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Rookie
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Re: How should progression work?
The best by far player progression system is implemented in the football manager series (which I definitely recommend to you OP, even if you don't know anything about soccer). Very complex and deep, but I'll try to sum up the basics.
Every player is assigned two numbers from 1 to 200, that reflect his current ability (CA) and his (PA). CA can never exceed PA (unlike in 2k).
How these numbers are evaluated, is a function of many things, such as how many positions a player can play, how skilled and athletic he is, his IQ etc.
Whether a player is going to reach his PA is determined by these factors.
1. Age. Fastest growth during young ages, especially for mental attributes. If a player reaches the age of 26-27 and is still far away from his PA, chances are he's never going to reach it.
2. Playing time. More = better. Too much = bad. Too much would be the equivalent of the AI teams in Philly.
3. Coaches and training facilities. Self explanatory I believe.
4. Injuries and medical staff. Also, easy to understand. Injury prone players generally don't reach their peaks.
5. And most important of all, Personality Attributes.
There are many in the game, but the only relevant to this model are Determination, Work Rate, Natural Fitness, Professionalism and Ambition. The first three are visible to the player, but the last two are hidden and you can only estimate approximate values by clues throughout the seasons.
The most important of all is arguably Professionalism, because aside from the speed and likelihood of growth, it influences the duration of the peak.
These attributes are not static, but are not trainable either. They can only be changed at a young age (<22), through tutoring by older players.
Tutoring is an integral part of the series, and is a process that generally takes time. Also the players have to be compatible as personalities, for instance don't expect prime Timmy (a professional, calm player) to want to tutor a young DMC (an unprofessional hothead at the time).
Also interesting is how these games handle peak duration.
A player's physical attributes usually stop improving once he reaches 27ish, start declining by 30ish and start freefalling at 34-35. Exceptions to the rule are players without injuries, high natural fitness and top determination and professionalism. In general the Lebrons of this world.
However, despite the physical decline, a player's CA can remain at near PA levels for a long time, through the continuous increase of mental and skill attributes. Much like how CP3 is still a top 5 player despite not being as speedy as in his NOP days.
Generally, most player progression/decline curves can be approximated by this system.
Iverson, very determined/ambitious reached his peak, but his heavy playtime cought up to him, and his unprofessional behavior and lack of work ethic kicked him out of the league. Gilbert Arenas comes to mind also.
Timmy, freak of nature in terms of fitness, driven, professional, enjoyed lasting peak and minor decline in overall value as a player in his later years. Jordan, Kobe, Stockton, Andre Miller are other player in that mold.
AD, good player so far, determined, has battled injuries and has had up and down seasons due to them (fluctuations in CA). Many players who came back succesfully from injuries, Robinson, Embiid also recently etc.
Antony Bennett, unprofessional, unmotivated, low natural fitness (asthma). Never even came close to what he could have been.
If the 2k franchise could draw some inspiration from that system, that would be ideal. Hell, even a straight-up copy of it would make me happy.
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01-20-2017, 09:31 AM
