NBA Live 15 Video and Blog - Offensive Improvements

[DBMcGee3]

Quote: Originally Posted by GisherJohn24

For me, it's all I got left and it's do or die for the franchise. I can't see them giving out just okay product and waiting for next year to be better anymore. This is it, this is their time to make it playable and fun and make it so we have something good until the next one. If they don't make it fun, then there may not be a next year once word of mouth goes out. Live 14 left a dirty taste in my mouth, i liked some of the aspects of it, but it's time for EA to keep their promises and making Live fun again. I'm buying this game without question, but if I feel like I've been ripped off and the game does not meet the expectations, this will be the last time. But I'm very optimistic for this year, I like what I see and I think I'm going to be playing 2 basketball games this year, and that's okay with me.

I feel the same way John. I have the utmost respect for the 2k series, and I've played the absolute hell out of that game for the past 4 years. They always make a great game with tons of features, which is a pretty decent replication of the real thing. That being said, I keep watching the gameplay videos that have been released for 2k15, and it just isn't lighting that same fire under me anymore.

For me, if Live can come anywhere close in the gameplay department, I'd be willing to give it a whirl just for a fresh experience. I thought this video looked pretty good, although I'm apparently in the minority on that one. The animations may not be quite as smooth, but they're still pretty damn good in my opinion, and the player models are actually better than 2k in my eyes. Where I think EA should really focus its efforts is the online experience. If they can get things right with their servers, and more importantly, if they can actually keep the rosters updated FREQUENTLY and accurately, I think it would win more people over. How many years have we all complained about 2ks inadequacies in these areas?

[La Verite]

Nice to see good energy with the comments. So glad EA is detailed in what is improved because this was the main one, especially with fast breaks!

[CBfromCU32]

Smh at this game man cuz I want it to be good but it just doesnt look like basketball.. Until the game "looks" next gen I won't be able to play it.. The player models, graphics, movement, animations, everything Im seeing doesn't look right.. nothing gives me that wow factor visually.. I just don't like they way this game looks and animates tbh.. Yea it looks better than live 14 but that's not saying much 14 was a horrible game visually & gameplay..

[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by El_Poopador

While I agree that it would be great to see them taking the deep dive into things like AI, they have said all along this year that the focus was on graphics and controls. The "basic fundamental basketball stuff" may not be what you're looking for, but I think they are trying to show that they have the fundamentals down this year. Everything they did talk about was an issue last year. Don't get me wrong; I would love to see everything you mentioned as well. But from where they started last year, it's not reasonable to expect in a single cycle. Even on 2k's side, with a complete foundation to build from, they weren't able to get everything they wanted or that has been asked for this year. So to expect that from Live in the same amount of time, is a bit unreasonable. I don't think the Visuals trailer was necessarily for hype, but more just to showcase that they improved the graphics and a lot of the animations. Yea, a lot of the player movements are still stiff and awkward looking, but they are still much better than last year. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't expect a big leap. But we need to be more aware of what is possible in a single cycle. From what I've seen, they've done a lot to improve the game in one year, and as long as they keep improving and listening to feedback, I'll be interested to see what they're doing. Whether it's worth purchasing or not remains to be seen, and for me personally, the demo will be the deciding factor.

This is not even close to the comparison you're trying to make. First of all, did they get to all the improvements they wanted to? No of course not it is a one year cycle. But they still got to a gigantic heaping of issues that people had with last years game. Nearly every single issue that was brought up with 2K14 was addressed this year in some fashion. As developers, sure they didn't get to everything they WANTED to get to, but as far as we can see thus far, they got to everything they NEEDED to get to.

As usual with this series though, things that are sitting front and center on the need to get done list didn't because we focus on things that isn't already broken. Fix what's broken or non-existent first and then get to that other stuff.

[El_Poopador]

Quote: Originally Posted by King_B_Mack

This is not even close to the comparison you're trying to make. First of all, did they get to all the improvements they wanted to? No of course not it is a one year cycle. But they still got to a gigantic heaping of issues that people had with last years game. Nearly every single issue that was brought up with 2K14 was addressed this year in some fashion. As developers, sure they didn't get to everything they WANTED to get to, but as far as we can see thus far, they got to everything they NEEDED to get to.

I don't want to turn this into a Live vs 2k argument, because that's not what I was trying to do. My point was that even though 2k was already pretty much a complete game that many people thought was great on the court, they still couldn't address a lot of things they wanted to get to. Just looking through the conversations with Da_Czar, you can see there was a lot he wanted to do, but didn't have the time. Then, on Live's side, you had a game from last year that the majority felt was lacking in almost every aspect. So I wouldn't expect the same level of polish, when they needed to work on a lot of bigger issues first.

Quote:

As usual with this series though, things that are sitting front and center on the need to get done list didn't because we focus on things that isn't already broken. Fix what's broken or non-existent first and then get to that other stuff.

I think that's up for debate. Visuals were a huge area of complaint from last year's game, starting with the very first trailer they released. Non-responsive controls were another. The lack of contact in the paint was probably the single biggest issue that most people had, including myself. Yes, animation quality can certainly use work, but it's not a gamebreaker as it stands now.

[GisherJohn24]

Good input here. I think what it will come down to as long as the gameplay is smooth and feels like basketball again, the deciding factor if Live is viable again is AI. Needs to be somewhat competent and must feel like real basketball again. LIVE 14 I felt at times players were dumber than a box of bricks. If players aren't moving, aren't trying to get open or what have you, on top of moving organically that is, then I'll be sorely disappointed. But again , my optimism is somewhat high for 15 but I know those trailers I saw for 14 did the same thing in making me think it's gonna be special. But.... the difference this year is that we've seen a lot more teasing and it's still 26 days away and I expect more gameplay videos before launch.

Being generous, if Live 14 was getting around 6.0 ratings we should expect 8.0 for 15. Anything less imo is a big downer

[Junior Moe]

Quote: Originally Posted by The 24th Letter

Man, I just can't get behind "it being better than last year" as a form of praise. Guess I just expected nothing less than faces being scanned, animations being improved...they were near the bottom of the barrel last year. That's not to say I don't appreciate the additions of things like "rag doll physics" or some of the other improvements in this video...

Exactly! All of that stuff is nice and dandy but it doesn't entice me to purchase the game this year. It's progress and it may lead to a purchase next year if the rest of the game is up to snuff. But I cant get onboard with an "improvement" or "best Live yet". Having NBA videogame competition is not my cross to bear. Live is competing with Madden, Destiny, Shadow of Mordor, NBA 2K, GTA V and probably WWE2K. I don't have any coin to waste. I want the best product, or a fundamentally different product that is produced well. I don't usually purchase two videogames from the same sport. If NBA Live excelled at user control and physics, for instance, and did those things really well then I would pick the game up even with a few hiccups and the lack of modes because that's a "new" experience for me. That's what I am looking for.

[loosey101]

Live 14 failed miserably, let's not try and act like it was even a good game. However, I played the crap out of it and enjoyed certain aspects. Now, after seeing these trailers and short clips of gameplay, I can tell this will be light years better. Do I think it's going to be a game changer hell no, but to me personally, I think it will extremely enjoyable. I just don't get why people are getting attacked on the Live forum when they say "good job EA" or "man this is a day one buy." If you dislike Live and you aren't interested in playing, that's fine but don't attack others when they say they want to and vice versa. I'm just ready for the game to release already because some of you guys are driving me to look at the forums less and less.