Are 2K fans ready for the return of live ball?

[Optik]

Just had an interesting twitter conversation with Leftos and DaCzar about whether 2K fans are ready for live ball. They seem to want to be more cautious with it judging from history and overall basketball knowledge of 2K fans. I honestly just want the user to be thrown into the deep end of the pool and let them figure it out themselves. I'm just sick of the hand-holding by the developers.

So simple question, are 2K fans ready for the return of live ball?

[Rockie_Fresh88]

Yes !! Please. Some lose ball/rebounding/blocking situations are just weird without it. Even steals. It makes the game feel more "scripted" without it.

[JA Money14]

NBA Live ball? Or a live basketball in game lol..

[MarvinOida]

Quote: Originally Posted by JA Money14

NBA Live ball? Or a live basketball in game lol..

Real physics, like if a hand or shoulder it the ball, the ball wouldn't warp, it would actually react. Live ball was I think in 2K11/2K12. I want live ball.

[alabamarob]

If the ball is not live and tangible then the game is not a true sim. Nothing realistic or organic about a game where the ball can go through body parts.

[JA Money14]

Okay. In that case i dont wanna meet the 2k player that DOESN'T want it back lol

[KillerHog471]

As long as it's kept in check hell yeah. I overall liked live ball in 2k12 but I hated those moments every once in a while where you'd touch the ball a little bit with an elbow and it'd go flying across the court like Shaq volleyball spiked it. Live ball also made me more careful on drives and PnR by not using the pick man as a screen like in Madden where you used to be able to use the refs as a screen.

[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by Optik

Just had an interesting twitter conversation with Leftos and DaCzar about whether 2K fans are ready for live ball. They seem to want to be more cautious with it judging from history and overall basketball knowledge of 2K fans. I honestly just want the user to be thrown into the deep end of the pool and let them figure it out themselves. I'm just sick of the hand-holding by the developers. So simple question, are 2K fans ready for the return of live ball?

I actually think it's less about whether gamers are ready for live ball and more about whether a video game developer is currently able to implement such a feature into a basketball game in a realistic and functional manner. If NBA 2K12 was a sneak peek into 2K's current live ball technology, it does not seem ready for prime time.

In 2K12, there was the idea of the existence of a "live ball" in certain situations, so it wasn't true all-enveloping live ball physics. However, even the tiny bit they included seemed to lead to a lot of random and bizarre looking situations. As I'm sure we all remember, shots were being blocked by armpits, heads, shoulders, and stomachs. Loose balls would be haphazardly chased by relaxed and upright competitors. It all generally felt awkward.

I'm not sure the current state of "live ball" translates as well to basketball video games as they may in hockey or soccer games. In those sports, the object (ball or puck) is deflected, poked, and taken away with a very frequent regularity. I feel with NBA video game's current setup (the manner with which defense is implemented, the way the offense responds), true real ball physics would be very tough to pull off. It wouldn't just be a matter of letting the ball be "alive". Everything about the game itself would have to re-worked so as not to invite 74 poke aways and loose balls every 48 minutes.

Perhaps developers have a trick up their sleeve but from what I've seen, it's not gamers not being ready for live ball physics, it's live ball physics not being ready for us.