2K18: Fixing PNO #1

Having played 2K regularly since 2K2 i'm a really big fan of the series, it represents its sport better than most sports games, but online competitive play is a different animal. Matching up against other users is as rewarding an experience as gaming offers, but it requires walking a tightrope of balance, counters and deftly avoiding/eliminating exploits or it can be a disaster. On a related note, 2K's Play Now Online (true simulation) Pro-Am (simulation with casual elements) and Park (casual) should be three completely different experiences. They also need the ability to be patched separately.

DISCLAIMER: While I love the resources youtubers like Sam Pham offer too often their solutions are centered around manipulating the AI or the loopholes in gameplay. I totally opted out of that kind of gameplay this year and went into 2K19 using the resources the disc alone offers. I trusted that the game was being honest in its strategies (and that the functions did the actions they claimed) but sadly I found that so many aspects were broken it resulted in my worst 2K experience in years--fans deserve better.

More than anything the top competitive online environments reward skill, game knowledge, quick reflexes and proper timing. And in sports games it also means using tactics, utilizing a good gameplan and using your teams strengths while focusing on the opponents weaknesses.

The most important part? Is separating users by skill level and NOT adding mechanics that shrink the skill gap. If your game forces elite players to struggle with bad players because your mechanics favor spam over skill? They'll simply play something else: case in point...Star Wars Battlefront last year--it had auto-aim so strong it'd fight you for control. Aiming/Shooting is literally the most important aspect of any shooter...predictably hardcore players put it down the first week. Here's me playing with a group of guys i've gamed with for awhile on America's Army (hardcore shooter) notice how easily we win even though we're not being super serious, the guys we're playing against don't stand an icecube's chance in hell. Pay attention to how unforgiving the gameplay is. Spammy mechanics that shrink the skill gap are nowhere to be found--either you're good or you're not.

 But give it to shooters, they've dominated online play for a reason....they historically reward skill and punish spam. As a rule the one mechanic that could be spammed--grenades, are limited because you have so very few. Here's me finishing off the last four guys  in this round. Keep in mind i'm not some hot-shot killer with lightning reflexes. I just know the map, can aim/shoot decently, keep moving and act like someone with a gun is around every corner. I should have had my mic on to tell that friendly about that grenade tho lol. Notice the game doesn't try to make things "fair" (huge eyeroll) or give me any silly user bonuses (like....i'm pressing the same buttons everyone else has) it allows me to fail or succeed based on being good. If I make a mistake i'll be dead--and that's ok...it HAS to be.

 2K would do well to adopt the same limited mentality with its spam-heavy mechanics. Either your timing is good enough to get a steal or it results in a contact foul or your miss takes you out of the play...the same with blocks, bad timing should result in being totally out of the play or contact fouls and goal-tending calls when players are early/late. 2K can't pretend to call itself a simulation with block timing and steal spam where they are--its embarrassing. And isn't that what we're promised every year? Steal spam being punished, block ratings and timing mattering? This year those alleged improvements that were blogged about? LAUGHABLE.

So while it pains me to say this: 2K simply isn't ready for Competitive Online Play.

Now does this mean you'll never get a decent game online? Nope..that'll happen from time to time. But trust me when I tell you gameplay is riddled with enough loopholes, exploits and flat-out bad gameplay mechanics to make a competitive league with savvy players a running joke. It's so bad i've considered returning to offline play exclusively. Easy fixes like tiering fatigue to fit 5 minute quarters still isn't a thing. Guys can still play their starters every minute with few consequences.

So many things are wrong with the balance of core H2H gameplay there's not even enough space here to properly address the state of Offensive Rebounding--which is broken (players rarely block out and too often don't even jump for rebounds) make no mistake. Its so bad users can shoot and quickly switch to another player to offensive rebound and never worry that a loose ball foul will be called.

Here are the other really bad things I noticed:

For the life of me i'll never understand the mentality behind giving user contests (or actions in general) a higher bonus--its one of the most head-scratching decisions ever by the devs. And like most hand-holding attempts it ends up being reduced to an exploit by savvy players. The imbalance is plain here where bad block timing by the AI is an obvious foul, but when a user does the same thing there's no call. Madden had a serious conversation with itself years ago where it had to decide if user skill could make a bad corner into a shut-down defender if the user skill was good enough. Predictably, Tiburon chose YES and the game has suffered badly as a result. 2K has a similar decision. Players should still have a ratings threshold and limitations. Otherwise you get plays like 5'11 DJ Augustin successfully challenging 7'2 Embiids dunk, JJ Redick chasedown blocks and an obvious foul called on AI but none on users who have bad timing.

2K19 needs a heavy dose of CONSISTENCY. Historically, getting beat has simply provided an opportunity for a highlight recovery play--which is ridiculous. Beat defenders should be at be at a significant disadvantage. If defenders and offensive players are on an even playing field normally, the negative outcomes for beat defenders must increase considerably when they try to make a play from poor defensive position.

Here we see where a users horrible timing results in no foul (but forces a miss) and then the AI defender (who are inept in 2K18) who contests the shot is promptly whistled. AI players whistled for reaching fouls while users can swipe away endlessly. Watch the Valaciunas recovery block after he's beat...out of position defenders are rewarded with highlight blocks too often and the Coup De Grace, a late user contest forcing a point-blank miss by Embiid when a foul is much more apropo.

Seeing more loose balls re: passes into traffic is a really good mechanic but does it have real value if the offense recovers the ball half the time? I'm not even a game designer and I know the defense should recover the vast majority of these. AT MINIMUM reward the defense with a deflection out of bounds.

And why we still live in a world where the infamous 1-inch pass or pass directly into the paint isn't a deflection out of bounds 99% of the time? God only knows. An open paint is one thing, but defenders in position HAVE to react.

 And could there be a worse mechanic than the block attempt that turns into a pass deflection? Why is the game so anxious to cover for bad user decisions? Its OK to punish players for making the wrong choice. The steal/deflect button is square, a user who jumps to block a shot with triangle made the wrong decision, why is gameplay so afraid to see players fail? Below Leonard mistimes his block and Harkless uses the wrong command and still deflects the ball? How Sway? And if I press bounce pass when i'm throwing a lob that would be ok too, right? C'MON MAN. If I drive the lane and pass? The person trying to shot block made the wrong decision...that gameplay tries to mitigate their error by giving them essentially no option for a bad outcome is VERY NOT OK.

Here are instances where the steal attempt is flat-out missed but there still isn't a negative outcome for the defense. The ball-handler/playcall is still impeded enough for the defense to recover, which is rewarding the defense for failure. This can't happen--missed steals need to result in bad defensive position or fouls. There isn't nearly enough risk/reward regarding steal attempts, which is why they're spammed.

That concludes Part One, Part 2 of my Fixing PNO series will continue Friday where i'll be touching on Collisions , Block Rating/Timing and Offensive Rebounding. 

Until then, 

Kushmir