Defense needs to be the MAIN focus of development in NBA2K18

[NoLeafClover]

Forget all the fancy frills, I know defense isn't the sexiest topic but it's a massive part of gameplay and probably the biggest overall problem with this year's game.

The amount of times my players will randomly sag off Klay Thompson, Curry, any stretch bigs etc DESPITE having manually toggled defensive settings to stay tight on those players and turned off help defense is mind-boggling. Their defender will randomly just rush over to switch or double team another player who isn't a threat, and by the time you manually switch to them and try to sprint over to contest the shot, it's already in the air and makes you look like an idiot.

Defensive ratings of the players are no excuse either, as this is guys like Jimmy Butler, Shawn Marion, Michael Cooper etc - premier defensive players known for their D - so it has nothing to do with their IQ ratings or tendencies.

Transition D is also still largely broken, and fast breaks play out in these weird ways where you never know what your second player is going to do leaving you unsure whether to cover the guy with the ball or switch off.

Add in the unrealistic ultra clingy and magnetic AI on ball defense, the abuse of spamming basket cuts and big men not knowing how to react, and the whole defensive side of the ball just feels horribly cobbled together and kills a lot of the gameplay.

Please, please 2K, focus on defense over any other portion of the game, as it's practically game-breaking at this point.

[sk8board]

But new dribble moves and signature dunks sell copies and VC animations.

[Branbran225]

You're right, but it simply won't be because defense doesn't sell.

[BA2929]

Quote: Originally Posted by Branbran225

You're right, but it simply won't be because defense doesn't sell.

Neither does the ACE system and they worked extensively on that.

Not sure why they can't fix the defense and still work on "back of the box" features as well. It doesn't have to be an "either or" scenario.

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by BA2929

Neither does the ACE system and they worked extensively on that. Not sure why they can't fix the defense and still work on "back of the box" features as well. It doesn't have to be an "either or" scenario.

It doesn't have to be, but given how fundamental aspects of defense have remained unfixed for the last two games, it's easy to see how people would be highly skeptical of the team making it a priority.

[VAWereWolf65]

While defense definetly is problematic, You could say the same thing about a lot of aspects of the game.

The whole thing needs to just be reworked next year. The amount of bugs and problems with this years game is unacceptable for a company as large as 2k

[NINJAK2]

I think a big problem with the defense is the movement of the players on defense. Players seem to constantly readjust their position as if they are possessed or it takes an eternity for players to simply turn around and accelerate(You see this a lot w/bigs getting beat down the court for easy buckets while inbounding the ball). Double teams are obviously a problem also. Passing accuracy needs to be drastically reduced or more tie-ups need to happen when double teamed. Seeing how disruptive real NBA double teams can be in reality makes 2k's look even worse..

[BA2929]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

It doesn't have to be, but given how fundamental aspects of defense have remained unfixed for the last two games, it's easy to see how people would be highly skeptical of the team making it a priority.

Being worried about them making it a priority because they haven't fixed some things the past two games is fine. Saying they won't touch it because "defense doesn't sell copies of the game" is silly.