Hello everyone, this is a great site, this is my first post but hopefully I'll have time to post more.
right, right. Stuff for '07
First off disregard the perhaps disrespectful tone of this post. I like Live '06. It's the first game in the series since 2000 that I haven't uninstalled within a month. Some of the things just seem they could be fixed so easily and yet year after year, they never are. If there's a condescending or annoyed tone it's just because these games seem to be on the verge of greatness but there's always a few things that are just so much more frustrating than they need to be. My apologies if this stuff has already been brought up.
Presentation Wishlisht:
SMALLER FONT: In live 2000, you could see the entire roster on the screen at one time. There is way too much unecessary scrolling in all the pages. We should be able to see more than the top 6 teams when checking the season standings, and there's no reason we can't view all the players on the rosters in the trade players page. The less buttons I have to press to get to where I want to go, the better.
MORE INFORMATION: When you view a player, it won't even tell you what they are averaging in the season, only the totals. This isn't football. Totals don't mean nearly as much as averages. I don't want to have to take a calculator out or go to the players stats page just to find out what a player is averaging per game. Also in regards to more information, let us know on the trade players page how long the contracts are for. At the moment it gives us only the amount. A contract that lasts 6 years is far different than an expiring one in terms of value, let me know what I'm dealing with here. Don't make me have to go back to the GM'S desk to check the contracts for their team. Again, let me spend my time analyzing if a deal is worth pursuing, not ineficiently clicking through the pages back and forth to get all the information I need. This isn't about being lazy, it's about not wasting time so I can get back to playing.
A POSITIONAL DEPTH CHART: Madden has one, but Live could use it so much more. Versatility is the name of the game in basketball and as such I'd love to have the opportunity to set up my depth chart to take advantage of this. If a player is set to go into the game at two positions, the player would go in at the position he's the lowest at that wants to sub him in.
A great hypothetical example of this would be last years portland with with Abdur-Rahim and Randolph. Both are natural power forwards, but Rahim was playing SF. With a positional depth chart, one could simply put Abdur Rahim second behind Randolph and the rest would take care of itself. If Randolph were to get subbed out while Rahim is still in the game, Rahim would automatically switch to the four, while the backup small forward would enter the game. If Randolph were to return into the game and Rahim is at the power forward, than Abdur Rahim would revert back to small forward, or head to the bench depending on fatigue.
A more current example could be with the Spurs this upcoming season. They have Nazr Mohammed and Rasho Nesterovich at Center, but they also have Tim Duncan should they choose to play him there. With a depth chart, you could decide simply who goes in first, and when, if at all, Duncan is to play Center. With a positional depth chart, one could set up their substitution pattern and have it happen automatically instead of requiring the constant pausing and manual subsitituations that happens now. And if one still wants to have that hands on feel, they could simply turn off automatic subs and play it the way they always have. Live NEEDS this.
Dynasty Wishlist:
MORE VARIABLE DRAFTS: This has been a problem for Live for years it seems. The highest players are almost always forwards. I have yet to see a season (Granted I'm only in my fourth), where the highest rated player was a point guard. This was a problem in 2000, and for the few seasons that I played through '01, '03-'05, it was a problem then as well.
MID LEVEL EXEMPTION: The constantly increasing cap helps, but there always seems to be players that sit out the season as opposed to playing for the minimum since almost all the teams end up over the cap. At the moment I have a 32 year old Antawn Jamison sitting at home in free agency simply because no one can give into his contract demands. I went through with the editor you provide here (A wonderful tool I might add), the season before to get some players willing to play at less of a cost, but the less manipulation I have to do the better. It doesn't feel right forcing him to take less money than deciding what team to trade him too taht needs a small forward. If every team has a midlevel exemption, that's up to 30 more players that could be signed beyond the current amount. That would solve alot of the problems with free agents that should not be sitting at home.
MORE INFORMATION FOR THE DRAFT PROCESS: There's a few things here I'd love to see.
First off is give us the information of players during the actual draft. Correctly me if I'm wrong but if I recall correctly, when the draft is going on, you don't have access to a players hieght even. Only the grades the scout has seen in their visit. That's information I should have at the draft without having to write it down.
Second is expand on the information the scouts give you when they visit the players. In madden the scouts will say, this player reminds them of so and so, or what not. At the moment all live does is tell you his greatest strength and weakness, but you can already tell that by the grades. I want to see a little more. Give me some hype. If he's a can't miss prospect let the guy state it. If he's a high energy guy, let the scout say he reminds him of Najera. Let the information get more detailed as you visit more often just like in Madden, but do so in a way that makes sense. For instance the first time the scout visits a player say for offense, give the grades as you do now, but throw in some general opinions of his offensive game. Now if you go again for offense, fill in the offensive gaps in grades(if any), but give a more thorough evaluation of his game, and a third time more specific. Same with defense and athleticism. This would give you 9 levels of information to get in scouting a player, which makes the drafting a little more strategic. At the moment if you scout intelligently you can basically get all the informatio you need on every player in the first round and some in the second. With this though do you go for more information on a player or do you fan out some more?
In all if you scout someone you like, this would really give you some hype heading into the offseason to bring that guy in for workouts far more than simply grades can bring. Or it can keep you from wasting your time. The better the scout, the more they may have to say in regards to that aspect of his game.
Finally in regards to the draft. Let us have draft day trades. Correct me if I'm wrong but at the moment you can't make deals on draft day. I want to make trades leading up to the draft and at the draft. If I don't like the players that I've played 1-1 against in scouting and they are the best options at where my spot in the draft, let me try to trade the pick down or up.
RUMORS: On the upcoming free agent page, give a ranking for the chances of the player leaving or not. Increase the chances of a player that is more likely to leave to get traded. But PLEASE let it be logical. If a player is on a 60 win team and a defending champion, make it less likely that he would leave and so on. If a player wants more playing time or a bigger role have it so you can offer that to them in free agency. Lets say you are going after a backup from some team, we'll say Earl Watson. Have it so you can check a box that says guaranteed to start next season as a way of trying to convince him to go to your team. It might not work, but maybe it would improve the chances. If a player gets signed this way, have them locked into the starting lineup for that season.
TRADE ACTIVITY SLIDER: Some people like lots of trades occuring around them and offered to them, others don't. I'm somewhere in the middle. There aren't a lot of deals, at least through four years, in my dynasty. As said, some might like it, others might not, but give us the freedom to control the volume of activity. If we want players flying all over the place, or never leaving unless free agency, let us control it.
ABILITY TO CONTROL OTHER ROSTERS: While a lot of players might use it to cheaply make other teams worse, a lot of us would probably just use it to correct ridiculous mistakes. For instance in my second year Chris Paul was benched for speedy claxton despite being rated 5 points higher overall. In the third season it fixed itself, but for that season it was something that annoyed me. Not in a great deal, but still it was something I should have been able to fix without manipulating the data through an editor. Another example would be in my most recent season, Ben Gordon signed as a free agent in Miami, but rather than start alongside Wade, they started Jason Williams and Wade and benched Gordon and his 85 ranking (he's been flying up the ratings). I went in through the editor and changed it but again I shouldn't ahve had to do it that way. One final example would be the Hawks. In the second season they had the first pick int he draft and used it on a 7'0 269 power forward. Their second round pick they used on a center of basically the same dimensions. When the season started, the second round pick was the one starting at center, and the first pick in the draft was on the bench despite having a much higher rating simply because he was first and foremost a power forward. Unfortunatley the editor won't let me change the roster order for atlanta (it simply says both are starting at center and refuses to bench the other center even after I changed the first pick in the draft to center and his secondary position to power forward). If people want to use the ability to manipulate to cheapen the experience let them. They paid their money for the game, let them enjoy it as they see fit. I just want to help the other franchises make more logical decisions. Starting the top pick in the draft over a second round pick of the same height and weight when both can play center is a logical decision.
Gameplay Wishlist:
GIVE PLAYER LOCK PLAYERS A BUTTON TO SET SCREENS: Is there one and I'm simply missing it? At the moment the only thing I can do with screens is call one for myself. But what if I'm not the franchise player? For instance in my Dynasty I'm Memphis and playing mainly as Shane Battier through player lock. If I want to set a screen for Mike Miller or Damon Stoudamire while they are on or off the ball, I can't. If the programmers didn't want to add in the extra AI required for the computer palyers to decipher which way to go on the screen, let them handle it the same way superstar optionsa re handled. Let me press a button and hold it, than press a different button to say what kind of movement I'd want them to do. pick and roll would be one button, pick and pop out to the free throw line or midrange would be another, having the guy run through and set up at the three point line would be one, while having him go to the opposite side of the court with a double screen along the baseline would be a fourth. These are just hypothetical obviously, but at least doing it as such would allow someone to help other players get open without having the ball in their hands.
LET US LEAD PLAYERS ON ENTRY PASSES INTO THE POST: If a player is getting fronted, let me pass the ball towards the rim. At the moment it's sort of a crap shoot in hopes that my player throws the ball in a way that the defender doesn't get it. If this is possible and I simply don't know how to do it, please let me in on it.
BRING BACK THE MID RANGE GAME: Live '05 was the first year they really tried to have a mid range game be the focus, and while it was a disaster due to the ridiculous amount of blocks, I thought the idea itself was great. In '06, there's some midrange game still, but it's far more minimized. It's a shame because since the blocks were reduced in effectiveness (THANK G-D!), the midrange game would have been far better this year. Yes it was unplayable in '05 but it was worth keeping.
LOWER OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS!!!: I've noticed this has been stated plenty in here so I won't go into it. One thing that has helped me outside of dropping offensive rebounds to 0 and increasing defensive to 100 is going into the defensive matchups, and placing every player on both teams with a 'no' for double teaming. This makes it more likely that a player will box out as opposed to run out and try to block a shot which is usually what aids players in getting offensive rebounds. Players like Shaq and Duncan and other superstars you may want to keep on 'auto' or 'yes', but outside of that force single coverage when you can.
MAKE PLAYERS LESS BLIND: I'm not referring to court vision. While yes the lack of ability to notice a player standing in the middle of the paint alone, or the fact that Pau Gasol is being defended by Earl Boykins is infuriating, I can understand why AI is difficult to create in a basketball game. So while I hope those things will improve, I'm not gonna gripe too much about it. What I do take issue with however is these stupid adjustments players make on layups which often have them shooting the ball behind the backboard. I've actually lost a game bacause damon stoudamire went up for a layup and got pushed into an adjustment and sent the ball intot he back of the backboard. This should never ever happen. Another thing I see way too often is a player trying to dunkt he ball from a position they can't dunk, so they go through their dunk andimation and just end up throwing the ball at the rim from 2 feet away. If an animation is gonna send the ball out of bounds on a shot from close range, don't allow that animation to occur. I can't imagine that being too difficult an AI issue to fix up. Speaking of animations...
CUT OUT SOME OF THE DUMB ANIMATIONS: How often does a player truly throw the ball at the rim from his hip while turned backwards? Is this really something I need to see occur 15-20 times a game? Worse still is that stupid jump animation taht a palyer does when recieving the ball in the post or in several other areas. A player doesn't need to jump when catching a pass from someone who was 5 feet away. The animation adds nothing to the game. Let it go.
CHANGE POST GAME FOCUS: Too often players just barrell into the defender. The post is primarily hooks nowadays with some jumpers and moves into the paint. Improve the AI on post players to make it more realistic. I can understand if this one is a difficult one that would take a few years.
PHYSICS MODEL: Isn't it about time Live had a substantial physics model? Right now players can be seen flying across the court and stopping on a dime and changing directions. This needs to be improved sooner or later. We're heading into next gen, it's time to get it taken care of.
FREE THROW SUBSTITUTIONS AFTER FIRST FREE THROW: Most of the time it seems like substitutions occur after the second free throw, nto the first. The problem with this is if they miss the second free throw and you need to make the switch you actually have to end up calling a timeout. This should be easily fixable but this isn't the first time this has happedn in a live game.
INBOUND PASSING STUPIDITY: How many times have you seen the computer player throw the ball to someone at halfcourt or just simply throw the ball nowhere near anyone and out of bounds? This happens at least three times a game for me (and it's not me they are passing to, ti's computer to computer stupidity. I'm the small forward, they jsut seem to not want to pass the ball to Stoudamire at times). Seriously this should not be as annoying a problem as it is.
WEIRD PASSING SPEED: Is it just me or are some of the passes just really odd? The ball goes way high in the air sometimes, even if the guy isn't even 20 feet away. I guess they want to use that jump animation as much as possible.
I think that pretty much covers it. If there are any others I'll add them in but I don't think I have anyting else to say.
YCS