10 Ways to Improve NBA 2K16

I can’t talk about improving 2K16 without first acknowledging how much of a masterpiece this game is. While the gameplay is A+ as usual, it’s always the things we didn’t anticipate that 2K flat-out nails, right? From pick and roll depth, drawing fouls on pump fakes, to their representation of home court advantage, upgraded visuals, TV personalities and even the wonderful camera angles they use during timeouts, 2K sets the standard for sports games. It’s not even close. In one of my first games a long rebound went out of bounds and when no player jumped over the front row into the stands after it? I was actually surprised. It’s to the point where you wonder what great detail, gameplay and authenticity 2K could bring to other sports. 

For a long time though, online play in the NBA 2K series has been bad, it’s the very reason I shunned online after NBA 2K11.  It was lag-filled, casual and rewarded too much of the “videogame behavior” that you would never see on an actual NBA court. 2K16 sets the series back on the right path, 2K deserves some credit for getting the servers in a position where they for can accommodate the massive player-base. Play Now also seems solid connection-wise and the Double-Blind nature of joining games is well done. I’m really glad both 2K and Madden have embraced Double Blind matchmaking. But while I love the fact that players won’t see who they’re playing until they actually commit to a game, it doesn’t deal with the real core of the issue—online players want to 1) win 2) be recognized 3) have variety 4) to have some kind of persistent record of their accomplishments. The top teams give them the best chance to do this so these are the teams that get spammed. 

What players need is a REASON to use their favorite/different teams instead of the usual Golden State, Cleveland, Houston, Oklahoma City monotony. The tier system provides this to an extent but it has to go further. First: All teams aren’t created equally, so let’s not reward them the same. This actually encourages only-play-with-the-top-teams behavior. Even within their own tiers there are vast differences, Milwaukee got two playoff wins last year, they simply aren’t on the same level as say, the Knicks. Each team should have a value, so that a win with the Bucks isn’t the same as winning with Orlando. It’s harder to get wins with teams like Charlotte, New York and Philly (and it should be) so let’s reward accordingly, each team should be worth a set amount of points that go into determining online ranking.

There are a few other things that could use some looking at, and since ten is a nice round number, I’ve decided to address that many. Hopefully these are some of the things that the wonderful crew in Novato can look into adding via some of the patches we’re sure to see. Without further ado:

1. Passing – When 2K10 dropped I suggested that too many steals made the game sloppy and a better alternative was more deflections out of bounds. While you want to punish bad passes, one of the legacy issues 2K still has to resolve is the frequency passes go to the wrong recipient. Deflections out of bounds still punish the offense by making them operate late in the shot clock. Right now flawed pass logic results in too many fast break dunks. Too often I intend on passing to a guy at the free throw line and instead it goes over his head to the guy on the wing I can’t even see. UGH. Can you imagine how history would be different if Brad Sellars’ pass to Jordan in the 89’ Playoffs in Cleveland had mistakenly gone to Cartwright instead? We’re talking life-altering stuff here, folks.

2. Steals – No one tests out a game like a cheeser does. The idea to make defenders play the passing lanes better is a good one but with anything that results in turnovers you have to be careful. As I referenced earlier, less steals and more deflections out of bounds is probably a good idea. Also, make defenders accountable they shouldn’t get psychic abilities just because they press the steal button. Make them use the directional stick with steal if they want to intercept the ball. Also: balance dictates 'missed' steals have to be a thing as well.

 3. Blocks – I played a Knicks fan online in my sloppiest game ever when I first made the discovery that blocks were too easy. The dreaded pass-going-to-the wrong person kept happening and I was frustrated. He came down the lane with Melo and I just jammed square because I was pissed. BLOCK….I had Hollis Thompson, I was like #waitwhat? The next possession Robin Lopez got an offensive rebound and I did it again….with Hollis. Swatting everything in the paint and chase-down blocks simply aren’t for everyone. They happen way too much if a guy with a 51 block rating can get them at will. Non-shot blockers now have a way to contest shots (Right Stick) and even use verticality (left stick and triangle). NBA 2K’s calling card is authenticity, so turning everyone into Olajuwon is like seeing Dwight Howard lead the league in FT shooting. CAN’T HAPPEN. That’s a foul 19 times in 20.

4. Shot Meter – An OS thread by The 24^th Letter prompted me to decide this one. Random Thought: Let’s kill the shot meter next year. I totally get the intent of 1) making shooting somewhat skill-based 2) providing feedback of why a shot missed, but it’s not intuitive at all and isn’t there enough clutter on our screen? You know what IS intuitive? THE SHOT STICK. Stop making me miss how beautiful and authentic this game makes things like a Kobe/Lebron jumper look (among other things) by weighing me down with minutiae like ‘if the little green meter is 6mm too far to the right or left’ it’s splitting hairs. Do the same with free-throws. Guesswork in gaming is good and it adds to the drama and excitement. Let me shoot the ball via shot stick and be rewarded/punished based on the player/defense/situation. This would be especially cool in late-game pressure FT situations.

5. Fouls – There’s no way we can add anybody-can-be-a-shot-blocker without ramping up the fouls considerably. The real issue is percentages that are too high. The shot contest and verticality options now give guys like Andre Iguodala and Tony Allen the ability to bother shots effectively.  Right now shot-blocks with players like them are too easy, it needs to be reined in with a significant increase in foul calls.

6. Close Games – This could go a long way into 1) incentivizing players not to quit games and 2) will increase the variety of teams we see. I watched a stream from a guy named Knicks85 who competed with everyone he played. As a matter of fact, he was better than most--he just played with the Knicks and Lebron turboing into his defenders late was probably more successful than it should have been. If lower-tier teams lose by less than ten points to higher tier teams I support them still getting points toward their online ranking, in the same vein losing to the Knicks with the Warriors should be a big hit.

7. Cheese – The current crop of shake-my-head worthy behavior includes spamming the steal button to intercept anything in the passing lanes/prevent play-calling, long inbound passes and button mashing for blocks (and being rewarded much too often). For years 2K has drawn praise because it hardcodes true shooting percentages into gameplay. The same should be true of the blocks/fouls ratio. 2K is too good to allow what we’re seeing in reference to excessive chase down blocks, steals and full-court passing.  It could be resolved with more deflections that go out of bounds, off-target passes when we try lobs from one side of the court to the other and increased fouls on blocks and steal attempts. The NBA’s leading shot-blocker had less than 3 blocks a game and its leading ball thief averaged a little more than 2. The NBA is a position defense league where good defenders make shots HARDER, not block or steal everything in sight. The block animations are awesome, we just need to see them less.

8. Charges – Oh Offensive Foul, where art thou? If I see one more animation where someone slams into a stationary defender (resulting in a blocking foul) I’m gonna snap. The one thing the current system of ‘never call charges’ has done is made offensive players drive without conscience.  And why would they hesitate to turbo into defenders or trigger every driving animation in the game? They know they’ll never be called for a charge. This has to change…unbalance in any aspect of gaming prompts abuse. Pressing circle when a dunker is barreling towards you can’t be the only way to see a charge called, keep in mind a defender doesn’t have to be set if they beat offensive players to the spot. Let’s see offensive fouls called anywhere on the court where offensive players are hammering into defenders at will. In the spirit of guesswork it’d be nice to see a delay before the call is made and some cool ref animations. Having both players on the edge of their seats wondering who the foul is on could be exciting. 

9. Backdoor Plays – I’m ready for a day when players backdoor defenders gambling for steals in the passing lanes. Lets see more streaking towards the basket when defenders are out of position or miss steals. 2K7 had a system where a missed steal took you out of position and contemporary 2K really needs it. Right now the fake pass is just taking up memory when it could be the ultimate 'Got Em!'.

 10. Perimeter/Post Mismatches – Unlike some I’m actually fine with the dribble penetration being more difficult, but probably not to the extent that it is now, especially with the CPU having zero issues beating users off the dribble. The bigger issue is when defenders are rushing out at shooters and big men are mismatched with guards. It can’t be as difficult to shake them as it is currently. Let’s see that speed difference we heard so much about, in addition to plenty of blocking fouls in situations where bigs or beat defenders are trying to keep up on the perimeter. The same is true in the post, in addition to being easy to back down, perimeter players should be very foul-prone when they’re mismatched with bigs.

 

While 2K16 is a great game with some great features, it’s not without some flaws and legacy issues that need addressing via patch. The obvious ones being the things mentioned above and a more thorough online points system. Tiers are fine but like I mentioned above giving each team a sliding scale value would bring things full circle. I'm just spit-balling here but a win with the highest rated team getting you 1pt while the lowest team is worth 30. And encourage team variety by giving teams playing higher tiers points for close games, nothing makes playing sports online blander than playing the same 3-4 teams over and over.

Until next time,

Kushmir