EG has Live 2004

Just finished a game...my first...Nets vs. Spurs...me being the Nets. Superstar difficulty.

Spurs 75, Nets 43

Speed Stick Player of the Game: Tim Duncan - 23p, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, 1 assist

The game feels surprisingly stiff and kinda slow. It looks and feels like NBA 2k3. Maybe it'll take some getting used to but right now I'm not sure if I like this. Also...you can indeed pro hop into the lane pretty much at will and freestyle into the lane also...

Additional impressions and a review coming in about 3 weeks...

Just kidding. I have my laptop next to me so if you have any questions you can post here or AIM me at Cycklops.

Cool. How many minute quarters was that game?

Can you do some research for me? Since everybody else that has the game that i've asked can't.

What are the full ratings of:
Amare Stoudemire
Joe Johnson
Rodney White
Marcus Camby
Junior/Lorinza Harrington

and

What are just the overall ratings of:
J. Howard
C. Whitney
R. Archibald

I have these players in this NBA Live 2004 league that i'm in, just curious of their ratings.

Thanks!

[color=indigo][b]Cool. How many minute quarters was that game?

Six-minute quarters. The gameplay is definitely different this year...I'm going to need to play it some more.

I don't really have time to type up all those ratings right now...maybe I'll put up some guys later.

BTW...Dynasty Mode looks bad. Really bad. Free agency still seems screwy and so far it looks like the computer won't ever trade draft picks. And not because the offer isn't good enough...it just says the team "isn't interested in trades involving draft picks" no matter how good of a deal you offer.

As far as Free Agency is concerned... is it the same problem since 2000 that hasn't been fixed, or has it actually gotten worse? i.e. the user can also sign superstar free-agents from the free-agent pool for the minimum.

How are the shot selections for the computer? Even distributions between short, mid, and long-range?

Thanks in advance...

I don't know if someone has answered this in another thread but is there ingame save?

As far as Free Agency is concerned... is it the same problem since 2000 that hasn't been fixed, or has it actually gotten worse? i.e. the user can also sign superstar free-agents from the free-agent pool for the minimum.

When the computer doesn't re-sign a guy and he goes to free agency...if no one else has the money to sign him he just stays in free agency.

You don't see super-teams like Live 2003 where all would go to one team...now you just see 2 or 3 superstars sitting in free agency and some go to different teams.

The CPU seems pretty good on shot selection...although I haven't played that many games yet. I'll tell you more when I do...right now I'm just going through Dynasty mode in disbelief over how mediocre it is...

I don't know if someone has answered this in another thread but is there ingame save?

No.

damn. no ingame save, i really dislike the fact that producers took that out.
well everywhere i go, people are saying that the dynasty mode hasn't improved at all. or might have even gotten worse... oh well.

Apparently...if you rebuild too long the computer will also fire you as a GM without warning. Basically you go to the offseason and instead of generating the offseason it says that your team "no longer needs your services" and it kicks you back to the main screen. No evaluation...no chance to save...no nuttin...

*sigh*...

Apparently...if you rebuild too long the computer will also fire you as a GM without warning. Basically you go to the offseason and instead of generating the offseason it says that your team "no longer needs your services" and it kicks you back to the main screen. No evaluation...no chance to save...no nuttin...

*sigh*...

Ouch. That's quite a slap across the face!

Apparently...if you rebuild too long the computer will also fire you as a GM without warning. Basically you go to the offseason and instead of generating the offseason it says that your team "no longer needs your services" and it kicks you back to the main screen. No evaluation...no chance to save...no nuttin...

*sigh*...

the computer owner fired you? man.... talk about realism...
maybe the user should be an owner instead of a gm.... like madden... so we wont get fired

EG, please keep us posted,

You can actually get fired! That's just something the game definitely didn't need.

This is just bs all the way... What did you do to get fired? You only simulated or did you actually do something...

I don't like the sound of this...

The AI is probably pretty stiff about their draft picks... I know that in the NHL series they've always been hard to come by and if you want someones first round pick, you'd have to trade a really good player in the deal. I think they made it hard to do just that you cannot trade all your veteran players out and have 5 first round picks in the next draft. Try doing a trade that is a bit lopsided in favor of the computer and the throw in your first round pick and their first round pick and try to complete the deal...

You have to trade a franchise player for a high first round pick... You wouldn't trade your top three pick in the draft for anything would you?

I'm not too enthusiastic about getting fired either. I don't think sports game should have that feature, especially if there's no evaluation or chance to look at statistics.

Still, I'll reserve judgement until I get the game.

Yeah, I will still buy the game, no matter what the people say on these boards...

I will certainly do that and then pass judgement... But getting fired isn't my idea of a good gaming experience.

I also have some questions with regards to the game.

1) How is the offseason? Is it possible to trade before and during draft day? Where do you get the points to allocate for training? Is it always 100 points?
2) When trading players during the offseason, is it possible to have more than 15 players on the roster and then trim your team down to 15? How does the trading system work this time? Is it still based on overalls? I think that we can trade 5 nobodies for a KG and some throw-in.
3) If the dynasty mode is still 25 yrs., can we quit the dynasty and get our ratings? i don't want to wait for 25 yrs. before i get my ratings. Oh and what are the ratings?
4) Can we now set AUTO SUBS to ON in our profile? So that we don't set them every time we play a game? Same goes for play notify, etc?
5) how are free throw shootings this time? Easy or super hard? Or just right?
6) Do the right players get the right awards?

Thanks EG! you da man!

I dont like it either... getting fired sucks..

anyway, I think EA tried to make it hard to trade for draft picks... it is good i think... unless it's too tight.

I always thought it will be too easy to trade my veterans for all the lottery picks and draft all good rookies myself. That would've been a major bug. So I am somwhat glad to hear that. However, i won't go to conclusion until i get the game (which will be like 1 month away)

I will certainly do that and then pass judgement... But getting fired isn't my idea of a good gaming experience.

it´s not that bad a feature but you should be able to turn it off like in madden. nobody has said that you can´t. maybe one of those lucky bastards that actually have the game can sth. about that? but a big flaw is that you´re kicked to the main screen. what is that? in madden you can even stick with the dynasty and perhaps get a coaching job with another team i think. also i would like to now if retired players can get coaches. that happens in madden. i saw rich gannon as a head coach. very cool feature.

I will certainly do that and then pass judgement... But getting fired isn't my idea of a good gaming experience.

it´s not that bad a feature but you should be able to turn it off like in madden. nobody has said that you can´t. maybe one of those lucky bastards that actually have the game can sth. about that? but a big flaw is that you´re kicked to the main screen. what is that? in madden you can even stick with the dynasty and perhaps get a coaching job with another team i think. also i would like to now if retired players can get coaches. that happens in madden. i saw rich gannon as a head coach. very cool feature.

I agree with smithy.
Retired players to coaches is a cool feature. I first thought I was first to think about it but was surprised when heard madden actually has this already!
Someone try Shaq as their free throw coach

I just read from another thread...

Auto-subbing is behind a slider so look for it in there. And thus you can have it on or off, which ever you like. Which is nice.

And the lowest teams in the league are going to hang on their draft picks like a starving man would hold onto a mac donalds. The draft picks are worth a lot as they are in real life. When a team gets a top three pick, well they get perennial super-star or a young player with super-stardom in the future... Would you trade your future super-star for a declining veteran??? I don't think you would.

It is like playing the civilization games... One and two have a more ignorant AI, but the third game has an AI that is out to benefit from each and every deal... It could be that the trade engine has gone into this general direction as well. Which is good. Taking away a super-star from a team has always been too easy in Live games.

I just hope that the AI would once again suggest good deals that include something like trading the great and experienced players for great future players etc. Ofcourse this is hard to do, but when you would be below the cap, well you should have trade proposals raining at you. Cause that's how desperate teams are of unloading big contracts.

1 question
is 2004 better than 2003

The draft picks are worth a lot as they are in real life.

i really love to hear that but i wonder if someone has actually been able to get a trade going that was involving a future draft pick. maybe that´s one of the bugs that´s causing delay of the pc version? just guessing.

It could be that the trade engine has gone into this general direction as well. Which is good. Taking away a super-star from a team has always been too easy in Live games.
[...] well you should have trade proposals raining at you. Cause that's how desperate teams are of unloading big contracts.

i agree. but don´t expect the ai be too realistic. i´d be ok if it was just like it is in madden now where you spend hours trying to rebuild your team. the trading ai is so good you really feel like negotiating in real life because you really have to give sth. to get the players/picks you want and you have to watch out that you don´t agree a lopsided trade which is in favor of the cpu. but it has flaws too. sometimes it´s too tight. from time to time the cpu should want one of your players really bad (maybe a good center if they have not even one good big guy) and give you more (ratingwise) than they receive. adn time should play a role. a trade that won´t work during the offseason might work just short before trading deadline.

Well, first, I just finished another 6-minute quarter game on Superstar. I was my franchise Utah Jazz team against the Phoenix Suns.

Final Score

Suns 69
Jazz 50

Suns shot 31/52 from the field for 59.6% shooting, we shot 22/53 from the field for 41.5%. Suns were 2/4 from 3-point range and we were 6/17 (35.3%). Suns 5/6 free throws...Jazz 0/6 free throws. I have yet to hit a free throw in this game...I'm something like 0/25...

Player of the game: Shawn Marion (Suns) - 23 points on 9/13 shooting, 4/4 free throws, 2 rebounds (1 off), 2 steals, 1 assist

Amare Stoudemire had 4 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Several times when I got in the lane and was happy like a schoolgirl for having done so...Stoudemire would come in and stuff me out of nowhere. I was throwing up some pretty awkward double clutch stuff after awhile to try and get around him. Which is good...of course...

Our point guard (who is a 6'5" guy I moved from SG) grabbed 5 rebounds by himself. In the first game I played Jason Kidd finished with 5 rebounds and 6 assists also. Guards can actually get rebounds!

My defense is pretty crappy right now but I'm improving on both ends.

I'm looking forward to seeing how happy you guys will be when you see the gameplay. It's good...and tough. The jump stop is still too useful though. I have yet to touch a slider though aside from fatigue...I want to get a good feel for how the game plays before I do. A lot of people are complaining about the passing but you have to be in good position with at least a decent passer to throw a full court lead pass...which is understandable. And the jump passes in the half court happen when your defender is close to you and your player is automatically protecting the ball. If you want to face up you have to take a step or two back and then he faces up just like a real player.

Okay...answering some questions/comments/concerns...

You can actually get fired! That's just something the game definitely didn't need.

This is just bs all the way... What did you do to get fired? You only simulated or did you actually do something...

I know...it's a BAD idea...ending a game mode without giving the player any type of warning is a really bad idea.

It was the end of the 2008-2009 season and I was the Knicks. I was just basically making my picks, trying to trade occassionally and simulating to see how many years you can play with Dynasty Mode now. At some point in the end of the season...it was either after the regular season or after the playoffs...I got a pop-up that said something like "The Knicks want to thank you, but they no longer need your services." and I hit X and I went back to the main screen.

I had GM Evaluation set to 'yes' at the beginning and I didn't get one. So either you don't get an Evaluation (no matter what you choose) and Dynasty Mode lasts 6 seasons or the game fired me. And by firing me it ended my franchise against my will with no warning...

Oh, and did I mention that when I simulated the first year with no roster changes to the Knicks the game had me win the championship? I'd also been in the playoffs for a few years straight so it makes even less sense that they fired me...

The AI is probably pretty stiff about their draft picks... I know that in the NHL series they've always been hard to come by and if you want someones first round pick, you'd have to trade a really good player in the deal. I think they made it hard to do just that you cannot trade all your veteran players out and have 5 first round picks in the next draft. Try doing a trade that is a bit lopsided in favor of the computer and the throw in your first round pick and their first round pick and try to complete the deal...

I wouldn't tell you guys this unless I'd tried most everything. I offered the computer my 1st round pick for his second-round pick straight up..."Not interested in trades involving draft picks at this time." I offered the Kings my sure lottery pick for their late-first round pick..."Not interested in trades involving draft picks at this time." You could offer the Mavericks Kobe for one of their late-first round picks and some dead salary..."Not interested in trades involving draft picks at this time." It doesn't matter...if the trade involves a draft pick they won't even consider it.

If you go through every team you might find one that will play ball with you but it's very random...there doesn't seem to be any logic to what team will do it. You also have to go through 2 screens and wait a few seconds to check each team. I've managed to make one successful trade for a late first-round pick and one trade for a lottery pick but I really just made them because the team would do it. They were the only option I had so I couldn't really devise a plan for rebuilding or anything...

...and let me mention that the new rating system has made it hard for me to judge my rookies? I feel really disoriented and have trouble telling what's good and what's not. Whereas last year I knew that if a player got to 73 defensive rebounding he would average at least 4 rebounds a game this year things are so different that I'm confused. It will take some getting used to I guess...

1) How is the offseason? Is it possible to trade before and during draft day? Where do you get the points to allocate for training? Is it always 100 points?
2) When trading players during the offseason, is it possible to have more than 15 players on the roster and then trim your team down to 15? How does the trading system work this time? Is it still based on overalls? I think that we can trade 5 nobodies for a KG and some throw-in.
3) If the dynasty mode is still 25 yrs., can we quit the dynasty and get our ratings? i don't want to wait for 25 yrs. before i get my ratings. Oh and what are the ratings?
4) Can we now set AUTO SUBS to ON in our profile? So that we don't set them every time we play a game? Same goes for play notify, etc?
5) how are free throw shootings this time? Easy or super hard? Or just right?
6) Do the right players get the right awards?

1. The offseason model is nearly identical to last years. You even get the same screen with the offseason steps in numbered order. You can't trade until you get to the Trade Players step which is right before the next season. The only difference is that when one of your players wins an award or they re-sign or retire or get drafted etc in the offseason you see a little cutscene.
It seems like you always get 100 points to divide for your training time. I've been simming and skipping training camp and pretty much ignoring the useless stuff like buying planes and doctors at this point...they do nothing but increase your field goal rating for a season or something. I don't care about buying my team a plane but maybe I'll try it later just to see...and maybe experiment to see if I can save up enough points to train and plane one of my players into Michael Jordan for one game.

2. The trade logic seems similar to last year except now it's based more on team need when draft picks aren't involved. There's an interest bar next to each of your players and different teams want different players. When I was the Knicks and I was trying to trade with the Hawks, for example, they had huge interest in my two shooting guards. I think if you trade 5 nobodies for KG it'll have to be nobodies that the T-Wolves have interest in but I haven't been doing much trading because I've been disappointed over the draft pick thing. I'll try more and get back to you.
Oh, and you can't trim your team down...15 players seems to be the limit just like last year. Again I haven't specifically tried to get more than 15 or drafted with a full roster but the design is the same as last year so I'd say I'm 90% sure you can't.

3. I don't know...I was fired from my first franchise. I don't see anywhere where you can end the franchise early.

4. Auto-Subs is a slider now so you can probably keep it on.

5. I've shot about 0/20 in my first 3 games so I'd say they're pretty hard. It's the kind of thing that takes getting used to...so maybe in a few weeks I'll be making them all again and have to make it harder with the Sliders. Again...I haven't touched any sliders yet except for fatigue so I'm not sure what effect they will have.

6. The awards are about the same as last year...Kevin Garnett won MVP my second year which was a nice change of pace. There are also second teams for All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie which is pretty cool. You can keep your awards also in the EA Sports Record feature or whatever it's called. There's also a blank section for retired jersey's so I think you can retire your best player's jerseys when they retire also. In the normal game the retired jersey section is filled with Magic Johnson, Jordan, Bird, Erving, Maravich, and I think Isiah's jerseys...

it´s not that bad a feature but you should be able to turn it off like in madden. nobody has said that you can´t. maybe one of those lucky bastards that actually have the game can sth. about that? but a big flaw is that you´re kicked to the main screen. what is that? in madden you can even stick with the dynasty and perhaps get a coaching job with another team i think. also i would like to now if retired players can get coaches. that happens in madden. i saw rich gannon as a head coach. very cool feature.

There's no option about getting fired in the Dynasty setup screen. It was a total surprise. From what I see you can't change coaches either...

I just hope that the AI would once again suggest good deals that include something like trading the great and experienced players for great future players

I've excepted a few offers from the computer...you only get maybe 3 offers a season though. I haven't tried being way under the cap yet...good idea.

1 question
is 2004 better than 2003

I've only had 2004 one day so I don't know how easy it will be once I get used to playing it and I haven't tried out everything in Dynasty mode or any of the other features. The gameplay is really different and I think you guys will love it but I'm more of a franchise/dynasty guy and in that case I'm not sure if Dynasty is better or worse. I'm disappointed in it though.

EGarrett... you don't know me, but I just sincerely (no BS) wanted to congratulate you on that last post. You took the time to answer everyone's questions, and your responses were detailed and informative. It's great for people like myself who don't yet have the game. It's amazing how emotions can fluctuate! I've been visiting this site for weeks in anticipation of this game, as I know hundreds of others have, and I've seen people bursting with excitement and typing numerous posts re release dates and features, only to bag the game one day into it! Give it time people. First impressions are just that - FIRST impressions. I'll reserve judgement not only until I have it, but until I've played about a dozen games with different slider settings and different teams, and simulated a couple of seasons. Only then can we have a balanced opinion on the game. That's my two cents worth anyhoo.

Dirk...thanks. It's always good to be appreciated. I also agree that people jump to conclusions when the game comes out. That's why I'm resisting my urge to touch the sliders until I have a good feel for the game. It's too easy to say "The computers taking me to the hole every time...I better lower the cpu layup percentage" when you really need to figure out how to play defense.

That being said...some more observations...

-Higher rated players do change the way a game goes. When I play the All-Star game everything is noticeably faster moving and generally tougher.

-Marv Albert says "it counts, and the foul" sometimes and also "delivers the facial" on dunks.

-I've won once at this point on superstar...mainly on the strength of my 6'10" small forward who's up to 97 jump shooting. I can post him up (mainly using picks and stuff to get closer to the basket...I can't just turbo in there at all)...then shoot fadeaways and make them all day. I also learned to drive into the lane and dish off like real basketball instead of forcing up and missing bad inside shots.

-That being said...I'm going to switch to All-Star for awhile so I can get the hang of things a little better. If you think the game is too similar to last year though...I definitely recommend that you switch to superstar and see how different it is.

-I'm in the 11th year of Dynasty Mode (2012-2013 season) so it has been extended.

-My Jazz team is the best team in the league...one of my players even made the cover of Inside Stuff magazine ("Jazz in Flight") and a few of my good players I got with late draft picks. My center who is a 70 OVR (equivalent to an 85 in 2003) I drafted with the 20th pick, and I have some good backups who I got in the early second round.

-When Mike Miller was my sixth man...he averaged 11 points and about 3 assists per game...sounds like real sixth man stats.

-I think the more I get used to the ratings...ultimately...while Dynasty mode is a disappointment and didn't warrant a new name...it is better than 2003's franchise mode. Mainly for the extended years and the ability to trade for a draft pick once in a blue moon. The shoes, team-specific socks and the little extra ratings boost are a tiny boost.

-HOWEVER...and this might warrant it's own individual topic...there seems to be a bug in the ratings simulation. I've noticed that game-generated players seem to average 13-17 points...about 4 rebounds and about 4 assists per game. All of them. This obviously warrants more investigation so has anyone else playing franchised noticed this?

Feel free to ask questions.