NBA Live 14: It's Time to Leave a Man Behind

[Bruce LeRoy]

How are companies like Samsung and Apple so successful? They copy each other that's how. And this is what the team at NBA Live can't do, they don't have the ability to copy what made NBA 2K successful, bottom line. If you can't copy the best that is your direct competition then you'll loose every time.

[shutdown10]

Quote: Originally Posted by King_B_Mack

I think this is just the typical defensive reaction hardcore fans of a series take 24th. Something is said that doesn't paint a glowing, flawless picture of the product that is supported so automatically it turns into "hating" or some sort of bashing/unfair treatment case and all the worst possible explanations for why the person feels the way they feel about the product get's thrown out there as if it's something personal. The way the article is written its clear that the issue at hand is not about providing post release support, but how long do you continue to provide the amount of support that this game needs and was promised to get it to the point that everyone wants it. We're at February now pretty much, provided release dates move back to normal now with next gen consoles out, this game should be dropping first week of October. You should be going gold around the third week of September or so. The rest of September and near the end of August should be all testing and final minor tweaks. Do we really need them still trying to make drastic changes to fix Live 14 in February and March instead of working on 15?

EA has taken a huge reputation hit last year for their shady dealings all around. People who support NBA live have to be a little more realistic and understand that the game is on thin ice. We may see tweets where they say Live 15 is well on its way and Live 14 is being worked on, but the masses don't trust the company. People have to do research on what happen with EA last year and see that the company has dealt with alot of legal action. I'm not sure they can continue putting money into projects that won't see a return for a while. Don't be surprised if EA cuts title's that are not making money because they lost money from being sued for likenesses of players and are now being sued by the NCAA. Live 15 has too be revolutionary!

[yungflo]

I agree with the post. I haven't played nba live 14, but right now, there's no need to make live 14 good, just make live 15 great. I'm looking forward to seeing how live 15 looks and plays then live 14 at this point. Live 14's promises is only a PR mechanic used to keep trust in the fanbase.

So lets just focus on lieve 15. This generatin, the next gen basketball game is actually level. No game dominated in terms of gameplay and smoothness. Lot of issues with both. So yeah, Live 15. Move forward. Its the only move they can do at this point

[Fiddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by The 24th Letter

Maybe I am interpreting the article differently. I didn’t take it as, “Stop supporting Live 14 all together, we as fans don’t like support post release” I took more as “How much support do you put into a NBA game in February and going forward, before it starts to hinder the progress of the next installment due in October?” Selfishly, as someone who does think the game has potential, of course I want some more post release support, but I can see where the article is coming from. Unless I missed it, he didnt tell EA to cancel the upcoming patch or anything like that...but looking at what Scott promised, I dont know if the patch in itself is going live up to that...

ok, then if we look at it that way.

so, the game dropped November 19th, its now January 23rd. just 2 months past the games release date.

the "rumored" date of the big patch is around the all star game/break right?

if thats the case, thats not even 3 full months of post release support.

to me, thats about right for games that get released in general. you get a few tuners, and a patch or two, and that usually ends around the 3rd month of release or just a bit after.

i mean, thats about all i expected anyway bc thats all other sports games usually get. for the way the game was crapped on im actually shocked they have been doing what they have been. pleasantly surprised!

i said it a few pages back, but this article compared to most OS ones was just very goofy. like a guy said above as well, like half heart attempt at something.

Quote: Originally Posted by King_B_Mack

I think this is just the typical defensive reaction hardcore fans of a series take 24th. Something is said that doesn't paint a glowing, flawless picture of the product that is supported so automatically it turns into "hating" or some sort of bashing/unfair treatment case and all the worst possible explanations for why the person feels the way they feel about the product get's thrown out there as if it's something personal. The way the article is written its clear that the issue at hand is not about providing post release support, but how long do you continue to provide the amount of support that this game needs and was promised to get it to the point that everyone wants it. We're at February now pretty much, provided release dates move back to normal now with next gen consoles out, this game should be dropping first week of October. You should be going gold around the third week of September or so. The rest of September and near the end of August should be all testing and final minor tweaks. Do we really need them still trying to make drastic changes to fix Live 14 in February and March instead of working on 15?

heck, actually from what i can see here. all these hardcore fans are hardcore basketball gaming fans. that support both games. so im kind of clueless who just the die hard fans in this forum are. bc i havent really seen one to be honest.

as for the article, it obviously wasnt very clear. as per the responses of a lot of people here. plus like i mentioned above, its just basically getting the typical post release support of about 3 months, then boom, all focus on next years game. hope im wrong on that and we see support all the way through the playoffs.

[DonWuan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bruce LeRoy

How are companies like Samsung and Apple so successful? They copy each other that's how. And this is what the team at NBA Live can't do, they don't have the ability to copy what made NBA 2K successful, bottom line. If you can't copy the best that is your direct competition then you'll loose every time.

I think its little more than that. I don't think anyone wants 2 versions of the same bball game every year.

The few of us that play Live is because it is different.

And some just don't like what 2k offers. Live has/had a market and if anyone could see the future Live team missed out on a great opportunity with 2ks issues.

I don't think any patch could fix this game. Give us sliders, fix the paint issues and I would be good until Live 15.

Sent from my M353 using Tapatalk

[The 24th Letter]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fiddy

ok, then if we look at it that way. so, the game dropped November 19th, its now January 23rd. just 2 months past the games release date. the "rumored" date of the big patch is around the all star game/break right? if thats the case, thats not even 3 full months of post release support. to me, thats about right for games that get released in general. you get a few tuners, and a patch or two, and that usually ends around the 3rd month of release or just a bit after. i mean, thats about all i expected anyway bc thats all other sports games usually get. for the way the game was crapped on im actually shocked they have been doing what they have been. pleasantly surprised!

Sounds about right....but Mr. O'Brien didn't just tell people "were going to patch the game at some point"....I think we all could have come to that conclusion...guess well just have to see what these "significant improvements" are....

[ProfessaPackMan]

We also need to be realistic about what "the patch" will entail because some people are expecting it turn Live into an almost completely new game without sacrificing anything for Live 15. Personally, I'd rather that game be the focus of making mass improvements/additions for to as opposed to this one.

I just hope people have tempered expectations for "the patch" whenever that drops.

[D Apocalypse]

Quote: Originally Posted by RipCityAndy

Good post, Dustin, but I strongly disagree with you. Game improvement and development for NBA Live 14 needs to be continuous rather than released in yearly blocks. I'll give three main justifications: First, EA promised a continuously improving product. http://www.easports.com/nba-live/news-updates-gameplay/article/nba-live-14-open-letter Second, any gameplay improvements made to Live 14 can be carried over to Live 15. Last, if the game doesn't improve at all prior to Live 15, customer interest and goodwill in the product will be damaged - perhaps irreparably. If no improvement is made prior to Live 15 there is no reason why a reasonable consumer should trust that Live 15 will be any better than its predecessor. I imagine most gamers would be enraged if a game purchased in November/December was abandoned with promises that next years game will be great (especially after the cancellations of Elite 11 and Live 13). Live 14 was far from perfect at release, but has become far more satisfying as title updates are released. Live 14 is on a steady improvement curve right now. EA is currently showing us improvements rather than making empty promises. Even if you disagree that Live 14 is improving, surely you can agree that continued improvements generate goodwill that EA desperately needs. It's strange that a sports gamer would advocate that a developer STOP making improvements to a game that was released just over two months ago. Isn't one of the main complaints among gamers that we don't see post release support? If EA did cease support for Live 14, what benefit would we see as a community? The day sports game developers throw in the towel after 60 days of support is the day I stop buying them.

I agree with everything you said. At the current state Live 14 is in, I'm already enjoying the game more and find myself having fun with it rather than raging like I do in 2K14 MyCareer which has a frustrating scripted game/story.

"Sport games have always been popular because of the pick-up-and-play feel, but that is really lacking in NBA Live 14."

You lost me here with this comment Dustin. Sports games have gotten more complicated and is not pick-up and play at all with the different button combinations you have to use like for example, in 2K.

I love the fact that EA is continuing to improve Live 14 and like Rip said, any improvements can be carried over into Live 15. You act like yearly sports releases aren't just "roster updates" anyway. Once again like 2K, same game as last year, and the year before, and the year before that. LOL!

Anyway, I've been one of the more vocal and biggest supporter of Live 14 on Twitter. If you guys wanna see, I'm @izzysnowhd. EA even gave me a free copy for my PS4 even though I already have it for X1!