"Fool the other user, not the AI."

[Kushmir]

The 5th H2H Commandment may sound simple, but its at the core of what makes online gaming good.

There's a school of thought in H2H Gaming, that compares the AI to a referee who oversees the game. That its only the platform and its job is to remain neutral. I've always thought that in sports games, players could use the AI in some form--but never abuse or try to manipulate it. You're matching up with the other player after all. Tactics that force another guy's AI linemen to false-start, violate the neutral zone or make their PF bite on every pump fake violate the essence of H2H competition.

Its the reason plays like this are super rewarding...because I actually fooled the other user and did drop-off passes.





Or why this was rewarding....even though it happened TO me.



Its also why this WASN'T even though I benefited. It felt cheap and unearned...I got fooled and that there was no accountability felt like it took something away from my victory.



Its the reason exploitative tactics and gameplay like the ones below have to go on the 2K scrapheap. A pump fake is one of the most pure forms of misdirection in sports--we're trying to fool the other user into trying to block our shot, hoping that draw a foul or get him out of position for an easy score.....but what happens if defenders don't fall for it? Or an offensive player is static waiting for the defender to jump and fails to bait him? Should there be a downside? I say YES.

This kind of gameplay simply needs to have more risks:











I blogged about it and went more into depth here: http://spgmg.blogspot.com/2019/01/fo...er-not-ai.html

And here: http://spgmg.blogspot.com/2019/01/fo...ai-part-2.html

[howardphillips214]

Kush for president!

[Kushmir]

Quote: Originally Posted by howardphillips214

Kush for president!

LMAO. Naw man I get half of the inspiration for articles from you guys and some of your gameplay/thoughts/legitimate complaints. Its all of us here contributing to the meaningful dialogue.

OAN: Mistimed blocks should result in fouls or take defenders out of the play like Harkless below:

[MrWrestling3]

I had a beautiful "old school" moment earlier: got the defender in the air with the pump then hit a little hop step hook shot in open space. The feeling of reward when you make that kind of play is amazing, it needs to happen more often.

[Kushmir]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrWrestling3

I had a beautiful "old school" moment earlier: got the defender in the air with the pump then hit a little hop step hook shot in open space. The feeling of reward when you make that kind of play is amazing, it needs to happen more often.

It sure is...and it sure does. You know my stance--reward savvy users by letting them draw fouls or by losing defenders who leave their feet/miss steals. ITS NECESSARY. I appreciate the discussions recently as well...you've given me TONS of great ideas lately.

Saw this on Twitter today: https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1087499405274595334

[Keith01]

H2H will always be handicapped by the AI. They're bots and bots have a mind of their own too much.

[MrWrestling3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kushmir

It sure is...and it sure does. You know my stance--reward savvy users by letting them draw fouls or by losing defenders who leave their feet/miss steals. ITS NECESSARY. I appreciate the discussions recently as well...you've given me TONS of great ideas lately. Saw this on Twitter today: https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1087499405274595334

Happy to help man.You make a lot of good points that need to be talked about.

Quote: Originally Posted by Keith01

H2H will always be handicapped by the AI. They're bots and bots have a mind of their own too much.

Yes, you're right in that the AI can only be so smart...in my opinion what we're concerned with are issues that can affect the human player in unrealistic ways (i.e. steal spamming, pogo stick defense,weird animations,etc.).

[Kushmir]

Quote: Originally Posted by Keith01

H2H will always be handicapped by the AI. They're bots and bots have a mind of their own too much.

Sure, thats how its "been" but that's the part we're trying to improve bro. IMO AI guys falling for the pump fake from players like DeAndre Jordan and other guys who can't shoot is no different from defenders biting on play action on 3rd and 20. Our defenders have to be more intelligent than that...because we can't be everywhere.

Perfect Example: First? This is a travel, but why would Embiid fall for a jump-pass here from 2 feet?



The larger issue? An effective Hands Up Contain would have let me stay in front of Lonzo instead of pushing me out of the way and at minimum let me draw a charge when he jumped into me or taken away his dribble like this:



Those are the core defensive improvements we REALLY want to see....not gimmick stuff that breaks the game by allowing defense to be in two places at once, like doubling down and then recovering to the 3pt line--which is impossible. The foot-planting/acceleration cant allow that--or the double-down animation has to have a delay before you can break out of it.



The pump fake just can't ******ly be part of every ball-handler/defender interaction like below. When it doesn't work the user should often lose their dribble, get the ball stripped or be crowded by the defense. OAN: Embiid doesnt follow Chandler out to the 3pt line here--which is very good.