NBA Sims 2008.....

[R-Tistic]

I know this is just wishful thinking, but which of these following could you imagine seeing in the next few years?

Franchise Mode:
-The seasons show as much emotion as in real life. Players get in trouble with the law, have problems with each other and the coaches. Some players develop good relationships, and become friends on and off court. (yeah right!)
-Teams and players develop rivalries with others
-Pre-Game shows, showing the results from the last game, showing players talking about what they think will happen, etc. etc.
-Taking real control of the players, whether you are controlling them as a coach, or as if u control what each player does, like on The Sims. Some players party all night and go to bed late, which obviously affects their game.
-The same way that you train boxers on Knockout Kings, you can individually train players so that they become better in whatever aspects you want them to develop in
-When there is a player you are interested in, you can do your best to kiss up to him to get him to sign
-Coaches have ratings on compassion, emotions, etc. etc. which depends on how he manages each team
-Newspaper articles show rumors around league, whether trade rumors, or things players say about others

What other ideas do you all have that probably will never happen anytime soon, but you would love to see happen? I know these are all fake, and the NBA probably wouldn't approve half of them.

[havasufalls]

im sure this has been talked about before but having highlights of the game at halftime and at the end of the game would be nice.

[Ruff Ryder]

A dynasty mode(like shootout 2k4) but u start as a bball player earning money fron 1 on 1 and pickup games. Then as you get better you try out for the NBDL and if you do good there an NBA team will sign you.

[R-Tistic]

im sure this has been talked about before but having highlights of the game at halftime and at the end of the game would be nice.

yeah...i think i have heard it mentioned before.

Even adding highlights from other games, remember they had that on Madden 92? LOL, they used to show highlights from other games, but it would always be somethin real stupid like the Raiders were down by 1, at the 5 yard line, and they'd kick a field goal and completely miss it.

[havasufalls]

but it would always be somethin real stupid like the Raiders were down by 1, at the 5 yard line, and they'd kick a field goal and completely miss it.

LOL

[Andrew]

The seasons show as much emotion as in real life. Players get in trouble with the law, have problems with each other and the coaches. Some players develop good relationships, and become friends on and off court. (yeah right!)

I don't think we need to see a random player get in trouble with the law ("Karl Malone caught with marijuana" "Tim Duncan arrested on domestic abuse charges"). It's just gratuitous detail. Besides, the NBA would never allow it, and I don't blame them.

Teams and players develop rivalries with others

Nice idea, but how would it be made apparent?

Pre-Game shows, showing the results from the last game, showing players talking about what they think will happen, etc. etc.

I guess it would be nice, but I soon get tired of stuff like that.

Taking real control of the players, whether you are controlling them as a coach, or as if u control what each player does, like on The Sims. Some players party all night and go to bed late, which obviously affects their game.

Too much non-basketball detail for my liking.

The same way that you train boxers on Knockout Kings, you can individually train players so that they become better in whatever aspects you want them to develop in

Variations of that idea have been discussed before. I'd like to see the ability to set players on a training regime - get them to work on their jumpshot, lose weight, add bulk and muscle, whatever they need. Depending on their CAREERPKG or a work ethic rating, they might show improvement.

When there is a player you are interested in, you can do your best to kiss up to him to get him to sign

I think there should be more options when trying to re-sign a player. I don't think that should mean organising billboard campaigns and getting local merchants to make special offers to a player and his family.

Coaches have ratings on compassion, emotions, etc. etc. which depends on how he manages each team

Not a bad idea, but ultimately everything should come down to the human player. When the CPU is in charge of things, they tend to be too random.

Newspaper articles show rumors around league, whether trade rumors, or things players say about others

It would get old after a little while. There'd only be so many variations of "articles" you could read. But above all, I'm not sure it would really serve much of a purpose.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying your ideas are terrible, and I'm certainly not trying to discourage you from posting them. But if the game itself is not what we're expecting, extras are seldom any comfort. You can imagine what we might say; "We can have a detailed pre-game show, but we can't have realistic field goal percentages."

A dynasty mode(like shootout 2k4) but u start as a bball player earning money fron 1 on 1 and pickup games. Then as you get better you try out for the NBDL and if you do good there an NBA team will sign you.

That's a good idea, but it could be a game by itself.

[Sedge]

I don't think I am speaking just for myself here but my perfect NBA Live is to be a basketball version of Championship Manager with NBA Live gameplay.

[Metsis]

I haven't played the newest championship manager, but it has some good points in it, but some bad as well. You control basically just the players, but there are problems in that too. You don't get enough information about things that are going around etc.

Don't get me wrong, I like championship manager, but there are some aspects in it I wouldn't want to see. Like the time you get fired from a team! That would be a cool feature in Live games right???

Championship manager feels too much like excel in my mind. There is no interaction with players other then playing time and contract negotiations, but the player happiness could be picked off almost as it is. There should be another one like the happiness for future plans. Wants to stay with a team or looking forward to testing FA market etc. Would like to extend his contract etc. These sort of things would be nice.

But the players should be effected by changes around them, like if you hire a new coach or complete a trade... These things always change the teams chemistry and thus should effect the players game results.

I've said it so many times, but I'll say it again! There should be something representing the team chemistry and making the players play accordingly when simulated or even player handled. Effecting ratings and changing with streaks and such...

[EGarrett]

Teams and players develop rivalries with others

Nice idea, but how would it be made apparent?

Well...MVP Baseball 2003 has a type of "game impact" meter that accompanies regular season games. Games between rivals (some of which are set when you begin a franchise) have a higher impact, as do playoff games. These affect your team's momentum, another meter.

Live could do the same thing without a momentum meter. Some rivalries could be set when the franchise begin then they could grow and change over time. Games between pre-set rivals (Lakers vs. Celtics, New York vs. New Jersey etc) could have a high impact. Games between teams who met in playoff series last year (making division and conference rivals more likely) could also have higher impact. This would carry over between seasons and gradually increase or decrease...so if teams meet in consecutive playoff series...(like the Lakers and Blazers or the Knicks and Heat)...a rivalry with high impact games could develop. If both teams don't make the playoffs for a while, their rivalries could also fade, just like real life.

Games against the highest-rated players in the league could also increase impact. This would mean that players on the same team as superstars would be in a lot of high impact games and their performance could suffer if they have no clutch...thus "wilting" in the spotlight. Ask Keith Van Horn how realistic that is after he finishes packing up his Sixers locker.

How would high-impact games affect gameplay? Well, the clutch rating (which would be back in this scenario) would play a much bigger role. Players with high clutch would perform better in these games and players with low clutch would be worse. The number of fouls called could also be bumped up or down in the game (which would be as simple as a hidden slider nudge by the computer.)

You could even check your rivalries (highest automatic impact of games) on a screen under GM's desk.

Wow...the more I talk about that idea the more I like it.

I think there should be more options when trying to re-sign a player. I don't think that should mean organising billboard campaigns and getting local merchants to make special offers to a player and his family.

Yea, I just think there should be a Satisfaction gauge which measures Team Winning Percentage, the Individuals Minutes-Per-Game (in relation to his overall rating) and the # of Seasons Spent with the Team.

Then, if a player does leave and no team has the cap room to sign him, he will come back to you for his desired contract.

Newspaper articles show rumors around league, whether trade rumors, or things players say about others

It would get old after a little while. There'd only be so many variations of "articles" you could read. But above all, I'm not sure it would really serve much of a purpose.

Agreed. They could bring back streaks to the NBA News page though, and also put some announcements when players are put on the "Trading Block". Some sample NBA News entries might be.

2/1/06 The Los Angeles Lakers finally snap a 6-game losing streak.
2/1/06 In a rematch from last year's NBA Finals, the New Jersey Nets beat the Houston Rockets 110-102
2/2/06 Allen Iverson scores a season-high 56 points against the Portland Trail Blazers.
2/2/06 Allen Iverson has surpassed Tracy McGrady as the league leader in scoring.
2/3/06 The Los Angeles Lakers are shopping Shaquille O'Neal.
2/3/06 The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to add a point guard to their roster.

I don't think that would be difficult to implement at all. Things like the season-high wouldn't be tracked until 30 days into the season or so. The game also generates box scores for each game so it could mine information it already has.

Well I'm done babbling...back to work...

[The Big Racist]

Agreed. They could bring back streaks to the NBA News page though, and also put some announcements when players are put on the "Trading Block". Some sample NBA News entries might be.

They should bring back the player of the week and month honors also rookie of the week and month....

[havasufalls]

Agreed. They could bring back streaks to the NBA News page though, and also put some announcements when players are put on the "Trading Block". Some sample NBA News entries might be.

They should bring back the player of the week and month honors also rookie of the week and month....

Yea....good thinking....

[Swoosh]

Metsis, i understand ur point about team chemistry and all but it should be implemented very carefully then and not to random cuz if trades are made in the season and u also make them in live and the cpu randomly decides no good chemistry, well u r kinda scr*ed, while irl it could work really well or otherwise, so it's not that easy to put it in.

[Andrew]

Wow...the more I talk about that idea the more I like it.

Me too. I haven't played MVP Baseball 2003 so I was unaware of the possibilities. But I think that would work quite nicely in NBA Live.

Agreed. They could bring back streaks to the NBA News page though, and also put some announcements when players are put on the "Trading Block". Some sample NBA News entries might be.

2/1/06 The Los Angeles Lakers finally snap a 6-game losing streak.
2/1/06 In a rematch from last year's NBA Finals, the New Jersey Nets beat the Houston Rockets 110-102
2/2/06 Allen Iverson scores a season-high 56 points against the Portland Trail Blazers.
2/2/06 Allen Iverson has surpassed Tracy McGrady as the league leader in scoring.
2/3/06 The Los Angeles Lakers are shopping Shaquille O'Neal.
2/3/06 The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to add a point guard to their roster.

I don't think that would be difficult to implement at all. Things like the season-high wouldn't be tracked until 30 days into the season or so. The game also generates box scores for each game so it could mine information it already has.

I'd like that too.

[ReyJ]

Agreed! Player of the Week and Month should be brought back.

I believe 2 players are selected for POTW AND POTM, 1 in the Eastern Conference and 1 in the Western Conference. This wouldn't be too hard to implement either!

[ReyJ]

Ohh and another thing that would be interesting is to have a 'Team MVP'

An icon (could be a medal or something) could be placed next to a player of each team who has earned himself Team MVP for the duration of the season. Of course, Team MVP's will be worked out by his stats and averages.

I know it's just a small feature, but it will add some interesting things towards the game!

[Metsis]

Metsis, i understand ur point about team chemistry and all but it should be implemented very carefully then and not to random cuz if trades are made in the season and u also make them in live and the cpu randomly decides no good chemistry, well u r kinda scr*ed, while irl it could work really well or otherwise, so it's not that easy to put it in.

Who said anything about random??? I didn't say random anywhere did I? Almost hate the word.

My point was that the players should have some sort of chemistry ratings or something like star rating or personality rating. And if the team has too many stars it should effect the team in more of a negative way. Or if a strange personality such as Rider would arrive. It would lower the team chemistry. And about the trading... All trades would knock off some chemistry at the start, but it would gradually grow back. If the deal was good, well it could end up at a higher level then the one before the trade or at a lower if you brought in a couple of guys that didn't fit in with the team that well. Some players are more comfortable in reserve roles, but some aim for the limelight and this would effect chemistry too.

Winning streaks and losing streaks would effect chemistry too. As would coaching changes etc. Some good player streaks might raise a players chemistry and thus improving the play of the entire team.

I just want to see Jason Kidd make a whole team better and Isaiah Rider make a whole team worse. I want to see some bad boys of basket ball cause there are some. Not everyones like Ray Allen...

And different personality ratings could effect how the players get along with each other. Some players would hate playing with some and there should be way to find this out too. So you could try to increase team chemistry by shipping that hated guy off or the hater. Also players of same mindset should improve their game when playing together (better teamwork) and that's a fact...

These are basically the same thing as the player happiness and chemistry things I've been going through on these boards for some time now. And I'd really like to see atleast something in this direction in the Live games to come.

Is there anything too random about this???

When trading for players, there should be warning signs on some of them, like "he's a real hot head" etc. Or a "real working horse" or something to describe the players personality so you wouldn't be trading at random chemistry wise.

[Andrew]

Do you think a chemistry rating/attribute would be more apparent in gameplay or simulation? Obviously, the chemistry factor would discourage players from loading up their team with superstars and breezing through simulation undefeated, but would it have much of an effect when you actually play the games?

Obviously, if you had a bunch of players whose style was basically "give me the ball and get out my way", running plays that required great teamwork would be difficult. But that might not be easy to implement or recognise in NBA Live, since human interaction can usually overcome the shortcomings of CPU teammates.

I'm not saying a chemistry rating is a bad idea; I certainly like the idea. I'm just wondering whether it could play a significant role in gameplay as well as simulation.

[Swoosh]

idd andrew, but metsis i didnt know u meant it like that , and i like ur idea cuz what u say is very true , just didnt really understand how u meant it, i do now and i luv it (though it would still be hard to implement i think)

[Metsis]

It could effect the gameplay almost as much as it does the simulation.

It could knock off a couple of percentages off the swoosh percentage as players with bad feelings tend to play worse. And if the team chemistry is way off you could actually tell that there's something wrong with the team. Maybe more errant passes and such, less steals and blocks and players not going to help each other like they should, but on the other hand with great chemistry your passes could be even better and your shooting would be sharper and your defense would be more sharp to the situation (Shaq rambling down into the low blocks etc.).

Again these are extreme... These should require a very bad or good chemistry. Aka hard to see, but the average chemistry would either help up or down the shooting percentage a couple of percents and that would show up in the long run of things. Like last season you shot .442 and this season you are shooting .436 (your team that is) then you could look up what changed so you could see that a veteran shooter (a leader) retired and your rookies mixed up the chemistry a little. But the mixing effect would reduce with time and your team chemistry would set on its new level.

This is a rating that could increase the more the player has played and this would make Mutombo or Reggie Miller a more valuable player. They neccecarily wouldn't play as much, but their presense is felt. And dealing away a player that other didn't like that much could really unleash the team spirit hidden away in a secret place...

This is what I'm talking about... This would also require some sort of meters or something that you could tell if they are happy or not.

[Andrew]

Ah yes, I get the idea.

[Ripper]

Nba live in the future should add the features Winning Eleven (the best soccer game in the world), Championhsip Manager, NBA Street and all the other NBA games have. (ofcourse nba live should remain a basketball sim)

In Winning Eleven for example, your players will get fatigued and some will not be full recovered for the next game. Players with a bad morale will play poorly and players with high morale will excell.

One developement i'd like to see is in player progress department. If you play well with a bad player, let's say Joe Smith, and you make him average a triple double, he should improve the next season, or during the season even. It has always bothered me players would decline even though you were putting up good numbers. Heck, in a game you should be able to make any player play as good as you want him to play.

[chipper]

Team chemistry will be great if implemented correctly. But would NBA (or plyers union) ever allow that kind of things to be added to the game?
Some players will find their 'personality' ratings way low and might get mad at dev team.. just a thought.

[Metsis]

Team chemistry will be great if implemented correctly. But would NBA (or plyers union) ever allow that kind of things to be added to the game?
Some players will find their 'personality' ratings way low and might get mad at dev team.. just a thought.

I don't think the players would mind. Some people just don't get along with everyone and you can't please everyone. That's just a fact.

And as I said, the chemistry thing wouldn't be that noticable unless you had a really bad or a really good chemistry. And playing and winning and loosing would effect it too. And in the play-offs, well the underdogs should get some sort of bonus etc. Top teams wouldn't play at their peak against the worst in the league, but the Knicks would play hard against the Heat every time... You could even add in the rivalries in this way.

With that personality rating, well it really wouldn't be a rating as in 50 is bad and 99 is good. It would be more like 50 rated players like more of other 50 rated players etc. And thus bringing in a player with 50 into a 90's team would effect the chemistry in a big way. Most players would have this in 70-80 range and maybe some of the bad boys of bball would have it lower and those real leaders would have it at 90-range. Again the diversity would create the difference, not the actual number.

Again this would make the rookie listing "lacks winning mentality" mean something...

Nothing big, but something. It wouldn't be that bad and everyone could find a place for them selves. Some players would just flourish in some atmospheres and crash in others, but that's the way it seems to work.

[ThisizaJackMove]

Newspaper articles show rumors around league, whether trade rumors, or things players say about others

It would get old after a little while. There'd only be so many variations of "articles" you could read. But above all, I'm not sure it would really serve much of a purpose

Actually Andrew this was done pretty much perfectly in NCAA Football 2004 with the Sports Illustrated feature, Sure they didn't have rumors, but maybe it could show who was on a hot streak or who is shaping up to be on the all-star/rookie teams. Later in the season it could show whos in the MVP/6th Man/Rookie/Defensive/Most Improved Player award running like NCAA's Sports Illustrated Heisman/Maxwell/Bednarik/Best QB/Best RB/etc. awards. Also you will probably never tire of just checking out this feature if it was done exactly like NCAA 2004's.

[chipper]

Team chemistry will be great if implemented correctly. But would NBA (or plyers union) ever allow that kind of things to be added to the game?
Some players will find their 'personality' ratings way low and might get mad at dev team.. just a thought.

I don't think the players would mind. Some people just don't get along with everyone and you can't please everyone. That's just a fact.

And as I said, the chemistry thing wouldn't be that noticable unless you had a really bad or a really good chemistry. And playing and winning and loosing would effect it too. And in the play-offs, well the underdogs should get some sort of bonus etc. Top teams wouldn't play at their peak against the worst in the league, but the Knicks would play hard against the Heat every time... You could even add in the rivalries in this way.

With that personality rating, well it really wouldn't be a rating as in 50 is bad and 99 is good. It would be more like 50 rated players like more of other 50 rated players etc. And thus bringing in a player with 50 into a 90's team would effect the chemistry in a big way. Most players would have this in 70-80 range and maybe some of the bad boys of bball would have it lower and those real leaders would have it at 90-range. Again the diversity would create the difference, not the actual number.

Again this would make the rookie listing "lacks winning mentality" mean something...

Nothing big, but something. It wouldn't be that bad and everyone could find a place for them selves. Some players would just flourish in some atmospheres and crash in others, but that's the way it seems to work.

I just remember from a baseball game called 'High Heat'. MLBPA wouldn't allow them to adopt real salaries so they had to use the point system. When you modify a player's rating, he will lose his portrait since he no longer represents the real MLB couterpart. (or so MLBPA thinks)

I found your idea of 'similar ratings get along well' a very nice idea though.