Innovating Dynasty/Association in Next-Gen Basketball - poloelite's Blog

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Innovating Dynasty/Association in Next-Gen Basketball Stuck

Posted on October 2, 2013 at 08:09 AM.

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As an avid fan of the sport of basketball, and the games that represent the sport, I would have to say I�ve been overall pleased with the innovation that has happened in my lifetime. I�ve watched the square ball on Atari, morph into a fun dunk contest on Nintendo�s Jordan vs. Bird, which lead to many more great moments culminating with the recent success of the 2K series. Witnessing the implementation of the dribble stick on NBA Live, to being able to play Team Up on 2K with 9 other gamers, it has been more than even my vivid imagination could have dreamed of. But, as we stand here on the door steps of next generation basketball, with not even a remote idea what could be on the other side, I figured there�s no better time than the present to guess, dream and maybe even assist the process.

There are many things that have been done right that should continue on the journey of virtual basketball. Whether you�re an EA or 2K fan, I�m sure we all can agree that both have played a significant role in the features we now expect from a basketball simulation. The competition between the two appears to be starting up again and I wanted to take the time to share some things that I would like to see added, improved or changed during the next console generation.

Improvements to Dynasty or Association Mode

To me, this is the core game mode of both basketball sims. This is why they make 5 on 5 simulation style games instead of NBA Jam or Street. This mode, while recently done somewhat well by 2K, is in need of a complete overhaul. Let�s start with logic. Each Owner, GM and Coach should all have a slider set (which can be adjusted) that determines strengths and weaknesses. Players would be allowed to take over the role of those 3 positions (or that of a player) similar to Madden�s Connected Career mode. An owner like Jim Buss, who is having problems in the shadow of his father�s legacy, would struggle if he hired a rookie GM or coach for Kobe. All of these personality sliders would have an effect on the whole organization and determine the success rate of free agency pursuits, draft pick development and overall team success on the floor.

I would also like to see real practices incorporated into next gen Dynasty or Association modes. It should be up to the user if they want to dedicate a 30 minute practice to team defense, offense or individual player improvement. This would help with immersion and push the game to become similar to the real life NBA. Of course with this you would still have to offer the option to simulate practices all together for those who aren�t interested in the little nuances of improving their club, but I think simulation guys would love the opportunity to feel they are in control of the development of their team.

Logic would play a part in the practices as well. If you have Mike D�Antoni and you spend the entire practice on defense, not only would your defense barely improve, but you would see some offensive setbacks as well with the lack of practice time in that area. This makes the hiring of a defensive guru as an assistant more important and that candidate would demand more money from the Lakers based on his worth to the organization in their current "defenseless" state. This makes it even more challenging to build a juggernaut on both sides of the ball, just like real life.

Another area of improvement would definitely be in the presentation department. I think the current presentation in Association mode has over stayed its welcome and it�s time for a change. Maybe we should head inside of the offices of real teams and explore the different things we can do with our franchises from there (similar to MyCareer GM meetings). I also think a weekly wrap up show, similar to College Hoops 2K8, is long overdue. Stats, transactions, scouting, streaks and injuries deserve more than just text on a screen in the next generation of console gaming. During time outs, highlights from a close game elsewhere in the league will really add to the experience of being involved in a breathing Association. Post game press conferences like the ones in MyCareer mode, will also add to the ambiance.

A thought I had about a decade ago, was for either 2K or EA to take all of the real audio from games and NBA shows and find a way to take the useful clips and incorporate that into the game (similar to the MyCareer draft in 2K14). This would almost certainly eliminate frequent repeating of commentary and expand the dynamic feeling of the mode. Another head scratcher was the inclusion of a celebrity team and legends in 2K13, but no celebrity game during the All Star break. While not a huge deal, I was disappointed that all of the elements were there for this game to be added, but it wasn�t implemented.Finally, BRING BACK REAL ARENA PLAYER INTRODUCTIONS. No idea why this was taken out to begin with, but this option is needed, especially when you turn off TV Presentation in the settings.

A general game play improvement that I think can add more depth to the Dynasty/Association modes is the ability to �warm-up� before and after games. A 10 minute window should be given, while the soundtrack plays in the arena, for the gamer to either warm up a specific player or have the whole team perform shooting or layup drills (similar to College Hoops 2K8). Perhaps Kyrie�s three point shot has been off over the last week, you can take control of him and shoot 3s before the game for a small boost, maybe even finding a couple of sweet spots. What if you got torched in the first half and you want to spend the half time warm up period going over defensive rotations? You should be able to do so, forcing the offensive team to adapt in the second half. This idea has me excited because often we see a star struggle in the first half, only to work on specific things during the break and come back close to normal in the second half. Logic would also play a huge part here as well. Maybe you�re on the second game of a back to back and Dirk just doesn�t have enough in the tank to work on his fadeaway at half time. You can decide to sit him the whole break and just find his spots in the second half so he can finish the game, or you can push him at the half and risk injury or severe fatigue. These ideas I think would push this mode forward and be met with more than a few proclamations of �it�s about time� from the sim community.

There are more ideas to add, but this post has been long enough lol. Drop me a comment and let me know how you feel, good or bad. Peace!!

Comments

# 1 mvspree8 @ Oct 2

These are all great suggestions.... but my #1 wish list item would be improved AI GM logic for trades and free agency signings. I feel like I spend a lot of time in Association mode just undoing or tweaking moves that rival teams have made that are nonsensical. Hoping a beefed-up system will help!

# 2 Gramps91 @ Oct 2

These are some good ideas as long as the cpu vs cpu option stays in association mode so I can watch my team or other teams' games. The removal of this is the main reason I hate Madden's connected careers mode.

# 3 myownsun @ Oct 2

Nice read and you have some good ideas that should, but will probably never be implemented in the Dynasty/Assc modes, people complain that live looks unimpressive but I'm just happy that 2k has some competition because their Assc mode has inched forward that last 3-4 years.

# 4 poloelite @ Oct 2

I 100% agree with you mvspree. I didn't specifically address that issue, but I hope fixing the logic in General would cover this. Ratings for free agents should fluctuate for every team depending on personnel and coaching. I think both games can utilize their current roster breakdown screens to push needed players and positions higher, instead of just the highest rated player. There should also be a system in place to "lock" current players into roles, so you don't see the Cavs signing CP3 when they already have Kyrie. A hybrid of the role assignment and trade block technology could work here possibly.

# 5 JasonWilliams55 @ Oct 2

Good ish throughout.

# 6 dghustla @ Oct 2

This if for Online Association mode: Please remove that awful timer for the day advance. It's a terrible implementation. The Commish should be able to advance the league by week to week. When a new week comes up the users should be able to play any game in any order to make it easier to coordinate user v user games. The "veting" period for trades should be optional set by the commish.

# 7 donp1981 @ Oct 2

I really like your idea about the pre-game warm ups. I think that would be really cool. For me I would be happy if nba live (or2k) brought back dynamic dynasty from nba live 10. If you are unfamiliar it was where you would take over a franchise and compete against the real life nba. All the scores and stats were loaded into the game daily but you would play your own teams games. It gave watching nba basketball a different feel because you were literally competing with what you were watching for scoring titles, standings playoff position, and so on. I had a lot of fun with this mode.

# 8 poloelite @ Oct 2

Yeah I'm familiar donp, I definitely think that feature needs to return in next-gen bball games. I don't even think they would need to add much to it either for it to be enjoyable.

# 9 poloelite @ Oct 2

Eaterofworlds, I hope they keep the CPU vs. CPU option in as well, along with everything else that works. Finally they get a boost in memory going to next gen, so I hope the whole removing of good features to add newer ones, is finally over.

# 10 poloelite @ Oct 2

JWill, appreciate that bruh. PM me when you're back in town so we can hoop.

# 11 Sydney Deane @ Oct 2

Great Ideas

Association should let us decide what position we want to hold within the NBA organization:

Owner
GM
Coach
Assistant*
Player/Prospect Scout

Each position holds authority, decision making, and risk (job security meter). With every position under a contract, and with the oppurtunty of advancement whether with the same team or another, whether at the same position or another(career carousal).

Career Responsibilities *
Owner Controls- Hire, fire, fire during the season, tickets, drinks, overall price control, moving team, overall control of team image, etc.

GM Controls- Contracts, drafting, stashing players overseas, loyalty, personalities, trades, send players to d-league, team building, handle injury, player meetings, pre-draft interviews, etc.

Head Coach Controls- Create team play style, playbook, team rotation and player roles, locker room control, pep talks, in game strategies and adjustments, scout other teams, scout prospect, run the teams Pre-draft workouts, etc.

Asst. Coach Controls- Assist head coach in games offense or defense, training camp, practices drill, coach summer league team, assist in in game play call, etc.*

Scout Controls- Evaluate NBA, college, euro, d-league prospects, stats, scout NBA draft combine, *put together team pre-draft workouts, scout summer league, player progression, etc.

1. Training Camp should begin our Association. The real NBA season starts with training camp.

2k should allow us to compose a TC roster consisting of undrafted rookies, free agents, and of course our contract players. 2k should let us run drills, condition, set improvement, as well as aid players with the playbook. We would cut players, creating our pre-season and regular season rosters.

2. During the season have meaningful practices.

Practices should be about going the last game and preparing for next opponent. Rehabbing injured players, working out late free agents signing etc. Practice is important to player progression.

3. In season scouting/NBA.com.

We are the scouts, so we should be able to create a target list of possible draft prospects from the generic or created 2k draft classes. We should get weekly updates from the our scouts about the latest big board, draft stock, latest college, international, and d-league stats, strengths, weaknesses, personality types etc. Also there should be a section in nba.com that has draft information like the real nba.com. This should be a drafting tool for the guys who aren’t into the scouting aspect. Also prospects should have their class freshman, sophomore, Junior, Senior with ages.

4. Pre-Draft Scouting Features

I feel this is the most slept on aspect of association; it’s remained the same for years.

The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is the 64 best NCAA senior draft prospects. They are borderline second rounders looking to improve draft stock. PIT is an 8-team, 12-game tournament held over a four-day period. April 11th to April 14th. (Jimmy Butler, Landry Fields, and Jeremy Lin are some alum)

Draft Combine the interviews, measurements, and athletic testing. The combine is drill based, there are no scrimmages.

Pre-Draft Workouts there is usually about 6 players going through various drills in a team’s practice facility. Lottery picks usually workout alone. May to June.

ADIDAS Euro Camp is where international prospects show their talents in front of NBA GMs. We should be able to watch and play with up and coming NBA prospects, seeing whose got potential. It’s like the draft combine but with scrimmages and daily culminating all-star games. Not all who attend declare for the draft, so there should be guys who attend the next year. Measurements should be taken.

5. Draft

After you draft euros you should be able to have a option to keep them overseas “draft and stash”. While you will be updated on their progress by your player scout, or give buyout options if their still under contract. Also the new wave is drafting or signing a guy and having him play overseas for a year. Also prospects should be able to withdraw their names from the draft.*

6. Las Vegas Summer League and*Orlando Pro Summer League.

Crazy important to the configuration of your team. As the GM we should be able to put together our summer league teams. We should be able to scout all games. Stats and evaluations should be kept for training camp reference. (Adopted NCAA style tournament)

7. D-League
Bring it back, and include the D-League Showcase

8. NPBA Top 100 Camp

I believe this event is open to NBA scouts I'm not sure. The top High school Fr,So,Jr,Sr all drill and scrimmage events measurements should be taken to see growth in the future.

# 12 jinntu @ Oct 4

I think implementation of these ideas would literally make me orgasm. I would add the same ideas you had for practices extending to training camp. We also need the D-League back and summer league included. We need stats/ and tendency sliders for every office position so that there are real strengths/weaknesses to every position other than filling the office with all guys who have A's. This would be ESPECIALLY important in scouting imo so that you have a scout who has a great eye for talent but say overrates guys who high jumping ability. We just need more minute dynamics to make things more realistic.

# 13 poloelite @ Oct 4

Exactly jinntu. If they can somehow add a massive Excel spreadsheet worth of data running beneath the Franchise engine, I don't see why they wouldn't implement sliders for everything. I left out the D-League and Summer League, but they should definitely be a part of any franchise mode going forward.

# 14 poloelite @ Oct 4

Sydney Deane, excellent post man. I think they should be able to pull some of the logic in College Hoops 2k8 with the ABL and apply it to Summer Leagues in Next Gen. And now that we have Euro teams, stashing players there and in the D-League should be options as well. Maybe even allowing us to play those games too.