Address Spam Gameplay

I played a game this morning that reminded me why its important that NBA 2K shore up the issues with Block/Steal timing and the Double Team--because savvy players will use these these gaping loopholes in gameplay to their advantage. This guy IKEJUSCHILLIN was actually a good player, that he cheesed like this was beneath him. But that was always the biggest threat, wasnt it? That elite guys would use exploits to augment their dominance.

The heart of the issue is gameplay that doesn't hold users accountable for their bad decisions and poor timing and Neutral Outcomes that ignore blatant mistakes (rewarding spam) which ruins gameplay--and forgives their missteps instead of forcing them to commit to their course of action.


As Mobb Deep famously snapped, "There ain't no such thing as halfway crooks." Guys don't get to have it both ways, they dont get to gamble for steals and blocks but still remain in perfect defensive position. If users want to spam this stuff? Be my guest. But gameplay has to base their success on timing and skillset and also focus on Risk & Reward. If they're successful? A good outcome. If they're not? A bad one happens, simple right? Keep in mind we're not always talking fouls...not even most of the time. Check out this play from the PHI/MIL game where DiVicenzo mistimes his block and his momentum takes him out of the play as a result.

These exist in NBA 2K19, they just need to trigger more. Here are a few rare instances where missed steals and blocks resulted in the defender being out of the play:

Here's a short montage of the gameplay from this morning:

1. Not only does McGee (46 steal rating) whiff on a steal 84 feet from the basket with no outcome, then he gets back into the play and deflects the pass? NAH.

2. He misses a steal after the rebound with KCP (keep in mind he doesn't know where the ball is going--he's just button mashing) misses again with Ingram but then Ingram stays in perfect defensive position and rides Simmons to the basket? NO WAY. Ingram's miss should have taken him out of the play so that it was Simmons versus Kuzma in the open court. Missed steals MUST have a downside.

3. The interaction between shooters and defenders needs lots of work. I pump fake with Redick to show how shooter fouls are virtually never called when defenders leave their feet. But then Hart (who thought I was shooting and reacted as such) magically gets back into the play and stops me as I drive to the basket? HILARIOUS. I fake again--and predictably he jumps again. Then I pass the ball to Simmons and drive to the basket. Beasley guesses wrong and mistimes a block. but Simmons collides with Hart (who was airborne) and the ball goes out of bounds. Not one foul is called. Just terrible. More proof that neutral outcomes are really bad and the cause of spam. Again--misses have to result in being out of the play or fouls: PERIOD.

4. After the rebound Simmons bursts upcourt and Lebron badly misses a laughable open court steal, then so does Kuzma, but then Kuzma (who's still in perfect position) tries to block Simmons and is called for a foul. Again: defenders don't get to go through every option in the control manual. This is the worst kind of spam, but guys do it because the game allows it. They have to make a choice and live with the benefits or consequences. Kuz's missed steal should have taken him out of position or drawn a whistle, because rewarding him with a block here (very possible if his timing was good) would have been egregious.

5. The last instance shows what happens when gameplay violates a key H2H tenet and doesnt require the same level of skill from each user. The passer has to have the vision and skill to find the open man and use the right passes, but all the defensive user has to do is spam. Rondo misses a steal in the back-court, misses two more and then he starts to trap. NOTE: This is how the trap is abused presently and its horribly unbalanced because the vast majority of the outcomes favor the defense. Then he's rewarded with a steal as Zubac (36 steal rating) picks off the backdoor cut. The Double Team badly needs the foul outcome you see below to happen atleast 50% of the time (like was done with sideline cheese) because right now there's virtually no risk to using it.....and the bad pass when you find the open man (below) should NEVER happen.

To close, keep in mind this video doesnt show all the out of bounds plays where he's swiping at air like someone having a seizure waiting for me to throw a pass. I doubt this is what the devs had in mind when they implemented the system--but here we are. Ask yourself, is that what you see in the NBA? And is that skill? While we can't expect 2K19 to fix the core mechanic we can only hope this is addressed in 2K20 with stamina drain among other things.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to check me out this morning, have a great sunday guys.