see more added in this area. I am not expert on goalies so I will leave this to others to point out improvements. I would rather see more styles and more moves added.
- Controlling the goalie in the other hockey game is actually kind of neat. Something like this should be considered as the crease control is not widely used as far as I can tell. I generally ask people about this feature and most admit to not using this one.

Graphics
- The graphics were improved greatly in 2k8; however, they seem to have been bumped up mostly in the cut scenes. I would like to see more of an improvement in the quality of what we see while we are playing. Players looking more true to life and player styles resembling more of what we see in a real game.

Presentation
- This is an area that could use some work. Capturing the sounds of a real NHL game must be tough because it seems to be an area that could use a huge improvement.
- Lots of members have posted how to improve this before, so I will be brief.
- The announcers are not the right guys for this game. Take the NBA game, the announcers will get excited in unison while a big dunk or big play takes place. The crowd is always right on target in this series and more of this style needs to be taken into the NHL franchise.

Online
- 5 on 5 is a must.

Shootouts
- I can never remember what buttons do what and what players can do what. I would like to see a coach’s recommendation, or player’s choice that lists buttons for moves to try to make it easier.
- The camera angle should be different for this as well. More of a third person perspective would be nice.

Extras
- Allow users to upload rosters. You can cut this feature off a month before the next iteration of the series is released or shortly after the last roster update. This will allow gamers to update things like historic rosters and share them with others.
- Trading of historic players to NHL teams. It would be fun to play an old style league with some of the greats of yesterday.
- Using edited rosters online.
- An option to have 21 or whatever number of teams in a season or franchise.
- Slap dumps need to leave the ice. I would like to use this feature to whip the puck around the boards off the glass in my zone and the CPU zone. This should be done with the wrist shot as well.
- Mid-game saves, like the baseball series.

[2Knowforever]

1) When I am facing off against the CPU, I want it to have it's best
CENTER taking the draw against me, NOT it's best WINGER with a faceoff
rating of 26. On the 4-MAN special teams, they have wrongly assigned the
wingers to take the draws for the CPU, while the centers sit benched - FOR
THE ENTIRE penalty kill / powerplay.


2) All variety of penalties should be included. Double-minors, majors,
misconducts, etc., are crucial for a realistic hockey game. Eventually,
even suspensions and fines should be included. Also, holding, and tripping
are never called, when they should be.


3) Player-specific and Team-specific AI behaviour.

It would be great for each player to be a true individual. Naslund and
Afinogenov shouldn't go barrelling in like Tootoo for a heavy hit, instead
they should swoop in for a poke-check, or just to block the passing lanes.
The character of each player should be more adhered to. Players with low
aggression and intensity shouldn't be launching bodychecks at all, and if
they do, they shouldn't be of any significant impact on the recipient.
Make each player's temperment SHOW on the ice. Some players should get
malicious in certain situations (Pronger), some players obnoxious (Avery),
and some players simply timid and scared (Naslund). Players like Ovechkin should
shoot the puck at EVERY opportunity, often 5 times per period.

It would also be great for each team to be of a certain noticable style
and system. Nashville playing an aggressive, almost careless game,
botching many attempted plays... Detroit playing very methodical,
disciplined and positional, and executing plays very well.


4) Give the crowd and atmosphere some highly intense and dynamic realism.

Watch a tape of a game, or an actual live game. Study the crowd
tendencies, team appropriate songs/horns, and represent those specifics in
the game.

A home team arena up 5-0 in a springtime playoff game, in the 3rd period,
should be blaringly loud. A home team arena down 10-2 in October should be
whisper quiet, and half empty with 5 minutes to go in the 3rd period.



If 2K did these things, it would be a very realistic game, and it would
start to take back it's deserved share of the market.

[islanders10]

1. fix the online gameplay i couldnt even play a game at all until last month.

2. Better AI gameplay hall of famer with the sliders all the way up doesnt cut it.i want it to be so hard you can hardly win.

3. To be able to dump the puck and chase and actually keep it in the zone. the defense is too aggressive all the time.

[RoadDoggFL]

Since it's so late, I won't edit my posts anymore...

Let us edit the lineups for the All-Star game. Maybe include a different goalie for each period, too. Don't know if they still do that, but they should.

[CrazyCougar]

The suggestions are great guys. I'll be compiling all of this information tomorrow. Thank you all for your suggestions and dont hesitate to post anymore until I finally lock the thread.

[RoadDoggFL]

In an All-Star game, make the crowd pay particular attention to a hometown player, make them cheer really hard at the beginning and end of each period whenever he gets the puck.

The All-Star game should always almost be packed. I just played one in Minnesota and I guess they're not doing too well this season so it's half empty. People just show up for the All-Star game.

Edit (yeah, so I don't want to double-post): oh, and in my first post I requested the option to have the game auto-edit your lines to maximize chemistry. Make sure to let us set a priority that of the line-ups that make up the highest average chemistry, the one with the highest Overall average/Chemistry average (PLEASE!?!?!?) gets slotted as the 1st line, and 2nd as the 2nd, etc.

Let us set a player as always being on the first line, or even on the 2nd & 3rd/2nd & 4th/3rd & 4th. It could create conflict with the above wish, but hopefully there'd be a way to fix this. Maybe a screen to set auto-edit priorities where both of these are options. I'd absolutely love this.

Player Growth. My created player became a Superstar and quickly became a goon because his Aggression and Check Bias maxed out at 99. There should be a way to prevent this.

Roster Updates: Here's a thought, let roster updates be their own file type, not just be rosters. Roster updates could come with all of the stats of the season up to a week or month or so before their release. Include things like box scores, maybe even copy the play-by-play from NHL.com for each game (ok, maybe that shouldn't be in the updates, but you guys should definitely copy them down for analysis), and three stars of the night. This would also include trade dates, so...

Trade dates in franchise: if we're starting a franchise after the season's over, let us re-create the season by having all the real-life trades happen when they're supposed to happen. Just a thought, not that it makes too much sense but it might be cool.

Start franchise from roster update: Let us take a roster update and take a franchise from there, letting us go back and see the players of the week and everything.

Playoff Scenarios: using the last update of the season, let us start a playoff with all of the stats from the previous season. But more importantly, let us try to re-create the scenario of the real-life playoffs. If a player's injured in real life and we want to run a simulation of the playoffs for whatever reason, give us control to make those players start the playoffs injured, specifying severity, duration (even an ambiguous time frame), and other things like that. Finally, we should be able to set the lines and maybe even tweak the chemistry for them.

Player Growth (again): So with the revamped roster updates idea I was thinking. You guys could take your player growth model and look at the advancement of players' ratings through subsequent roster updates. From there you can tweak the growth system so that it's more realistic and the real-life stats played out in the franchise would actually get close to real-life player growth. It might be time-consuming, but think of how much it could improve the game to have dynamic, realistic player development.

These ideas are really getting me excited for 2K9. I know it's dumb to expect some of these before 2K11, but I'm getting really pumped for the future of this franchise now.

Another edit: Rosters. You should be able to upload/download user-created rosters. But most importantly, you should be able to download only specific teams from roster files.

Players within roster files. I was thinking about international rosters and historical teams, and I was thinking that players should be related to their other versions on other teams. So Sakic would have the same player ID number to the game, but his roster spot on the '96 Avalanche would be filled by Sakic '96, while his place on team Canada would be taken by present-day Joe Sakic. I know it would be a vast undertaking, but once you get the ratings set down the line for all past players, the work will be done for the next year.

Downloading teams. When downloading a team from an uploaded roster file, if a player has been traded to the new team the player should be prompted that there's a duplication and ask if you want him moved. Also, international and All-Star teams shouldn't set off this warning. I hope this makes sense as I think it would be a good feature.

Oh yeah, provide us with a copy of the NHL 2K commercial for the Dreamcast. It had a bunch of Red Wings players prank calling this kid because they beat him so bad in the game. I've been looking for that for a long time and can't seem to track it down.

This (http://panthers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=7631) ( http://panthers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=7631 ) might be of use, as well. I hope it's regularly updated and available for other teams, as well.

[RoadDoggFL]

So I caved and put my items on my profile pages at Halopedia (http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/User:RoadDoggFL/NHL_2K_Series_Wishlist) ( http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/User:RoadDoggFL/NHL_2K_Series_Wishlist ).

Just makes it easier, I guess.

Give us control over faceoff formations. Is it random now? I can't tell.

[CrazyCougar]

Ok guys, I am going to close this thread until i get everything compiled to this point and prepared to send off to the dev team. I'll re-open the thread once that is complete. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions.

[CrazyCougar]

Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas and suggestions. Of course, I could not include all of them in my document to the devs(some would have been taken out of context), but I was sure to include a link to this thread for quick reference.

Once i get confirmation of approval, I will post the document here for all to check out. Again, its just a compilation of the ideas/fixes/suggestions that stood out and of course ideas suggested by multiple users.

[RoadDoggFL]

I can't wait to see it. You didn't happen to also look at VeNOM's wishlist at 2KHockey.net's forums that was linked a little while ago, did you? He has some amazing ideas in there.

Edit: I updated my wishlist at Halopedia. Being a wiki, changes can be viewed through the compare feature on the history page. Just a heads-up.

[Flexxer27]

Well it seems I'm late to add my 2K9 wish but I had posted this in the past
and can only hope some one took notice.

"I wish 2K gave me a foot pedal that controlled the ZOOM
There are time's in game where I need to ZOOM in tight to make my move
and again there are other time's I need to ZOOM out to see the play
Wouldn't that be a cool addition ?? I play 3/4 view with 40% ZOOM."

I've since given this more thought and feel all I really need is a tweak to
the 3/4 view.

I play 3/4 view with 40% to 50% zoom, always skating up the ice.
The camera angle is great from my end of the rink till I break over
my opponents blue line. At that point I would love to see the camera
climb higher. I need to be more above the play looking down.
If we drew a line graph for the camera's travel across the rink watching the broadcast mode it would look like a long shafted fishing hook placed across the screen. The closer I get to my opponents net the more I'm looking down over the play and at that point the zoom moves in just a bit so I can better see the distance between my player and the goalie but still slightly behind my players head which is in keeping with the 3/4 view.

Hope this makes sense....

Along with some of all of your suggestions posted here thats all I really want right now.

Thanks 2K

I love this game !

[TealShark]

I know it's way too late to add my two cents, but I figured I'd do it anyway because I have no concept of time. :)

The biggest thing for me is the historical teams. I *love* these. Growing up with hockey in the late 80s and early 90s, one of my favourite things to do every year is to rename the players and go nuts playing as teams of old.

Bring back some of the 2K5 historical teams ('96 Lightning, etc.) and add a bunch more! Even crappy teams like the inaugural Sharks team (the bad Pens and Caps from 2K5 need friends!), the really bad Nordiques team of the early 90s., or even the ability to perfectly replicate your very own create-a-historical-team.

For fun, put in every team from 1993 and let us run a 1993 season. :)

In short, more historical teams.

[Gill1313]

Well I have been an avid 2K'er since NHL 2K6

my screenname is Smookedawg on xbox live. I don't mean to brag but I consider myself to be one of the elite players since 2K6. I've learned fast and still find the glitches in the system to score the same goals over and over again. It gets boring after a while. lol

I use Pro Classic. Glitches are this:
(please don't get me started on the 2K7 glitches, those are the cheapest goals I've ever seen)

1) sprint your way to the goalie, I am using the left stick on the control pad to deke but you can't really tell it's dekeing because the stick and the puck are moving so little but it somehow fools the goalieand then it's an easy back hander into the net after I've run into the goalie full force using sprint

Solution: Golatender Interference should be in FULL effect. It is in FULL effect in the REAL NHL so I shouldn't see whi it shouldn't be in NHL 2K9. As soon as you touch the goalie there should be a penalty. No if's and's or but's. You have to protect the goalie in the game.

2) When I'm sprinting into the offensive zone and as soon as I get into the slot the goalie over challenges most of the time and it's easy for me to put a wrister glove side. There's a special technique I use and I wish not to disclose it. But 8 times out of ten the goalie let's it in. The other 2 times out of ten the Goalie's AI thinks I'm going to do the same shot over again so I'm smart and do a backhander. And yes, I run into the goalie then I back hand it in.

Solution: I would like to see the goalie's AI a little bit sharper than a little bit more predictable. I would like to see a goalie run out at a player and plow him over if the goalie thinks that will be a good save. I will also like the goalie to have a sharper glove hand and a sharper blocking arm.

I mean in the new NHL today you see some of Slap Shots go in from the point and you see some of redirections/tipping the puck into the net from point shots. In NHL 2K8 the goalie stops 9.9/10 slap shots. That's unrealistic. Must be a super goalie.

Also ONE TIMERS, My freak. You have ruined 2K8 by making ONE TIMERS next to impossible. In the NHL if a one timer is done in the slot there's a pretty good chance that puck is going in. Also one timer's from the point there's a 50/50 chance those are going in too. You have to remember that one timers and slap shots are the key to scoring. Yes, one timer's can be deflected. I've hardly saw any of those in NHL 2K8. In NHL 2K8 it's slap shots from the point have to get deflected to go in and to make it efficient I have to shoot right off the blue line from one of the points. Half the time I go offside lol.

I like the power wrister idea and the wrist shot. But try to make the goalie sharper on stopping those kinds of shots. I find it really cheap that I have to go up to the goalie and wrist a shot or do a backhander to put the puck in. It would be more challenging if creative play was the key to 2K9 in order to score. Hell I love cycling the puck and shooting one timers. I love working the puck in the offensive zone. I love slap shooting, doing one timers from anywhere in the offensive zone. I litterally will just shoot from any of the points. By shooting I mean Slap Shots.

Also I would love to see the Veteran players play more assertively and aggressively. For instance. Sundin and Crosby. Sundin is almost twice Crosby's age. But Sundin has far more experience than Crosby does on the ice. I would like to see Veterans have more of an edge than the young superstars. Because experience matters.

A note about the 2K7 controls. I hope you get rid of them in 2K9. Out with the old and in with the new is the addage I like.

I would love to see the INTENSE CONTACT CONTROLS they way they were in NHL 2K7. I mean in NHL 2K8 I can't slash a guy who's going on a break away. I mean I would love to at times. It would enable people to work their defense in a dirty kinda of way. They way I like playing.

[RoadDoggFL]

I've been editing my page on Halopedia (up for deletion, btw... does anybody know of a wiki I could use?) and just realized this:

In Franchise and Season mode, let us have a single 4 on 4 OT followed by a shootout in the regular season and a continuous 5 on 5 OT in the playoffs. Kind of a big deal.

[lokar]

I just thought of one other thing, for some reason on defense, hooks and dives are completely ineffective most of the time. In 2k7 you could make great dives from behind an offensive player on a breakaway and stop him if you were close enough, that doesn't seem to work anymore. Also a lot of times I can be in position, hook a player and the player is completely unimpeded, this is not realistic.

[RoadDoggFL]

I added a few new wishes and moved my wishlist wiki to http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/User:RoadDoggFL/NHL_2K_Series_Wishlist . Crossing my fingers that this one doesn't get deleted, too.

[NTq]

I'd like to see the Seals jerseys (that Dallas has as alternates) also used as alternates for the Sharks. You can pick the Minnesota Northstars as an alternate to the Wild, but not the Seals with the Sharks (who I think have more of a connection.)

[Jimayo]

I wish they would buy the rights to the Eastside Hockey Manager from Sega and then incorporate it's wonderful system and depth into their game.

[Grandmaster D]

One really little thing that shouldn't be much of a problem to be added:
Give a vertical level to the team selection, which seperates the kinds of teams. When you enter the screen, you can switch with left/right through the NHL-teams. With up/down you switch between that NHL-line to the one with classic teams, another with national teams and one for selfcreated ones.
The few seconds of scrolling through the teams as it is now are enough to annoy me a bit.

[Cee_Nasty_00]

Quite late :o , but I'll share either way and believe this will be read for 2k9 :p .

1) Shot Block
Real World - Not many NHL players have the bravery to block shots, that's why guys like Jason Smith, Brendan Shanahan, Radek Dvorak, Karlis Skrastins to just name a few should be appreciated more instead of just looking at offensive stats. So what is the main positive of a shot block attempt, you block a shot that could've been a goal "hypothetically" speaking had it not been blocked. So what is the main negatives about attempting a shot block? Well, starting by the most severe, a player can get his jaw cracked, get his in the nasal bone the procerus and be killed on ice, lose an eye literally, also a shot to the neck on the trachea means death if not attended immediately.Now less dangerous can result in a broken hand, or close to a ruptured testicle (Yikes!), now other than that some game mishaps can happen, you might over commit and the shooter might pass to the man in your zone you just abandoned if you didn't take that lane out as well or the puck can deflect off the blocking player on the shot and redirect itself into the net, and there's nothing a goalie can really do about that if he's not peffectly squared to the shot.
2K8 - There is not any part of the body the human player can put at risk by attempting a shot block and neither does his virtual skater during online play, other than the game mishaps there is nothing to risk, so Kush or 2KLA however you'd love to be called, injuries should be a must during online lobby play, you are a very creative and capable group, you have got to come out with something regarding this no risk tactic. For league play I might add, there sohuld be an option {On/Off} and two sliders if injuries be enabled of one being "Injury Lenght" & "Injury Frequency" and no injuries can be healed even if the game the player was injured in has been resetted. *cough* NFL 2K5 corrupt admins.


2) Poke Diving
Real World - Ok duhviously everyone here knows what are the goods and bad of a poke dive. If the puck is missed and the stick does't trip a players skate then that's not bad, now if a players poke dives and touches the puck and trips the player while at it, no harm done, now if the player poke dives and misses the puck and trips the skater, then it will either be a powerplay or a penalty shot depending on situation.
2k8 - Poke dive is a definitely no risk big reward tactic, if you miss it you won't trip no player because the animation is simply not there regardless if a players stick get's ran over by a skate. So tripping definitely needs to be incorporated on a missed poke. So how do I know when to poke or how to poke if im not aiming it? Well sure there can be ways but I think aiming the poke would be really nice.


3) In-Game Clock Timer
The current insane one that measures about 1/3 in lenght of my tv has to be removed, depending on camera's I cant even see the puck along boards on the corners and lose some battles because I have no visual visualisation of the puck. This sizes are nice and clean- http://re3.yt-thm-a01.yimg.com/image/25/m4/2881701117http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1762/1186187471.jpg

4) Slew Foot
It might be a great addition to integrate into the "Maximum Contact" controls.

5) After Whistle Scuffles
Some shoving after the whistle in front of the crease would be great.After a play is blown dead in 2k8 certain guys I will check right away and they'll shove me back, so in front of the net automatically without the person having to shove nobody after the whistle it would be a great idea and adds fun believe it or not. Now about the hitting after whistle on All Pro Football as in previous NFL 2K titles, you will get hit with a late hit, so If someone if after whistle hit happy like myself they should be punished for roughing.


6) Players growing beards for playoffs
Every player having their beard grow would be ridiculous so i'd say maybe some attributes might affect if a player's beard grows or not, probably poise and leadership might be good but I don't know really, but I'd love to see beards grow incredibly awesome. To the one that wanted to say "Why don't you do it yourself?" Well because editing facial hair is only possible to user created players.

7) Online Shootout Mode & Player Card
Shootouts are real likely to make it online on the Next-Gen Imo but please if so, do not forget the PS2 community. Player cards for NHL 2K8 online is really pale, a card similar to MLB:The show or NBA 2K8, would be sweet while also aggregating W-L with each team played.

8) Choosing Arena To Play At
I love the Bank Atlantic Center but I also like other arenas, I would love if you could choose what Arena you would like to play at during online lobby play.

9) International Teams Leaderboards
It's really a bummer international teams aren't allowed in ranked games, so why not give them their leaderboard for whoever wants to play with this teams ranked.

10) More Challenging Ranked Game Sliders
The default sliders are very unrealistic for the ps2. There should also just be one ranked challenge mode for lobby play like NBA and I would believe the annonimous decision for ps2 users would be All-Star.Also all ranked games must have the play options of puck aiming & and puck protecting to manual and can't be changed. It's funny most of the player's atop the leaderboard use auto puck protect.


11) To extract some of the venom online
Drive By's - Dubbed GLG on PS2. I am aware this is a big issue for Next-Gen as well, please make this stop somehow I dont know, the goalies have to anlge better here, a thing I've noticed is that the Drive'by is pretty not as easy to pull of sprawler, take for example Lundqvist really good down low, but when a goalie doesnt stick down nor sprawl the shot is lethal as it goes behind him in such a discusting way. Get rid of the Goalie deke. Get rid of pressure control, It's such not a fair gimmick at all, charging never get's called, Interference get's called 2-3 times at best when the opponent just keep interfering, this is on at the deault online ranked slider's, so likely either get rid of this crap or fix the sliders please. Enforcers have the genes and body of superman, just incredible stuff, they are way too overpowering, they do not dominate games in the NHL so clearly their abilities have been misintrepeted to this game as they can dominnate the rink for 3 periods.
New blocker saves animations please? Nothing's more annoying than a puck going through a wide open hole the goalie created himelf, and no it's not that the puck was going too fast because wristers go past the goalie's blocker more than any shot.
The multi-function puck protect, you can just shin off a hit by pressing O or just moving the puck to the side when getting checked.
Another not too realistic thing which to me is paradox is, how come let's say when on the power play when im moving my dman back stop and go to skate forward like his legs seem sluggish but realistic in a way, I understand the skater is pumping his legs and pushing hard on his skates but that's not what I am talking about, what I am talking about is there is this seizure like movement that is pulled off by moving the left stick in circular motion counter-cloclwise or simply clockwise, in a way very fast circular motion and the player will seizure glide. Also there is this move that a player moves to the side and he will glide, because there is no way a player can skate at full speed and then turn to a 23 degree angle and whilst turning lean his body to the side like he was about to do the "Roc-a-way".So anyone that tries this unrealistic movements, their skater should tangle with his feet and fall,do a split and then be injured with a groin pull or a hammy injury.Something that would reflect stick movement accurately.

12) Home Advantage Matters
Just like NBA 2k8, certain attributes drop off by one on the away team and those attributes increase by one to the home team.


13) Aiming Dot?
Something that would help people shoot better and can be an options feature on profile or controller settings is an Aim Dot when you shoot a colored small dot but noticeable will appear in the middle of the net and your free to aim around, the dot can not leave the net goal area but if you overpass aiming a corner say the puck will go wide, just like a speedometer it might not say your going 135 MPH because your speedometer only reaches 120 MPH.


14) Customize rosters Offline to Online
Just like Dadden let's you customize the look of a player offline on the online roster's, I think it would be a great idea to have your favorite players with the equipment you want. I understand the potential of tampering with attributes but if you people can make it sure and safe that won't happen than being able to customize would be a brillaint feature.
_________________________________________________

[Cee_Nasty_00]

15) Stick Down
Completely forgot to mention, a stick down should trip a player if ranned over by a skate and not go thru the players skates like nothing happened.

16) Attempting To Block Puck Along Boards
Stick down is a good way to stop the puck along the boards, so why not add a block puck along boards animation, when pressing *R2* (Shot Block) the player should throw his body against the board to block the puck.

17) Slap Dump Aiming
Why not be able to aim a slap dump low or high, high being the aim to sling the puck atop the glass, if over aimed, the puck goes out of play and the player get's a "Delay of game" penalty.

18) Hop or Hurdle Button?
I can't say this is such a need. It might! be a nice move to attempt though to avoid a knocked down player/avoiding a diving poke or a stick down attempt.

[Wollbaum]

1. bring back the "slash stick" from 2k7

2.game highlights from around the leauge

3.new play by play... kinda sick of hearing the same stuff i heard from past years

4.try and make the sticks not go through people when deaking or shooting.. along with people not going through net

5. invisable wall at the goal line needs to be taken away

6.scrums after the play, around the goalie

7.multiple fights

8.consistant diving abilities, when backchecking

9.goal reviews

10."superstar mode" if you can get a multiple mode for two people to play

11. make crease control more realistic.... i hate it when the play is behind the net and you can't look at the people in the slot.... also make every save count as a save... when crease control vision is on the time doesnt count down

12.take out the nudging when getting body checked and put in a stumble and keep going or a stumble and fall feature.

13.when a player is the goalie and has the puck the second player on the same team can't switch players

14.players hurt a little from blocking shots

[shanev]

I'm too late, but just in case, I had added just a few short suggestions on the 2k hockey boards some time ago: Here is a copy of that:

1) Some great steps in CAP & CAT this year, would like to see some more definition in this area. I'd like to see a face editor and an arena editor added. Maybe a few more logos (especially letters or some type of whale).

2) Please, please, I have been asking for a couple years for them to incorporate an editor for draft prospects. NFL 2k5 did this, and it was fantastic.

3) I'd like to see a short training camp with invites, juniors and/or college added to the dynasty mode. A little more depth to the dynasty mode that would make it feel more like the real NHL season.

4) Massive improvement needed in drafting/developing. I think others have touched on this, but it's a big issue for franchise gamers. After the top 10, drafting needs to have some random diamonds in the rough. Maybe a work ethic/attitude type rating (could even be hidden and just mentioned in scouting reports).

Other than that, the generic request for tweaks to gameplay and graphics.


Oh yeah, and add my last name to the database! Vattes (pronounced Vat -S)

[Cee_Nasty_00]

I'm too late, but just in case, I had added just a few short suggestions on the 2k hockey boards some time ago: Here is a copy of that:

1) Some great steps in CAP & CAT this year, would like to see some more definition in this area. I'd like to see a face editor and an arena editor added. Maybe a few more logos (especially letters or some type of whale).

2) Please, please, I have been asking for a couple years for them to incorporate an editor for draft prospects. NFL 2k5 did this, and it was fantastic.

3) I'd like to see a short training camp with invites, juniors and/or college added to the dynasty mode. A little more depth to the dynasty mode that would make it feel more like the real NHL season.

4) Massive improvement needed in drafting/developing. I think others have touched on this, but it's a big issue for franchise gamers. After the top 10, drafting needs to have some random diamonds in the rough. Maybe a work ethic/attitude type rating (could even be hidden and just mentioned in scouting reports).

Other than that, the generic request for tweaks to gameplay and graphics.


Oh yeah, and add my last name to the database! Vattes (pronounced Vat -S)

Hilarious :thumbsup: .

[joe-max]

My only wish: publish the game on PC!!!!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Wollbaum]

couple other things came to mind...

1. when playing with locked players and when you go on the powerplay the defense or anyone for that matter doesnt pass what so ever

2. hartford whalers jerseys should be included next year.... i started francises with carolina for many years and i'm dissapointed year after year when i can't be the whalers.... also the dallas stars alternate jersey from last year should be in the game... i see the fans wearing them but i never can't which is very disheartening becuase thats my favorite stars jersey...

thats all for now..

[Hall]

1.make the power play easier to control. PKers are way too agressive!!

1b. where did the rocket shots go? guys like souray should be able to let the one timer from the point fly off like a cannon.

2.only shot blockers should block shots. and get rid of that one knee thing

3.pucks should hurt players and goalies. even if its just a stinger make the play limp around the ice until his shift is over or give him less puck control if he takes a shot in the arm.

4. certain rinks should be more lively then others.
ex. montreal should be way louder than nashville

5.tighten up the backwards skating

6.get rid of the ice boxing. once players grab on to each other they don't let go

7.better goalie puck control. marty brodeur, carey price, rick dipetro all can shoot the puck over players head easily to the other teams blue line.

8.create a team can be better and have more jersey options like : instert differnt types of stripes and shoulder patches. more names would be nice

9.bring back the skills as a mini game or something

[Trujew]

[From the other thread]
Auto save. For the love of god, please have auto save. I hate having being asked to save my profile after EVERY quick game because it has changed. All settings, tournaments, seasons etc except for rosters should be under one save file on the hard drive/mem card and it should auto save. I think it got a bit better between 2K7 and 2K8 but there is just way too many damn times you are asked to save something.

Shooting. For the most part im a shooter, not a deker. So when I take Iginla in on a breakaway and expect to rip a shot low blocker side when I press the button at the hash marks does he wait and take until the top of the crease to let the shot off? Or im in the offensive zone , turn at the half wall and want to throw (even a weak) backhand at the goalie, but wait it takes so long for him to shoot between when i press the button and when it happens, now im defending an odd man rush into my zone.

AI's Magnetic Sticks. Why is it the computer can fart at me and I lose control of the puck, yet I will have their puck retention and control sliders down to zero and Zack Stortini can hold on to the puck better than Gretzky ever did? I Swear it's near impossible to poke check the computer for the most part. It is NOT that difficult to get a guy off the puck, especially when i have 3 guys literally hooking a guy and another poking at the puck only to be scored on. :rolleyes:

Commentary Please put Bob Cole out to pasture. Chris Cuthbert I think would do an excellent job. Most Canadaians (save for Toronto) Cant stand Bob on CBC.

Build a new engine I have enjoyed the 2K series Hockey since 2K4. I think its time to upgrade your engine, it still looks the same as 2k5 and it is not aging very well. EA has you beat on graphics. A lot of jersey colours are completely off(New Jersey, nashville etc) and most of the players look like they have downs. Plus the goalie doesnt even make strides when he is skating out to catch a puck. Looks very akward

[Savoie06]

[From the other thread]
Auto save. For the love of god, please have auto save. I hate having being asked to save my profile after EVERY quick game because it has changed. All settings, tournaments, seasons etc except for rosters should be under one save file on the hard drive/mem card and it should auto save. I think it got a bit better between 2K7 and 2K8 but there is just way too many damn times you are asked to save something.

Shooting. For the most part im a shooter, not a deker. So when I take Iginla in on a breakaway and expect to rip a shot low blocker side when I press the button at the hash marks does he wait and take until the top of the crease to let the shot off? Or im in the offensive zone , turn at the half wall and want to throw (even a weak) backhand at the goalie, but wait it takes so long for him to shoot between when i press the button and when it happens, now im defending an odd man rush into my zone.

AI's Magnetic Sticks. Why is it the computer can fart at me and I lose control of the puck, yet I will have their puck retention and control sliders down to zero and Zack Stortini can hold on to the puck better than Gretzky ever did? I Swear it's near impossible to poke check the computer for the most part. It is NOT that difficult to get a guy off the puck, especially when i have 3 guys literally hooking a guy and another poking at the puck only to be scored on. :rolleyes:

Commentary Please put Bob Cole out to pasture. Chris Cuthbert I think would do an excellent job. Most Canadaians (save for Toronto) Cant stand Bob on CBC.

Build a new engine I have enjoyed the 2K series Hockey since 2K4. I think its time to upgrade your engine, it still looks the same as 2k5 and it is not aging very well. EA has you beat on graphics. A lot of jersey colours are completely off(New Jersey, nashville etc) and most of the players look like they have downs. Plus the goalie doesnt even make strides when he is skating out to catch a puck. Looks very akwardDude,where have you been lately?They are building 2K9 from scratch and there is word over 2KHockey.net that they will be using the Sharks commentary crew this year.No confirmation on the latter yet,but it is confirmed about the game being completely rebuilt.

[Savvy91]

One feature I would really like to see would be ranked team play with another user playing on the same team. So, let's say I'm in the lobby and see my buddy, who i want to play on the same team with. Then, we can play another team like that or another player together.
Make it for the ps2 please :D

[Noose#15]

Hey 2K Sports, I know your out there thinking of ideas for the up coming 2K9 . I think I speak for alot of people when I post these ideas,

New Ideas:
(for xbox)
1. Upload own picture for create a team.
2. New features, the mini games are the same exact ones from last game, they don't even have the new control scheme.
3. New Skybox
4. New Achievements, basically the same since 2K6(and have them work I scored a penalty shot hello! no achievement!)
5. Put own pictures in the loading screen for custom team.
6. Glitches
a. For the puck to not go through the goalie
b. For the goalie not to go through the ice/net. Players sticks to not go through goalie.
c. In replays if the goalie catches with his right hand to not have him catching with his blocker.
d. In a shoot out even if they touch the puck if it goes in after for it to count.
e. stick that flexes.
f. during game for a goalie not to be able to catch the puck in his glove and put his glove completely in the net and not have it count as a goal.
7. All Star Weekend
8. If goalies have custom pads please give it to them. You said all players have the exact equiptment they have. (can they actually have their helmets or did EA buy thoughs rights too)
9. Better Ai, and when the goalies go down into the onto the ice and make a Y type pattern (or 1 legged butterfly)on the ice make is so they don't take and hour to kick there leg out, its one fluid motion.
10. Online problems.
11. Remove 2K7 controls or make them more fair to the new controls.
12. Deeper Player creation. And maybe a thing that can say created characters names: input is text (lang. interp) / output is sound (voice snth.)
13. More things with custom rinks. ( new ice, scoreboards)
14. Franchise issues fixed, haven't had these problems myself.
15. overall any cool ideas other people have come up with or ideas 2ksports/kush games are deveolping.
16. Louder Audience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!with more realistic chants.
17. real goal horns
18. AHL teams
19. for the goalie to be able to have the puck covered without it being in his glove, i hate seeing it being vacumed into his glove.
20. With a created playerto see all of his equipment, even parts that don't matter, IE: chest protector, and a better view of the goalie glove.
21. More than 4 franchise human teams, cuase if 6 of my friends wanna do a franchise with me but dont have nhl2k8 or live, what am i supposed to do?

Hope these are reasonable terms. Looking forward to 2k9!I probably could come up with more but I have a feeling everything will be said.

Kyle~

[Cee_Nasty_00]

19) Online Skill Level Meter
Incorporate some kind of system that just doesn't rely in rank to determine if a player is good or not, since rank doesn't really disclose much skill. Something like Madden level ranking would be sweet and neat.

[jg4242]

First, a couple of issues:
1) working on collision detection for sticks and players is a priority for me. I get tired of seeing players' sticks travel through the goalie or the legs of another player.

2) I have been having issues with stability of my copy on the 360. It may just be my box, but it might be something to look into if other users have been experiencing lockups and crashes.

And, a couple of ideas:
1) I'd like to be able to import artwork into the game for create-a-team. This way, the user could import the artwork of their favorite local school, college, or junior team. This is how Konami avoided licensing issues with it's Pro Evolution Soccer series for years, and I think it would be a great way to expand customizability for the user with a minimum of development time or cost. If this is not possible, maybe an option to edit the colors of the generic logos already included in the game.

2) On a related note, I'd like to see more jersey templates and customization options in the create-a-team mode. EA's NCAA Football did this on the old-gen games (they may still do it), and you could create literally hundreds of unique and distinctive uniforms with it. It'd be really cool to see more jersey templates, or to be able to mix and match different design features (It'd be awesome to be able to add text to the fronts of jerseys as well as adding a logo; perhaps choosing from several fonts and locations.) This is an addition that would again greatly enhance the game experience for users whose interest extends beyond the NHL and into the realm of other leagues and levels of play.

Thanks!

[dezoeteddd]

hey guys,
i just wanted to see what if NHL 2K9 was for the wii?
its simple: to move a player around use the numb chuk. to pass hold the A button and make a passing motion with the wii remote. to shoot make a shooting motion with the wii remote, and for a slap shot do the same but hold the B button. to change line use the D-pad. for a speed burst hold the Z button. and to body check you can push both numcuk and wii remote forward.
the rest could be figured out by you guys. i think you should give it a shot.
or what about the psp......................
please reply to what you guys think about it.

-dezoeteddd

[FSOTG]

I have a little suggestion for the online play, since I'm having problems playing online, I've only get to play 2 full games in 18 attempts. I think, you shouldn't be able to give a rating if the game is not completed, or it could be automatically register as neutral.

Because some jerks just gives you negative rating, saying you are an horrible player or that you use exploits. How the hell can they say that when you played for about a minute and almost didn't had a chance to do anything?

[dezoeteddd]

hey,
i think NHL 2K9 should be for the wii and/or psp.
for the wii, it would be simple. to pass you can hold the A button and do a passing motion, to shoot do a shooting motion, and a slap shot could done by holding the B button and do a shooting motion. you could move the player with the numb chuk, change lines with the D-pad and speed burst could be done with the Z button.
and so on.
the psp shouldnt be to difficult either.........................
i also think you should change the commentary. Bob Cole is getting kind of old, and Harry Neale isn't even on CBC anymore. How about Chris Cuthbert or Gord Miller and Pierre Miguire from TSN?
Or possibly french commentators, like Pierre Houde and Ivon Peadnault from RDS, for us french-speaking people in Quebec?
how about better "create a player" options and "create a team" options? like different horns after a goal is scored.
anyways how about you guys right back and tell me what you think
Sincerely,
dezoeteddd

[Cee_Nasty_00]

20) Online Clubs
Krew/Crew/Clqiue/Guild/Clan/Club, whatever is appealing and catchy. "Battle it out with your crew". It would be awesome some kind of created club affiliation. The creator not leader because some people dont like to be leaded or directed or feel they are under the helms of someone or they feel like a slave, so what a creator can do is assign unlimited leader/co-leader and admin tags to whoever he wants, and that way people would not leave crews as they feel as powerful on an even level as everyone else. An option also is that none of those members can be cut, so tagging someone with those powers must be though out as they will represent that club until you or that person leaves, by default the other players I guess are just simple members w/e. No one player on one account can be part of more than one club.Leaderboards for this will have to be installed as well. You know .. lol what about 3v3 like EA's game does, that would be cool so were talking about two ranking ladders here than, Club vs Club and Overall record of the club added up by the players individual records vs other club members.I am on ps2 and not thinking of this being added on ps2 at all but I would love to see this game be awesome on next gen, I likely am picking myself up a NG sys next year and I wanna play a great game of nhl 2k on it :}.

[Сергей]

hey Guys I fant NHL in Russia and i have 2-questions
1) NHL 2k9 ON PC YES :D or :( NO
2) NHL 2k9 next gen version on PC ???

[kingbrehm]

Hey Cougar are you going to post the list that got sent to the devs?

[Cee_Nasty_00]

21) Shot Angles (Taken from member, TabulaRasa @ 2khockey.net)
"The arc amount (in degrees) need to increase when shooting from let´s say left wing to right corner or vice versa". Butterfly goalies should drop more on the point and beyond shots, alot of this top shelve glove side shots on butterfly goalies go in real life unless you have football pads liek giguerre that takes away alot of the space, in 2k8 these fools stand up on the shot so it's almost impossible to snipe top shelf in this game unless Freddy Brathwaite is at goalie.

[Canuck16]

Most of my ideas have been brought up already, but I have an idea that I think would work really well.

Now imagine the controls were the exact same as 2K8. But by holding L2, the right stick becomes a shooting stick (like EA). So if you hold L2, you can push up on the right stick to take a quick shot, back then up for slap shot and so on. Because L2 is for backwards skating, they could put the backwards skating on L1, move change player/pass to R2 and speed burst to R1. I know it is similar to EA but I think it would be a good improvement.

I would like more realistic player movements and graphics, because in 2K8, the players did not move very realistically. Better movements would help allot because everything would seem so much cleaner. By better movements, I mean skating, and puck handling. I would also like better player models, because they had really small heads in 2K8.

A bit less hitting, a bit bigger ice surface and more penalties.

Thats just a little bit of what I want, because most of the cool features have been said already.

[Savoie06]

Make VeNom's Sliders from 2KHockey.net the default sliders.This would just about guarantee a much better response to the game out of the box and for the Demo.Send him a beta copy of the game to play and create sliders for and then have him mail them back with a save.

[Pavel]

NHL2K9 will be on PC or no?

[Aunt Jemima]

Two suggestions for the PS3 version:

1. Simplify the control scheme. I love the gameplay of 2k8, but it is way too difficult to get your player to do what you want him to do given the current complex control scheme.

2. Better cyber-faces. Everyone looks like they have acne. The faces look like PS2 or x-box faces, not like the Joe Thornton screens that we were shown before the game was released.

[RoadDoggFL]

New wish added to my wishlist (http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/User:RoadDoggFL/NHL_2K_Series_Wishlist#Gameplay). I consider it very important:

In the offensive zone, when your players have the puck near the blue line, make them aware of where it is. I'm so sick of going offsides because my mornic defenseman stickhandles himself offsides after I save the puck to keep it in the zone.

[dailybugman]

Change the announcers..........please! The game would be a lot better with different announcers. The present ones are horrible. Also I would like to see a different faceoff camera.

[RoadDoggFL]

Change the announcers..........please! The game would be a lot better with different announcers. The present ones are horrible. Also I would like to see a different faceoff camera.
Do your research. 2K9 will have San Jose's announcers.

[Savvy91]

Team play with another player that's in the lobby with you!! RANKED. EA has this feature, and I would really like it if it were on 2K9 :D

[kingbrehm]

NHL2K9 will be on PC or no?

Nope, it sure wont

[XS Chop]

Obviously fixing the glitches is the most important thing. After that, I think the biggest improvement would be to tie the AI's play much more to the players attributes. For example, if I have my attack style set to "attack" I should never have to tell, say, Joni Pitkanen to pinch, he should be doing that automatically. Hal Gill, on the other hand, shouldn't even be thinking about it. If I have a lead and set to "conservative" even Joni should hang back at the blueline. Same with hitting, hitting is fine IF it's the right players doing it. I should expect Danny Briere to get pummled by Chara in front of the net, Briere should never be putting Chara on his butt however. Another example that I can think of is setting up a defenseman for a shot. In the current version it's almost a given that a forward will bump you off the puck and run down the ice on a breakaway. A few rare players should be able to do that, certainly not just anyone on the ice. I think that some players with excelent (or weak) skills in some areas should somewhat over ride your offence, defense, forecheck, backcheck etc... settings. Doing this should give each player and team a much more individual feel, we play a lot and having more variety from game to game is a big deal. Next in importance to me is the speed issue. Unless you have your sliders seriously whacked for some reason there should be no magic button where Colton Orr catches Alexei Kovalev on a breakaway, shouldn't even be close.

On a more superficial non gameplay note I would LOVE to create a league that included the historic teams mixed with some current ones. A fantasy draft with those guys out there would be great fun.

[XS Chop]

Another thought, sorry if any of these have been brought up already. The hitting from behind has to stop. As it stands now if your rushing towards the net anyone on the ice can bump you from behind and you fall to your knees like you've been shot. That should be an extremely rare occurance and should result in a penalty every time. Also, I know the lack of penalties will be addressed. Please don't make the fix for this leaving the hitting as is and penalize it more. The issue is that there is too much hitting and there needs to be less, don't do a 180 and make the game powerplay after powerplay. Moderation is the key.

[XS Chop]

Yet another thought. Replace some of the hitting with defensive players "riding" a puck carrier into the boards. Let players battle for pucks in the corners. Have a control where a defender can keep right on top of a guy in front of the net. Once again, all of this tied to attributes. Some defenders should be great at this, others won't even bother trying. Some forwards should be able to break through this checking and get a pass or shot off while others get smothered. Let great scorers be great scorers, great defenders be great defenders and role players be role players.

Also, make the leaderboard more realistic. I just finished playing the allstar game and there are 3 players with 40+ goals already, 11 with 30+ goals etc...

[ecologo]

Im realy love the feature "enforce- player intimiding", this is the plus in this game (NHL 2k), but CPU don t use well this feature. I guess that cpu use enforcers ever in answer to us.
Ex.: When we use a enforce in a line the computer use other enforcer in response for play against our enforce, this made the role os enforcers in game more usefull.
ps.: sorry my bad inglish, but i can t live in anglo saxon contry

[FSOTG]

Also, make the leaderboard more realistic. I just finished playing the allstar game and there are 3 players with 40+ goals already, 11 with 30+ goals etc...


Sadly there was a time when that would have been realistic, haaaaa, the good old days, I prefer it that way, I prefer hockey based on offense, so don't tweak that too much, please.

[XS Chop]

Ah, you remember the 80's too. Thats the beauty of the slider system though, should be able to tame these things if you want to or go crazy with it.

[2K Admin Ron]

Ideas for NHL will probably be implemented for 2K10 at this point. Keep thinking about them, but for now it's better for me to say that and close this thread so there's no reason we failed to get your idea in for 2K9.