NBA Live 2006 Wishlist Submitted!

[Andrew]

NBA Live 2006 Wishlist

Here is a copy of the NBA Live 2006 Wishlist that has been submitted to EA Sports on January 13th, 2005.

Top Wishes

• Implement real NBA strategy. The CPU should beat you through playing a good game, not "cheating".
• Bring back the ability to save a game in progress
• Bring back Custom Teams (see "Roster Management" section for details)
• Improve fast break AI. CPU teammates should continue running to the basket in anticipation of a pass
• Don't allow CPU players to catch up so easily on fast breaks
• Add the ability to save replays as mpeg or avi files
• Improve player animations; eliminate "skating".
• Add a CPU-orientated user interface with drop-down menus
• Tweak Dynasty Points so that players who simulate games can still earn enough points to perform management tasks
• Add more stats in the frontend and stat overlays in games
• Fix bugs from NBA Live 2005
• Continue to expand Dynasty Mode with more roster management features, a rumour mill, team chemistry/morale, players demanding trades, etc.
• Continue to tweak the simulation engine so that players have realistic averages. Some bench players should have starter-like numbers.
• Add Create/Edit-a-Play
• Add the ability to hire and fire coaches. Make coaches have an impact on the team's success.

Gameplay/AI

• Implement real NBA strategy. The CPU should beat you through playing a good game, not "cheating".
• Bring back the ability to save a game in progress
• Don't allow CPU players to catch up so easily on fast breaks
• Add sliders for each team (eg substitution frequency, fast break frequency, etc)
• Add the ability to set substitution patterns
• Add the option of locking a player when auto-subs are enabled so that he will remain on the court until you decide to sub him
• Add the ability to set team strategy before starting a game
• Improve fast break AI. CPU teammates should continue running to the basket in anticipation of a pass
• Reduce the number of blocks
• Add Create/Edit-a-Play
• Add inbounding playcalling
• Allow players to catch passes on the run more often
• Add the ability to force jump-balls and steal the ball when a player is sitting on the floor after diving for a loose ball
• Allow players to go after loose balls when their shot is blocked or the ball is stripped from them
• Fix adjusted shots so that the player does not end up behind the backboard
• Bring back the ability to fake a pass/call for a pick without the "roll"
• Don't always have the small forward inbounding the ball. Allow the user to designate the inbounder if they wish
• Improve the backing down/drop step/spinning baseline moves
• Have less one-on-one play; CPU teams should register more assists. However, the point guard shouldn't always rack up 15 assists.
• Bring back flagrant fouls, but do not make injuries depend on them
• Bring back the ability to push players to commit an intentional foul in addition to the "Intentional Foul" quick play
• Add the ability to force fancy passes, but make these difficult to pull off in traffic and with poor passers
• Add player specific behaviour/personalities
• Tone down the CPU's ability to catch up - make it realistic. If the CPU is down by 30 with two minutes left, they should sub out their starters and officially recognise "garbage time".
• Have more control over alley-oops; make it possible to direct pass on alley-oops to ensure the right player goes for the lob.
• Add the ability to dribble out of the double team - should depend on player's ratings
• Give the user more control over stealing the ball when double teaming. Being too aggressive should result in a foul.
• Add more hook shots to the game, including running hooks.
• Allow more mid-air decisions ie. passing during a layup/dunk animation
• Restrict direct passing options to players that would be visible to the ballhandler. Would be affected by a player's Offensive Awareness.
  

Dynasty Mode

• Add multi-player Dynasty Mode
• Add tasks similar to the "Owner Mode" in Madden. Make these tasks optional for those who want to play the classic Dynasty Mode
• Keep track of more records and announce when they are broken
• Add summer league/pre-season games
• Expand training camp with drills and more practice sessions
• Add minor league such as the NBDL or CBA
• Adding a trading block to entertain offers for players
• Bring back the option of completing or cancelling a trade
• Add mid-level exceptions and 10 day contracts
• Add the ability to buyout player contracts when releasing them. Users would have to negotiate these with the player's agent.
• Have players demand trades/buyouts/extensions
• Add a rumour mill. "League sources" would report possible trades and players who will likely re-sign/look to sign elsewhere/want to be traded.
• Add the ability to trade future draft picks (within a reasonable period of time)
• Add the ability to sign players to extensions before their contract is up
• CPU teams should make more transactions, but keep them realistic!
• Have better selection of new jersey numbers when a player is traded to a team where his number is already taken. Perhaps have a history of jersey numbers so that a player will select a number he has used before (or a more appropriate variation of his number).
• Recognise retired jersey numbers; disallow the user from selecting retired numbers for current players
• Retire numbers for each team, not just for the user's personal Hall of Fame.
• Designate substitution patterns for simulating
• Expand Simulation Intervention; allow the user to resume simulation after intervening.
• Add player morale and team chemistry as factors in Dynasty Mode
• Add the ability to hire and fire coaches. Make coaches have an impact on the team's success.
• Players go on hot/cold streaks. They shouldn't be able to play the same way for the entire season. Includes players on CPU teams.
• Add restricted free agency
• Add the ability to save during the offseason
• High-rated free agents should lower their asking price through the season so that they match latch on with a team, even if it's only until the end of the year.
• Do not automatically sign rookies when they are drafted. Allow teams to hold their draft rights and choose whether to sign them or not.
• Allow trades during the draft
• Make the offseason less linear. The draft and draft lottery should occur at set times, but you should be able to re-sign players, sign players, trade players and see players retiring throughout the offseason.
• Continue to tweak the simulation engine so that players have realistic averages. Some bench players should have starter-like numbers.
• During the offseason, allow more than 15 players on the roster. Each team must cut their roster down to a maximum of 12 active and 3 inactive players before the season begins.
• Ability to un-retire players within the first year of their retirement. Might be a way to correct an early/unexpected retirement, having the option to coax a player into playing one more year.
• Receive a warning when a player is contemplating retirement.
• Add complete NBA records.
• Add All-NBA Third Team to Offseason Awards.
• Allow players to vote for All-Stars/improve All-Star selection
• Add more statistics eg Double-Doubles, Triple-Doubles, Assist-to-Turnover ratio, etc.
• Tweak Dynasty Points so that players who simulate games can still earn enough points to perform management tasks

Graphics & Presentation

• Add a CPU-orientated user interface with drop-down menus
• Include all authentic NBA stadiums
• Add full intros for both teams and make it available in all modes
• Add more player specific shooting styles and make them available in 5 on 5 gameplay
• Improve player animations; eliminate "skating"
• Improve the statistics displays and allow sorting on all stats screens. Display career stats in table format (similar to nba.com player profiles and trading cards)
• Add animations in the Playbook
• Make it possible to view a player's potential, not only during the draft but for all young players in the league
• Add pre-game/post-game/halftime shows with highlights and stats
• Bring back the team ranks (scoring, rebounding, defense, ball control and overall) in addition to overall team ratings
• Bring back User Profiles
• Remove the "logo flash" between cutscenes etc. Replace it with stats overlays
• Add an animation for players getting dunked on
• Add player free throw ritual animations
• Allow players to have multiple hairstyles
• Display player career stats and info when viewing retired jerseys
• When two players on the same team have the same surname, display their first initial
• Add a better TV style camera angle
• Add 3D crowds. Have some people wearing home team jerseys and perhaps holding up signs
• Make instant replays accessible at any time
• Show players walking over to the scorer's table when substitutions are pending
• Add more player celebrations after big plays
• Have players show a lot more emotion on the court
• Allow player hairstyle and facial hair to change in Dynasty Mode; perhaps let the user alter them?
• Add movement to jerseys, shorts and hair

Sounds Effects & Music

• Add more announcers and commentators, perhaps leaving Marv and Mike for bigger games/designated TNT broadcasts
• Add team specific crowd chants
• More variety in the soundtrack
• Improve the relevance of the commentary.
• Add a text-to-speech engine for created players. Allow players with common names in the game to have audio pieced together (might require a few common names to be recorded)
• Have the commentators display a lot more emotion in big games and on big plays

Roster Management

• Allow less than 12 players on the active roster
• Add a "Creation Zone": Design custom courts, jerseys and shoes etc as well as create players
• Further expand the amount of customisation for created players. Also perhaps include a few templates so that you can automatically select a certain headshape etc
• Add even more hairstyles/facial hairstyles
• Bring back the Custom Team feature, with the following changes:
  
  • Ability to designate custom team as a regular NBA team, All-Star team, or special team. Special team would basically be the old format of custom teams, while the other classifications speak for themselves. Of course, since it's a created team, it would be deleted when the rosters are reset, no matter what the classification.
  • Ability to specify uniforms worn - custom made ones (selecting colours, etc), individual NBA team jerseys (so you could create All-Star/All-Rookie/All-Sophomore teams), or perhaps some generic ones.
  • More generic custom team art. Simple "NBA" logos, a basketball going through a hoop, etc. Do not make the team logo automatically show up on the jerseys. This way, you could make a custom East All-Stars team from the 80s that would use the East All-Stars logo, but would have a red or white jersey with the 80s style NBA All-Star logo on it. Basically, just a little more customisation.
• Allow the user to choose more performance attributes for created players, such as Destiny/Potential, Dunk package, shooting form etc.
• Add multi-team trades. Allow the user to suggest movement between CPU teams. All CPU teams must agree to the deal.
• Allow teams to trade more than three players
• Make draft picks independent of players when filling draft "slots"
• Allow editing of shoe colours
• Create/Edit-a-Coach
• Add the ability to export and import rosters in Dynasty Mode
• Add a suspended list/injury exception so a team can have more than 15 players on its roster
• Allow trading of draft picks outside of Dynasty Mode
• Bring back the old "Restore Rosters" feature, where all transactions and created players are wiped. Make it possible to reload the default rosters.
• Ability to edit the default All-Star teams (which would save patchmakers a lot of work . Also have the ability to "Select New All-Stars" when playing an exhibition game with the All-Star teams. These changes, unlike editing the default teams, would only be temporary.
• Bring back the ability to disable automatic roster re-ordering.

Realism & Accuracy

• Add the "5 Seconds Back to the Basket" rule
• Add lane violations
• Add loose ball foul/off the ball fouls
• Add pushing fouls
• Add some real restrictions to Dynasty Mode (ie players placed on IR must sit at least five games unless not replaced on active roster). Also, playoff rosters must be set before advancing to the playoffs and cannot be altered (IR must miss the playoffs) once the postseason begins.
• Add Offensive Goaltending

Patching/Modding

• Make sure the game is patcher-friendly, from the graphics to the DBFs

All-Star Weekend

• Expand dunk contest with the ability to dunk two basketballs, jump over teammates, etc.

Bugs/Things to fix
First and foremost, fix all bugs in NBA Live 2005! But a couple of specifics...

• Bring back the ability to save stats
• Make sure elements such as the settings and unlocked items are saved correctly

Online Mode

• Turn on Fatigue for Ranked Games
• Allow users to change settings such as the Playbook and sliders
• Instead of (or in addition to) the online mode being P2P (and hence limited to 2 players), release a dedicated server (so that ISPs can host games in a similar fashion to FPS like counter-strike), allowing up to 30 players to connect to the one server.

Settings & Ratings

• Bring back the Clutch rating
• Allow different sliders to be used in All-Star Weekend games
• Add a slider for defense reaction time
• Add a slider for alley-oop frequency and success
• Add the ability to select different rules (NBA, International, College, Old School NBA)
  

Miscellaneous

• Add more throwback jerseys
• Add more NBA Legends
• Add historic courts
• Add more special teams, such as the current Team USA
• Add the ability to save replays as mpeg or avi files
• Add a practice mode with more than one player. Add drills and free throw practice.
• Add the ability to select different All-Star jerseys; current, retro or original team jerseys
• Add classic/championship teams
• For active players in the legends pool and decade all-stars, use a different (ie younger) face for their legendary counterpart
• Retain ability to choose jerseys, but automatically designate alternate jerseys on Sunday games.
• Add more statistics such as Season Highs, Career Highs, Team Leaders, etc.
• Show more fans in the stands when popular teams are playing.
• Add the ability to navigate the menu in the PC version using a gamepad

Last edited by Andrew on Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:52 pm, edited 5 times in total.

[Andreas Dahl]

10 most pressing issues (no particular order)

• Bring back the ability to save a game in progress
• Allow players to catch passes on the run more often
• Allow players to go after loose balls when their shot is blocked or the ball is stripped from them
• Add summer league/pre-season games
• Add the ability to save replays as mpeg or avi files
• Make sure the game is patcher-friendly, from the graphics to the DBFs
• Add loose ball foul/off the ball fouls
• Add the ability to export and import rosters in Dynasty Mode
• Add 3D crowds. Have some people wearing home team jerseys and perhaps holding up signs
• Add an animation for players getting dunked on

Have better selection of new jersey numbers when a player is traded to a team where his number is already taken. Perhaps have a history of jersey numbers so that a player will select a number he has used before (or a more appropriate variation of his number).

Maybe there should be a shart of all the numbers (00-99) that comes up every time a player come to your team and you are the one that choose what number too give him. The number that he has had could be in bold or something like that just in case...


More stuff:

• Ad more, and much more detailed shoes.
• Do not let the user have the ablility to change a shoes color.

[Arcane]

I was talking to Andreas Dahl about this a few weeks back in ideas for live 06 and some of the ideas from memory are:

- for players/teams to celebrate like in real life if they git a big buzzer beater to win game and to do things maybe long the lines of this as an example:
http://photostore.nba.com/source/Detail ... ction=&ss=
or this
http://photostore.nba.com/source/Detail ... ction=&ss=

- if ea continue the idea of the dunk comp to include the ability to get another player to do the off the bounce pass or to jump over

- for dunk comp again to select to jump over ball rack or use 2 balls to dunk (larry nance style)

- more realistic shoes with all brands not just 3 brands with the ability to choose different shoes for each teams jersey type like when you could do that in 03 & 04 with the customart ability with classic jordans like pro quicks team flows & rbk nba shoes as well as rbk the blash shoes

- different player nicknames or more selection

- different tats

- more hair and facial hair styles not to mention more realistic styles.

- better dunks in which players get tangled and more posterized styles in which someone dunk right over a player like :
http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51924 ... 9B9B114CE8
or
http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51838 ... 9B9B114CE8
or
http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51802 ... 9B9B114CE8

- the ability to save relays as mpeg or avi sounds good

- bring back mj

- usa teams

- classic all star weekend teams and uniforms

- all team uniforms

- more shooting styles in game

- better fast break abilities without defense catching up as easy as they can

thats all I can think of for now.

[MJ_realm]

--yeah, have that celebration specially in close and tight games... even with just a minute left.. inlcude chest bumps..

-- players should look at the player who has the ball especially when dunking...

[Kuttan]

i got 2 tht will overall bring up the presentation of the game

1) Players to have emotions...like they SCREAM when they dunk and not the stone face
2) Commentary to be more exciting...like OMG DID U JUST SEE THT

yeh..so tht

[platinum_cjb]

if i may suggest i dont remeber seeing this but they should also add

the ability to grow hair/cut hair during dynasty.

and they should make all gameplays except rookie gameplay harder, to mak it challeneging

they should add every single legend

and somthing during dynasty the points to buy scout reports on rookies they should let you practice against them so you can what he's made of.

that all my ideas ill be back later if i get some more.

[cashless__]

Andrew please add this ..

OK, here are my most pressing issues...

All-Star Weekend
- The entire event should take place in the real hosting team's stadium, so in Live 2006's case, The Toyota Center.
- For God's sake, slow the tempo down in the All-Star game. I know it's supposed to be funny and all to play but the tempo is actually much lower in the All-Star game compared to a season game. Hell even a practice.
- In addition to the Slam Dunk Contest, 3-Point Shootout, All-Star game and the Rookie Challenge add the Skills Challenge and the Shooting Stars (wouldn't you love to make that mid-court shot with a 55-year old legend. And yeah, keep the legends in their current age. Make Magic look a little fat hehe)
- Keep up the good work in the Slam Dunk Contest. Add even more animation by double-taping the buttons or whatever... Make the transition between two animations smoother. We should also be able to use a team mate. Jump over him, make him toss the ball to you ect ...


Environment & Atmosphere
- Make the crowd look alot better to start with. The crowd should be of about the same detail level as the players (At least the once you see in cutsceens).
- More variety!! Use and loop at least 30 different looking real life human beings, and make them individually animated. Individual cheering animation, individual animation when they change their sitting position. And please, put some color on them. The crowd in all previous live games (except 2000) have been looking like a Siberian army.

http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51904 ... 9B9B114CE8
vs
http://images.ea.com/sports/games/2005/ ... hots/9.jpg

- 3d Crowd around the court like ESPN NBA 2K5.
- Authentic TV-camera for every team. Capture the exact angle and height of the position of the camera their using for each stadium. Like the camera in the First Union Center isn't placed exactly at the mid court. It's placed like 2-3 meters to the left of the midcourt so you don't have the exact same angle of the two baskets. In this camera angle you'll see the back of the people at the 10-12 rows. Place them so tight and close to the pitch you sometimes really have to strain to see the sideline.
- Some of the home-team supporters should be wearing their team's jerseys. From throwbacks to 3rd shirt.
- Different lightning from stadiums to stadiums. Some stadiums almost have their crowd sitting in the dark, like a move theatre while only the court is lighted (Madison Square Garden), while some stadiums are much lighted all over the building.
- Just better crowd reactions. Stand up and cheer in the last minutes in a close game ect. This should also include the bench players and the other people sitting/ already standing around the bench.
- Kobe should get heckled in Philly.
- Of course, everything should be taken to the extreme during the playoffs. The Crowd should go even louder like they tare the roof of after an important 3-pointer or a highlight dunk.
- Add more and more photographers, people standing around the court, the bigger the game is. I want as many photographers as they had in the dunk contest in Live 2005, and they should sit really close to the baseline to. I want the arena to really feel crowded and alive.


Graphics and animations
- Just loose the skating once and for all.
- Use like 5 different equipped guys in mo-cap to do the animations.. Here's why; now less skilled players do the same moves as skilled players, only in some sort of slow motion. Shaq's and Iversons spin moves shouldn't look alike; no motions should be the same for shaq and iverson for that matter. I think they should use different player types for all the moves. That way, your five starters will feel alot more individual. If a big clumsy player try’s to go all Harlem globetrotters it shouldn't look like it's supposed to do, only in slow motion, but the moves should look more awkward. Same thing for running, jumping, passing, shooting, stealing, receiving .. whatever. In live 2005, if I’m not mistaking, a 38 year old Dikembe Mutombo has the exact same running animation as Lebron James (twice the speed, half the age). To me this is a really big problem!!
- I just want better overall graphics. Loose the half-cellshading looking graphic and go for the more photo realistic look. To be honest, the player models in live 2005 suck! It's very hard to recognize the players.
- Shorts and Jerseys should be moving, the more baggy a player rock his gear, the more motion on it.
- Better and more redish-looking rims. Also improve the net and make it like it's supposed to look for once.
- Facial expressions
- Celebrations


Gameplay & Control
- Keep working on the 10-man freestyle (already looks promising), so the players try to break out from their defenders to find an open position. If that worked well, you could really make some nice assists and reduce the 1-on-1 play.
- Just better ball physics. Loose the over-head-traveling-at-the-speed-of-light passes.
- Slow the pace down and use less bounces per meter you advance. The pace and physics just doesn’t feel like realistic basketball.
- Reciving Control - One of my biggest concerns with live 05 is the fast breaks. Or rather the impossibility of going on a realistic fast break. Not only do the next nba live need beter AI in this but it also needs us users to have some sort of control over this. Here's an idea...
Those who have played fifa 2005 knows what I’m talking about, they call it the "first touch control". Basicly, you decide were you want to end up with the ball before receiving the pass. It works really well in soccer and i see no reasons it shouldn't with basketball.
Let's say you're on a fast break or whatever and you're really close to the point line. While the pass is coming towards you, you simply press the right thumb stick in the direction closest to the 3 point line (right or left), and the player will turn his body in that direction while he's receiving the ball. This will look very realistic and it'll be very effective. Same thing can be used for fast breaks. In live 2005 the receiver ends up with the back against the basket in the most cases. If "first touch control" was implanted, you could just flick the right thumb stick against the basket and the player wouldn't end up with the back against the basket. This would also work in favor for the fast players, and acceleration would be an even more important attribute.
You would also come up with some system that make you force a pass in front of the receiving player. Let's say your player is first to the midfield when the offensive team has scored or missed, anyway you have the ball... If you would have made that pass in live 2005 (to the player who has the entire offensive zone without defensive pressure) he would have stopped at his current position to wait on the ball, and the defending team would have caught up with him. (and there's the problem with live's fast breaks right there) If you would have a method that could force a fast break pass in front of the player, so he catch the ball while running, the fast break issue would be partially solved. Maybe hold the left trigger while pressing the pass button??
- Just add a lot more animations. Like if there's a rebound and it's really crowded under the basket, the player who catches the ball could tip it back in the air a few times before he gets control over it (pretty common). I’d like to see players jumping out into the stands and crash into the ticket holders at the first row to grab an out-of -bounds ball ect ..


Practice Mode
- Like Madden, you should be able to try out all these drills and situations.
- You should be able to practice in any stadium (without the crowd) and street court / gym in the game.
- In addition to the 1-on1, there should also be a 5-on-5 practice mood.

[cluber77]

im relly want that in the 2006 we will have helf time report like in tv and after the game have the best playes and moves of the game

[Alcoholic]

(No particular order)

-Players (and crowds) should really get into it late in a close game. That means after making big shots, players bunny hopping down the court and doing chest bumps at the timeout, etc.

-When you make quarter ending shots (and more enthusiastically for game winners) you should see replays, replays, replays, (and commentary) of the shot. Make it feel like it was really a big shot.

-Ingame saves

-Replays of finished games. In games like starcraft, warcraft, and even fps games like counterstrike, you can record or save replays of games. And rts games can go on for hours, an nba live game could be a half hour or more.

-Fix the player skating. They said it's just so you have fluid smooth control, but you don't have fluid smooth control when you are playing defense! If you commit yourself to going left, and the ball handler goes the other way, that doesn't mean you go that way too, that means you just got beat!

-Make the post moves actually effective. The footwork for example should throw the defender off.

-Rebounding should be different. If a lot of players contest the board, it should be tipped. The player that tips it gets an advantage on the next jump because he tipped it to a place more suitable for him. Then when they get enough room or a good position they can grab the board. Some better players should be able to just grab the board without having to tip. And if two players try to grab the board, theres a jump ball.

-Practice mode should let you practice anything. For example if you wanted to improve your nolook pro hop passing you could place a second player of your choice in the spot of your choice then act like your in a game and do the pass to him. Maybe when you say go you can make the second player move up the court to emulate a fastbreak, and then you can practice your ally oop passing, etc. Also over the back calls.

-Theres in-air collisions where the players bump into each other and make a shot attempt. It's not that hard to add on to it so the players collide and one dunks on the other is it?

-There must be a clutch rating.

[A.I.2]

I took what I thought was important from the original post and I said why I think it's a good idea, how to implement it, or added a few words:

Gameplay/AI

Implement real NBA strategy. The CPU should beat you through playing a good game, not "cheating".

When the User controlled team are planning a startegy, the opposing team should somewhat try to contain the other team and make a stop\cause a turnover.

Bring back the ability to save a game in progress.

It should be nice and it's very popular, and only for that, it should be in the game. I for one, think that there are better factors to look at.

Don't allow CPU players to catch up so easily on fast breaks .

Iverson running to the basket on a fast-break should not blocked by someone like Vin Baker\Derrick Coleman\A big player who can barely run.

Add the ability to set substitution patterns .

I think setting something like 6th man, 7th man and etc. on the team should be included. Even setting how many minutes a player should get in simulation or even in regular game.
Say, I set my 6th man to get between 20-25 minutes a game and my 10th man would get something between 5-10 minutes and both play the SF position. One would get 21 minutes and the other would get the rest, which are something like 7 minutes (considering the Starting SF got the other minutes - 20 minutes).

Add the option of locking a player when auto-subs are enabled so that he will remain on the court until you decide to sub him.

I hate playing with Brand on locking PF and every 2 minutes Wicox come in and replace him when my goal is to play only with Brand, all the time.

Add the ability to set team strategy before starting a game.

I hate the fact that I need to exit to the menu right after I jump-balled, just to set my team's strategy/

Improve fast break AI. CPU teammates should continue running to the basket in anticipation of a pass.

It not a flowing effect and smoothness when I'm on a 3-1 fast break, I pass the ball to my athletic SF (Maggette) and he simply catches and stop running, so I have to start an offensive play over again, instead of making the fancy dunk.

Add Create/Edit-a-Play.

Very much needed.
When you want to excute a certain play, but you don't have it in your playbook, you would want to create it and use it when ever you want.
A move like that would have to be only with a viewful playbook, like in Live 2004. You draw it on the board and the computer realize how to creat the play but scene after scene.

Add inbounding playcalling.

Very important, too. I would like to design my play for the last few seconds, especially if it can cost me a game.

Allow players to catch passes on the run more often.

When the player gets the ball on a fast-break, always receive the ball on the run. Unless the player catching the ball is terrible at passing\dribble.
But most of the times, guards or athletic SF's with good handling are on the break.

Allow players to go after loose balls when their shot is blocked or the ball is stripped from them.

Yeah, the animation for a player recovering from a block or a steal is so long and annoying, it should be tuned down to a level where the player can compete for the ball. especially if the player getting blocked\stripped is a quick and fast guard style Iverson, Wade, Marbury, etc.

Fix adjusted shots so that the player does not end up behind the backboard.

Players can be behind the backboard if I direct him to go there, but make all shots behind the backcourt as adjusted lay-ups or dunks challening ther defenders to make a foul or block the shot.

Don't always have the small forward inbounding the ball. Allow the user to designate the inbounder if they wish

Have this settings, ala Inbound pass, Techincal FT's, Jumpball, etc. all be changable from a gameplay settings menu. Like in FIFA 2005 for Penalty and stuff.


Have less one-on-one play; CPU teams should register more assists. However, the point guard shouldn't always rack up 15 assists.

The game must be more effective as a team than with superstars.
I hate winning games with the Raptors that have a great SF in Carter against a great team like San Antonio with a lousy SF in Bowen, only based on match-ups like this.

Bring back flagrant fouls, but do not make injuries depend on them.

Also T's should be in the game for hard fouls. It should be somewhat rare, but it should get in the game.

Tone down the CPU's ability to catch up - make it realistic. If the CPU is down by 30 with two minutes left, they should sub out their starters and officially recognise "garbage time".

Not just in situation like this, even with 16 points down with 1 minute down, should not be full with intentional fouls.

Have more control over alley-oops; make it possible to direct pass on alley-oops to ensure the right player goes for the lob.

Have the Alley-oops button pressed once for a long time and then click another button to choose the player to pass to.
Like in the direct-pass system.

Add the ability to dribble out of the double team - should depend on player's ratings

Agreed. I would like to have a chance snapping out of the Double-team.

Add more hook shots to the game, including running hooks.

Something like Yao's hook or Duncan's hook would be great to had to the offensive arsenal.

Restrict direct passing options to players that would be visible to the ballhandler. Would be affected by a player's Offensive Awareness.

Excellent idea. Would be also great for all players on all positions, not just PG's.


Dynasty Mode

Add tasks similar to the "Owner Mode" in Madden. Make these tasks optional for those who want to play the classic Dynasty Mode.

A must. We should look to copy a lot from this series.
It would create a much better Dynasty mode.

Keep track of more records and announce when they are broken

Good for stats freaks, like me.

Add minor league such as the NBDL or CBA

Would be ideal, eventually, in a much much deeper Live.
I would like to see something like in the FIFA series, when you can only chose a team from the low leagues and then advance until the best leagues in the world, in this case the NBA.
But it would require Europeane leagues as well such as the Spanish, Italian, Russian, Greek, Israeli, Franch and Lithuanian leagues. Also the NBDL, CBA and even the WNBA.

The idea is to start in a nice league in Europe or the CBA, NBDL and etc. (you choose between the 2 and can change teams in other lands in the later step of your career), finally making yourself as the best GM\Coach\Player in those standarts and making it to the best league, NBA or WNBA. (It's even for ladies, my friends)

I would kill for this. It would be amazingly deep.
With authentic arenas and rosters for all of those teams in all of those leagues, it would be amazing for every Live fans out there, even in the US. I would expand my thoughts on this if anyone would think it's a good idea, too.

Adding a trading block to entertain offers for players

Good, popular idea.

Add mid-level exceptions and 10 day contracts

A Must. Plus early-bird rights for rookies and for restricted FA's.

Add the ability to buyout player contracts when releasing them. Users would have to negotiate these with the player's agent.

Good for the financilly aspect. I like it a lot.

Have players demand trades/buyouts/extensions

Great to finally put in the game some feelings and thoughts of the players themselves. would be very nice.
Actually it would vital in Dynasty mode.

Add a rumour mill. "League sources" would report possible trades and players who will likely re-sign/look to sign elsewhere/want to be traded.

Nice idea becuase of the looking to sign elsewhere and possible trades, but that can be put in the Trading block, IMO.

Add the ability to trade future draft picks (within a reasonable period of time)

Yeah, something like 5-6 years from the original date of the trade would be ideal.

Add the ability to sign players to extensions before their contract is up

Very very important feature. I love it.

CPU teams should make more transactions, but keep them realistic!

No more than 1-2 blockbusters in a season, but sure nice solid deals are more than welcomed by CPU teams.

Designate substitution patterns for simulating

Should be the same idea I suggested for the regular game.

Expand Simulation Intervention; allow the user to resume simulation after intervening.

Would be nice, but maybe a hard to put in the game.

Add player morale and team chemistry as factors in Dynasty Mode.

I agree, I wrote than down also somewhere below.
I believe it's effect greatly on the team's succes.
See below.

Add the ability to hire and fire coaches. Make coaches have an impact on the team's success.

I agree here.
Coaches are a huge part of a team's succes. Also make indications for the coach defensive, offensive skills, how he gets along with the players, pressure under clutch situations, philosophy and etc.
Make an option to create a coach, and get your own sets of plays to put on your own playbook.


Players go on hot/cold streaks. They shouldn't be able to play the same way for the entire season. Includes players on CPU teams.

I strongly recommend that -see how to implement below.
I believe you should have an chemistry slider for teams and happiness with the teams factor for the players that should effect the hot\cold streak, team play, GM's rating, defensive and offensive performences and
trade value.

Do not automatically sign rookies when they are drafted. Allow teams to hold their draft rights and choose whether to sign them or not.

Good, but I wonder if it will work.

Allow trades during the draft.

Would be an awesome feature.

Continue to tweak the simulation engine so that players have realistic averages. Some bench players should have starter-like numbers.

Could be connected to the substitution patterns above.

Ability to un-retire players within the first year of their retirement. Might be a way to correct an early/unexpected retirement, having the option to coax a player into playing one more year.

Nice option. could be effective.

Receive a warning when a player is contemplating retirement.

Would be good to know if you had a player thinking about retiring so you could trade him\talk to him about that and make an offer to stay with the team for longer deal.

Allow players to vote for All-Stars/improve All-Star selection

Good idea. I hate coming to play the All-Star game and finding some wierd choices like Walker and Van Horn on the starting line-ups.

Add more statistics eg Double-Doubles, Triple-Doubles, Assist-to-Turnover ratio, etc.

Would be nice, but won't add that much to the depth of the franchise.


Graphics & Presentation

Add a CPU-orientated user interface with drop-down menus

Could be a lot easier for us, users, but if it takes too much tim from the Dynasty, I would stick with the original menus.
Althought it would be great.

Include all authentic NBA stadiums

A must.

Add full intros for both teams and make it available in all modes

It would create a great enviorment.

Add more player specific shooting styles and make them available in 5 on 5 gameplay

Too much trouble, isn't it ?

Improve player animations; eliminate "skating"

Would be great.
But it may take away of the smoothness of the game, no ?

Improve the statistics displays and allow sorting on all stats screens. Display career stats in table format (similar to nba.com player profiles and trading cards)

A must, IMO.

Add animations in the Playbook.

A must, a must, a must !
The thing I hate te most in 2004, is the fact that there are no animations in the playbook.
One of the most important things for players like me.
Just bring it back, improved if you can.

Make it possible to view a player's potential, not only during the draft but for all young players in the league

Nice idea, would create continuancy (sp?) and we would be able to play for more than 10 years and still see who's good and who's not.

Add pre-game/post-game/halftime shows with highlights and stats

I like it a lot, too.

Bring back the team ranks (scoring, rebounding, defense, ball control and overall) in addition to overall team ratings

Nice, too.

Remove the "logo flash" between cutscenes etc. Replace it with stats overlays

Include both. Sometims that, somethimes the other.

Add player free throw ritual animations

I would love for that, too.
But I do think it's too much work, it could take some time from other more important things.

Allow players to have multiple hairstyles

Same as above.

When two players on the same team have the same surname, display their first initial

Of course. that would be expected to see.


Add a better TV style camera angle

Just take the regular angles and make the zoom way better. in and out.

Add 3D crowds. Have some people wearing home team jerseys and perhaps holding up signs

Yes, make the hom crowd much more excited and different than in away games.

Show players walking over to the scorer's table when substitutions are pending

That can only add. but not that much important.


Sounds Effects & Music

Add more announcers and commentators, perhaps leaving Marv and Mike for bigger games/designated TNT broadcasts

Would be nice, but how can you know which games are important more in something like 4-5 years ?

Add team specific crowd chants

Would be amazing. I love that.

More variety in the soundtrack

Add something else besides Rap.

Improve the relevance of the commentary.

Sometimes it is a pain in the ass, but overall it's OK.

Add a text-to-speech engine for created players. Allow players with common names in the game to have audio pieced together (might require a few common names to be recorded)

If can added, I would support that a lot.
It's annoying as hell hearing player no. 24 all the time.

Roster Management

Allow less than 12 players on the active roster

OK.

Add a "Creation Zone": Design custom courts, jerseys and shoes etc as well as create players

Only a bonus to me.

Further expand the amount of customisation for created players. Also perhaps include a few templates so that you can automatically select a certain headshape etc

Same as above.

Bring back the Custom Team feature, with the following changes:
Ability to designate custom team as a regular NBA team, All-Star team, or special team. Special team would basically be the old format of custom teams, while the other classifications speak for themselves. Of course, since it's a created team, it would be deleted when the rosters are reset, no matter what the classification.

Ability to specify uniforms worn - custom made ones (selecting colours, etc), individual NBA team jerseys (so you could create All-Star/All-Rookie/All-Sophomore teams), or perhaps some generic ones.

More generic custom team art. Simple "NBA" logos, a basketball going through a hoop, etc. Do not make the team logo automatically show up on the jerseys. This way, you could make a custom East All-Stars team from the 80s that would use the East All-Stars logo, but would have a red or white jersey with the 80s style NBA All-Star logo on it. Basically, just a little more customisation.

Same as above.


Add multi-team trades. Allow the user to suggest movement between CPU teams. All CPU teams must agree to the deal.

Could be huge feature. Popular as well.

Allow teams to trade more than three players.

Same as above.

Allow editing of shoe colours

Nice.

Create/Edit-a-Coach

I wrote about that in Dynasty somewhere.

Bring back the old "Restore Rosters" feature, where all transactions and created players are wiped. Make it possible to reload the default rosters.

Good old feature as well, just bring it back.

Ability to edit the default All-Star teams (which would save patchmakers a lot of work . Also have the ability to "Select New All-Stars" when playing an exhibition game with the All-Star teams. These changes, unlike editing the default teams, would only be temporary.

Agree. also in Dynasty somewhere.

Realism & Accuracy



Add the "5 Seconds Back to the Basket" rule

Agree.

Add lane violations

^

Add loose ball foul/off the ball fouls

^

Add pushing fouls

^

Add some real restrictions to Dynasty Mode (ie players placed on IR must sit at least five games unless not replaced on active roster). Also, playoff rosters must be set before advancing to the playoffs and cannot be altered (IR must miss the playoffs) once the postseason begins.

A must, too. IMO.

Add Offensive Goaltending

Good idea.


Patching/Modding

Make sure the game is patcher-friendly, from the graphics to the DBFs

What's wrong with 2004 patching system ? Just keep it that way.

Bugs/Things to fix

Bring back the ability to save stats

Yeah, for all season, though.
On PC it shouldn't be a problem.

Make sure elements such as the settings and unlocked items are saved correctly

I agree.

Settings & Ratings

Bring back the Clutch rating

very important, too.

Add the ability to select different rules (NBA, International, College, Old School NBA)

Could be a solid move.


Miscellaneous

Add more throwback jerseys

Could be nice, not to important to me.

Add more NBA Legends


^

Add historic courts


^

Add more special teams, such as the current Team USA

^ (Could be inserted in my idea of the much deeper Dynasty mode)

Add the ability to save replays as mpeg or avi files

^

Add a practice mode with more than one player. Add drills and free throw practice.

^

Add the ability to select different All-Star jerseys; current, retro or original team jerseys

^

Add classic/championship teams


^

For active players in the legends pool and decade all-stars, use a different (ie younger) face for their legendary counterpart


^

Retain ability to choose jerseys, but automatically designate alternate jerseys on Sunday games.

^

Add more statistics such as Season Highs, Career Highs, Team Leaders, etc.

Sounds nice.

Show more fans in the stands when popular teams are playing.

A must. it should have a difference between great match-ups as to other regular games.

That's it, guys.
You could replay to anything you want.
I'm waiting for responds.

[Shakes]

Ten most pressing issues:

* Make a proper interface for the PC version, don't just copy the console interface. 640x480 just isn't good enough for a PC title. If tiger woods can be completely different on the PC to on the console, I don't see why live can't.
* In game saves
* Full stats in dynasty mode. Double doubles, triple doubles, assists to turnover ratios, season/career highs, etc. The stuff you'd expect to be able to find on nba.com
* Tweak dynasty points so that people who sim games get around the same amount as people who play games. Remove the unbalanced 250 dynasty points if everyone on your team scores (too easy to do for the point value it gives you).
* Implement the full salary cap rules for dynasty mode. If it's in the game, it should be in the game.
* Improve trading to allow more than 3 players, more than 2 teams and more than just the next year's draft picks to be involved.
* Make off-season non-linear like it is in real life
* Tweak gameplay so that when playing a game it isn't so easy for a good offensive big man to average 40 ppg. Compensate by making the mid-range game more viable.
* Save the last controller chosen on the PC version. You shouldn't have to reselect your controller every time you play.
* Most importantly, make a commitment to actually release patches for bugs, instead of just throwing the game out the door and then releasing a single patch a few months later that only fixes a couple.

[SA37]

Top 10 in no particular order:

- Expand training camp with drills and more practice sessions

- Adding a trading block to entertain offers for players

- Add mid-level exceptions and 10 day contracts

- Add the ability to buyout player contracts when releasing them. Users would have to negotiate these with the player's agent.

- Have players demand trades/buyouts/extensions

- Add a rumour mill. "League sources" would report possible trades and players who will likely re-sign/look to sign elsewhere/want to be traded.

- Add the ability to sign players to extensions before their contract is up

- CPU teams should make more transactions, but keep them realistic!

- Receive a warning when a player is contemplating retirement.

- Allow the user to choose more performance attributes for created players, such as Destiny/Potential, Dunk package, shooting form etc.

[Andrew]

Thanks everyone, I've revised the copy of the Wishlist on my PC and will update the first post in this thread once it's submitted. Again, please suggest things here that are not already on the list, or offer a top 10 (or possibly 15) - those are the most pressing issues now that the List is almost ready to send. Thanks!

[ignatu]

How about have star players actually play aggressively and take over games. In 2005 as in earlier versions the guards do most of the scoring. Guys like Duncan, Shaq, T Mac hardly do a thing when the computer AI is in charge.

Star players should be less likely to be traded for a few decent players. The Heat would not trade Shaq for Eddy Curry and Hinrich, but in NBA 2005 they will. The two bad players for one good or two decent players for one star trades should be filtered through how does the trade effect the team.

Seems to be a lot of quality players left on the FA roster throughout seasons. Top players in the NBA don't wallow on the FA market for a season, in NBA live they do.

For trades a meter like in Madden that shows who the trade favors is nice. In Madden, the meter swings one way or the other to tell whether the deal is even, or good for one team over the other.

Coaches and GMs have a plan for the team, and trade for players who fit their plan.

Have controllable sub patterns, so teams can set who comes in for what starter.

Player Lock Dynasty - you're a player from rookie draft to retirement. You don't control a team, you control a player even if he's traded team to team. You practice, play only as that player, negotiate your salary, etc.

Create a rookie...create players for entry into the rookie draft.

Three team trades.

Sign and trade deals.

Watch only mode for multi-play...so people can watch an online or LAN game between two other players.

NBA Challenge tournament like the Madden Challenge. Bring back the original commish.

[Jona]

A not-so minor issue for gamepad users should be controlling the menus via gamepad, just like in Madden 2005, it is just wonderful...

[fgrep15]

Gameplay/AI

Have less one-on-one play; CPU teams should register more assists. However, the point guard shouldn't always rack up 15 assists.

This will incorporate to having the CPU run their actual plays, and also running their real life NBA plays.

Their needs to be plays with off-ball screens to free players up, and players should catch and shoot, this is also one of the reasons for low assists, no one catches and shoots. When the ball goes in the post, a player who's a good passer like a Shaq or Duncan, will hold the ball high, accept the double team, look for cutters and open shooters, and then make their move

Also allow players to get hot/cold during games, in that if a player get's hot, they'll be able to hit tougher shots, it should just make their FG rating go up by like 10 or something for that amount of time.

Have players actually box out, many times you're able to grab rebounds on free throws, especially against another user, because the users players don't box out.

Improve player lock, so your CPU teamamtes will run the offense, shoot when they should, fill the lanes, and fan out to the corner on the break, and also if they rebound they'll try to get the ball to a ball handler.

Improve post play, it's too easy for players to get around other players in the post

In user vs user, have players bite on pump fakes less, even at 100 fake discipline, they constantly bite on pump fakes.

Improve passing, give us as the user more control in passing, tap pass = lob pass/lead pass, hold = chest or bounce pass. On the fast break a lead pass is one of the most important passes you can make

Quicker reaction when inbounding the ball, when playing vs another user, it's easy to steal inbounds passes because the players can't shake their defender, and when they do, the inbounder takes to long to react to the button press and pass the ball

Make speed and quickness matter more, and make more of a difference in those aspects, when you have Yao guarding you, and you're Iverson, you should fake him out almost every time, I hate having big slow centers keeping up with you on the perimeter.

Quicker player reaction to freestyle moves, and add more freestyle moves.

Change free throw shooting system to imitate the College Hoops type system, where their's not bars or moving lines, it's just like a normal jumpshot.






Graphics & Presentation
Allow us to be able to put players on the IL even if we don't have more than 12 players on the roster. In this years game, you could only have IL players if you had more than 12 guys

More realistic player movement and dribbling

Player celebrations after making a big shot, or after a big play

More TV like presentation, after a shot, the camera will zoom in on the player, and shows them running back etc

Better replays, the replay's are too short, and need to show progression, not just the end result. The Instant replay's shouldn't end after the ball is inbounded, many times you make a nice play, but the ball is taken out of bounds, and you can't see the replay anymore when you click instant replay in the menu.

Improve the passing, the whole ball physics is weird on the passing.



Roster Management
I guess this

Allow us to be able to put players on the IL even if we don't have more than 12 players on the roster. In this years game, you could only have IL players if you had more than 12 guys

would go here.


Realism & Accuracy

Add the "5 Seconds Back to the Basket" rule

Is this an actual rule? I'd want it though, but just wondering

Over the back fouls, but that's part of loose ball fouls

Clear path to basket foul


Settings & Ratings
This is a must, player tendency sliders are needed, this is a huge huge one

Allow the User and AI to have and use playbooks, which can be set by the user in the settings menu [outside the game], we should be capable of setting and saving these for every team.

Add a slider for runners, sky hooks etc, those shots never go in, and some of those are real shots taken in the NBA, and don't have a 1% success rate.

The Crash Boards and Box out options when in-game

Add offensive and defensive awareness sliders

Last edited by fgrep15 on Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[strider]

I don't know what category this fits in...

Include PLAYER_ID in the saved game pstats file:

- Include the player ID in the player stats file saved from a game (assuming they include saving stats)....This may seem trivial , but it makes it FARRRRRRR easier to identify which player the stats record is for when loading stats for online/offline leagues - currently J. Smith identifies about 5 different possible players.

[LilVillian1]

-POSTERISING DUNKS LIKE STEVE FRANCIS IN REAL LIFE (COLLISION)
-LOCKER ROOM PUMP UP AT HALF TIME YOUR THE COACH AND YOU PUMP YOUR TEAM UP FOR THE NEXT HALF SOME HOW, ea can figure it out
-SAVE REPLAY
-SMOOTHER DUNK CONTEST CAUSE SOME DUNKS LOOK TOO ROBOTIC
-CREATE A SHOE OR SOMETHING
-BETTER CREATE A PLAYER
-DIFFERENT LOOKING COURTS
-FANCY LAYUPS LIKE UNDER THE NET REVERSE
-BETTER PUT BACKS
-BETTER REPLAY SET UP
-TRAIN MODE
-ANOTHER MODE OTHER THAN DYNASTY BUT LIKE DYNASTY
-[/b]

[[Q]]

Sounds Effects & Music

• Add a text-to-speech engine for created players. Allow players with common names in the game to have audio pieced together (might require a few common names to be recorded)

I think they should record a sound file for each of the phoenetic sonds so you can "tell" the game how to pronounce a name. It would be easier to record like 45 sound files to make any name that is created.

[oboeguy]

Nice wishlist. I should have stopped-in on this thread sooner! Only a few to add. I think the first two should be pretty trivial, but useful extensions of the current game. The third is a pretty obvious issue that I must have missed when reading the list. The fourth? That's like the "dream school" when applying to college.

- Alley-oops should be enabled from inbounding situations (happens often enough in the NBA in end-of-quarter situations)

- Tap/press of layup/dunk button should distinguish the two, as in the football games it does for a lob pass vs. a bullet pass (so tap for lay-up, hard press for dunk)

- Not sure if it was on the list: bring back the play diagrams. Come on EA Sports, why would you ever take this out? (my guess? it had to do with switching to a new graphics engine, where everything takes time, and this was a low-priority feature)

- Players shouldn't be pushed into half-court violations or out of bounds without a foul being called (happens way too often). I don't expect this one to be explicitly fixed; rather, I imagine the problems in the game which cause the situations are more likely to be tweaked (which is all good in my book).

[oboeguy]

Sounds Effects & Music

• Add a text-to-speech engine for created players. Allow players with common names in the game to have audio pieced together (might require a few common names to be recorded)

I think they should record a sound file for each of the phoenetic sonds so you can "tell" the game how to pronounce a name. It would be easier to record like 45 sound files to make any name that is created.

I hate to tell you, but as someone who worked in the text-to-speech industry, your naïveté is amusing. Companies have worked decades trying to make natural sounding speech from cut-up syllables. It's VERY difficult. Anyway, text-to-speech is soooo not ready for inclusion in a game in this way.

[Metsis]

TOP wants from Metsis:

GAMEPLAY:

1. The problem with the fact that there are way too many blocks in the low-post needs to be fixed... Less blocks -> More missed shots... Just make it harder to make the shot when it is properly contested rather then giving out a block every time. I know it's a lot on how you play, but still. A low post hook shot is blocked 70% of the time.

Less blocks -> More misses (More acceptable and realistic)

And blocked shots do count as missed shots as well for statistical purposes. FG percentages are too high because of this...

2. Fast breaks... Sometimes (too often) a player will stop to catch the lead pass and this makes the CPU catch up on the break. I have noticed that good passers make better lead passes too, but this shouldn't always be so. The CPU players catch up on the break and you can do it too... It ain't a big problem in my mind.

DYNASTY MODE:

Where should I start...

1. And team chemistry ratings for each team... This could be a lump sum of all the players and some players just have better chemistry ratings than others... Could be a similar rating from 0-99 as the others are. Total divided by the number of players on the team would be the rating. If like over 65 there would be a small bonus to passing etc. And if under 40 a small minus. So teams could actually play better than the parts of the team and play worse than their parts. Good examples are Minnesota Timberwolves and Seattle Supersonics just this winter. Wolves would have a bad chemistry and Sonics a good one... Maybe the bonuses and minuses would be to passing/ball control rather than shooting and defense so teams with better chemistry would have less turnovers and would be able to create better shots. And by this way increasing shooting percentages and making it harder to beat.

2. Change team tactics when the players change... In dynasty years go on and players change and retire... Think Miami and in 4 years Shaq decides to hang up the sneakers and leave. I don't think they would be playing it inside that much any more... Doleac is no Shaq... Or won't be in 4 years... This is always difficult, but this needs work. Always has and always will...

3. Fire/Hire coaches... There should be coaches with ratings and styles too... Some like to run, some like to play set-plays... Some like the game more offensive and some like it more defensive... This should effect the team performance like the chemistry thing does too. As there is no total budget in the game there shouldn't be any salary things for the coaches. The hiring process could go through want basis... If you have hired and fired a lot of coaches the top coaches wouldn't want to sign with you anymore or firing/hiring a new coach would cost dynasty points... And the cost could go up if you have frequently fired your coaches -> It takes more to lure in a new coach.

4. Player requests... Players should request for more playing time, trade, new contract. They should also express their happiness about the team success, personal success and good team chemistry... Tell of possible retirement plans etc.

5. Add trading block (has been gone over so many times before)

6. Make the AI do some trades... It does very few trades in the dynasty mode. Trading players would/should effect team chemistry by lowering it for some time before setting to the new overall chemistry rating. New guys bring some turmoil into the team.

7. Rookie drafting... You should have some sort of an overall picture or rumor about all the rookies... Report cards should return as the default way of seeing what the player is made of. You could scout for more specific information during the season like you can in Live 2005... Add the rating approximations to the scouting reports page if you have scouted out that player. The scouts know about atleast something about all the players coming into the league.

SIMULATION ENGINE:

1. What's the deal with a guy shooting 0/3 from the field and 1/1 from the free throw line... This is only possible when a player makes a shot and gets fouled and hurt in the process and another guy comes in to shoot the 'and-1' shot... By other means this is not possible. I see this from time to time on the box scores... This with it's impossibleness has bugged me a bit.

A short list of 10 items... Could be more, but these are the major parts that would make the game more appealing to me and just plain better for all of us...

[janis9494]

10Most important issues to me:
*in Dynasty mode Hottest news would be very,very nice Which player is hot and which is not.Viewing all box scores is too difficult and not interesting.News will be much better and a lot interesting.
*replay saving
*more shotting styles
*realistic dunks (for example i hate seeing those dunks when Carter dunk with 2 man covering.
*more lay-up styles(nery important to me)
*more CPU trades trough season
*tiping the ball is too easy (for example with R.Lewis i tipped ball 9 times in row )
*free throw rituals(like J.Kidd kiss)
*ability to run in fast breaks not let to cach the CPU and blocking from behind(when 3 players is on fast break they going for a 3pt. or mid-range shot not for a lay-up or a dunk

*more dribbling moves
I wish these things will appear in NBA LIVE 2006!!!

[A.I.2]

My 10 musts in the 2006 Live, or start working on some for the 2007-2008 ones, in this specific order:

Add minor league such as the NBDL or CBA -

Would be ideal, eventually, in a much much deeper Live.
I would like to see something like in the FIFA series, when you can only choose a team from the lowly leagues in the beginning and then advance to the better leagues until you arrive to the best league in the world, in this case the NBA.
But it would require Europeane leagues as well such as the Spanish, Italian, Russian (Best in Europe) Greek, Israeli, Franch and Lithuanian leagues (decent one in Europe). Also the NBDL, CBA and even the WNBA.

The idea is to start in a nice league in Europe or the CBA, NBDL and etc. (you can choose between the 2 when you start but you can change teams in other lands in the later step of your career), finally making yourself as the best GM\Coach\Player in those standarts and making it to the best league, NBA or WNBA. (It's even for ladies, my friends).

I would kill for this. It would be amazingly deep.
With authentic arenas and rosters for all of those teams in all of those leagues,specific rules for all of the leagues - it would be amazing for every Live fans out there, even in the US. I would expand my thoughts on this if anyone would think it's a good idea, too.

It would sell a lot more in Europe and in the US.
Would be a great international game.

Add animations in the Playbook -

A must, a must, a must !
The thing I hate te most in 2004, is the fact that there are no animations in the playbook.
One of the most important things for players like me.
Just bring it back, improved if you can.

Add Create/Edit-a-Play -

Very much needed.
When you want to excute a certain play, but you don't have it in your playbook, you would want to create it and use it when ever you want.
A move like that would have to be only with a viewful playbook, like in Live 2004. You draw it on the board and the computer realize how to create the play in scene after scene situation. Including the playbook from 2004.

Add player morale and team chemistry as factors in Dynasty Mode -

I strongly recommend that -see how to implement below.
I believe you should have an chemistry slider for teams and happiness with the teams factor for the players that should effect the hot\cold streak, team play, GM's rating, defensive and offensive performences and
trade value.

Add the ability to hire and fire coaches. Make coaches have an impact on the team's success\ add Create-a-coach feature -

Coaches are a huge part of a team's succes. so make indications for the coach defensive, offensive skills, how he gets along with the players, pressure under clutch situations, philosophy and etc.
Make an option to create a coach ,too, and get your own sets of plays to put on your own playbook so you could choose what type of coach are you going to be in the future. Teams will want to hire you based on your philosophy, if its fits for the team or not.

Add mid-level exceptions and 10 day contracts -

A Must. Plus early-bird rights for rookies and for restricted FA's.

Have players demand trades/buyouts/extensions -

Great to finally put in the game some feelings and thoughts of the players themselves. would be very nice.
Actually it would vital in Dynasty mode.

Add the ability to buyout player contracts when releasing them. Users would have to negotiate these with the player's agent -

Good for the financilly aspect. I like it a lot.

Add a rumour mill. "League sources" would report possible trades and players who will likely re-sign/look to sign elsewhere/want to be traded/ entertain offers for players -

Good idea. popular, too.

Grapchis issue -

Make a proper interface for the PC version, don't just copy the console interface.
640x480 just isn't good enough for a PC title. If tiger woods can be completely different on the PC to on the console, I don't see why live can't. Make it atleast up until 1024x768.

Allow trades during the draft -

Would be an awesome feature.

Don't allow CPU players to catch up so easily on fast breaks -

Iverson running to the basket on a fast-break should not blocked by someone like Vin Baker\Derrick Coleman\A big player who can barely run.

Add a CPU-orientated user interface with drop-down menus -

Could be a lot easier for us, users, to navigate in the menues.
It would be great.


That's it. Thanks for giving up the option to add things to the list before it being sent out.

[tempo]

Andrew please add this to the list its a MUST.....User Profiles, i cant belive these wernt in this years version.

All the other ideas were great as well.