Long time reader, first time poster. Thanks EA!

Hey guys,
I've been reading NSLC for a long time (back when Tim was running the show) and decided that it's time I finally say hello and give some props. Thanks for all of the insight and patching for Live you have all contributed to over the years. It's helped me a lot. I'm sure there's many more like myself out there who've appreciated what you've given without giving back the props you deserve. So here's your props! Keep up the fine work. I'm sure it doesn't go unnoticed (don't you feel sorry for fans of the other bball games out there that don't ship for PC?).

I felt compelled to finally post because like many of you, I think this version of Live is finally headed in the right direction and I wanted to thank the folks at EA for their effort. I really hope they continue along this path. Who knows what will be in store for '05.

I also wanted to tell you about a discovery I've made in the game (I haven't seen anyone post anything about this yet, so hopefully it'll be news to some of you. If not, I appologize).

I was playing as the Lakers inbounding the ball and by total chance I hit the dpad before calling for the inbound pass. I automatically switched control from Kobe to Shaq. Shaq was down deep in the post. I think he was probably closest to the basket. I tried it again and after some trial and error I figured out that you can switch your player to be one of:

1. closest to the basket
2. best FT shooter
3. best 3pt shooter
4. best ball handler

I'm pretty sure those descriptions of who it's switching to are correct because I tried with a lot of different teams and that's what made sense to me (each one corresponds to a different direction on the dpad). Chalk that up as another subtle little gem from EA. Damn that's cool.

hey, thanks for the tip. i did not know that. I've been using the direct pass button to switch guys but the d-pad sounds like a way quicker solution.

Nice...im gonna use that for sure. I get alot of close games while playing on all-star mode.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned was in close games, will the other team foul you when it's behind and you've got under 24 seconds left? That's a huge flaw from 2003 IMHO.

Another big flaw is that in 2003, the computer is WAY too quick to jack-up 3's with a few minutes left, even when it's a narrow deficit and it shows lack of patience and execution down the stretch by the AI. Has that been corrected?

Thanks,
Alex

One thing I haven't seen mentioned was in close games, will the other team foul you when it's behind and you've got under 24 seconds left? That's a huge flaw from 2003 IMHO.

Another big flaw is that in 2003, the computer is WAY too quick to jack-up 3's with a few minutes left, even when it's a narrow deficit and it shows lack of patience and execution down the stretch by the AI. Has that been corrected?

Thanks,
Alex

Both are corrected the cpu now intentionally fouls and doesnt jack up 3's even when you expect it to.

If this is such a nice feature, then why didn't EA tell us about it at the first place??? We have to find that out ourselves...

In my opinion, all controls should clearly present to the user...
Control should not be the limit, but the creativity in using the controls by the user should be the real challeage....

They did...I read about that feature somewhere...possibly in the game tips screen that pops up when the game is loading. Or maybe their are no game tips (I don't even remember) and it was in the tutorial section or instruction booklet. Either way I read it somewhere official.

If this is such a nice feature, then why didn't EA tell us about it at the first place??? We have to find that out ourselves...

i like the fakt that EA didn't make a bunch of noise about all the great small thing they've put in Live this year. It gives the players them-self the ability to find out things as the play more and more.
it's like the NBA Store. the more you play, the more cool stuff you'll find out...