Imagine the look on your face if CP3 did a series of tomahawk dunks in a game against you, or if Joakim Noah went 5 for 5 from behind the arc. How about Dwight Howard converting 12 of 12 free throws? All good or nah? *Laughter* Probably no, right?...the reason is simple, because its not AUTHENTIC. Those players simply don't possess the skill-sets we just mentioned. Seeing those things happen in a game just wouldn't be worthy of simulation basketball.
While legitimate improvements are made to NBA 2K every year, the issue of AI players not performing like their real-life versions on defense is still something that needs improvement. And why is AI important anyway? The answer's simple: Most of the actions on the virtual court will be performed by AI. Even the best user can only control one player at a time--highlighting the importance of AI defenders doing what they're supposed to--within their skillsets, of course. One of the last remaining real problems spots are with AI defenders, and post defenders specifically. Watch below as I run the AI defender off and easily setup an open game-winner. I'm forced to settle for a jumper because there were .09 seconds left, otherwise Bayless walks in for a layup.
Its evident that in H2H games, ratings are too often cast by the wayside in order to facilitate User Agency, which is eerily similar to awarding participation trophies. Too often animations play out that allow for improbable user success. While this may be fine with the user-created players in Park or Pro Am, we've detailed the core issue with User Bonuses. Play Now Online (with actual NBA teams) has players and teams that have defined skill-sets and static ratings and should be limited by them. Whether they were to my benefit or not, seeing Nik Stauskas get a block in this situation or Dario Saric do THIS destroys immersion. Low percentage plays should still be low percentage, when we choose our teams we understand we're also taking on their strengths and weaknesses. They worked to my advantage but the simple truth is this: Both of those plays should be fouls like this the vast majority of the time, we're not saying they can't happen...we're saying it should be very rare--right now they simply occur too often.
As you can see directly above passing into the paint and instadunking is still an issue. Where are the pass deflections out of bounds? Even instances when that pass gets through (which should be rare) why isn't that a contested shot instead of a dunk? The bigger problem is our AI defenders (especially in the post) and frankly calling them inept would be a compliment. Why is this important? Because gameplans and strategy are formulated around player strengths, that's why. The same way users can depend on Stephen Curry's shooting and Kyrie Irving's one-on-one ability they have to be able to depend on rim protection from players like Howard, Drummond, Embiid and Steven Adams, and great play switching or defending the pick-and-roll from guys like Tristan Thompson and Nerlens Noel. Embiid is too much of a defensive presence to have lapses like the clip below.
When these conversations start it never fails that someone always chimes in with "You have to do it yourself" YOU have to do it? While we certainly have that option, Imagine if Drummond wouldn't rebound unless you did it, Harden didn't draw fouls or you had to throw AND catch lobs to Blake Griffin? How ridiculous would that be? Is that a game you want to play? Players resembling themselves and authentic, organic gameplay that happens independent of us is the reason we love 2K--moreover, we CAN and WILL expect more from sim games this generation. This isn't Madden where I can have the worst OL in the NFL and never see one holding call in a game. Where the league's worst secondary can play press coverage all game long and never once see defensive holding or pass interference...EVER. That entire experience is anti-sim and Tiburon basically promises that nothing will occur outside of total user control...i'm good on that, thanks. Still, 2K's Gameplay can't punish us with inept AI. The same way we want to see Lebron do amazing things in transition, we want to see Rudy Gobert protect the rim and change shots. And more deflections out of bounds or contact shots in situations like the video below--Rudy Gay (pass accuracy 57) is hardly the guy that should be threading the needle with dimes.
Its also important for gameplay not to be punitive. Consider the short history of user bonuses just in the last few cycles: 2K16 had contests that were too strong, meaning challenged "makes" were rare. I won't even go into how bad user chase-down blocks were. The initial 2K17 shot-stick "bonus" was too strong and people good at it shot a ridiculous percentage--steals were unbalanced to start the year, and the steals/fouls ratio still needs lots of work. There isn't enough space on the internet for me to explain how bad the idea of "giving users bonuses based on the input they use" is. Regardless if the shot meter survives 2K17 (we certainly hope not) there can't be advantages given to either button or stick users--and that I need to say that is a little scary. The same logic applies to our AI defenders, whether we're controlling them or not, they have to resemble their real-life counterparts and can't be sieves or foul-prone as a way to urge people towards user control. This kind of development causes more problems than it solves. FACT: Elite Users will always break your game if you add user bonuses to their elite stick skill, stop doing it. Lets learn from the missteps of the last few iterations of 2K and make the too-strong user bonuses a thing of the past.
A few other things:
1.Transition Defense like this has to be left in 2K17. Can this happen? Sure. But rarely.
2. Solid defenders shouldn't always fall for pump fakes, Good and Elite defenders almost never. Lets see the better defenders poke the ball away on pump fakes and do less watching like Embiid and Holmes do here.
3. Again, running off defenders has to die in 2K17.
4. More pass deflections out of bounds instead of big-to-big paint passing.
5. The sooner users can't just run into good defenders and get bailed out with fouls over and over and over...the better. Those are from the same game, mind you.
6. More of this on contested dunks. 2K17 is a dunkfest.
7. You cheapen highlight dunks when this happens so often. Whiteside blocks, fouls or turns this instance into a contact shot animation the majority of the time.
8. Less Dunks and more contact animations like this. Let's also see turbo changed to strong move, instead.
9. Render extinct animations that are automatic fouls. More charge/strip outcomes, please.
10. Jump-passing can't turn our defenders into idiots. More steals and deflections, please.
11. Still, balance is important and block and steal timing have to matter. No more of this, its a deal-breaker.
12. More of this and also this from Good and Elite post defenders, please.
13. More of this when users jump pass, please.
14. Finally, the auto-jump when you do "hands up" if someone pump fakes is an exploit, remove it. Expand the abilities of the Right Stick Defense instead.
These issues are especially pronounced with bad teams. Gameplay shouldn't overreach unrealistically when it comes to making them bad--Booker, Knight and Warren aren't bad shooters just because PHX is rebuilding. Allow us some strategy based on a team's strengths. The Suns have a solid defender in Tyson Chandler, he shouldn't go for pump fakes just because the team is bad defensively--because he's not. The Kings may not be good, but if I single cover Boogie with guys like Greg Monroe or Lopez he should be especially effective. A Grizzlies fan who puts Tony Allen on the top perimeter threat is actually doing it right, he shouldn't be foul prone simply because we aren't controlling him. Even the worst teams have good options. When we ignore that and make them all-around bad 1) its lazy 2) we cheapen gameplay and 3) we don't give them a realistic path to victory.
Making those teams bad in the ways that they ARE BAD is paramount, it requires attention to detail, but anything else simply isn't simulation basketball.
Great Article!!
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