EG's Wishlist of Stuff that could actually be implemented...

[EGarrett]

-A layup and clutch rating need to be added for each player. Clutch existed in Live 2001 then mysteriously vanished...bring it back. Layup also insures that guys like Steve Kerr aren't getting into the lane for flying double clutch layups that are impossible to block. Save that stuff for 90's Jordan and Dr. J (who would be 99 each)

-In the player/creation edit screen, allow a player's contract amount and length to be edited. This way fictional teams don't fall apart in 3 years and it makes franchise deeper.

-When editing an existing player, allow access to the head for adding and removing of headbands. Amare Stoudemire does not wear one and it would be nice to be able to remove the one that Amare is wearing in the game.

-In franchise mode...when a highly rated player leaves his home team for free agency...and no other teams have enough money to sign him...have him resign to his HOME team for the desired amount. This would reflect the real NBA more (ask Chris Webber and Rashard Lewis) and make it easier for players to keep their franchise teams together. As it is now the players either all go to one team for the minimum or they stay in free agency...both are ridiculous and are ruining franchise mode.

-Fix the NBA legend's ratings so that they are in tune with the rest of the players in the game. George Gervin should NOT be rated lower than the Spur's broken down Steve Smith. Oscar Robertson and Magic should also have had higher rebounding ratings. Don't make the players do all the work in editing these.

-Allow players to choose whether a player's first or last name goes on his jersey. This way Yao Ming could be listed properly and still have "Yao" on his jersey.

-Make weight independent of body type. Yao Ming has a very slender frame but he wears nearly 300 pounds.

-Have rookies develop in weight (or even height if they are drafted out of high school). It would be extremely cool to draft a 6'9" 205 pound high school kid and have him be 6'10" 215 the next year.

More as it comes to me...

[Andrew]

Good suggestions, agree with them all. In particular...

In franchise mode...when a highly rated player leaves his home team for free agency...and no other teams have enough money to sign him...have him resign to his HOME team for the desired amount. This would reflect the real NBA more (ask Chris Webber and Rashard Lewis) and make it easier for players to keep their franchise teams together. As it is now the players either all go to one team for the minimum or they stay in free agency...both are ridiculous and are ruining franchise mode.

I too would like to see Free Agency be less random, and this would be a good place to start. Also, change it so that contract length does not determine contract size, so there can be more of a bargaining process in signing free agents. This might discourage players from leaving in the first place (despite a successful season and plenty of playing time the previous year).

Have rookies develop in weight (or even height if they are drafted out of high school). It would be extremely cool to draft a 6'9" 205 pound high school kid and have him be 6'10" 215 the next year.

I think that would be a great addition. It would make the "Needs to add bulk" entry in the Scouting Report much more meaningful. The only question is, how would this be implemented? My suggestion would be to utilise a CAREERPKG type rating, let's call it a Work Ethic rating. A high rating would mean the player would work hard in the offseason to add muscle and bulk to his frame - a low Work Ethic rating would result in the player not bothering to work out in the offseason, to get in good playing shape or improve his skills (perhaps then, it would be best if all of this was controlled by CAREERPKG). Perhaps players could even enter the season overweight, a la Shawn Kemp.

Keep them coming EG...

[EGarrett]

I too would like to see Free Agency be less random, and this would be a good place to start. Also, change it so that contract length does not determine contract size, so there can be more of a bargaining process in signing free agents. This might discourage players from leaving in the first place (despite a successful season and plenty of playing time the previous year).

Agreed. The only real value to franchise mode at this point is in building a team identity. The most important part of that is having a core of players that you keep together and developing your own drafted players. A lot more avenues need to be opened to allow you to keep your team's core players together. Oftentimes when a few of my key players come up for free agecy and refuse to resign, I'll totally lose interest in my franchise.

Very rarely should a player just refuse to resign with a team, and you should be given several indications that it might happen. If you're one of the worst teams in the league and a player who can start elsewhere is on the bench then yes. If you go 41-41 and he's a starter you should have a chance to sign him. If nothing else, have players want unreasonable amounts of money. Then, if he tests free agency and no one can sign him, have him come back to you for whatever he's worth. Maybe they should add a "Player Satisfaction" gauge to the Manager's Statement screen that goes from 0-10 for each player? Then you could see what players were likely to leave you and other teams for free agency?

I also think that EA needs to toss the set-in-stone rookie development method. It should be like Madden where the higher a player is rated, the more PT he needs to continue to improve. This would also require you to choose between playing your young players or trying to win, just like a real NBA team.

Another idea...they should have a salary cap and also give the option of a spending limit for each team. If the cap is 1,000,000 points then a GM should be given a default max of, say, 1,500,000 for his team. This would affect the amount of money you can pay your players that you wish to resign. Teams like the Mavericks or Knicks could have a 2,000,000 limit, and teams like the Clippers could have a 1,250,000 limit. But find a way to implement it as an option as it would add a lot to realism.

I think that would be a great addition. It would make the "Needs to add bulk" entry in the Scouting Report much more meaningful. The only question is, how would this be implemented? My suggestion would be to utilise a CAREERPKG type rating, let's call it a Work Ethic rating. A high rating would mean the player would work hard in the offseason to add muscle and bulk to his frame - a low Work Ethic rating would result in the player not bothering to work out in the offseason, to get in good playing shape or improve his skills (perhaps then, it would be best if all of this was controlled by CAREERPKG). Perhaps players could even enter the season overweight, a la Shawn Kemp.

Well, for height, I'd only allow that to increase for extremely young players, like ages 16-18. Perhaps, during the offseasons after the seasons where a player turns 17 and 18 he has a 70% chance of growing one inch, a 10% chance of growing two inches and a 20% chance of not growing at all. As for weight, I'd use a similar system. Younger players would have an extremely high chance of going up 5-20 pounds. After a player's 18th or 19th birthday it would get pretty murky so it'd probably be best to just keep it to natural development for the moment.

[Andrew]

Very rarely should a player just refuse to resign with a team, and you should be given several indications that it might happen. If you're one of the worst teams in the league and a player who can start elsewhere is on the bench then yes. If you go 41-41 and he's a starter you should have a chance to sign him. If nothing else, have players want unreasonable amounts of money. Then, if he tests free agency and no one can sign him, have him come back to you for whatever he's worth. Maybe they should add a "Player Satisfaction" gauge to the Manager's Statement screen that goes from 0-10 for each player? Then you could see what players were likely to leave you and other teams for free agency?

Definitely. Free Agency needs to be less random, and as you said, it would be nice to have more indication how likely it is that a player will opt not to re-sign. A Player Satisfaction meter/gauge sounds like a good idea, as long as it isn't random as well. This all ties in with the offering larger contract/size of contract not directly proportionate to contract length, and players testing the free agent waters, only to re-sign with their original team.

I also think that EA needs to toss the set-in-stone rookie development method. It should be like Madden where the higher a player is rated, the more PT he needs to continue to improve. This would also require you to choose between playing your young players or trying to win, just like a real NBA team.

Which leads me to suggest that player statistics have some bearing on player development (PT especially). The argument against this is, for example, the misuse of a good three point shooter could lead to a decline in 3 Point FG rating, though that wouldn't have to be the case.

Well, for height, I'd only allow that to increase for extremely young players, like ages 16-18. Perhaps, during the offseasons after the seasons where a player turns 17 and 18 he has a 70% chance of growing one inch, a 10% chance of growing two inches and a 20% chance of not growing at all. As for weight, I'd use a similar system. Younger players would have an extremely high chance of going up 5-20 pounds. After a player's 18th or 19th birthday it would get pretty murky so it'd probably be best to just keep it to natural development for the moment.

Yeah, it would probably be a better idea to limit the chances of bulking up or growing an extra inch to the first couple of years, and making it depend on the player's age. I'd still like to see the chances of it controlled by a CAREERPKG-like rating. Players with low commitment to offseason training and keeping in shape are less likely to try and bulk up for next season. Or then again, some players are just naturally skinny. As long as players who "Need to add bulk" can actually have a chance at adding that needed bulk.

[EGarrett]

I just remembered another suggestion I had that I forgot previously. This is after reading Tales' joke thread that he reposted.

Instead of having Franchise mode end after 25 years...why doesn't EA reconfigure it to allow Franchise mode to have an unlimited amount of years...with the game only keeping track of stats for the last 25? That wouldn't that hard to implement would it?

A Player Satisfaction meter/gauge sounds like a good idea, as long as it isn't random as well. This all ties in with the offering larger contract/size of contract not directly proportionate to contract length, and players testing the free agent waters, only to re-sign with their original team.

It would definitely NOT be random. To keep it simple...I think some good basic factors would be minutes per game (in relation to a player's rating, here's where that Expected-PT-to-Overall-Rating ratio would come in handy)...the team's winning percentage...and # of season's spent with team (including whether or not they were drafted by that team). Any ideas? Maybe a way to include a "hometown" factor?

Oh, also, I would be a lot less stressed if I knew players "refusing to sign" were just going to test free agency instead of just leaving also.

Which leads me to suggest that player statistics have some bearing on player development (PT especially). The argument against this is, for example, the misuse of a good three point shooter could lead to a decline in 3 Point FG rating, though that wouldn't have to be the case.

I don't think I agree with the statistics model. I'd just rather that a player's minutes played have an affect on his overall development without going into individual statistics. Since Live doesn't play like a real basketball game your team's ratings would end up skewed...know what I mean?

Lowly rated players would develop just by being on a team instead of free agency...medium rated players by being on the bench...highly rated players in the starting lineup etc. The more a player develops the more you have to play him (and the more he wants to play to keep his Satisfaction high ).

The reason I want this so much is that I'm tired of drafting an exciting rookie only to see him not develop or decline with the knowledge that I have no input in the matter.

Anyway...Andrew (or anyone else reading this)...have you ever played Fast Break Basketball...the franchise simulator game? It's kind of like a shareware program but it's a gold mine of ideas. Players have individual ratings for things like loyalty, desire to play for a winning team, and greed. You also can set your rotation by slotting your players in at the starting, backup and third string spots for each position. It really shows you how deep you can get with franchise if you want.

[Andrew]

Instead of having Franchise mode end after 25 years...why doesn't EA reconfigure it to allow Franchise mode to have an unlimited amount of years...with the game only keeping track of stats for the last 25? That wouldn't that hard to implement would it?

Agreed. Also, perhaps you could select any amount of years up to 25, or unlimited. With unlimited years, there would be a function to "End Franchise now".

It would definitely NOT be random. To keep it simple...I think some good basic factors would be minutes per game (in relation to a player's rating, here's where that Expected-PT-to-Overall-Rating ratio would come in handy)...the team's winning percentage...and # of season's spent with team (including whether or not they were drafted by that team). Any ideas? Maybe a way to include a "hometown" factor?

I believe those criteria should better be utilised, loyalty to team and player, team success etc. A "hometown" factor would be good too, though hopefully it wouldn't come into play unless the other factors were pretty much the same for two teams. This all ties in with the idea that players would be able to entertain offers, instead of immediately signing with a team.

I don't think I agree with the statistics model. I'd just rather that a player's minutes played have an affect on his overall development without going into individual statistics. Since Live doesn't play like a real basketball game your team's ratings would end up skewed...know what I mean?

That's a good point. The level of realism in NBA Live 2004 certainly would play a role in player development if that system were used.

The reason I want this so much is that I'm tired of drafting an exciting rookie only to see him not develop or decline with the knowledge that I have no input in the matter.

Exactly, and as you mentioned, minutes could be made a factor in player development.

While I think of it, what do you think of the idea of un-retiring players? To save space in the DBF files, retired players are cleared after the offseason, though perhaps they could remain in the database for one season after retirement. This might be a way to correct an unusually early retirement.

An on the subject of retirement, not all players should retire, as not all players officially announce retirement, instead they just fade away, perhaps playing in a minor league, or simply no longer playing competitively. Then again, it's only a video game - a retirement ceremony for Dean Garrett needn't be unusual

The only other suggestions I can think of for Franchise Mode are superficial:

• Better jersey number assignment. Maybe a dialog box that allows you to specify new numbers, or have the CPU assign one.
• Retired numbers. You would not be able to assign these numbers to players on your team. Similarly, the CPU could not assign a retired number to players on CPU controlled teams. This ties in with the above point.
• The old basketball trading card style career stats, listing teams played for, career totals etc. And while I'm being superficial, if a player is traded/waived and signs elsewhere, list all the teams he played for during the season (eg ATL-BOS-DEN)
• The Cancel/Confirm Trade dialog box. I was disappointed when it was taken out of NBA Live 2000. It allowed you to see if a trade would be accepted, so you could have make a few trade scenarios before eventually deciding to complete a trade.
• Similarly, I'd like to see the return of the "(Team) feels this would make them too weak at (position)" dialog box. This allowed you to alter the deal so that the CPU would be more willing to accept the deal. Much better than simply "(Team) is not interested in your offer". Though CPU teams shouldn't always be interested in offers.
• The multi-team trade option. However, you should be able to specify players going from CPU teams to CPU teams - each team would have to agree to the trade of course.
• Trading a player for an empty roster slot (cash). Both NBA Live 2002 and NBA Live 2003 have not allowed you to do this.

Anyway...Andrew (or anyone else reading this)...have you ever played Fast Break Basketball...the franchise simulator game? It's kind of like a shareware program but it's a gold mine of ideas. Players have individual ratings for things like loyalty, desire to play for a winning team, and greed. You also can set your rotation by slotting your players in at the starting, backup and third string spots for each position. It really shows you how deep you can get with franchise if you want.

I haven't played it, but it sounds like there are some good ideas for Franchise Mode there. The argument would be that it's much easier for a simulator to be realistic than a game that involves actual gameplay, but some of those ideas could definitely be applied to the frontend aspect of Franchise Mode.

[EGarrett]

Agreed. Also, perhaps you could select any amount of years up to 25, or unlimited. With unlimited years, there would be a function to "End Franchise now".

Hmmm...well people would end franchises in order to get their letter grade right? What if they just made the letter grade a screen that you access under GM's desk? Then you could exit whenever you want?

This all ties in with the idea that players would be able to entertain offers, instead of immediately signing with a team.

I would love to allow player's to entertain offers...unfortunately I think we both know not to expect improvement more than one step at a time. Maybe for next year we could just hound EA about putting something like the gauge in just to determine whether or not the player will re-sign?

While I think of it, what do you think of the idea of un-retiring players? To save space in the DBF files, retired players are cleared after the offseason, though perhaps they could remain in the database for one season after retirement. This might be a way to correct an unusually early retirement.

I've never really even thought that much about how player retirement is handled. I have Live for PS2 and comp...but I can't play the comp version on my laptop while at school. Do player's retire too early in the computer version? If so maybe they could just wait until a player is old and he's rated lowly enough to spend a year in the free agent pool without being signed before he retires...although players do retire abruptly at times.

Otherwise, I don't know if this isn't already represented in franchise. I always kind of thought that the legends who were sitting in free agency were 'retired' and signing them would mean a comeback...and after they show up on the Retired Players screen they were gone for good.

Better jersey number assignment. Maybe a dialog box that allows you to specify new numbers, or have the CPU assign one.

YES. Dear lord...if I have to see one more guy wearing number 67 or 71 I feel like I'm going to throw up. Honestly, I don't even think this is superficial...as I obsess over little things like this...especially when they seem like they would be easy to fix.

For the rookies...how about instead of picking a number from 00-99 at random...the game picks a number from an NBA player (or legend or free agent) in the database at random? It just feels so much better when a rookie comes with his own number instead of being forced to go into Edit player and come up with one (which randomly lowers the players overall rating and sends me into a Rainman-like pause of indecision).

Another thing that's ironic...Live 2000 would also check and correct duplicate jersey numbers on your team. I remember when I put Isaiah Rider on the Lakers his number changed from 34 (which Shaq already had) to 35. I guess they could either bring that back or assign a player a primary and secondary number (which I would love...32 and 5 for Kidd...24 and 45 for Jordan...32 and 6 for Dr. J etc) and then just add or subtract single digits at random if both are used.

Retired numbers. You would not be able to assign these numbers to players on your team. Similarly, the CPU could not assign a retired number to players on CPU controlled teams. This ties in with the above point.

I don't know if I'd want this idea implemented. If you controlled the Celtics there would always be a lack of viable and sensible numbers because they've retired so damn many of them. If you implement an infinite franchise it might get ridiculous after awhile also It would be cool for a dialog box to ask you if you want to retire a players number when that player got deleted though...

The old basketball trading card style career stats, listing teams played for, career totals etc. And while I'm being superficial, if a player is traded/waived and signs elsewhere, list all the teams he played for during the season (eg ATL-BOS-DEN)

If this would allow you to see more stats without having to scroll then I'm all for it. Other than that....I figure EA could implement this. I really have no preference either way...so I wouldn't mind a switch to this system at all if everyone else wants it.

The Cancel/Confirm Trade dialog box. I was disappointed when it was taken out of NBA Live 2000. It allowed you to see if a trade would be accepted, so you could have make a few trade scenarios before eventually deciding to complete a trade.

Agreed wholeheartedly...there was no reason to take that out.

The multi-team trade option. However, you should be able to specify players going from CPU teams to CPU teams - each team would have to agree to the trade of course.

That's exactly what I was thinking...

Similarly, I'd like to see the return of the "(Team) feels this would make them too weak at (position)" dialog box. This allowed you to alter the deal so that the CPU would be more willing to accept the deal. Much better than simply "(Team) is not interested in your offer".

Also agreed. Why do we have to ask EA to bring so many things back from older games? *sigh*...

Though CPU teams shouldn't always be interested in offers.

Hmmm...now this got me to thinking. Considering how easy it is to basically rape the computer using trades...what if EA put some limitations on trading that would make things more realistic.

Like for example...GMs always call around the league to let other team's know they're interested in making a deal right? Live could implement a Trading Block feature similar to the one in the NBA 2k series. Teams in franchise mode that weren't performing well (or had players with extremely low satisfaction ratings) would put any number of players (or maybe draft picks...PLEASE EA let us trade draft picks) on the Trading Block. You could check this feature the same way you check Upcoming Free Agents under GM's desk...just call it Trading Block.

The cpu would deal as normal when its trading block players are involved. But when they aren't (meaning you're calling the computer GM up out of the blue)...I'd make a deal extremely difficult and only possible if it were very lopsided in the computer's favor.

The trading block would be the most active in February before the trade deadline and during the offseason, when real team's make their trades. Team's like the Knicks would have several players (Sprewell, Kurt Thomas, Charlie Ward) up on the trading block...teams like Sacramento would have no one on the trading block (standing pat) and teams like the Hawks would simply have their entire roster listed there.

Trading a player for an empty roster slot (cash). Both NBA Live 2002 and NBA Live 2003 have not allowed you to do this.

Would doing this for anyone but a minimum salary player work under the cap?

I haven't played it, but it sounds like there are some good ideas for Franchise Mode there. The argument would be that it's much easier for a simulator to be realistic than a game that involves actual gameplay, but some of those ideas could definitely be applied to the frontend aspect of Franchise Mode.

True...but Franchise mode is the most important gameplay mode of Live in terms of replay value. An amazing franchise will sell the game and they should make major, major overhauls to it, including adding features and ratings that only come into play during season and franchise mode.

[benji]

Trading a player for an empty roster slot (cash). Both NBA Live 2002 and NBA Live 2003 have not allowed you to do this.

Would doing this for anyone but a minimum salary player work under the cap?

If a player is traded for cash ($3 million limit), the team receiving him must have enough space to fit that players salary.

[Eugene]

How about a career mode where the user controls just one player throughout his career. He could decide if he wants more money, wants to be traded, stay, more playing time. We've been asking for this for some time now, and it seems that NBA Street 2 by EA is going to implement this feature. Does that mean it will be in 2004? At the very least, we know that EA can implement this feature in the next incarnation of Live.

If you implement a career engine to be used by the gamer, then the computer could use this to simulate the careers of all the other CPU players. These things would include, as mentioned, a satisfactory rating, loyalty rating, salary, commitment, et al. This would merely be an extension of the franchise engine that you guys have been discussing.

As a corollary to this -- when the player has on player-lock, wouldn't it be great if they could set pick? I understand most players don't use player-lock, but I do, and I'd like to set screens for the ball handler and also off the ball. Why hasn't this been mentioned?

Also, as far as trading is concerned -- shouldn't the CPU make counter-offers if the initial offer is less than appealing? Likewise, the user could make counter-offers to the trades propose by the CPU. I imagine this is what happens when teams talk to each other in real life.

Incidentally, Andrew, I'd imagine the composite wishlist should be sent fairly soon to EA if it's going to have any impact on 2004.

All the best,

Eugene

[EGarrett]

That would be cool...but remember, the key here is to suggest things that EA could implement relatively easily. That makes it more likely that we'll get some results on what we want...

[Andrew]

Hmmm...well people would end franchises in order to get their letter grade right? What if they just made the letter grade a screen that you access under GM's desk? Then you could exit whenever you want?

That could be another option. I would prefer to select increments of time or unlimited seasons. Some players might feel more...closure I guess...if there's an "End Franchise" option, which would bring up a final report card, and perhaps have some kind of ending cutscene. Maybe it scroll all the players you drafted on screen, or show all-time records (assuming all-time records would be kept).

I would love to allow player's to entertain offers...unfortunately I think we both know not to expect improvement more than one step at a time. Maybe for next year we could just hound EA about putting something like the gauge in just to determine whether or not the player will re-sign?

Correct, that is the problem with the wishlist. So many ideas, not possible to implement everything at once.

Do player's retire too early in the computer version?

Usually players retire around age 35/36, but occasionally you will see players retire at age 30-32. That's not too young, but most good players stick around to at least 35. The ability to unretire players would give you a chance to perhaps save your team from an unexpected and unlikely retirement.

I always kind of thought that the legends who were sitting in free agency were 'retired' and signing them would mean a comeback...and after they show up on the Retired Players screen they were gone for good.

For all intents and purposes, that is the case, but I meant the ability to offer a player who has shown up on the Retired Players screen a chance to change his mind and play again.

I guess they could either bring that back or assign a player a primary and secondary number (which I would love...32 and 5 for Kidd...24 and 45 for Jordan...32 and 6 for Dr. J etc) and then just add or subtract single digits at random if both are used.

I like that idea. I would also suggest that the player with the higher rating would get first preference. You also mentioned the problem of editing players' numbers and having their overall rating recalculated, something I'm familiar with too. If you wanted to specify a new jersey number when making a trade or signing a free agent rather than let the CPU assign one, perhaps you could have the option to do this as well.

I don't know if I'd want this idea implemented. If you controlled the Celtics there would always be a lack of viable and sensible numbers because they've retired so damn many of them.

The thought did cross my mind, but I was mentioning superficial details, so I thought I'd throw that one in as well.

The trading block idea is one I'd like to see implemented. Right now, it's easy to make deals for good players - it's mathematical. Usually if you trade equal value (I talk about this in the Trading Guide), ie. overall ratings of players involved in the trade add up to equal value for both teams, the trade will be accepted. It would be much more difficult to acquire Tim Duncan if the AI was "aware" of his value to the team.

Would doing this for anyone but a minimum salary player work under the cap?

That wish is the roster patchmaker in me. It was a little easier/quicker to make the roster patches when you could trade a player for an empty slot. As far as Franchise goes, if trading draft picks are included, hopefully you could trade for an empty slot. It wouldn't be realistic to have to always trade a player for a player and picks. Similarly, trading picks would not necessarily have to involve players in the deal.

True...but Franchise mode is the most important gameplay mode of Live in terms of replay value. An amazing franchise will sell the game and they should make major, major overhauls to it, including adding features and ratings that only come into play during season and franchise mode.

Definitely. IMHO, the gameplay of Live 2003 needs only a little tweaking (specifically, slowing down). EA can probably concentrate more on the game modes and features this year.

Incidentally, Andrew, I'd imagine the composite wishlist should be sent fairly soon to EA if it's going to have any impact on 2004.

Yes, I'm going to have to open up the floor and start compiling the wishes.

[Eugene]

The feature being easily implemented was something I took into account.

Since NBA Street 2 is supposed to have this feature, I imagine EA could also add this to 2004 without too much trouble -- if they did it before, they could do it again.

And since this would be a feature for the single player, the CPU would also be able to simulate the non-User players. That would lead to solving the problems with the franchise.

It's just a thought, and something I'd like to see in the game.

All the best,

Eugene

[EGarrett]

Maybe it scroll all the players you drafted on screen, or show all-time records (assuming all-time records would be kept).

Now there's a good idea. Instead of just a letter grade, maybe the franchise could show your draft history for the past 25 years (or however much time it was keeping track of)...they could show the year, the player(s) you picked at one number, and career stats along with highest and lowest ratings reached. Then you could see how many busts and how many stars you found.

It would be much more difficult to acquire Tim Duncan if the AI was "aware" of his value to the team.

Agreed...they should bring back the "Trade Rejected, TEAMB thinks that this will make them to weak at power forward" screen along with the confirmation screen.

The trading block feature would help this a lot though...Tim Duncan's team would almost always be successful so he would never really be on the trading block. Superstars would only be available from struggling teams.

It was a little easier/quicker to make the roster patches when you could trade a player for an empty slot. As far as Franchise goes, if trading draft picks are included, hopefully you could trade for an empty slot. It wouldn't be realistic to have to always trade a player for a player and picks. Similarly, trading picks would not necessarily have to involve players in the deal.

It would be a lot easier. I think EA would be sure to take care of this if they ever got around to letting us trade draft picks...

Here's an additional small wish. In the Camera Options screen, allow the player to turn off angle switching each possession. This way, when the player is playing defense he'll still be behind his players. This would add a lot to the immersion in the game, especially in one-on-one mode.

[Eugene]

How about, in conjunction with the hardiness rating, a recovery bar for injuries.

Once a player is injured, his bar drops to zero, and over time, slowly (or quickly depending on type of injury and hardiness of player) replenishes until it reaches full.

Maybe at 80 percent, the player can choose to reactivate him and play him, at the risk of re-injury and decreased effectiveness -- also based on a player's toughness.

This is frequent in the NBA. Allen Iverson still plays with injuries from his rookie season. Grant Hill keeps getting hurt from coming back too early. Kobe's playing hurt. So is Shaq. Baron Davis, T-Mac, GP, Marbury, same deal.

Or, maybe the bar could simply decline as a result of playing too many minutes over the course of a season -- i.e. Michael Jordan.

All the best,

Eugene

[Boyk]

thats a great idea eugene

[EGarrett]

I agree...that's a nice idea Eugene.

What if there was one long bar and different injuries depleted it different amounts? Like for example...a sore neck might deplete it a tiny bit...a twisted ankle about half...a torn ACL 3/4's...and a broken neck basically all the way. It would take maybe an entire season to recover the bar all the way...and players aren't playable until it's at least halfway full...with different ratings penalties (and a limping run animation) depending on how recovered they are.

[Andrew]

I like the idea as well. An "how injured" bar would certainly add some more realism to Franchise mode. I would further suggest not playing the player or placing him on the IR would allow for a quicker recovery. Perhaps the hardiness rating, currently used to determine how likely it is a player will sustain injury in simulated player, would also determine the chances of a speedy recovery (or the ability to play through injury) - or that could be given to a new rating.

The higher this "toughness/heart" rating the better the chance a player would return to the game after exiting with an injury, the quicker he would recover when placed on the IR/does not play, and would be able to play with less left in the "how injured" bar.

[Spence360ill]

I really like the idea of having an injury bar, especially in the franchise mode ,
I also believe that much more attention should be given to the options in the create-a -player mode. the thing that makes the franchise so much fun for me is seeing myself come in as a rookie and develop into a great player. I think that at the end of a player's career they should give a career summary with notes like: 15,000 points, 12,244 rebounds, 10.000 assists, only one of two players withover 15000 points, 10,oo rebounds and 10,000 assists. Definter hall-of-famer and NBA Legend, won 3 NBA scoring titles, 3 selections to All-NBA 1st team, 8 All Star Game Appearances, 1 NBA title with Philadelphia 76ers.

[nmje2k1]

The Cancel/Confirm Trade dialog box. I was disappointed when it was taken out of NBA Live 2000. It allowed you to see if a trade would be accepted, so you could have make a few trade scenarios before eventually deciding to complete a trade.

in live 2003 you can use the back arrow to cancel a transaction

[ignatu]

Regarding a franchise mode for controlling one player:

SIMPLE: When controlling a player (player lock) the CPU should incorporate that player in the offense. As of 2003, the CPU rarely passes the ball back to a human controlled (locked) player.

Harder: Allow a player to simply select whether he wants to be a free agent at the end of a contract, then shift control to the team that signs him.

[Andrew]

in live 2003 you can use the back arrow to cancel a transaction

I know, but that will cancel all trades that you have made. The Complete/Cancel trade dialog box made shopping a player around somewhat realistic, as both teams could agree to a trade in theory.

[EGarrett]

When you compile the wishlists Andrew...do me one favor. Write "TRADE DRAFT PICKS" in magic marker on a baseball bat and hit the EA rep over the head with it repeatedly.