Hi all,
It's been 16 months since the release of NBA 2K17.
I feel like 2K17 was the breakthrough year for PC modding and gameplay discussion on this gen, and part of that is because it was the best 2K on this gen thus far (Or atleast up to that point, some prefer 2K18 now). I noticed a massive uptick in modding, and a lot of new modders came in to create work. The game itself while partially destroyed by patches, made many improvements over 2K16, making it a game that people put a lot of hours into playing and/or modding.
Since 2K18 came out, excitement around it among those who were prominent on the 2K17 modding scene has partially gone away. Many who were very active on 2K17 have disappeared (including myself), some may be for personal reasons; which is expected as we all have lives outside of modding, but some of it is (In my opinion) due to the lack of appeal of the new title. We expect modding to trail off slightly throughout the year, but not people to completely vanish. In NBA 2K17, I feel we were all active and modding up until the release of 2K18.
Great projects (Like the Euro league project) are happening on 2K18, and some amazing CF's are being made. However, so much emphasis has been placed on adfly links, youtube views, compensation/attention in general, that the NBA 2K18 modding sections seems more like advertising for personal gain more than helping out the community. I feel that in NBA 2K17, we had people pushing hard for improvements in modding and modding tools, but also pushing hard for eachother. It felt like an active, fun, engaged community.
Was 2K17 perfect? no, it was not. But did the community rally around that project for the right reasons? I absolutely believe so. I feel that in NBA 2K17 we had the perfect balance of modding and gameplay conversations. In NBA 2K18, I feel like outside of my defense thread, gameplay discussions have basically died out. Have we given up on trying to give feedback to improve products in favor of sporting some nifty looking screenshots for views, compensation, and attention?
Either way, I plan on attempting to come back strong for 2K19 as long as I like the product. However, from what I have seen, not enough people are talking about the gameplay issues surrounding 2K18, which makes me think the gameplay direction may continue on it's current path. Which worries me.
Here are the gameplay areas I would like to have an active discussion about:
1. Skating - Not only does it look unnatural, but it feels out of control. Stopping players while they are in skating animations is frustrating, and feels delayed. It makes the game not flow like a realistic basketball game. Additionally, it feels like we have less control because of it.
2. Delayed passing - They added many more animations to the passing, combining that with skating into passes causes a delay. I cant move the ball realistically, so many wind up animations cause delay.
3. One on one defense - My thread on this got a lot of reaction. The one on one defense in this game is abysmal, ratings/tendencies are thrown out the door with one on one defense. I can use Trevor Ariza and blow by Kawhi Leonard whenever I want. Why? Because the new motion system puts the defender on my side whenever I move forward. I don't need to use dribbling moves, strategy, or anything. I can just run to the hoop.
4. Ball physics/backboard physics - How many times have you gone up for a shot right around the basket and the ball ricochets hard off the glass (Hitting the front of the rim and missing)? How many times have you gone up for what you would consider a soft shot, and the ball goes up soft, but comes off hard off the glass for a miss? There is something wrong with the ball and backboard physics in this game.
5. Shooting - Shooting has a "Gumby" feel to it in this game, it doesn't flow. Animations seem faster, rushed, and less realistic. This also seems to be tied into the new motion system.
6. Dead atmosphere - Not only are the arenas unrealistically dark, but the crowd atmosphere is absolutely dead.
I won't go into any other graphical issues (Like the body types, oversized heads, etc). I am talking about strictly on court gameplay.
I want to hear your thoughts, we want NBA 2K19 to be the best 2K on this gen.
