NBA 2K14 Hands-On Preview - Association Mode, Presentation, Gameplay & Online Details

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I'm probably gonna wait out the 2k14 purchase as well. I've been playing alot of 2k13 lately and I don't think I would mind it for at least another few months. I'm hoping that my first assumption is wrong and 2K pulls off their greatest Association mode to date.

[TheLetterZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by EarvGotti

We all know it's Coach Nick from BBallBreakdown

Fun fact, Nick's interviewed me on BBALLBREAKDOWN...

[Melbournelad]

NO mention of the mess that is player progression? So we are now going to have to wait months again for quality roster guys like PP and VRTCB to go through and fix it?

For comparisons sake, i am going to respost what i have said in other association threads and let's see how many of these issues seem to have been addressed (I am assuming there will be no more association announcements and this is all the improvement it will get).



"There are many more issues, but here are the most basic ones which wreck the whole mode:

Player progression is ridiculously messed up. After a couple seasons every team has numerous 90+ and 80+ rated players which means great players don't stand out, great teams don't stand out and most teams are around .500. This also leads to half the league looking for max contracts. It's just an absolute mess. And this also means no one can start a realistic association until a quality roster team has spent several months adjusting every single player rating and potential. This is such a basic issue to fix if they actually tested association. Players all decline and hit their peaks at the exact same stage in their career's.

The default generated draft classes are just as bad, if not worse, then the real players ratings. They also have extremely high potential. No busts, all end up rated as stars. To make it worse, they have extremely low tendencies. You have big men with high 3pt tendencies even though they are horrible 3pt shooters. Guards with high close and inside shot tendencies even though they are horrible inside but good outside shooters.

Trade and FA logic is horrible. You will have Cp3 choosing to sign with teams like the cavs and twolves even though he would never do so in real life, not to mention they already have quality point guards! Kyrie Irving ends up as a backup point guard! The only trades that ever occur are involving bench warmers and role players. Never any starters or stars. Players are handed out contracts depending on their overall and potential rating, instead of how they played during the preceeding season. A player who had 6 points on 45% shooting and played 10 minutes could get a max contract.

There is no logical team building for any CPU teams. What they do just does not make sense. They have no plan for their team. What SHOULD happen is: Rebuilding teams should trade veterans for young assets and picks. Contending teams may be inclined to do the opposite. A season could be given up as a team sets up cap space for a big FA class etc. Or there could even be teams that perennially contend for 6-10 seeds because that's what their owners tell them to do.

Teams aren't given the correct draft picks. For example the Lakers have all their draft picks for the next 5 years even though in real life we have traded half of them away. You can't trade protected picks. You can't stash picks in Europe. You can't trade picks that are more than 2 years away.

The draft logic is terrible. You might have a draft where Andrew Wiggins is by far the best prospect. But the CPU will go ahead and not draft him until the 18th pick.

They removed the D-league for no apparent reason.

Player roles makes no sense. It's guaranteed that all players rated above 66 want to be a role player. All players rated above 72 want to be a sixth man. All players rated above 80 or so want to be a starter. Players in real life who are sixth men such as JR Smith, Manu etc will never be set as sixth men by the CPU. They will always start. The CPU also generically assigns the same amount of minutes for the same rated players. For example a player will always be given 36 minutes if they are rated between 80-84. There are no defensive specialists or 3pt specialists. Star players are always happy no matter what when given sufficient playing time. They never get frustrated at their team not winning or not being number one option etc.

The salary cap randomly goes up by 2 million every year so in 10 seasons it will be set at 78 million (Its 58 million in real life).

80% of the leagues coaches are fired each season for no reason. Every single single generic coach that replaces them are given A ratings in offense and defense. All scouts, nba scouts, trainers are generic. All staff in the coaching pool is generic. Assistant coaches can't be promoted to head coach.

Assist leaders rarely have over 9 a game. Rebound leaders rarely have over 10 a game. Scoring leaders rarely have over 25 a game. Team stats each season are really messed up compared to real life. Minutes leaders rarely have over 37 a game. MVP's are rarely given to the best player. Same with DPOY and MIP. The stats engine just has to have a bigger range of results. Also teams take way to many FTA and barely any 3FGA every season.

You can't have 4 team trades.

Players are never rested, matchups never change, and coaches never experiment with different lineups. In real life game to game players recieve different amounts of playing time depending on if they are playing well. In the Playoffs each series coaches should be using specific lineups depending on what type of team they are playing.

Every year in the playoffs you will have 6th and 8th seeds in the conference finals.

Teams in FA never overpay (or get players under market value) like they do in real life.

When players suffer significant season ending injuries there are no consequences. They should automatically have their potential and/or durability lowered. Look what happened to Brandon Roy and Greg Oden.

In the playoffs and at the end of close games the crowd is never animated as they should be.



I'm sure there are things that I have left out, and trust me there are many more smaller issues. I know this seems like a very long list, and some of these might not seem that significant, but they really get in the way of a solid association mode. Also, everything I have listed is just existing issues that should be fixed. We would just be happy with this, let alone all the new features which could be added (Improved draft scouting, get rid of the overall rating system, expansion, summer league, dynamic player progression system allowing for busts such as what PES has, ability to be an owner and dictate the financial aspect of the team, intricate player moral system, the ability to watch a game in progress (just watch it in hoopcast, which 2k already has) and intervene in the 3rd or 4th quarter liked Live used to have, etc).

*** Highlighted IMO what are the absolute worst issues."



I count two minor things that SEEM to have been addressed. The slow return from injury, and the 'Shooters with hot hands see their minutes increase, and slumping players spend more time on the bench.'
Oh well looks like association guys are going to have to wait ANOTHER year for any chance at real fixes, because i don't have much faith 2k paid much attention to it for next gen this year either.

[Phreezy P]

INJURIES ARE BACK. I am ecstatic! Hopefully the serious ones actually trigger ingame.

[Da_Czar]

Quote: Originally Posted by vtcrb

If that is the case TELL US. Then we have a Reason to buy NEXT GEN. Issue Statement saying ISSUES from Current gen Association HAVE been FIXED in the NEXT GEN Version, more details coming soon.

I feel your frustration but they have to sell current gen. You saw the sales numbers for madden ? You won't hear a peep about next gen and how awesome it is until CG ships which is smart business IMO since you have possibly 4-5 million in sales possible in cg vs what 500k-2 mil next gen ? (year 1)

There is no pressure on anyone to have to buy cg before hearing about next gen and it's advantages. Just gamefly it or wait a couple weeks to see what next gen is about after cg ships.

[vtcrb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Da_Czar

I feel your frustration but they have to sell current gen. You saw the sales numbers for madden ? You won't hear a peep about next gen and how awesome it is until CG ships which is smart business IMO since you have possibly 4-5 million in sales possible in cg vs what 500k-2 mil next gen ? (year 1) There is no pressure on anyone to have to buy cg before hearing about next gen and it's advantages. Just gamefly it or wait a couple weeks to see what next gen is about after cg ships.

No disrespect but how many sales are they going to actually lose? I mean by telling us NEXT Gen has Association Mode fixed, you basically are ensuring a NEXT GEN sell PLUS the Next Gen game.The guys who Love Crew, etc will still buy the Current Gen. I think my frustration boils down to all of the cloak and dagger stuff from 2k as far what is in game, what isnt in game. Advertising BIG reveals, ASKING for feedback and then basically Ignoring feedback when it comes to Association Mode. Anyway enough with my Rants. LOL. I will be done with feedback,etc on 2k14.

[TheLetterZ]

Quote: Originally Posted by vtcrb

No disrespect but how many sales are they going to actually lose? I mean by telling us NEXT Gen has Association Mode fixed, you basically are ensuring a NEXT GEN sell PLUS the Next Gen game.The guys who Love Crew, etc will still buy the Current Gen. I think my frustration boils down to all of the cloak and dagger stuff from 2k as far what is in game, what isnt in game. Advertising BIG reveals, ASKING for feedback and then basically Ignoring feedback when it comes to Association Mode. Anyway enough with my Rants. LOL. I will be done with feedback,etc on 2k14.

Madden's lost 33% of their sales from last year. That's a lot.

[Taer]

Quote:

While researching player data, Visual Concepts discovered many of its users aren't using the play system. Since plays allow you to be more successful, the developers wanted to expose them in a new way. In NBA 2K14, pressing the left bumper automatically selects a new play for you to run. If you want to page through play options, you can still do this with the d-pad.

My concern here is that in 2k13, the play-calling system was flawed and not as useable as in 2k12 or 2k11. If the data they used was only from 2k13, then this would give a very skewed and not very representative picture of what players actually use.

Quote:

In previous NBA 2K games, plays were normally run off of scripts. Veteran users could often see the play unfold early, anticipate what a player is trying to do, and take it away before it developed. The AI within the play system now has options and picks the right one based off what the user is doing. For example, if Ray Allen is supposed to curl off a double screen and you go over the top of that screen to try and intercept the pass, he'll either flare lower to get open or cut back door on you.

This is really good news. I hope what I experience is as good as this bullet point leads me to believe it can be.