Why me ?? - Da_Czar's Blog - Operation Sports

Da_Czar's Blog

Why me ??

Posted on September 12, 2009 at 04:52 AM.

(31)

Why me ????
Recently I was called out by a relatively new poster on the OS forums cf00. The point of particular interest to me was the following

IMO EA loses a lot of credibility here. So does DA_Czar. I've been playing these games for a long time so this isn't a case of getting used to the controls. I'm playing on allstar where the real ballers play Czar. I EA talks a good game but then there's the truth. Hopefully EA doesn't run everyone else out of business and start charging whatever they want for addons and additional difficulty levels.

You can find the rest of cf00's post on page 34 of the demo impressions thread.

What is the proper decorum for being publicly called out for your opinions ? Is it appropriate to let it slide or is it proper etiquette on a message board to defend your position ?
I chose the latter since he felt it necessary to call me by name and to insinuate that somehow after years of serving the Sim community, my credibility is at stake simply because he disagrees with Da_Czar's opinions on Nba live 10.

I think it only fair we evaluate on an even scale who's credibility is in fact in need of a straightening. I will not challenge the things that are based on opinion simply for the sake of argument. Yet it is my earnest belief that some of the claims he has made are in fact false or not true to the degree expressed.

It is my objective opinion that live 10 is everything I said it was as well as everything I warned you it was not. I intend to prove though gameplay video of myself and cs00 that Nba live 10, if played under the conditions of my article and czarisodes (play basketball not videogames) can not possibly be as bad as he portrayed it. I believe user ability and understanding of the controls as well as fundamental basketball concepts are more important than the base gameplay in determining how realistic the end user experience is in Nba live 10 . As a rebuttle to his heretofore unproven assumptions I will use video from the same 4 minute quarter that will be displayed at the end of this blog

Please remember these are not select cuts but just a recording of Czar playing 1 quarter of Nba live 10 demo. To make it fair I selected a game in which I made several user mistakes.

I ask mr cf00 to post a 4 minute continuous quarter showing the settings on AllStar or preferably Superstar level since the game is so simple for him. No camera cuts between the settings and gameplay please.

It is my belief that the video will show explicitly why he is seeing some of the issues he is OR that the issues he brought up are greatly exaggerated when playing the game as he said.

�I'm playing on allstar where the real ballers play Czar. I've been playing these games for years. I took the time and played and adjusted and played within the flow of the game and learned all the controls.�

It has always been my stance that live 10 is a very good game if you play basketball and not video games. His post above suggests that he in fact plays simulation basketball and is familiar with all the controls and that despite his attempts, in his opinion, after less than 24 hours of gameplay, � the game is simplistic.�

With the ground rules established let us begin.

His first debatable point is that there is no box out button. I refer him to the Y button which is held to box out and released to to grab the rebound. I give him a pass here because even though he said

�I've been playing these games for years. I took the time and played and adjusted and played within the flow of the game and learned all the controls.�

This one slipped past him. No problem. Mistakes happen. I also find it interesting that I played the full version for 2 full days before feeling anywhere close to comfortable with all the controls and yet in less than 24 hours( much less if you note the time of his post) he has them figured out enough to adequately judge their worth.

Next he continues with
�Blocks and rebounding and boxing out are ridiculously unrealistic.�
Lets define these terms for clarity sake.
ridiculously:completely unreasonable and not at all sensible or acceptable
unrealistic:not believable

Please remember I am not tasked with proving that the rebounding is the best ever. To prove his point false I need only show that the rebounding in Nba Live 10 is not

�completely unreasonable and not believeable�

what say ye ? ( as a note there were no blocks in my 4 min quarter. While I will admit that the blocks in Nba live 10 need work. I do not believe that all blocks are completely unreasonable to the point of derailing my personal credibility.

He also has said that there is no inbound steal button. ... .Isn't that a cheese tactic ? I am not at all familiar with these types of gameplay strategies. I can only go by what I have seen on-line where cheese masters constantly press the steal button when your inbounding the basketball.

It is my hope we get to see a demonstration of how this tactic is used to simulate Nba basketball in his video. Even though I prefer not to use those strategies myself I will provide him the instructions to do so from the man responsible for gameplay in Nba Live 10... Mike Wang

�If you're right in the path of the ball on the frontcourt inbound play, try getting right up by the inbounder and getting into the hands up position (up on RS) or timing the steal button just as the ball gets passed in. you should be able to deflect it almost every time. �

to his credit this was not known until well after his post. However since he said he knew all the controls and played all day I thought it fair to mention..

He goes on to say that man defense is terrible. Please keep in mind his statement
�IMO EA loses a lot of credibility here. So does DA_Czar. I've been playing these games for a long time so this isn't a case of getting used to the controls. I'm playing on allstar where the real ballers play Czar.

At the end of this blog I will post my own 4 minute continuous gameplay vid but for now Just to prove my point I will post highlights of me playing on ball defense on the cpu from the same video you will see at the end of the blog. Please keep in mind this portion is not about clipping or sliding but about the ability to play defense itself. All I have to prove according to his argument is that the control is in fact NOT terrible

Terrible =extremely bad; horrible:*terrible coffee; a terrible movie.

Can this really be considered extremely bad on ball defense ?

On passing in game he has this to say
�The passing is bad and players don't adjust their pass angle. You actually have to move your player or the AI will throw it directly at the defender instead of adjusting the angle. It's a very simplistic game."

If talking about user controlled passes surely he is aware that if you wait too long to pass the ball the players start their off-ball movement. If a player is not passed the ball in time He will begin to get better position by screening or cutting. Any pass attempt made during that movement will be subject to a change in angle of the pass. I.E. user error.

Whatever the issue he is referring to concerning passing angles will be clear to us after watching his simulation gameplay video. In my video I make some bad passes and they get picked off. I don't find that to be the fault of the AI.

He continues on with

�The playcalling system is also extremely simplistic. �

to be clear lets define simplistic.

Simplistic:too simple or naive

To this I can only ask, if he is indeed serious ? Nba live 10 is the only Nba game I am aware of to EVER contain authentic Nba playbooks and playsets. It is also the only Nba game I am currently aware of to have branching plays which means some of your plays have more than one way to get the basketball to your primary scorer. This allows you to read the defense and catch cheating defenders off guard.

In addition live 10 has just under 500 total plays in the game. The lakers playbook alone has a reported 390 plus plays.

Is this what he calls too simple or na�ve ? I find it difficult to understand how mastering 390 plays for one team could be considered simple. Especially when some of those are branching plays with up to 4 options on how they can be executed.

If that was not complex enough. Careful study of the plays run by teams in the demo will show that in LIVE 10 plays are ran with different players in different positions exclusive of the primary ball-handler. Which means you can't just memorize where a certain player is supposed to be as players can and will change positions.

Adding yet further complexity, the plays can be ran from either side of the floor depending on where you are when you initiate the play. Live 10 also allows different players to initiate the play as opposed to just the point guard.

I might also mention that the plays are not hard-coded to any one player. So if you have a pg who can post up you are free to re-assign plays to anyone on your roster

Lets review...
�The playcalling system is also extremely simplistic. �

Maybe I don't understand the definition of extremely. Lets verify that.

Extremely:The greatest or utmost degree or point.

So his credible analysis of the live play-calling system is that live's play-calling system to the greatest degree possible is too simple or na�ve.

I look forward to the 4 min game-play video and feel free to post 2 if you like to show us how these extremely simple plays are ineffective for you in replicating simulation Nba basketball.

Despite its appearance this is not meant to be cruel or unkind. If he had sent a pm or an email as others, who have differed with me in the past. I would have responded in kind.

To me I have more than proved that his post had little to do with the validity its content and more to do with a personal issue between himself and a corporation.

When pushed further on his position he had this to say on page 37 of the demo impressions thread.

�It's not that I don't like the game Czar. I just don't like certain things about the way EA markets and does business. I think the game still has a lot of work to do. Ultimately it's a game and I can have fun, but I just have questions about certain things that I'm not going to explain here in any more detail than I have. �

To the bystanders in this showdown I ask you to review the points he made in his post with the evidence in my video. I ask you also to read my live 10 impressions and compare those with this video as well and see if my words are so far from what you see, as to warrant being called out and publicly discredited !

I can only conclude that in his angst toward a corporation he thought it might be cute and appropriate to take a shot at Da_Czar.

I want to assure you cf00 that although the words in your post of the premature demise of my credibility had the appearance of being personal. My response is strictly business.

Don't play videogames ! Play BASKETBALL !

Comments

# 1 Mr.Wednesday @ Sep 12

That is an excellent response. Informative, tactful, professional and even examples to back up his view point without a personal attacks on the original poster. I wish all members of OS responded to criticisms this way. I take my hat off. Great blog Czar.

# 2 Tha_Kid @ Sep 12

A video of someone playing the demo is all it really takes to diffuse things like this. I know if I could capture a video of me playing the Live demo, someone could point out my errors in trying to play man defense, or forcing on the offensive side of the ball.

I read the post at the time as well as Marcus's reply and really my only thought was that some people are a part of sim nation, and some are tourists. Natives can always spot a tourist.

# 3 RayDog253 @ Sep 12

Great Blog Czar......Like your on ball D video, it goes to show you don't have to just sit there giving your man space. All though I'm not yet confident enough in my game to pressure the ball like that.

# 4 frostbyte06 @ Sep 12

You know not even commenting on the content itself, I'm thoroughly impresses with your methods in your argument. There was no personal attacks, just your evidence to back up your position. If only all issues could be handled in this manner on OS. Personally I will say I've had some issues, but until I learn the controls fully I can't make a educated judgement about the game itself. I often see things happening, but can't take advantage of it yet, because I'm not comfortable with the controls, as I've been accustomed to playing "another" game for the longest.

# 5 kennyacid @ Sep 12

Very well written.

# 6 SublimeAnarky @ Sep 12

Czar, as good a rebuttal as any.. though you do realise that NO ONE will ever doubt your credibility or your contribution in terms of time, effort and passion to the basketball sim community based on one poster's opinion ?

I understand the need to clarify this from an individual 'principle and integrity' standpoint, but never believe the basketball sim fellowship dont know what the Da_Czar stands for. Thank you for being..well, you.

# 7 RayAllen20 @ Sep 12

No matter what people will always hate Live and 2k thats how it is. He is most likely a fanboy. He doesnt like off ball D because the CPU wont do it for him. And for the controls part, there is no way he has them all down. I have been playing this game non stop and have played tons of Live and 2k games yet am still an idiot with this stuff.

# 8 DaoudS @ Sep 12

What a superb response. Well done, Czar.

I can't watch the last vid either.

# 9 stephensonmc @ Sep 12

lol -- won't defend you ever again. You can do your own thing...

# 10 TreyIM2 @ Sep 12

What a great response to someone who has an obvious agenda yet dragged you into it, for some reason. I have yet to even play the demo (thx, Sony) and reading through all the impressions, you can tell who is giving constructive and honest feedback and those who just want to hate on EA/Live.

Now, that being said - I can't watch the last vid cuz it says it's private and I have to be a friend. I assume a youtube friend since it's a youtube video message. I'm going to login and request you, Czar. I'm also going to request you up here.
Well done. You should also be a lawyer - I present to you exhibit A, your honor.
Haaaa...

# 11 23 @ Sep 12

No im just going to say someone just got broke off!!!

Not only that but after seeing this I believe he should never expect anyone to respect his basketball opinion ever again

# 12 23 @ Sep 12

accidentally took off czars last post but here it is

# 14
Da_Czar @ Sep 12 (2 Hours Ago)
My apologies about the last video being private. I have a good amount of youtube viewers who know nothing about what happens here and they would be like WTF czar is not talking...lol. I have made the appropriate changes so you all should be able to see it now.

thanks so much for the responses. I will rarely if ever do this again especially since I see the real Sim Nation will not be swayed by an uninformed rant.

While I agreed with jonsey in the actual thread that I probably spent too much time and effort in my response. I did want to convey that i take this serious. I do my best to represent what is important to our community and give my honest opinions even at the risk of sounding "biased".

P.S. you guys are Hilarious !!!!

# 13 23 @ Sep 12

BTW man, he was a celled user that is now banned so you were basically dealing with a full fledged troll