RATE THE GAME + Thoughts

[koolkatgold]

hi guys, i've been reading the posts about the game... lets designate this topic for overall thoughts on the game... I haven't gotten it yet, but I hope to get it soon

[knyght]

Actually, to be honest I really like the game..it plays fast..but the actualy mechanics of it are nice.

There are a lot of problems people seem to be putting up here about the game, but I haven't had too bad a problem stealing the ball, scoring or having close games...I only altered the quarter length. Of course this causes yet another stat problem in that none of your players will ever lead the league in minutes played.

The graphics are really good, and the sound is much better than 2001...if you turn up the on court sound, and turn down some of the others, you will actually hear the players complaining to the refs...

It will be interesting to see what the roster patch will hold if someone on here ever does one.

[koolkatgold]

It will be interesting to see what the roster patch will hold if someone on here ever does one.

which i'm sure will happen

[knyght]

I am not sure why they have to play these games with testing this and testing that..

EA has some very successful aspects to each of their games. I have Madden 2003 and NHL 2003 and now of course NBA 2003. Why can they not take the trading engine from Madden, and the AI and Gameplay slide bars from Madden and NHL...and combine them all together to have a standard format for their games, then just make game specific changes to the gameplay...

Oh and they should find some new statisticians as well...cause the people that RATE the players in the games...are very optimistic in their position.

[koolkatgold]

ur totally right about the stacticians. I mean come on, robert horry at 86!!! The ratings I think are a bit over rated... and a lot of the players are not as good as their ratings are... they should hire me lol

[braintez]

A lot of potential. However, out of the gate, it appears that EA is catering to the Arcade rather than the Sim crowd.

The biggest thing I love about the PC versions out of almost any game versus the console versions is the edit-ability. The more that get involved in customizing the game, the better it'll be for all of us.

Lastly, before everyone bitches, everyone should be thankful that we got almost an exact copy of the consoles. Nascar Thunder 2003 was HEAVILLY stripped down on the PC. I was hoping that this wouldn't happen to Live too. For a while there, I thought that EA didn't care for it's PC crowd but it appears that they might.

[Brish]

The ratings were WAYYYY to high in the default ratings. I played a 12 min quater game at Superstar level and the game ended up in the 180's (and I actually walk the ball up the court purposely rather than run and gun) with my team shooting in the 70% range and the CPU in the low 80% range. Everyone hits everything.. also too many steals... A lot of times I get doubled in the post and try to swing the ball to the weak side. In te NBA, this would usually result in a lob pass and a 3 from the weakside corner, but in this game it gets picked off every time.

But now I did some editing of the DBF file and the results are much more realistic. The scoring are back down to the 80's and 90's with teams shooting in the 30's and 40's when it comes to FG%. It might be frustrating missing lots open shots, but u gotta agree its more realistic.

Graphics and overall mechanics are a big improvement over Live 2001... love the freestle control and the take charge button. Once the DBF has been edited the game is really enjoyable. If you're to edit your DBF just remember to lower the FGBase, Steals, Speed, Quickness, and OffAwareness all significantly. This results in a slower but much more realistic game. Now if I can only get the computer to stop fast breaking on every single possesion.. or at least get my defenders to get back quicker.

Anothe plus, the game is much more challenging, and as mentioned above, the CPU does break a lot, which is a nice change from 2001 where the CPU has never heard of the fastbreak. And just like the real NBA, the games seem to be a series of runs, the CPU would sometimes go on a 14-2 run on me, then I'd storm back with a 16-6 run of my own. And these runs can all happen in just a few minutes.

Just glad this site is here and the stats are editable... overall good game through

[BBallFreak]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm enjoying this game immensely.

They've made signifigant improvements graphically. Brian Grant now has that funky hairstyle, Steve Nash looks a bit strange, but they did the job. Some of the faces need work, but its been much better. The rookies look pretty decent, too unlike previous versions.

The animations are smoother, looking as if the players are a bit more mo-capped than in previous versions. The game has personality now. The players celebrate, get upset, and screw around a bit (though those animations get old, quick). Adding the coaches has been great, though you wonder if they could put better looking suits on the head men.

Their are however a few gripes. First of all, getting stuck with the point system again rather than salaries... UGH! Heck, they aren't even accurate. Kevin Garnett makes as much as Latrell Sprewell, who makes as much as Allan Houston.

Their are no salary exceptions, either. Once you're over the cap their are only two ways to improve, the draft or trades. I'd really love to be able to add a few players with a mid-level exception, but since their is none, it becomes more difficult to improve my team. Since we still can't trade draft picks either, it becomes increasingly difficult to rebuild through the draft.

Finally, and this seems to be more of an annoyance than anything else, we have to switch rosters everytime we start a franchise mode or else it reverts to the original. Also, it doesn't save my in-game settings or my keyboard configurations. I don't know, maybe their's a way to set up a personal profile that I'm missing, but until I figure it out, I'm stuck floundering.

All in all, this is a great game. Very nicely done...

[bruks]

BRISH can u send your dbf file on this address? bruks@interia.pl

[hoopscitylive]

I'd give it a 4. I'm enjoying the game, and I think it's a great improvement over 2001, but there's still room for improvement.

* No significant changes have been made to franchise mode. (Order of off-season tasks is wrong. Nearly impossible to sign big name free agents.)
* In-game injuries are extremely rare. (How 'bout some random injuries between games. Players do get injured in practice too.)
* No option to create a team, but custom league allows 32 teams. Nice.
* Menu interface is painful to navigate and the resolution is too low. (Shouldn't I be able to fit more than 3 columns on a 17" monitor?)
* The blocks. Oh, the blocks!
* Players steal the ball with their backs turned.

Besides those few negatives, I'm loving the gameplay, the animation, and the return of player tats and accessories. They really add a lot to the game. After a few months of patching, this will be the best Live to date.

[ChochHolla]

i actually enjoy the game even without the patches, but it got frustrating rather quickly. But i know that the game will only get better with the changes to the DBF file, which is why i gave it a 5 overall, b/c i never played a game like this. I rented live 2003 then i rented 2k3, i believe that once you have Freestyle control you couldnt pay me to play game that doesnt.

now the only problem is getting a roster patch that suits my liking.

[knyght]

hoopcitylive "(Order of off-season tasks is wrong. Nearly impossible to sign big name free agents.)"

I saw in the players.dbf file that it is possible to change the players "worth" in points...does anyone think it might be better if the players worth was more relative to what they actually get paid...and then of course the salary cap would need to be changed as well. Cause I do not know of an NBA team that has a salary cap under 1 million dollars...

I found a site that has the estimated salaries and contract lengths on it...but I am not sure how to deal with the mass amounts of data they have in there. Formatting and such.

Any ideas?

[ShaqDaddy]

I am a long time ea bball player - lakers vs celtics days, and still own every 'live' that was released on PC, so was really looking forward to 2003.

Have to day that in general I am happy with the game, with a couple of things that bug me.

1) By default the 3 point percentage is far too high - far too many go in during a game and it becomes a bomb-fest....
2) The computer catch up - ahead by 15 - all of a sudden the computer can steal everything and hit everything while my shooting percentage plummets....and thats with catchup off in the options.
3) Its too easy to draw offensive fouls on the computer - I have had to turn this way down or its too easy.
4) Online matchup is too slow for me - on 128Kb ADSL connection....but then again I am from New Zealand.

Am looking forward to adjusting the ratings and getting more realistic values in there...I dont have too many problems with the scores being high (I am playing 5 min quartes) and the inside fg% seems fine - as long as I play tight defense.