Groundbreaking Feature Revealed

[rdelizo35]

NTC,

Nash averaged 60 a game last year when you played Live '08?!!! wtf?! Those numbers make what Wilt did look terrible in comparison!

God, I hope that they do fix the simulated stats problem because it can get really irritating.

[Darko_Milicic]

I don't like it. Its unnecessary. I do care more about Gameplay.

[rdelizo35]

Darko_Milicic,

Personally, I like it. Besides, if it will help make gameplay better, then it will be worth it. Either way, some will like it, while others won't.

That being said, NBA Live '09 will be one heck of a game when it comes out.

[ThaLiveKing]

I don't like it. Its unnecessary. I do care more about Gameplay.

The gameplay videos look 200 times better than last year

[Cool2Fool]

Man I rather see NBA live academy than this so called ground breaking feature.

[Patr1ck]

I wonder if EA Sports was expecting a "Holy Crap that's awesome!" from the community. It seems to be getting mixed reviews, with some of us saying that it is going to be awesome and others saying it's just a roster update. I wonder if they didn't reveal the feature earlier so 2K Sports couldn't steal it.

My opinion about it is that it is a great break through, but it won't matter at all if the game does not have solid, balanced, responsive gameplay. If you can't control your actions as quickly as possible, or certain parts of the game can be exploited to the brink of "cheese", it will distract from the great features.

[Ruthless Outlaw]

I don't understand how people say that the feature is unnecessary. I mean, atleast there is no negative aspect coming out of this feature, the only things that come from this is positive. And by the way, when the ratings and AI is updated to play as the real players, it affects the gameplay, which makes the gameplay better.

[benji]

Unless the ratings are poorly updated. (I don't see anything in this about AI being updated.) And the gameplay and AI are so terrible it can't be fixed by minute rating changes.

[RapsPlayoffs]

How so? It's not just a roster update, which is something I think a lot of people might be focusing on. It's also meant to be an upgrade to player AI; if it works as intended, we should see the right players taking the shots and taking the kind of shots you'd expect them to take in a real game. Daily updates also mean that any errors should be corrected within 24 hours and if the roster updates themselves are more detailed, with fewer missing players and ratings updates, so much the better.

It remains to be seen how well it will work for everyone but I wouldn't call it unnecessary.

Actually, the roster updates is the only thing that I like about this. Where a player shoots and how much he makes it in real life should have nothing to do with a player in game. The only factors that should determine a player's accuracy is how long you hold the shoot button, how high his rating is, and how close the defender is. Personally, I would hate to miss all my shots with a player just because he's on a cold streak in real life. As realistic as a game can be, a video game is still a video game. Also, how do you know this feature will actually work well? EA always makes these new features in every new release and they turn out to look like unfinished test products. They should work on improving what they already have to make this a solid game, instead of adding a 'groundbreaking' feature to make it go over the top every year.

[SHAFT23]

they should have an option that disables the hot spots all together in user vs user games. In the games i have played a lot of guys shot from the same spots all game.

[NTC]

The feature doesn't seem that great to me, and I'm quite dissapointed this was the "big feature".

Granted, it does change the way sports games will be played, as they said, but the fact we'll likely have to pay for it renders it pretty much obsolete, as I'm not going to pay to use it, and I think alot of people will feel the same way.

[Andrew]

I don't see this features as a groundbreaking, but it's ok

The entire concept has never been done before (though certainly elements of it are familiar) so I think it was fair enough to say it's ground-breaking.

If Kobe shoots like 5-25 in real life and you play a whole season the following day, would your Kobe be in a slump the whole season? And the next time, say he shoots 20-25 in real life, would that mean, he shoots freaking hot every single game you play on that day?

It's based on a ten day span, so one bad game is not going to result in players being reduced to scrubs, nor will it result in ratings being maxed out because someone got hot and went off for 40 points while making two thirds of their shots.

Andrew, will this mean simulated stats for players on other teams, are alot more realistic now? (i.e. no Steve Nash dropping 60.0ppg like I experienced last year)

I don't think it's going to have much of an impact on simulated stats. That's a different area. With the featured scorer logic and Player DNA we shouldn't see players like Nash go off for 50 points all the time during gameplay but the simulated stats that I saw were off which was a bit of a letdown. Hopefully they fix that before the game goes gold.

I don't like it. Its unnecessary. I do care more about Gameplay.

How is it unnecessary? It's not like they ignored gameplay to bring us this feature; the feature is meant to affect and improve gameplay by giving players a new level of logic. I think you might be focusing on the roster update element and not the new stuff that is going to be updated. Granted, I'm not sure how well it will pan out but it's a feature that's very much geared towards making the gameplay better. Hopefully, it will prove to be a success.

Man I rather see NBA live academy than this so called ground breaking feature.

I'm not sure what your objection is. It's not like you have to choose between the features. If you don't have any interest in this particular feature, it's not like you're missing out on having the NBA Academy.

As far as it being ground-breaking, again I think it was a fair enough assessment. I can't think of another sports game like NBA Live (excluding text sims and manager games) that have boasted daily updates as NBA Live 365 will.

I wonder if EA Sports was expecting a "Holy Crap that's awesome!" from the community. It seems to be getting mixed reviews, with some of us saying that it is going to be awesome and others saying it's just a roster update. I wonder if they didn't reveal the feature earlier so 2K Sports couldn't steal it.

I think a lot of people are dismissing it as just a roster update or are focusing too much on whether it deserved to be called ground-breaking rather than judging it on what it's going to bring to the table, good or bad. I'm sure a lot of people had their heart set on it being something else as well which has led to some disappointment when it's turned out to be something else altogether.

Actually, the roster updates is the only thing that I like about this. Where a player shoots and how much he makes it in real life should have nothing to do with a player in game. The only factors that should determine a player's accuracy is how long you hold the shoot button, how high his rating is, and how close the defender is.

Well, it's how well he shoots in real life that goes into determining those ratings so I'm not sure what the problem is there. It's just that there's some other logic in there that in theory will have the players playing more realistically, so you won't see Steve Nash constantly driving to the basket or Tony Parker being the guy to set picks for the Spurs. I can't see how that would be a detriment to gameplay.

Personally, I would hate to miss all my shots with a player just because he's on a cold streak in real life. As realistic as a game can be, a video game is still a video game. Also, how do you know this feature will actually work well? EA always makes these new features in every new release and they turn out to look like unfinished test products. They should work on improving what they already have to make this a solid game, instead of adding a 'groundbreaking' feature to make it go over the top every year.

You can choose note to use the latest updates; indeed, if you've started a Dynasty game the updates won't apply to that saved file. That means if you're happy with the ratings as they are (or as of any particular update), you can save them along with the roster, use it to start a Dynasty and keep playing with that one. The whole package being offered includes daily updates but you don't have to make use of that if you don't want to. As I said before though, it's not like one bad game sends a player's ratings right down the tubes.

I'll grant you that I don't know that it will definitely work out but it can't be said that it will definitely fail, either. I think if it works out as well as planned it's going to be great so I do have high hopes for it.

The feature doesn't seem that great to me, and I'm quite dissapointed this was the "big feature".

Granted, it does change the way sports games will be played, as they said, but the fact we'll likely have to pay for it renders it pretty much obsolete, as I'm not going to pay to use it, and I think alot of people will feel the same way.

You don't like the idea of players playing their real life counterparts? That's what Player DNA is aiming to achieve. Time will tell how well it work out but I would have thought that would be a well-received idea. Again, I have high hopes for it.

I do agree about the possibility of paying for the service in the future but nothing is confirmed there and as Pasta said the consumer reaction to that may play a role in whether it becomes a paid service. I'm certainly not keen on paying for the updates but it remains to be seen exactly what will happen there.

[Cool2Fool]

I mean I'd love to see nba live academy demonstration at E3 over this. Suck's they didn't show alot of gameplay

[Bmur]

Is the Player DNA only going to be on the ps3 and xbox 360?

[Cool2Fool]

Yes and only.

[shadowgrin]

To take advantage of NBA Live 365, you will need to input a code that is shipped with the game. We were told that an Xbox Live Silver account is sufficient for Xbox 360 users who wish to use the service. 365 is available free of charge in NBA Live 09 though it was hinted during the discussion of the feature that it may carry a charge in the future.
While it remains to be seen just how well NBA Live 365 caters to hardcore and casual gamers alike, I do think the entire package is worthy of the "ground-breaking" hype. More than just a daily roster update, it's also adding new dynamic player logic that if effective should have players performing as they should, intelligently and realistically. The concept of a sports game that will update, evolve and change over the course of a season is certainly a new approach which I hope will pay off as we'd all like.

If they plan on charging for it, why should I pay for a feature that should actually be part of the game?
Isn't that the purpose of developing the AI of sports games, for it to be real like "in the game"?
Silly, money-grubbing EA.

[rdelizo35]

Shadowgrin,

That's a good point.

[benji]

It's not AI, it's just ratings updates. So, of course they can charge you for it.

It's based on a ten day span

Gross. Don't they know anything about sample sizes?

[Patr1ck]

You probably won't need to pay for it to get it. I mean, you can share rosters, so who is to say you can't share a DNA updated roster with someone who isn't paying for the service? Unless they take sharing out from the game, or that the DNA is speperate from the rosters themselves.. God knows they don't take things out of the game for the better.

I don't expect them to charge an immense amount for the service. People probably won't want to pay if it cost too much, and then it will be taken out.

Also, if this is to change the way sports games are made, then it is likely that all of their games will include this at one time or another. EA Sports is paying alot for that service, and if it can really improve the gameplay and create a new experience every day, then it is worth giving them some extra bucks.

[rdelizo35]

Pdub,

I agree with you 100%. I think the cost issue is okay as long as it's reasonable. I'm okay with paying a little more $$$ if it means better gameplay and a more realistic experience.

Didn't EA pay Synergy Sports something like $20,000 - $30,000? If that means paying $10 - $20 a month fee, I don't see that as being a major problem. Of course, that's just my opinion and I'm sure that there will be plenty out there who will disagree and that's okay.

[ThaLiveKing]

So does play callin adjust as well?

[rdelizo35]

ThaLiveKing,

Yes, I believe as the Dynamic DNA data on NBA Live 365 changes, so does signature playcalling to accomodate those changes.

So if Paul Pierce is changed to a more pick and roll type player, then I think you'd then see more of pick and roll plays for Pierce as opposed to isolations or whatever.

Also, if we change the Dynamic DNA data ourselves, I think it will also affect signature playcalling, based on the particular changes made.

At least, that's the way I understand it.

[ThaLiveKing]

But it could also mean they run the specific plays that they already put in the game. . . .unless they put a whole lot of Different plays in the game, last year didn't have that much, and is able to match each player tendency changes towards each plays.

But that would be cool if you could import new plays. cause you can get teams to play how each team REALLY plays, not with all the same plays, and just run specific plays that you already know how to stop. It keeps the game fresh. Which is a good thing. When playing I wouldn't mind surprises here and there

[rdelizo35]

ThaLiveKing,

I think that it would be cool if you could import more team-specific and player specific plays into NBA Live. Maybe EA will consider that for a future NBA Live game if they haven't already for NBA Live '09.

I remember an early vid or interview somewhere when Live '09 was being developed, one of the producers said that the signature playcalling would be more team specific.

For example, Lakers run triangle, Spurs use a lot of pick and rolls, etc.

[Andrew]

If that means paying $10 - $20 a month fee, I don't see that as being a major problem.

I don't they'd be charging a monthly subscription for it, $10-$20 would be pretty steep in my view. This is just my speculation but I assume there'd be a once-off fee when you buy the game and activate NBA Live 365, if they do charge for it down the road. I doubt a lot of people would be willing to pay a monthly subscription rate like that, I certainly wouldn't and I like the Player DNA/Live 365 concept.