Anyone that LOVES 2003 and will stick to it?

[Leander]

I just love 2003, I have my rules, my tweaks, I just love it. Of course there are some bugs and weaknesses but each game has some. I own Live 2004 as well but I prefer 2003, the whole gameplay with my tweaks. Don't know but it is so damn hard to score with your guards because they always are bumped into and pushed back although I decreased that physical thing.

Live 2005 will be better, more realistic, whatever, as they say each year. But are there people who won't buy the new game but stick to 2003?

When I buy a game, it is not just a product, it is something I like. And I do not want to buy the new version each year, buy it, play several times, through it away, buy the new one. Don't know, I just don't like this. Well, a silly comparison but although the game is just a game I don't regard it as a product. When you buy a puppy and you love it, it grows up, you don't sell it and buy a new smaller one either when your first puppy got too big, don't you? Although a game cannot be compared to an animal this comparison still works for me, what I want to say is that Live 2003 isn't just a game but there is a relation to it. I just don't want to buy, throw away, buy the new one, sell it, buy the new one, sell it, buy the new one, throw it away...it is just a game but more than a game. Maybe it can be compared to some classic games that are old and out-dated but still they mean so much to you.

So who will stick to 2003?

The thing also is that I want to have my players play rather than BE them. So I just want to control who passes to whom and who takes the shot. But I don't want to select the dunk and so on, I have shot control set to CPU, I just want to be the coach and watch them play, not control every single move. When a player is near the basket and you press the shoot button it is existing if he dunks and what dunk he makes. But if you can go for a one-handed dunk, a dunk from behind or whatever, you can select the dunk he should perform, it is just boooooring for me. As I don't want to be the player but watch him play.

Long thread many of you won't like but I'm just interested if - in this Live-mania where each year the new version is hyped, longawaited, bought, then critizised - there are guys like me who are not willing to buy the new version each year and who will stick to 2003. I love the franchise mode, I want to see my players develop and when I play 4x9 minutes, 28 games / season WITHOUT simulating, it takes me years because I don't play every day, I even don't play for some months because I have other interests and duties as well. So where are the die-hard-gamers, the lovers of 2003?

[Metsis]

Live 2003 is was one of the lowsiest releases of the series... I can see why someone would love Live 2000 as it is almost without serious flaws etc. but Lives since then have had huge defects. Live 04 is the next best thing to 2000.

2003 has too many blocks, every shot will be made if not blocked, the game pace is too fast and results in nothing but fast break hoops. It had no rebounds what so ever. I was lucky to get 6 boards per game with Big Ben...

Live 2001 had the whole franchise thing, where Shaq with overall 65 put up numbers like 28ppg, 15rpg, 3bpg etc. And really improved rookies would still be scoring like 6ppg, 2rpg etc. with overall 90. On simulation that is. The tempo was too slow to my liking.

Live 2000 is the game to play if you want to play a good and error free hoops game. It was damn near perfect. I remember it just had too many rebounds as the game pace was pretty fast. Pretty much like in Live 04.

There was a lot of good ideas in Live 2004, now they need to tweak them and make a game more perfect. It's a damn shame what they did to that original production team while making 2001... Shame...

And by the way... Shot control has only one effect! If you have shot control on CPU the shots will be made or missed according to the players ratings. On user, your timing with the shot will make a huge impact on the shot.

You have never been able to select your dunk! There were some favorite dunks for players back in the day. Now they have dunk packages that determines what dunks will the players do. Which is ok...

You clearly are a new comer into the field of NBA Live... If you have 2000, play it... It is the best game to date... Poor graphics nowadays, but best and most error free of them all.

[Leander]

Well...I am NOT a newcomer

I own Live 95, 99, 2000, 2003 and 2004. I've played loooots of games with 95, played my leagues. Live 2000 is really almost perfect, regarding the stats and teams cannot have two or more players with the same number on the roster, which is so in Live 2003. But the animations and a few other things are better in Live 2003.

Live 2003 has some weaknesses, e.g. computer cheating when he is behind, too many blocks, too high FG% BUT:

You can tweak ratings and NOW the game is fun! I shoot about 45-52% a game, score 85-115 points a game. My starting center is averaging 10.5 rebounds, my power forward 10.1. Just take a look at my homepage and check out the statistics!
Ok, most centers and power forwards have FG% of 55 or something but this was always the case, also in Live 2000. PF and C stand near the basket and dunks, hook shots, low-range jumpers are more likely to go in then three-pointers and mid-range-jumpshots. This was also the case in Live 2000.

A problem with default rosters in Live 2003: too many three-pointers taken by the computer but the conclusion to this: select the computer's sets...quarter 1 set 1, quarter 2 set 3, quarter 3 dynamic, quarter 4 set 1.
(see my homepage, "how I play").

As the only negative things in Live 2003 remain:

1. two or more players have the same number on a roster. You can change this for your team manually but not for the rest (franchise mode)
2. Rookies in franchise mode have too high ratings BUT I tweak theam, takes me about 1.5 hours a season but that doesn't matter much.
3. Rookies' stats are unrealistic as they do not have DSTATS but that doesn't matter as well for me as I am only interested in the stats of my team.
4. Computer cheatting when behind! But this is compensated as I hit a lot of freethrows and when the computer is backing down, he very often gets called for charging.
5. Blocks sound like explosions and fly through the whole arena but once you get used to it it's ok. And blocks are not too many after tweaking, I have Michael Olowokandi as my startings center, he is averaging 2.5 BPG in my current season.

Live 2004 --> I don't like this bouncing of the players and it is too complex for me, this dunk-layup-jumshot-thing. Don't know what it is called, you press a button and the player drives to the basket with a layupanimation.
And in Live 2005 you will be able to select the dunks while playing, or am I wrong with this? There is a thread in the Live 2005-section.

[Cameron]

I think I speak for most of us when I say... if a new version isn't better than the previous year's, we will stay with the older one. Now, between 04 and 03, that's a matter of opinion I guess... there's enough to annoy the hell out me in both.

[Andrew]

Even if I'm not keen on the newest game straight away, I tend to eventually leave the previous game behind. The last couple of years I've been into the latest Live from the beginning (moreso with NBA Live 2004), finishing up with the previous game pretty much straight away.

Even though I have my complaints and pet peeves, I'll probably take to NBA Live 2005 straight away. Even if I didn't, I'd stick with NBA Live 2004 as it's my favourite game in the series.

[Colin]

While playing 2003 I started to get a sick of all the flaws in it. So I decided to install Live 2000. Bad idea. I might have liked it then, but when I came back to play it I thought it was very boring. Posting up was tough since you had to dribble once before you could start backing down, causing you to loose position. Everything seemed to move way too slow, and not being able to use freestyle really sucked. It was a lot harder to loose someone when juking in the wing.

[Nick]

Anyone that LOVES 2003 and will stick to it?

Nope. Don't think so. Live03 wasn't very good imo. Live04 is a good improvement.

When you buy a puppy and you love it, it grows up, you don't sell it and buy a new smaller one either when your first puppy got too big, don't you?

Hehe. Well look at it this way: Buying a game from the NBA live series is buying the puppy. Getting the more updated game the next year is the puppy growing.

[Bl@ck_Thorne]

i would stick live04 rather than live03 the blockshot on 2003 is unreal for me

[Cameron]

Anyone that LOVES 2003 and will stick to it?

Nope. Don't think so. Live03 wasn't very good imo. Live04 is a good improvement.

When you buy a puppy and you love it, it grows up, you don't sell it and buy a new smaller one either when your first puppy got too big, don't you?

Hehe. Well look at it this way: Buying a game from the NBA live series is buying the puppy. Getting the more updated game the next year is the puppy growing.

I like that analogy better