A Potential Improvement for Be A Player Modes

[RaychelSnr]

About a year ago, I wrote about why I don’t play Be a Player modes. A year later, I still feel the same way.

Arguably the greatest weakness of the mode lies on the field, where to this day it still feels like you’re playing the same game but with the player lock on. The technology is just nowhere near the point where you can truly play a team game with a bunch of AI players, since there’s no effective way of communicating with them in real time.

But the mode’s off-the-field offerings can stand to use some much needed improvements, too.

Read More - A Potential Improvement for Be A Player Modes

[RockitOldSchool]

I can't say I agree 100% but I like where you are going with this. I could see something more in the middle, like a way to still guarantee you become a superstar for the guys that like to play that way, and a random career for guys that want to roll the dice and see where their career takes them. I do agree that something is missing in these career modes. NBA 2K12's My Player is about as good as it gets right now and after a few games it just becomes the same, repetitive thing. You are correct about not feeling like you are part of the team. I would like to see some real storylines mixed in. Different outcomes. If you play bad, you get benched. If you play great you get more playing time. As it stands now there's no negative outcome if I play really bad.

I'm not sure exactly what needs to change but I think it's time to take My Player modes to the next level. Give us something to really get excited about. Any great video game becomes great because it can get you somewhat emotionaly involved. That's the biggest part that's missing in my opinion.

[steelereign]

I agree with you for the most part. However, the issue that these modes must overcome is the short attention span of most gamers and/or the limited time available to play through all the modes.

I would imagine that most sports gamers tend to stick to the calender with their respective sport. I play baseball games during baseball season, football in the fall & winter, etc. I'm lucky to get through one full franchise season with each iteration of a game.

That being said, who wants to spend all their time crafting a BAP only to end up on the pine spitting sunflower seeds for a living? The intent of the mode is to allow the basement QB to achieve "the dream." Most of us have already experienced enough failure in life and would rather avoid another dose of depressing real-world realism and failure.

I agree with RockitOldSchool. If the mode could be developed in a manner similar to the board game "Life" it might work. You decide in the beginning if you want to "roll the dice" and see what happens or go the guaranteed superstar route. Maybe there can be a risk/reward element tied to the decision. For those that go the "gamble" route maybe they get achievements or unlockables that are only available in that mode. If you prefer the guarantee of success, cool, but your in-game rewards are fewer or less-impressive? I don't know. But, I do know that I don't have 4 hours a day to fully flesh out a BAP mode only to find out that my player should be bagging groceries rather than shooting jumpers.

[NoLimits77]

At least games don't automatically make your player a starter anymore (I don't think they do at least), because in Madden 10 you're usually already ranked in the high 70s and get the starting job at your position on the team that drafts you regardless of what ranking the starter already there is.

[r7carlson]

The thing that bothers me the most with this mode is the AI's logic. I primarily play this mode in NHL, FIFA, and NCAA Football. My teammates are so useless that if I don't score all the goals or produce all of the offense then no one does. In NHL for instance my teammates never shoot and it's rare for them to score a goal and if my player is not out there. When I'm a rookie and playing on a high difficulty I should not score 60-70 goals a year. If they could make it so my teams success is not based almost solely on how I perform I would get much more use out of this mode.

[ajaxab]

Definitely some good points here. We could probably add licensing to the list of reasons why these modes can become stale. There seem to be so many story lines that could be pursued that the respective leagues would never allow because it might allegedly taint the brand. The latest Fight Night provided a semblance of the kind of thing that could be done, but that mode didn't need any kind of licensing either. As long as they're constrained by licenses that restrict content, I don't see these modes ever reaching their potential.

[Petey B]

Really exciting ideas here. And if I were ranking the modes, I would put it 1)NBA2K 2)THE SHOW 3)NCAA Plus, for the record, I must suck at these games because I end up a role player all the time. I've been traded to the Heat to man the point, I've been put on and picked off waivers, and Florida is definitely in my head when it comes to the SEC Championship game. But hey, currently my knuckleball pitcher is rocketing through the minors, so I'll take it!

[BaylorBearBryant]

Be a Pro online. Just like the EASHL in the NHL series. That's the future.

[fearwhatnow]

PES2012 Be A Legend mode is right now the best of all but it needs improvements too.This mode is superior than other games because of the decent teammate and cpu AI.
AI logic+more interactivity+more personalisation= A better Be A Pro mode.

[OSfan093]

I completely agree with everything you said. i've always thought that way about Be a Pro modes. And i don't think there's an argument against it either. all you would have to do is add an option to make your potential set in stone so that anyone who wants the automatic superstar experience can have it.

And the other problem with these modes is you're always going to start the mode as the same type of player regardless of how it ends. SO the way you could change this is to have like a high school/college season, depending on the sport, that you play do determine your potential. but it would have to be something that is long enough to feel like you're actually that run of the mill talented high school athlete or that superstar #1 overall pick, but short enough that it doesn't take up the whole mode. and maybe there's even an option that if you do terrible, teams won't draft you, and you have to find a tryout or play in a different league(could just be made up, i.e. you don't have to get rights for the CFL or something). And if you can't make it, you'll have to keep simming and find an opportunity and make it count or just retire early on disappointed. Sure it might sound too "deep" but aren't franchises just as deep?

And that brings me to the other 2 problems with the mode. Retirement and Money. Make you're money mean something. like the 2k sports crib type thing but waaaaay more in depth and not just a house you build up or something. make me want to be greedy. i'll want to take that big free agent contract or feel that much better about taking the home town discount. And RETIREMENT. make this interesting, when i retire it should save my "career" in a showcase somewhere that i can always go into in the game and look at what i did, the impact i had. don't let this just end my career, have some paths that i can choose or something. give me a montage of my highlights that i can look at, and trophy's i've won. and then let me go through and see each year i'm eligible if i made the hall of fame. and don't make it so i retire and BOOM, it just tells me i either did or didn't make it. MAKE ME FEEL SOMETHING!!!!

[Bballpaul1]

This is the reason why some robots will never be truly like us because they have no heart to show different feelings and that doesn't even if you are trying to resemble Allen Iverson.

[Sands]

i also think that the bigger problem with be a player is that they use the same engine and script from previous games specially Madden. i think what would be helpful would be a smarter engine that engages the player to make both social and game decisions. For example what if you were a Mark Sanchez type player and you had to choose between doing a photo shoot or attend voluntary workouts. something like that

[burter]

I played nba 2k10-2k12 myplayer mode 100% of the time. The only reason I was even able to do that is because I got it on PC and was able to change minutes (in the earlier versions of the game when you couldn't) and freeze the sliders. That right there made the mode 10x better. Being able to freeze sliders made it to where I could count on my teammates to make shots if I pass them the ball and I didn't have to jack up 50 shots for us to win (plus get realistic stats for my team and cpu teams). I'm almost in the playoffs now and I avg. 17pts and 11assist. There is no way I could play that mode on xbox or ps3 just because of the limitation. Not to mention I could cut the season down from 82 games to 14 or 29 games.

One thing they need to do for the xbox and ps3 users is give them the options to do this so they don't get bored out of their mind. For nba 2k of course. The other games I just never tried those mode. Also on 2k you can't just put 99 in each stat. But still I don't think there is a difference between 99 mid shot and 95 mid shot. Now say you are a passing pg maybe your mid shot can't go higher than 85. Now that will be a way to make it to where you aren't great at everything you do and make you really think about what kind of player you start off with.

They do have some limitations in that. Like my inside can only go up to 85, close to 90 and mid to 95. So I mean 2k is trying it, but they can approve on that to make it really really matter what kind of guy you start off with.

[da ThRONe]

I have been calling for an end of skill points in be a pro modes for a couple of years now. The development should be as true to life as possible and sorry you don't get generic points for making a lay-up that you can use to improve your ball handling or grab a rebound and improve your 3pt shooting or steal a pass and jump higher. The way you practise, play, or train should be the sole determining factor how your ditigal self progress or regress.

IMO skill points and the lack of A.I. in your teammates are the two biggest downers in BAP modes.

[K0ZZ]

Re: A Potential Improvement for Be A Player Modes

It's a mix of things, in game it can be boring especially if the ball isn't going near you, while off the field/court, your options are limited to changing your appearance and in some games asking to be moved.

They need to expand on both, I'm not asking for a Sims clone, but things like interviews/press conferences, publicity events, some practices (minigames) should be playable.

NBA 2K12 had the controllable interviews but for one, they were too common and became mundane. Two, the choices were decent but at the same time the brief description of the choice could sometimes turn completely against you. For example we had lost a game where I put up twenty-nine points, the reporter asked how I felt I preformed and I choice on option for basically decent and it ended up being my guy claiming he did good and blasting his team. Improving the descriptions or more than a brief sentence of what your going to say is needed.

Included in this, have a pitch editor, that way your really only required to record one or two voices, than a pitch editor allows for a multitude of changes, inevitably not costing as much as a similar amount of options would in voice capturing.

Publicity events would include photo shoots, award presentations, annual team press event/convention, maybe a pick up game or two here or there (for basketball maybe soccer). Photo shoots would more so be a 'what direction do you want to go with and the game spits out a picture of your athlete on a simulated cover that would range from a local news to national news or magazine. Award presentations really don't need any interactivity, but at award presentations when they are formally handed out you will see athletes, this could also include drafts if the league allows it. Annual press event/convention would be a blend of a minigame and interview, maybe a fan wants to see you dunk, or bend a kick in for a goal, or it might just be questions about the team.

Practices should also be included but not in the typical context of scrimmages. Scrimmages are boring and extending boredom is not helping, it's essentially meaningless games or plays. Include minigames, the PS2/XBOX college football game had them, as did Madden, have progression tied heavily to that with light progression in the season.

Simulating career growth is also big, for the first few years, the players should have an easier chance allocating physical abilities with a small discount on mental ones, towards the middle of their career the discount will be balanced slightly towards the mental abilities with the bonus leaving from physical attributes, than in the final stages, a slow decay of physical attributes with a massive increase in mental.

Physical attributes would be directly tied to physical condition, it would only include speed, strength,vertical, stamina, durability, acceleration and things like juking or spinning which are directly tied to your physical abilities. Where as mental would include your ability to shoot in basketball, ability to catch or throw in football, or your ability to locate and place shots in soccer / hockey.

Finally, make money worth something. Not suggesting a Sim's game as I said before, but money is pointless. Why negotiate with your club if it's just another statistic? Most games just hand you a contract when it expires and says deal with it. Earlier superstar modes won't even tell you the value of your contract.

NBA 2K12 had a right idea to tie moves and an ability increase to cash flow but this needs to be fleshed out more. Allow a player maybe one tattoo and charge for tattoos after that, charge for hair changes/colorings, allow the player to buy fictional vehicles, assets,etc that would increase his brand appeal and ultimately lead to more sponsors and fans. Have sponsor benefits be tied to equipment rather than monetary benefits. Deduct a living fee and an agent fee so players are being given a money pit to go around with, but not so much so that money is irrelevant for the majority of the career.