The Risk/Reward Series pt.1

Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Counters.

Strategy.

Its all part of the core balance that makes any competitive H2H platform good. We know our games will never be perfect. The Developer/Gamer Agreement is a simple one: Eliminate as many exploits as possible and deliver an environment where users of similar skill level can have a competitive experience. NBA 2K20 does a good job doing away with many of the old too-high percentage plays by having shots fall less, calling more contact fouls, beefing up the paint defense, making AI defenders smarter and freeing up movement a great deal.


So what am I here writing about then, right? That's easy, there are still aspects of the game that need improving. The Risk/Reward element of the game needs to be a primary focus. There were HUGE strides made regarding contact on shooters and drawing fouls but there are still parts of the game lagging behind. We want to empower strategy over spam--not the other way around.

 De-spamming blocks (which still needs improvement) was a start but there are other areas of gameplay that need the anti-spam treatment.

First up: STEALS. The game made some improvements here by adding a visual indicator showing users when the ball was vulnerable and by calling fouls pretty often when users reach outside of that window. Still, there are too many instances when that window can be disregarded altogether. Defenders can collide with us, stop our momentum and steal the ball just like 2K19. Since 2K17 the game has struggled with knowing which player causes a collision and punishing them. There couldn't be a better opportunity to use blocking fouls in these situations:

Bad gameplay created a "steal spam" meta in 2K19 and users are still conditioned to go for steals after the rebound and in other unlikely situations--we have to get that kind of toxic gameplay out of the ecosystem. Step zero? Going into the penalty on the 3rd foul online and disqualification on the 5th. Fouls must be scaled to the shorter quarters or users escape the penalty of constantly fouling. Step one? Undoing the rewards--missed steals can't create contact that impedes movement. Stop adding animations where users miss steals but still slow us down--animations where they lunge out of the play/are beaten are much more appropriate. We also need a heavier hand regarding fouls when users reach outside of the ball's vulnerable window or spam steal rapidly:

Step two is redesigning the steal system by separating on-ball and passing lane steals, and adding more risk/reward for mistiming them. Its time to take steals off EASY MODE and require users to have actual skill and anticipation if they want passing lane steals. Right now they can simply spam square and the game warps them towards the ball, wherever it may be. Imagine a shooter where your aim automatically snapped to the closest target, how much skill would that take? I mean look at this:

 I refuse to believe that cheesy gameplay is what the devs had in mind regarding steals in the passing lanes. Defenders nowhere near the target, but the ball warps to their hands because they're spamming? Also, users don't get to have it both ways, INTENT MATTERS spamming steal to swipe a dribble one second only to warp into passing lanes the next? Let's do away with that. Guys think they're good at stealing the ball? PROVE IT. Passing lane steals should be L2 + R-Stick in the direction they think the pass is going. UP for a lob pass, down for a bounce pass and Left or Right relative to their position. For example: Trying to steal the inbound pass to Brogdon in the image below would mean flicking the R-Stick right, for a pass to Bledsoe the defender would flick Left.

A steal attempt would make the defender lunge in that direction would stop their momentum and make them have to gather after their miss. Guessing wrong means the defender would risk taking themselves out of the play. Let's do away with these ridiculous instances where defenders can spam steal until the ball comes (see Middleton in the 1st vid) or miss the ball while running (see DeAndre Jordan in the 2nd) but warp towards the play (and in better position) and never miss a step, or the Synchronized Steal Spam where the defenders looks like their having seizures, once and for all. It looks silly.

 If users want passing lane steals? LET THEM EARN THEM. But require them to show some skill for a change. The risk/reward aspect of any H2H game is important--we hope to see fundamental changes that steer gameplay away from spam like this in the future: