The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

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The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby hova- on Wed Oct 25, 2017 1:08 am

Hey guys,

so I started editting tendencies and rosters for NBA 2k18 lately and my goal is to start a MyLeague experience later on with realistic roster & gameplay.

Some of you know me as I had posted several franchise stories before on this forum - I am here for more than ten years now and obviously things have changed. Not only on this forum - with members and great characters / storymakers coming and going - but also in real life basketball.

I remember my first dynasty that I had started after several years of absence - I was playing NBA live 2005 with the Nuggets with Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, Andre Miller, Kenyon Martin and Voshon Lenard making the starting five. The goal with this roster was to make the playoffs and then maybe get past the first round. But there was some great competition in the West with the Mavs, Rockets, Jazz, Spurs, Suns and even the Sonics back in the days. Many games were though, it was a nice Playoff race and I eventually did not make it.

The competition at that time and the feeling of really hating to play against some of these teams (fearing Ray Allen, Steve Nash etc) is the first circumstance that led to my idea for this topic. Things have severely changed in the NBA over that timespan of more than a decade now (or not? What do you think?)

Although back in 2004/2005 just as many teams had really poor records around 40% or worse, back in these days it felt like some of them were only one star player away of becoming relevant again or even had a star player already, not only a load of young players with potential like most cellar dwellars nowadays. Maybe because of worse gameplay, these teams were always a threat to beat me as most of them had one star who could go bonkers and erupt for 40+. (Celtics with Paul Pierce, Cavs with LBJ, Wolves with KG, Lakers with Kobe).

Nowadays, there are too many teams who do not have one star players who is (yet) capable of killing me. However there are a few teams like the Warriors, Spurs and Cavs who are very tough to play against. But when I play NBA 2k18 and look at the ingame schedule and I see the Suns, Lakers, 76ers, Mavs, Magic, Kings, Pistons, Hornets I am not really afraid of losing. They have no star players, no team swag, no real identity.

It's only the few "superteams" that I really fear ingame and can't beat - which really feels different when playing. It also makes it hard for me to actually find a team I want to start a franchise mode with. It feels like you might not have a chance to beat the Cavs/Warriors anyway and on the other hand there are so many teams with potential but no real identity or players that are deeply linked to the teams that they lack "swag". Back in live 2005 I did not know which team to choose because I liked many of them. The 7 seconds Suns, Dirks Mavs, the team play Spurs, the Diesel & Flash Heat or the defensive minded Pistons.

Another thing that has changed is the style of play and it's so hard to keep up with it when playing now. So many players can shoot threes now. When I look at my 04/05 Nuggets, only Voshon Lenard was capable of making threes on a regular basis (Melo at that time was not yet a really good shooter from deep). So I rarely took threes, and never thought about taking wild transition threes or "four pointers" from way down town.

And now? When I handle the ball with Curry I could let go from everywhere. With Durant I should not mind whether I have a hand in my face or not. But I still do! I have not yet adapted to the new form of NBA gameplay. I still have an old school meaning of a "bad shot", which is a transition pull up shot when you go 2 on 1 or a three with a hand in your face. There are not many big men with a back to the basket game left and the PF most of the time is also capable of shooting threes. Also running down the clock is not very common anymore in the NBA (except for a few teams) and that has been my playing style for ages now.

So what are your experiences with the roster/team situation right now (many "tankers", the so called "superteams")? Do you feel a difference when playing? Do you think teams like the Magic, Suns, Lakers, Hornets or Nets lack identity or star players. Or do you disagree anyway and it does not feel any different at all? And how about the playing style? Have you adapted? Are you chucking up threes? Do you play small ball?

Greetings, Hov
This topic was moved from NBA & Basketball by Andrew on Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:40 am.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby CarolusXCI on Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:55 pm

Thank you for this topic.

I have similar problems. I think the reason why I still enjoy older games over the newer ones is mainly the rosters, which of course relates to what is going on with the real life NBA. I enjoyed much more when each team had a good/great player, instead of a few teams packing a bunch of superstars each. I also have to say that I enjoyed more the NBA when teams relied less on 3 pointers and more on post play and mid-range shots. And those preferences reflect on my experience with newer iterations. Sometimes I try to "veto" some real life moves (last year I sent back Cousins to Sacramento, split the Warriors, kept LaMarcus in Portland and so on), but it just doesn't feel right. I tried to tweak sliders to make teams shoot less from three and more from the post, but it doesn't feel right either.

So sometimes I have to go back to the NBA live 2005...
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Andrew on Mon Oct 30, 2017 10:16 am

I've felt a bit of a disconnect with the NBA in recent years, for a variety of reasons. In some respects, that's probably affected my gaming experience and habits a little, perhaps making me more inclined to play MyCAREER and 2K Pro-Am. That way, I'm more focused on building up my fictional player, letting the AI do its thing with the real NBA players, and taking on other fictional players in online competition.

However, I'd like to use this year's games to get back into the NBA some. Back in the day, especially when I was making the roster updates for NBA Live, I used to know pretty much every player in the league, even if it was a passing familiarity with the names of benchwarmers. Having lost some of that enthusiasm and not playing the franchise modes or making roster updates, there are more players who are unfamiliar to me these days. I'm hoping that approaching the real NBA and the games with a fresh outlook this year will result in the two of them helping to enhance my enthusiasm for both, the real games getting me hyped to play, and the video games increasing my familiarity with the current NBA.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby hova- on Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:12 pm

Andrew, same here. In former live and 2k games I knew most of the players on every team. I remember in live 99 or 2000 I loved the fantasy draft and I voluntarily took the 29th spot of the draft order to put together a team of scrubs and compete (quite like adding an expansion team).

Nowadays there are so many G-leaguers or late round draft picks I have no clue of. It's weird because I watch more real life NBA nowadays than back in 2005 (as there are new possibilities to do so via internet) but that rather produces more hype around the already well known players.

CarolusXCI, I feel with you, especially on some of those lopsided trades or "join an already very good team" FA signings nowadays. In the past I felt there was more of an "all about the benjamins" habit when signing with a team. In the present, no matter where you play, you will get paid the big bucks, so you rather choose the team with the most talent than going anywhere else.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Jeffx on Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:14 am

Basketball games were more fun in the 90s when the Knicks were a serious contender, lol.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby sticky-fingers on Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:55 am

What is the part of nostalgia in your comments ?
Players are younger than us, it's perhaps hard to identify ourself to theses guys.

Technically, nostalgia also plays.
I remember playing Lakers vs Celtics on Sega MegaDrive (Genesis for some of you), and had a lot of fun.
But if you launch it today on an emulator, it's really sucks, not fun at all. Other sports games like NHL 93 (MD) or Super Tennis (SNES) have aged better IMO.
Last edited by sticky-fingers on Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Dee4Three on Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:57 am

Super Tennis will always be relevant, don't even try and beat me with Matt.

All of you will lose.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Andrew on Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:07 am

Some games do hold up better than others, no question about that. Incidentally, that'll be a future Friday Five feature.

Nostalgia is a factor, both in terms of the video games and connection to the NBA. In some ways, the more primitive/casual approach to realism in older titles can be more fun for some gamers, and of course, most of us feel a stronger connection to the athletes, movies, TV shows, and video games that we grew up with. It's not just that, though. I can only speak for myself, but my disconnect with the current NBA only goes back a few years. I still felt the same passion and enthusiasm as recently as four or five years ago, so we're talking about the last decade, still way past the 90s. There are various factors involved there, and like I said, I think it's changed my gaming habits a little as well. As such, I'm trying to approach this season with a fresher and more optimistic outlook.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby hova- on Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:56 pm

Dee4Three wrote:Super Tennis will always be relevant, don't even try and beat me with Matt.

All of you will lose.


The guy with the moustache?
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Jeffx on Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:05 am

Andrew wrote:Some games do hold up better than others, no question about that. Incidentally, that'll be a future Friday Five feature.

Nostalgia is a factor, both in terms of the video games and connection to the NBA. In some ways, the more primitive/casual approach to realism in older titles can be more fun for some gamers, and of course, most of us feel a stronger connection to the athletes, movies, TV shows, and video games that we grew up with. It's not just that, though. I can only speak for myself, but my disconnect with the current NBA only goes back a few years. I still felt the same passion and enthusiasm as recently as four or five years ago, so we're talking about the last decade, still way past the 90s. There are various factors involved there, and like I said, I think it's changed my gaming habits a little as well. As such, I'm trying to approach this season with a fresher and more optimistic outlook.



I still play Dr. J vs. Larry Bird on my old Atari 7800 system.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Dee4Three on Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:29 am

hova- wrote:
Dee4Three wrote:Super Tennis will always be relevant, don't even try and beat me with Matt.

All of you will lose.


The guy with the moustache?


This guy.

Image

I used Donna if I was using a girl, she was hot (In a Super Nintendo Cartooney Way) :crazyeyes:

Double the Donna was even better.

Image

Obviously kidding... but I did play as Donna if I was using a girl...
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Andrew on Thu Nov 23, 2017 9:46 am

Jeffx wrote:I still play Dr. J vs. Larry Bird on my old Atari 7800 system.


I'm all for a bit of retro basketball gaming when the mood strikes. Currently working on a video feature on Lakers vs. Celtics for an upcoming instalment of Wayback Wednesday.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby sticky-fingers on Fri Nov 24, 2017 3:59 am

Andrew wrote:
Jeffx wrote:I still play Dr. J vs. Larry Bird on my old Atari 7800 system.


I'm all for a bit of retro basketball gaming when the mood strikes. Currently working on a video feature on Lakers vs. Celtics for an upcoming instalment of Wayback Wednesday.


oh, Genesis good old days.
Take care, nostalgia is a bitch ... sometimes.
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Re: The new generation of the NBA & How it affects your gaming experience

Postby Andrew on Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:41 am

PC version in the case of my forthcoming video, but not a whole lot of difference in terms of the gameplay. Certainly, some things don't always hold up.
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