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NHL 17: Patch 3.1 now available on Xbox One, PS4

NHL 17‘s patch 3.1 is now available, bringing a number of fixes to various modes.

The patch fixes issues inside Be a Pro and Franchise modes, Hockey Ultimate Team’s new Competitive Seasons and offers up a variety of general gameplay fixes.

Full patch notes as follows:

HOCKEY ULTIMATE TEAM:

Hockey Ultimate Team™ – Competitive Seasons
Competitive Seasons is a new game mode which allows players to compete in a “monthly” season format to earn in-game rewards. Each monthly season consists of rounds. Complete three games to earn round points which determine your ranking on the Round Leaderboards. At the end of each round, you will earn a reward as well as Season Points that count towards your season total. Finish as high as you can in each round to accumulate as many season points as possible to earn a larger reward at the end of the season.
*NOTE: Rounds and Season durations are subject to change.

GAMEPLAY (Tuner 1.02):

ALL MODES

Player Updates:
• Tuned down puck carrier’s reaction speed to reacquire a puck after losing it.

User Goalie Updates:
• Increased ability to make saves in tight to their body and decreased ability when reaching to reward better puck tracking and cutting off angles.
• Increased ability to make saves on cross grain shots by tuning movement so goalies will stay square even if the user is requesting to move away from the shot direction.
• Increase save success on blocking saves.
• Decreased the impact goalie movement to help promote puck tracking so that good angles and positioning mean the most for a goalie’s ability to make a save.
• Decreased screen effect slightly.
• Increased goalie speed for post-to-post movement.
• Increased AI goalie’s awareness for a possible shot off a faceoff.
• Increased ability to react after a save to increase their chance of getting back in position and making rebound saves.
• Rolled back change from previous patch for the goalie occasionally getting stuck in butterfly as it was causing a worse knock on issue.


EASHL MODE ONLY

EASHL Player Class Updates:
Goalies
• Increased all goalie classes height to 6’2”.
• Increased speed and agility of all goalies and added variance with Standup being the highest and Butterfly being the lowest.
• Increased Hybrid goalie’s recover rating so that he is now faster recovering than the Butterfly goalie.
• Increased rebound control of all classes. Standup goalie’s will still have the lowest rating while Butterfly goalies will have the highest.
• Increased poke check ability for all classes. Hybrid has the best poke check rating of the three classes and Butterfly has the lowest.
• Hybrid goalie now has the best stick side and paddle down rating of the three classes.
• Increased vision for all classes. Butterfly is still the lowest and Standup is still the highest.
• Increased 5-hole rating for both the Hybrid and Butterfly classes to separate them from the Standup goalie.
• Increased rebound control for the AI goalie class.

Players
• Lowered hand-eye ratings for all classes and rebalanced the category to see more realistic deflections and bat-ins across the different player classes.
• Lowered shooting attributes of Grinder, Power Forward and Enforcer Forward.
• Lowered passing attribute for the Grinder.
• Increased balance of the Two Way Forward and Hitting Sniper class.
• Increased the ability for defensive builds to intercept passes but still kept the same variance in abilities relative to each of the classes.
• Increased the minimum rating a player needs to get a saucer lift on a regular pass. Now Playmaker, Jumbo Playmaker and Puck Moving D will be the only players with the advantage.
• Raised discipline of the Two Way Dangler.
• Tuned down puck carrier’s reaction speed to reacquire a puck after losing it.

PRESENTATION:

The following uniforms have been added:
• Added Toronto Maple Leafs Centennial Uniform.
• Added Detroit Red Wings Centennial Uniform.
• Added Chicago Blackhawks Winter Classic Uniform.
• Added St. Louis Blues Winter Classic Uniform.
• Added Philadelphia Flyers Stadium Series Uniform.
• Added Pittsburgh Penguins Stadium Series Uniform.
• Added Frolunda Indians Home and Away Uniforms.
• Added Linkoping HC Home and Away Uniforms.
• Added Baie-Comeau Drakkar 3rd Uniforms.

The following arenas have been updated:
• Pittsburgh Penguins Arena now named PPG Paints Arena.

The following items have been updated:
• Fixed Regina Pats Medallion to correct logo.
• Fixed Buffalo Key Bank Arena scoreboard signage.
• Fixed camera clipping issue in Semi-Pro arena in EASHL.

EASHL:
• Region and Skill-Based Matchmaking restrictions were removed from Private PIN Group Matchmaking.
• Anti-griefing logic was removed from Private PIN Group Matchmaking.

FRANCHISE:

• Fixed an issue where player fighting bias was being set to 0 when the league year changed from year 1 to 2.

BE A PRO:

• Fixed an issue where player fighting bias was being set to 0 when the league year changed from year 1 to 2.




Patch 2.0 – Nov 22, 2016
GAMEPLAY:
• Added 11 new goal celebrations to the creation zone.
• Fixed an issue where a user goalie would get stuck after getting hit while in butterfly.
• Fixed an issue where after an icing the puck it would sometimes cause human players to sit on the bench for the next play.
• Fixed some issues where a goalie would get stuck in a post lean away from the post.
• Added new post lean saves for more coverage.
• Improved goalie post lean logic so goaltenders to try and make saves that keep them sealed on the post to prevent short side goals.
• Fixed an issue where some signature stances caused the goalie’s glove hand to push back behind their pad when holding the puck idle on their stick.
• Fixed issues with shot animations when in close to the net.
• Updated User goalie save logic to help them move into a save when they are requesting to push/move first.
• Added functionality to allow goalies to rotate more when coming off the post from VH to butterfly to make them more square to the puck.
• Updates to User goalie save logic on wraparounds based on requested motion.
• Updates to User goalie save delay when in good position to make a blocking save.
• Fixed an issue where a goalie would sometimes drop to butterfly when in possession of the puck on a User requested pass attempt.
• Improved the reliability of one timers by adding quicker snapshots for situations where there isn’t enough time to take a full slapshot.
• Fixed an issue where precision skating would sometimes conflict with a loose puck deke attempt at a slow speed. Now if you have your stick out a deking position it prioritizes the deke request.
• Updated goalie logic so that goalies will hold their near post on pass attempts near the net to prevent easy short side goals.
• Updated goalie logic for softer shots on net so that they look to pick it up rather than make a save.
• Various crash fixes.
• General stability updates across all modes.

PRESENTATION:

The following uniforms have been added:

NHL
• Los Angeles Kings Alternate Uniform
• Philadelphia Flyers Alternate Uniform
• Winnipeg Jets Heritage Classic Uniform

AHL
• Springfield Thunderbirds Home and Away Uniforms
• Tucson Roadrunners Home and Away Uniforms

CHL
• Calgary Hitmen Home and Away Uniforms
• Charlottetown Islanders Home and Away Uniforms
• Cape Breton Screaming Eagles Alternate Uniform
• Drummondville Voltigeurs Home and Away Uniforms
• Everett Silvertips Home and Away Uniforms
• Kingston Frontenacs Alternate Uniform
• Lethbridge Hurricanes Home and Away Uniforms
• Swift Current Broncos Alternate Uniform

Liiga
• Oulun Kärpät Home and Away Uniforms
• Rauman Lukko Home and Away Uniforms
• Tampereen Tappara Home and Away Uniforms
• Tampereen Ilves Home and Away Uniforms

SHL
• Malmo Redhawks Alternate Uniform
• HV71 Home and Away Uniforms
• Farjestad BK Home and Away Uniforms
• Djurgården IF Home and Away Uniforms
• Karlskrona HK Home and Away Uniforms

ECHL
• South Carolina Stingrays Alternate Uniform

The following equipment has been added:
• Bauer Vapor 1X OD1N
• Vaughn V7 XF Pro Carbon
• Brian’s G-NETIK III

EASHL:
• Added new jersey logos to customize for your club.
• Added 11 new goal celebrations for your Pro.
• Added a new Drop-in Feature where a group of users can play a private unranked game through the Drop-in Dressing Room lobby:
• Dressing Room Leaders can enter a 4-6 digit private matchmaking ID to matchup privately against another group using the same ID
• Both groups must be matchmaking at the same time with the exact same ID, which means this is meant for larger coordinated games or practice sessions.
• Added the ability to select and view the Player Summary screen from the disconnect and end of game pause menus.
• Fixed issues where Banners, Entry Props, and Flags were clipping through certain cameras in EASHL stadiums.
• Fixed an issue where after icing the puck while on a 4on4 as their penalty is expiring, users would have their players on the bench on the next play.
• Added a new PS4 Feature called Play Together which is used to quickly get a group of friends playing in a Drop-In Group Matchmaking session:
• Allows the host players to invite up to 6 players directly from the Party screen to a new game session
• Go to [Party] > [Play Together] > [Start Game] to create a new session
• The host will be brought to a Drop-In dressing room and the game will automatically send invites to all players the host selected,
• Allows players to join a new game session through invitation or directly from the Party screen:
• Open the invitation sent from the host and select [Join]
• Or go to [Party] > [Play Together] and select one of the Current Game Sessions to join

HUT:

• Improved the Quick Swap functionality in the Edit Lineup screen for quicker line management and updated animations. Quick Swaps can now be performed without transitioning to a separate screen.
• The Synergy Details screen is now visible in the Collection search results when performing player substitutions to further enhance the team building mechanic.
• The highlight animation has been updated in all HUT screens to improve visibility.
• Added new Jersey items to some of the team collections.
• Removed Last Price Sold from Make An Offer. Last Price Sold was removed from the ‘Make An Offer’ screen as it was left in there on accident when it was originally removed. The reason why LPS was originally removed was because it was not working as intended in NHL 17.

FRANCHISE:

• Fixed an issue where players who have a playable injury and are scratched lose morale.
• Note: if a player is fully healed and is scratched they will lose morale.
• Fixed issue where no captains were being assigned in Franchise Mode.
• Fixed multiple arena capacities.
• Fixed multiple teams merchandise images in the set prices screen.
• Improved overall stability within the mode.

BE A PRO:
• Fixed issue where a User would keep getting the doctor’s approval to play popup each time they returned to the bench.
• Fixed issue where no captains were being assigned in Be a Pro.
• Improved overall stability within the mode.

Tuner 1.01 (October 28, 2016):
– Increased User goalie precision movement speed
– Increased goalies ability to control rebounds
– Tuned AI passing decision weights in EASHL so that it decreases the chance they will consider passing near/towards their own net
– Tuned deflection accuracy and added more weight to player ratings in the final result
– Tuned how much impact the re-direct angle on deflections has on puck speed so that more speed is lost the more extreme the deflection.
– Tuned down puck carriers reaction speed to reacquire a puck after losing it and increased the weight on player ratings.

Patch – October 18, 2016

General:
– Improved game stability online and offline based on some crash issues seen by the community

Gameplay:
– Improved functionality to stick lifts in the open ice and during net battles.

EA Sports Hockey League:
– Addressed issues with EASHL Drop-in’s where captains on the Class Select screen couldn’t change player class or jersey selection.
– Added a roster download check on entry into EASHL to fix an issue where Creation Zone in EASHL wouldn’t load newly added jerseys or equipment.
– Resolution to a jersey issue seen by some users after they switched from custom uniforms to stock.
– Resolved issue where EASHL teams were not able to match up in regular season games after winning an EASHL Playoff Championship.

HUT:
– Reduce the chances of the HUT Infinite load issue from occurring.
– Added additional telemetry logging to help us gather more information about the HUT infinite load issue.

Patch – September 11, 2016

GAMEPLAY:

GOALIES
• Fixes to conditions around goalie interference for more accurate penalty calling.
• Added better ability for user goalies to resolve a save attempts on deflections.
• Add functionality for users to press the cover puck button when controlling the goalie with possession of the puck on his stick or in his glove.
• Updates to performance when playing from the new goalie Fixed Camera.
• Updates to human goalie save logic so that goalie won’t go into desperation saves unless they are already moving or really need to stretch out to make the save. This will improve cases where the goalie makes a big auto save on harmless passes and pucks going wide, as well as stop him from being left vulnerable in a sitting position if the first shot didn’t require a desperate save.
• Added new controlled goalie glove saves when the goalie is in good position.
• Addressed cases where the goalie was getting stuck between states when a user would take control and switch back to AI control.
• Fix for goalies in possession of the puck putting a stick through the boards and getting a whistle.
• Added more save coverage out of butterfly slides done with the right stick.
• Updated AI goalie logic to handle cases better when the puck is coming in at very sharp angles.
• Updates to AI goalie logic for tracking shooters as they cut across the net. They are more aware of their shooting capabilities now.
• Addressed issues with momentum when trying to stack the pads.
• Updates to human goalie save logic when shots are near their body vs. when they have to reach for them. This should help goalies who are in better position and hinder goalies who stay back in their net.
• Various fixes to transitions into/out of hug post from various positions/angles.
• Fixes where the goalie would rotate the wrong way when trying to transition onto the post.
• Increased cover puck consistency.
• Added more goalie post goal reactions.
• Added functionality when going directly from set to butterfly post lean. This removes the limitation of pressing butterfly before pressing hug post.
• Various goalie animation fixes.
• Increased responsiveness in precision movement, especially when moving laterally.

DEFENSE
• Updates to incidental stick/puck contact with the goalie for more accuracy.
• Various improvements to incidental stick-on-stick contact for more accuracy.
• Fixed issues where incidental stick contact wasn’t affecting the puck carrier during some puck pickups/pass receptions.
• Extended Stick Lift will now modify into board play if the puck carrier goes into board play.
• Tweaked ease of alignment for getting into net battles and extended stick lifts.
• Fix various stick to hand blending issues in animations.
• Ability to perform extended stick lifts all over the ice. They were originally limited to the net battle areas of the ice.
• Updates to make the transition between stick lift and extended stick lifts more responsive to what the player intends.
• Updates to how extended stick lifts impact the ability to receive a puck or keep possession of a puck.
• Updated push check animations to better respect where the defender’s stick was before he initiated the push.
• Updated physical preparedness calculation when the player being hit was in the middle of a pass. They were previously more prepared than they should be.
• Better defensive coverage on the strong side winger on the breakout.
• Improved AI defense when they are on the PP with the man advantage. Use the extra man to minimize the PK team’s effort with the puck.
• Addressed issues where AI defenders would over commit skating forwards out of their zone which would hurt their ability to get a good gap on the rush.
• AI players won’t auto line change when team has possession in the offensive zone unless they are extremely tired.
• Updated cases for a defender to drop the puck if they are going to take the puck into their own net. If a defender carries the puck into their own net, it can now be counted as a goal.

PUCK PICKUPS & RECEPTIONS
• Improved pickups in cases where the puck is behind a player.
• Added coverage to skate pickups to help with pucks in the feet or directly behind a player.
• Animation updates to pickups where sticks weren’t flush to the ice.
• Updates to conditions and coverage for turning pickups.
• Updates to pass assist to not lead players as much if it is going to lead to an offside.
• Updates to how pickups will attempt to resolve if the puck changes trajectory.

MISC
• Updated how holding penalties work to get more accurate penalty calls.
• Ability to manually set Min/Max Pass Speed in Gameplay Sliders.

PRESENTATION:

CROWD
• Improved crowd reaction and behavior when a major milestone has been achieved (ie. 500 goals).
• Updates to European fan signs.
• Improved fan distribution, signage and team clothing assignment in World Cup of Hockey mode.
• General crowd behavior and reaction improvements.

CAMERAS
• Added new introduction cameras for several stadiums.
• Improved camera tracking when the puck is in the corner.

ARTWORK:

ENVIRONMENT
• Addressed seat color issues during t-shirt promo nights in Arizona.
• Edited promo puck and promo bobblehead placement in several stadiums to avoid stanchions.
• Improved New Jersey Devil mascot animations around the boards and glass.
• Improvements to Carolina PNC Arena lighting in corners of ice surface.
• Authenticity update for goal light in Scottrade Center.
• Authenticity update for the scoreboard in Scottrade Center. Smoke now emits when a home goal is scored during playoffs.
• Lighting improvements for stanchions in several creation zone environments.
• Improved arena shadows for realism in several creation zone environments.
• Added circles at top of scoreboard for the Buffalo Sabres First Niagara Center scoreboard.
• Banners in New Jersey were updated for authenticity.
• All ECHL stadiums will now have blue goal posts.

PLAYERS
• Improvements to hair for several star players.
• Added new goalie mask art for several teams including Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Detroit, Edmonton, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Washington.
• Quality improvements of some of the generic hair styles in creation zone.

EQUIPMENT
• Gold stick award art tuning.
• Authenticity improvement to CCM Extreme Flex Pro line of equipment.
• Two Bauer skate blades updated for authenticity.
• Krefeld Pinguine logo updated for authenticity.
• Authenticity update for Bauer Supreme Totalone NXG blocker, pads, and trapper.
• Authenticity update for Brian’s G-Netik blocker, and pads.
• Authenticity update for CCM Extreme Flex 2 blocker.
• Authenticity update for KOHO Revolution 587 trapper.
• Authenticity update for Vaughn V4 7600 Blocker.
• Added CCM Extreme Flex III Pro Goalie Pad set to Creation Zone.

UNIFORMS
• Added Bakersfield Condors Alternate uniform.
• Added Chicago Wolves Alternate uniform.
• Added Cleveland Monsters Home, Away and Third uniforms.
• Added Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Home and Away uniforms.
• Added Toronto Marlies Home and Away uniforms.
• Added Hartford Wolf Pack Home, Away and Third uniforms.
• Added Hershey Bears Alternate uniform.
• Added Stockton Heat Alternate Uniform.
• Added German National Team Home, Away and Third uniforms.
• Updated font type for Acadie-Bathurst Titan Home and Away uniforms.
• Updated Number Font color for Orlando Solar Bears Home Uniform.
• Updated Pant color on Czech Republic Home and Away Uniforms.

AUDIO:

COMMENTARY
• Lake Erie Monsters sample changed to Cleveland Monsters.
• Added speech for 2000, and 3000 point milestones.
• Many improvements to commentator awareness/accuracy.

SFX
• Goal horn volume increased.
• Update to SFX for fight collisions.
• Update to SFX for when a puck goes off a goalie helmet.

CROWD
• Improved crowd excitement after a goal is scored.
• Added crowd countdown to final buzzer in important games.
• Improved crowd reaction and excitement when player achieves personal milestone.

MUSIC
• NBC and Wednesday Night Rivalry themes tuned for improved timing. Music now ends when screen fades to black

ONLINE:

GENERAL
• Added a new Camera angle called “Zone” which was formally known as Custom 3 (available everywhere).

ALL ONLINE MODES
• Added “Online Pass Assist Percentage” slider to the controls screen.
o Defaults to 100% which is the online default, from there the user can move the slider down to have less Pass Assist

USABILITY:
• Controller images added to controller settings screens

EASHL:
• Room Leader “Captain icon” to remain persistent from Dressing Room to Side Select.
• Fixed several issues with the “Set for All Positions” option in Edit Pro.
• Fixed the chat box in the Drop-in and Clubs Dressing Room when specific special characters were being entered.
• Addressed various camera issues in the small and large community rinks.
• Added Stock Team Branding in EASHL Edit Team.
o Allows a club to use a Stock logo from our title.
o Allows a club to use Stock Uniforms from our title as their Home, Away, or Alternate uniforms.
o Stock Team Branding does not allow for recoloring of logos or uniforms.
o Stock Team Branding has been added to club progression and assigned to the following requirements:
 Ability to use Stock Team Branding – Complete 35 games
 Ability to use Stock Vintage Uniforms – Reach Club Prestige 1 – Level 13
 Ability to use Stock Alternate Uniforms – Reach Club Prestige 1 – Level 30
• Added High Tilted Visor as player progression unlock.
o Unlocked at Player Prestige 1 – Level 7
• Added Player Summary screen at the end of game.
o Shows the profile names of the users in game and their stats.
o Used to compare player stats and for Club GMs to scout players.
o GMs can invite players to join their club from this screen.
• Added Ability to enter Edit Player or Edit Team from the Drop-in and Clubs Dressing Rooms
o Allows players to customize their player or club between games without having to leave their group experience.
o For Drop-in it allows the players to remain in their persistent Dressing Room lobby.
• Add Rich Presence to the Drop-in Dressing Room.
o Allows players to see that their teammates from the previous game are still in the post-game flow.
o Allows players to see that their teammates are customizing their player (also available in Club Dressing Room).
• Human goalies can now pull themselves and become a human controlled extra attacker from the bench.
• Added milestones to EASHL – Commentary team will announce goal and point milestones in EASHL for the following:
o 50 Goals
o 100 Goals
o 200 Goals
o 300 Goals
o 400 Goals
o 499 Goals
o 500 Goals
o 999 Goals
o 1000 Goals
o 2000 Goals
o 3000 Goals
o 200 Points
o 300 Points
o 400 Points
o 500 Points
o 1000 Points
o 2000 Points
o 3000 Points
BE A PRO:
• BAP player can now get injured for multiple games.
• 2X EXP game situation now shown on BAP shift timer.
• BAP coaching feedback post game screen added with 5 game summary graph.
• 3rd and 4th liners now get more ice time when playing quick BAP games.
• Added message on BAP coaching feedback overlay to remind users more feedback available in pause menu.
• Tuned some 2X EXP game situations.
• Improved shift timer line change animation timing to match hint/on-ice visual trainer.
• Improved logic around when hints/suggested focus are skipped on expert mode.
• Improved camera in BAP. Updates when starting a shift jumping off the bench, when skating to the bench to line change, updates for tracking when shots are taken, and various other focus updates.

COACHING FEEDBACK:
• Tuned logic for when to show certain feedback hints.
• Saucers passes are no longer considered weak passes.
• Goalies no longer penalized for careless wandering when going to the bench for delayed penalty/extra attacker.

FRANCHISE MODE:
• Promotion Nights can now be scheduled throughout the regular season
• Added 8 new owner goals:
o Improve Top 6 Forward (contender teams only)
o Improve Top 4 Defenseman (contender teams only)
o Improve Starting Goalies (contender teams only)
 These will only occur if the team is currently weak in a given position.
o Get “X” sellouts in a season (for all teams)
o Win “X” games in a season (for all teams)
o Win “X” Home games in a season (for all teams)
o Win “X” Road games in a Season (for all teams)
o Improve Team Chemistry by “X” (for all teams)
• Added functionality where a user receives additional funding for completing owner goals.
• Added functionality for team performance based owner goals to change based on the team’s current status during the season.
• Added functionality where owner goals for stadium upgrades are processed immediately instead of at the end of construction.
• Added team status and team record to the trade screen.
• Added playoff tree view to the stats central tile.
• Added retirement screen to view the league’s retired players.
• Improved upgrading:
o Replaced current upgrading/maintain flow with a new overlay to upgrade and maintain an object.
o Added an indicator for what object pertains to an owner goal.
o More information is surfaced when an item is not actionable.
o Quick link to the operation budget screen to quickly allocate funds.
• Added Owner Goals section in the Franchise Overview Screen
• Added 7 new categories for the team information section in the Franchise Overview Screen:
o Number of Sellouts this season
o Days until Trade Deadline
o Days until Rookie Draft
o Days until Free Agency
o Days until Re-sign phase
o Number of injured players
o Current Funds Available
• Added 7 new Relocation options:
o Atlanta, GA
o Birmingham, AL
o Markham, ON
o Regina, SK
o San Francisco, CA
o Miami, FL
o Sacramento, CA
• Added reminder notification to alert the user to set a marketing budget once the season ticket drive has started.

HUT:

• Improved Set completion flow
o Collection and Auction House search filters will automatically lock to the appropriate item types when attempting to add items to a set.
o New animation added when all of the items to complete a set have been added by the user.
o Improved the set completion confirmation message screen.
• Added a quick link to the Unopened Packs screen from the 2nd and 3rd level of the Sets screen when there are available packs for the player to open.
o Users can now easily access their reward packs after completing sets using this new functionality.
• Added a scroll bar to the Synergy Glossary screen to let players know that there are more Synergy styles available.

NHL 17 is available now on Xbox One and PS4.


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.