2004 Gameplay problems that must be solved

Note: these are based from my experiences (on Superstar level) which I hope EA would fix for Live 2005

1. The AI speed cheat
C'mon EA, there's no way a guy like Ervin Johnson can catch up and block Dwayne Wade on a Heat FASTBREAK

2. The sliding player and immovable wall
Freestyle? ha! move the R-stick right or left and your defender will slide over to your desired position even if you are using a much superior player like Kobe against a weaker guard. Another complaint i have about sliding players is that I like to set up screens for my shooters. When I set up a pick, my defender slides around the big man to "contest" the shot. sheesh. About immovable wall, I'm sure all of you guys are familiar with bringing the ball down the half-court, then your guard becomes a wall that you can't pass through.

3. fix the damned pick and roll
set up a pick and roll screen on the WEAK SIDE DAMMIT! Picture this: I'm Tony Parker. Steve Francis is guarding me and i try to elude him. On my right is Cuttino Mobley and on my left is nobody. I call a pick and roll screen. GUESS IN WHAT DIRECTION IS MY DUMB AI TEAMMATE SETTING UP MY SCREEN?

4. Dammit ref, IT'S A FOUL!!!
EA remember this: when a player is stationary and jumps to challenge you and makes contact, it could be a "too much contact" call. But when you are fast breaking and going for a dunk and your chaser goes up and initiates contact with you THEN ITS A DEFENSIVE FOUL.

5. Fix the alley-oops at Superstar or add an alley-oop slider
Don't you find it amusing that at Superstar levels your alley-oops flub 90% of the time even if its Stockton to Jordan?

Have some 2 to 3 more things that EA should fix but i need my sleep now post again this afternoon

I basically agree with everything you've posted, though I'd hate to see Freestyle be too effective (much like NBA Live 2003) even after slider adjustments.

I hope they don't take sliders out of 2005. That is probably the greatest addition to this game!
Is it a given that sliders will be in the game?

in 2004, there was the wierd phenomenon of players suddenly changing into other players when substituted.

For example, Divac will be running down the court, and suddenly he turns into Brad Miller because there was a substitution. They should somehow fix this. Maybe they could do some kind of in-game substitution control, like with playcalling. You press a button and it lists the 5 names, and then you press the appropriate button to sub the guy you want. Then when there's a deadball situation, there will be an automatic sub, with the animation of the players changing places.

Although this could be a hassle if you want a specific/unorthodox substitute, since you would have to go through 8 potential players.

I hope they don't take sliders out of 2005. That is probably the greatest addition to this game!
Is it a given that sliders will be in the game?

I can't say for sure since I'm not on the production team, but I'll go out on a limb and say that it's highly unlikely that sliders will be taken out.

After playing my fantasy draft Celtics today, some more rants:

I hope EA utilizes the Strength stat. There is no way a PG can make Shaq adjust his shot. My suggestion is that if the dunker has a high STR, defender=instant poster. Also EA should fix the "magnetic" players. You know what I'm talking about, u are running a fast break and 6 paces from your closest chaser and when you go up and he too goes up, he magically slams into you for "a little tap, creating the missed shot".

@Andrew:
Well, the solution is simple really, have EA make freestyle dependent on player stats.

Oh yeah, EA, will you PLEASE GET RID of the BOUNCING PLAYERS?

in 2004, there was the wierd phenomenon of players suddenly changing into other players when substituted.

For example, Divac will be running down the court, and suddenly he turns into Brad Miller because there was a substitution. They should somehow fix this. Maybe they could do some kind of in-game substitution control, like with playcalling. You press a button and it lists the 5 names, and then you press the appropriate button to sub the guy you want. Then when there's a deadball situation, there will be an automatic sub, with the animation of the players changing places.

Although this could be a hassle if you want a specific/unorthodox substitute, since you would have to go through 8 potential players.

i think this would be interesting... Didn't Sega put players at the announcer's table when they're ready to come in? I think this would be cool to put into Live.

I don't remember but Sega is more about realism than gameplay. That indeed, is a very good idea though. I also think they should add some type of weekly wrapup kind of like Sportscenter but maybe their own type of show(fictional).

I don't remember but Sega is more about realism than gameplay. That indeed, is a very good idea though. I also think they should add some type of weekly wrapup kind of like Sportscenter but maybe their own type of show(fictional).

They most likely are gonna do that....because ESPN Football 2k5 did better weekly wrap ups. And from the previews...it says that ESPN is gonna have better weekly wrap ups.

I want them to make a player's jumping rating matter on jump shots, like it did in Live 2001. It might make it harder to time and release your shots, but the height a player reaches on their jump shot is one of the most important parts of the game.

That would mean they'd also have to implement different shooting styles also, set-shooters, high jump shooters etc.

and BrooklynKid, with that avatar, I enjoy every one of your posts.

After playing my fantasy draft Celtics today, some more rants:

I hope EA utilizes the Strength stat. There is no way a PG can make Shaq adjust his shot. My suggestion is that if the dunker has a high STR, defender=instant poster. Also EA should fix the "magnetic" players. You know what I'm talking about, u are running a fast break and 6 paces from your closest chaser and when you go up and he too goes up, he magically slams into you for "a little tap, creating the missed shot".

@Andrew:
Well, the solution is simple really, have EA make freestyle dependent on player stats.

Oh yeah, EA, will you PLEASE GET RID of the BOUNCING PLAYERS?

I forget where but they mentioned if you were to take a small guy (earl boykins for example) and collide him with Shaq, Shaq would barely move whereas boykins would fly into 3rd row.. (just an exaggeration example )

I want them to make a player's jumping rating matter on jump shots, like it did in Live 2001. It might make it harder to time and release your shots, but the height a player reaches on their jump shot is one of the most important parts of the game.

That would mean they'd also have to implement different shooting styles also, set-shooters, high jump shooters etc.

and BrooklynKid, with that avatar, I enjoy every one of your posts.

there should also be a shot speed rating where guys like Marion get the shot up quicker.

Alcoholic: not only that, try to set up a physical post play in Live 2004 and chances are, your post player will get bounced almost to the length of the free throw line. gaaaahhhh

Yeah, I think they should change completely how the post game works. Maybe a low post overhaul will be in store for us next year (2006) as the new year highlight.

i found posting up to be to easy actually. even with tyson chandler i could post up all game if i wanted to(still not as easy as the jump stop). so yeah this needs work.

the speed cheat is my biggest complaint. well that and the mid air collisions. way to many of those.

i found out there is 1 thing u guys had never mention..the fade away jump shot..they can jump way too far..and for actual realism..instead of jumping that far..i rather the game tweak it in such a way that u will jump to a certain distance..but the longer u hold the shoot button..the lower the angle...if u hold it for too long..u will either fall down or air ball

lolz don't forget when the CPU is in a bind near the paint it does that bending jump shot. Good Lord, how many times have I seen Shaq Diesel taking jumpshots like Michael Jordan in Live 2004 Also, and I hope they fix prohop. If the CPU is the one doing it, my guard gets pushed...er...slided back even if I am in a defensive crouch. If I do it the CPU becomes a wall, what gives? Also, I wish (cuz this is I'm sure not gonna be fixed in time for 2005) that the game doesnt rely too much on animations. I mean this that in order for you attempt a steal it has to go through an animated 2x team (most of the time). It's rare that you can steal suddenly. Speaking of steals, I noticed a bug where if the CPU is bringing down the ball near the baseline and I get lucky to tap it, the ball always goes out of bounds. To put it in another way, visualize a court. The CPU PG is dribbling near the baseline with me in front of him. I get lucky to tap away the ball with my left hand, opposite the direction of the baseline. Now in real life the ball is supposed to go to the direction of the center but for some inexplicable reason the ball, uh,umm...goes out of bounds like I used my right hand to swipe it when I used my left hand? Definitely unreal.

its true, the ball always bounces the same way when attempting a steal. this dont happen in real life so i think they need to fix it in live.