NBA Live 14 News Post

If NBA Live Has a Future, It Has to Look Radically Different

01:53 PM - December 6, 2013 by RaychelSnr

EA Sports had a clear opening opening with NBA Live 14, and they didn’t even realize it.

NBA 2K14 fumbled its launch about as much as 2K Sports could manage, which is to say — there are still some problems, a few of which are quite serious which consumers are facing, but the game is largely quite good.

Connectivity issues, save file issues with MyCAREER, crashes, and some old legacy gameplay issues are hampering the product at this point. A patch has fixed some issues, but many remain it appears.

In all reality, there is a lot you can find wrong with NBA 2K14 if you look hard enough.

And despite the wasted opportunity this year, it's now clear there have been key areas of mismanagement which plague the NBA Live series, and until each is fixed individually, this series has no future.

Read More - If NBA Live Has a Future, It Has to Look Radically Different

Game: NBA Live 14Reader Score: 4/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS4 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 17 - View All

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Member Comments

# 101 ianlast @ 12/09/13 02:15 PM

The NBA Live story is one of the more fascinating tales of self-sabotage in sports gaming history.

Allowing Mike Wang to leave their studio and having David Littman produce their next title (Elite 11) has to rank as one of the most colossal blunders EA has ever made. At this point, I would chalk it up to a corporate decision that saw the sales numbers without any sort of context, the context being that Live's product quality was for once on the upswing, and that the sales numbers were a simple reflection of Live needing to gradually rebuild goodwill with consumers.

I'd love to hire some of these EA bigwigs to build me a backyard pool, boy oh boy are they good at digging themselves deeper. Chris makes an extremely good point in the article; to paraphrase in my own words, had Live 14 been nothing more than a 1080p port of Live 10 with updated rosters, courts and uniforms, that would have represented a solid first step for Live's revival. Instead, the series is just further circling the drain by releasing this broken, unfinished product. Absolutely inexcusable when they had a perfectly functional and enjoyable product three years ago. Smh.

# 102 Boilerbuzz @ 12/09/13 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ianlast


	Allowing Mike Wang to leave their studio and having David Littman produce their next title (Elite 11) has to rank as one of the most colossal blunders EA has ever made. At this point, I would chalk it up to a corporate decision that saw the sales numbers without any sort of context, the context being that Live's product quality was for once on the upswing, and that the sales numbers were a simple reflection of Live needing to gradually rebuild goodwill with consumers.

Two things. I don't think they "allowed" Mike to leave. He chose to go back to a place that had the work environment he preferred. Secondly, at some point, the EA culture finds that "guy" and from there - it's ride or die. If it's die, they move to another "guy". First it was Wang, then it was Littman, now it's O'Brien/O'Gallagher. And if this fails, all of the blame will go to those guys. And I think that's just wrong.

# 103 King_B_Mack @ 12/09/13 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boilerbuzz


	Two things. I don't think they "allowed" Mike to leave. He chose to go back to a place that had the work environment he preferred. Secondly, at some point, the EA culture finds that "guy" and from there - it's ride or die. If it's die, they move to another "guy". First it was Wang, then it was Littman, now it's O'Brien/O'Gallagher. And if this fails, all of the blame will go to those guys. And I think that's just wrong.

Arguing semantics there, but all they had to do was shut the hell up and let Wang and the team do what they do and the world keeps spinning for EA basketball. They didn't, so yeah, they pretty much allowed him to leave.

Also, don't they usually contract devs? If so, I would imagine they would have had to release him from a contract when they agreed to part which is even more stupid considering they basically allowed him to get out the door twice without realizing how absurd a decision it was.

# 104 Boilerbuzz @ 12/09/13 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King_B_Mack


	Arguing semantics there, but all they had to do was shut the hell up and let Wang and the team do what they do and the world keeps spinning for EA basketball. They didn't, so yeah, they pretty much allowed him to leave.

I'm just saying that I don't think they could have kept him even if they didn't change things up. That's just my interpretation of what been said. Sounds like the change just made it happen sooner. But I could be wrong.

Quote:


	Also, don't they usually contract devs? If so, I would imagine they would have had to release him from a contract when they agreed to part which is even more stupid considering they basically allowed him to get out the door twice without realizing how absurd a decision it was.

No. Not all of them. I've known EA to contract some engineers for 1 to 3 years for a cash bonus. Maybe they did contract Wang, but maybe it was just one year. What I do know is that you can break the contract, but you have to pay back some of the signing bonus they give you. That's it.

# 105 ianlast @ 12/09/13 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King_B_Mack


	Arguing semantics there, but all they had to do was shut the hell up and let Wang and the team do what they do and the world keeps spinning for EA basketball. They didn't, so yeah, they pretty much allowed him to leave.

Bingo.

http://www.operationsports.com/featu...-for-nba-2k11/

Quote:


	Mike: After NBA Live 10 wrapped up and we started going through the pre-production planning phase for '11, we held several meetings to discuss the future of the franchise. After going through those meetings, it became very clear that the vision I had for the game was different from where the leadership wanted to take it. I parted ways with EA shortly after and came back on-board with the NBA 2K team last November.

Zero vision from the EA higher-ups. They finally had the solid foundation for a good hoops title, but got tunnel vision with the sales #'s. Now they've got a broken to the point of unsalvageable title that will probably be outsold (EDIT: conservative estimate) 20:1 by their competitor.

# 106 goofyballer @ 12/09/13 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTF


	Yes, that's exactly what it is. I'm not the only one. Next Gen CPU Cheating is Amazing Plenty of these types of moments: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...30994490740309 Goaltending? Nope. Was it called? Yep. It was after I stopped 3-4 instances of cheese that they were "supposed" to score. But that's for another thread.

I responded in the "next gen CPU cheating" thread as it isn't appropriate for this one.

# 107 TheHypeMachine6 @ 12/09/13 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTF


	I'll respond to this, but that's basically it. I'll continue to tell what I see, and provide my input to those who may be interested in trying it with the updates. The kingpnp drive was made prior to bug fix 1.02. It could be one of the small bugs that was fixed. The past game that I played, I threw several passes that hit my own guys, and didn't go through them, hit them just like it should. I shouldn't have tried to pass through them. If I pump fake close to someone, the ball hits their body and gets deflected. Doesn't go through them. Thats what I'm seeing. I've never said that Live doesn't have issues. It doesnt' have the same issues that 2k has. If it did, I wouldn't be playing it. If you think it has issues, then that's your prerogative. No issue with that. But to tell me that I "HAVE" to see it, well, I'm sorry to disappoint. "Anyone actually playing the game"... I think that statement would include me, since I've probably played as much as, or more than anyone on the forums right now. I'm seeing good AI decisions by both my teammates and the CPU AI. I see a LOT more right, than I do wrong. But again, if you don't, that's fine. I'll enjoy my game with what I'm seeing. Two games can "mirror" the same subject all they want, with different interpretations of how to achieve the result. I don't want control taken away from me. I don't want rebounds warping to people just because they're a good rebounder. I want to be in position, box out, and earn a rebound. I don't want a game to be closely contested because the game thinks it should. Do you all see a Comeback logic? Maybe not. But I do. As do quite a few others. Does it exist? Maybe, maybe not. All we can go by is what we seen on our own screens, during our own playtime with a game. With that said, I'm done responding to defend my position with the game. I'll continue to post what I see right and wrong. If the devs choose to listen to those, and use them moving forward, then great. But I'm providing something rather than "This game sucks..." "RIP Live"..."Should probably just cancel"..."Series is done". That's what this forum was littered with. With that said, here is a list of the initial thoughts on the game that I sent to the EA Sports team: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Sliders, the game needs sliders. Adding sliders allows each individual player to customize the game to their liking and their individual playstyle. Including Speed/Quickness. -Custom cameras, like above, a camera is one of the key factors in immersion for some gamers. Without the ability to tailor the camera to your liking, the ability to become immersed in the game is more difficult. Should be fairly simple. -Practice Gym The game needs a practice gym. You have a new dribbling system in place, there is no reason not to have a hands on, teaching tutorial. We need a Bouncetek practice, post play practice, and just general shootaround. If possible, a scrimmage type practice where you can practice plays as well. This should be one of the easier things to "patch"/accomplish. -Editing Players/Rosters This is vital. Ratings and player appearance are two things that are subjective. The NBA Live community has done wonders for the past releases. Taking NBA Live 06 for example, a game that was nearly unplayable when it was first released, was made semi-playable due to roster and slider tweaks from our very own community. Player ratings, signature shots and dribble packages, as well as appearance (hairstyle if available), accessories, etc should be available for edit. -Player textures, should be pretty consistent whether in replay or in actual gameplay. One of the "ugly" parts of the game come when playing the game with the downgraded textures. I'm unsure if there would be more framerate issues with the game if they weren't downgraded, but the difference between zoomed in and out is vastly different. -Animations- I'm a mixed bag on the animations that are in the game. The dribbling animations are nice, the walking and walking the ball up the floor are really well done. The issues within the animation department are: A- Not enough transition animations (see dribbling with Bouncetek going into a shot, there is a hitch) B- Contact animations in the post and driving/dunks/layups are lacking. I know some are in the game, however there are no variety here. C- Layups & Dunks, like above are severely lacking. The ones that are present, save for a few, are jerky and not fluid. Some of the big men dunks are done fairly well, but the vast majority of one handed and athletic dunks are far too jerky/lifeless/stiff. It doesn't look like a human movement, it looks like a scripted element if that makes sense. -Ball physics/interaction This is one of the biggest issues that I have with the game currently. The ball/rim interaction is putrid to say the least. It takes unrealistic bounces off of the rim, the trajectory after leaving a shooters hand is incorrect, and overall it just feels poorly done. I've not seen 1 jump shot go in that hit the rim first. I've seen several layups roll around the rim, but even then its so unnatural that it looks rough. This is one of the toughest things to stomach while playing as well. -Commentary Needs a vast overhaul. It has "emotion" supposedly, but it's not fluid and feels terribly scripted. I hit a game winner in one of my games, and their reaction was laughable at best. I know this is something that's really out of the Dev Teams control, it's up to the voice talent to put forth an effort to make it enthusiastic. Jalen Rose is absolutely terrible and stiff/rigid during his intros/half time reports. I know this is going to be a year to year project, so I can't complain too much about it. What's there this year, will not continue to be acceptable in a next gen Grade A sports title. -Arena Audio Need some arena specific audio. Indy's race car, MSG's organ, etc. It just adds to the immersion. -Control Responsiveness This is hit or miss, and it makes the game feel "sluggish". Sometimes, the players move/act on my button press. Sometimes I press the button and wait. The game needs to be responsive at all times. I'm not sure if this is something that you all can track down or not. Sometimes a pass is made from the wing to the top of the key, and I will move my defender towards the passing lane, press the steal button, only for it to not react. Some times I press block/jump, and nothing happens. It's hit or miss. It's a fully charged brand new PS4 Controller, so I don't think it's simply the controller. -Synergy One of the intro screens discusses Synergy and the 70+ abilities and stats that they will use to keep the game current, updated an hour after each game is played. However, when you play the game, you see "Point Guard" taking the place of an actual player on the bench. Several lineups are incorrect including the Kings trade acquiring Derrick Williams. If it updates on the hour, it needs to include trades and rotations. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROS -Play Calling System This is one of the most innovative play calling systems that I've seen yet. The use of the modifier and d-pad work excellent, and the amount of options/coaching levels that are integrated is excellent. Kudos on this one. -Adaptive AI Playing the game against the Cavs, I saw a Screen coming, tried to go around it before he was set, and instead of using the screen, Kyrie went baseline for the easy layup. It read my defense, and adapted. Very nice. 2 games later, same situation, Steph Curry negated the screen, went baseline for an easy score. The next time down the floor, I shaded towards the baseline, this time he used the screen and set up for the easy 18' wide open jumper. It was a thing of beauty (other than the animations). -Defensive Options/Schemes Again, kudos to the team on this. The ability to choose your matchups, how you play the individual matchup, help options, screen options, etc is truly well done. -Bouncetek Even though I'm not 100% familiar with all of the things that you can do (practice mode needed), the system feels innovative and responsive. Expanding to more players in the league, or the ability to customize each player with the levels of their dribble would be great. -Big Moments This mode is excellent in theory. If the animations and things above were fixed, this would breathe a new life into sometimes otherwise monotonous sports titles. Very nice game mode. -Cloth animation I know, this may seem like a small "victory" here, but I feel that the cloth animation is actually pretty well done. Going back and looking at some screens, the wrinkles in the jerseys of players are often not in the same static place, creating a more natural looking screen shot. Even in movement, the jerseys and shorts look to fit the players better than most other sports titles on the market. -Presentation The games ESPN integration (other than commentary) is truly well done. The overlays, swipes, menus, everything is streamlined and well thought out. -Crowd Crowd reacts and animates pretty well. No real downfall here. The booing of visiting players is really well done. If you hit a big shot, you feel like you hit a big shot watching the crowd jump. It's enough variety where it doesn't look like the same static person over and over. -Bench/Warmups Probably an overlooked portion of the immersion, I really appreciate the fact that some guys will have their full warmups on, some just jersey and shorts, and others shorts and warmup top. The difference really adds to the atmosphere and visual appeal of the sidelines. The mascots are also really well done. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I do know that some of the items on the list have been addressed. The controller responsiveness and the Synergy updates are working as late as yesterday. When I noticed the Kings/Wolves trade was in, I played, and there were several things that were updated, felt much better. The players don't move sluggish any longer. That was apparent even playing the demo after Synergy kicked in. I had a long list of things that I had issue with. And some of them are getting addressed already. Bug fixes. Currently on 1.02. Hopefully we'll see some more issues getting ironed out. The game was nowhere near perfect. It's gotten a LOT better, and I'm seeing more and more that I LOVE about the under the hood game that's going on. If it's not for you, it's not. But don't tell me how to or how not to enjoy my game, and don't tell me what I am or am not seeing.

I found your post a good read, nice work!

# 108 Pared @ 12/09/13 08:12 PM

Ok let's be honest here - we all know Mike was a spy!!

Seriously though, the lack of long term vision hurts this series. EA has been committed to a quick fix NBA title, not a basketball game. I wouldn't be surprised by the dismal sales that this gets canned.

Makes me sad because there are really talented guys that really understand the game and culture there. Ryan Santos certainly was one guy.

They really do not know how to take their "good" guys and use them well.

BTW, I looked at the videos, WTF. I still have an issue with how things are being framed. I can isolate 20 seconds from either game and go on and on how great it is. I have watched some Live steaming of Live on PS4 and don't see the nuances you are highlighting because there is so much missing from this game compared to a "big" sports title. Even Madden has more "emotion" than Live.

# 109 WTF @ 12/09/13 08:24 PM

If you say so. All that matters to me is what I can see.

# 110 Pared @ 12/09/13 08:31 PM

I agree with you. If you're having a blast, that's all that matters. I'm simply saying that guys can't see past you raving nuances such as this with all the other bad. Honestly, the game sees shallow to me (but I do not have a control scheme; I am trying to figure it out as I go).

Remember, what made ID so great was the X's and O's; here, even in some of the videos you lauded for a drive and kick out I noticed some poor defensive rotations. Yes, I've seen this in 2k's game as well. But that's what guys are saying here. Warts and all, there's more "meat" to the other game... Now if only it wouldn't have crashed, you might still be playing... Right?

# 111 WTF @ 12/09/13 08:39 PM

I disagree, but in the end, you're happy one way, I'm happy the other. I see a TON of ID type of AI here, you possibly not so much.

I can play the other game all I want, I just can't play my old saves. I won't restart again, nor would I want to at the moment. But regardless, we have two options. I guess I will start my own OS NBA Live 14 Veterans League, and be the only one playing

# 112 King_B_Mack @ 12/09/13 08:47 PM

I'm sorry, no disrespect intended, but there is a little copping out going on. I get the point, if you're happy with what you're playing then that's all that matters for you. Don't disagree with that at all. You're happy, cool. But this "I see great AI here, you don't" narrative is just silly. This isn't a subjective matter. Either the AI responds like NBA players should or it doesn't. Either you know what you're looking at and he doesn't or vice versa. This is like someone backing out of arguing against a fact by saying it's their opinion that the fact is wrong.

# 113 23 @ 12/09/13 08:51 PM

Too generic to be anything like ID

But like I said for a game that did sim much better got canned whats the end for this

Galaxy Note 2

# 114 WTF @ 12/09/13 08:54 PM

Go back through the past umpteen pages King... I've supported my argument. I'm seeing stuff that SHOULD have been in NBA games but wasn't for the past 10 years. Guys are hitting their spots, just like in the NBA. I'm not getting some crazy *** plays just because the guy is "supposed" to get his stats. They're executing.

I'm tired of arguing it against people who don't see it. I see it, several others who are retrying the game, or picking it up for the first time, are seeing it. Some aren't. I can't explain it. You can't explain it. We all perceive things differently, and apparently that's happening here and with this game.

It wasn't good initially. I'll concede that. It wasn't NBA basketball, and it was very little of basketball period to begin with. But there have been serious improvements that make this game a game that I want to play.

No cop out, no backing out of an argument, but I have a real life, and I don't have time to continue the back and forth. I want to play the game. I want to have time with my wife and kids after work, alongside playing a game without having to explain why I prefer it.

It is a subjective matter. In the right hands, the game plays really well. Like several others have posted in the impressions thread, the game looks better once you learn the controls. I can't sit here and type out each possession of a game to tell you all what I'm seeing.

It'd be a cop out to say, "yeah, I'm not seeing the AI either..." Even though I obviously am. It's perception. Perception is reality. Different strokes for different folks. I guess the old adage is true

# 115 WTF @ 12/09/13 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 23


	Too generic to be anything like ID But like I said for a gane that did sim much better got canned whats the end for this Galaxy Note 2

Okay Dre. Your perception. I shall disagree in private.

# 116 23 @ 12/09/13 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTF


	Okay Dre. Your perception. I shall disagree in private.

Im trying hard to stick to the thread op not really argue how I feel about this game. You and I have plenty of bball knowledge enough to go over nuances but what im continually pointing out is not what you do or don't like about this game or what you do or dont see..in this thread anyway.

On its own merit alot of stuff is recycled some could be argued the same better and some worse than inthe past and in that case if this is the best they can do I dont see it lasting long. For technology advances and what we are on now this is a poor showing overall and for the most part the excuses have hit an all time high.

If the subject gets too far off of the subject I'm out of the convo

Galaxy Note 2

# 117 Pared @ 12/09/13 09:28 PM

Ok, I have to know: what are you seeing here that has not been done in basketball games in the past 10 years?

I can't help but take away the hyperbole from such a statement. If the game was doing this to such a great degree more people would be seeing it. Not just the randoms that join OS and disappear; You're seeing long time bball video game vets scratching their head at these types of praises.

I helped where I could in bringing out the best of Live back 2005. I hated myself for not buying an Xbox just for ID. This title isn't anywhere close to that level from what I've seen.

I'm still just trying to see what you're seeing, that's all. I'm skeptical but what you're praising I'm pretty sure was in Live '10. Nothing "revolutionary" as far as I can tell.

# 118 WTF @ 12/09/13 09:56 PM

Fluid movement during possessions. AI that branches and feels like an opponent. Possessions that branch when they break down. Graphics. Lol.

# 119 JBulls @ 12/09/13 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTF


	Fluid movement during possessions.

Fluid movements as in fluid animations or players moving without the ball? or both?

# 120 WTF @ 12/09/13 10:10 PM

Players moving without the ball. Doing the right things without being instructed to. Teammate AI.

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