NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

[DBMcGee3]

This is one area I find especially inexcusable, for Live or 2k. I mean, is it really that difficult to hire one or two people, whose entire job description is to update transactions, ratings and accessories? Considering how each year these games advertise 'daily updates' in the months leading up to release, I would think this kind of neglect could easily be labeled fraud. 7 ratings changes in 3 months? Wow....

[lopey986]

Holy **** I can't believe that's what Giannis looks like, that is hilarious. What a dumpster fire.

I've enjoyed 2k on the ps4 but I really dislike the stripping of control these games are going forward with (limited roster editing, No created players, No 30 team franchise control). As the games run on more powerful systems you should get more control, not less.

[poloelite]

I didn't get through all of the comments, but I will say it again about NBA Live. In my opinion Live 07-09 was decent at best and Live 10 was the peak of the franchise. Since then the only game they released was Live 14, which isn't as good as Live 10 of a previous generation. Everyone seems to ignore the elephant in the room that Mike Wang produced Live 10, left and made 2K11-14, all the best the bball games of their respective years. As far as bball basketball games go, he seems to the genius behind them. He left EA because of politics and the fact that it was too hard to get things done to improve the game.

We all have fond memories of NBA Live, but we have to be honest about the times. The Live we grew up with didn't have to deliver the level of realism that is required today. Contact in the paint, the level of AI, off ball movements etc are all things that we look for today. Back in 2004 you could simply add a freestyle dribble stick and we were impressed. The detail that goes into sports games today require a great mind to lead, a stellar team and the publisher all working hand in hand. From what I played in Live 14 it would be close to impossible to turn that around to something new in 9-10 months. It took 2K 17 years to get to the gameplay we see now and they have a great organization in place producing their basketball game. I just think it's time that we're all honest about who's making Live today, their track record and what we've actually seen the last couple of years. I remember them saying it had to be on next gen because current gen couldn't handle what they were about to put out, smdh.

Just my two cents, spend them how you want.. No offense intended to anyone.

[shutdown10]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I didn't get through all of the comments, but I will say it again about NBA Live. In my opinion Live 07-09 was decent at best and Live 10 was the peak of the franchise. Since then the only game they released was Live 14, which isn't as good as Live 10 of a previous generation. Everyone seems to ignore the elephant in the room that Mike Wang produced Live 10, left and made 2K11-14, all the best the bball games of their respective years. As far as bball basketball games go, he seems to the genius behind them. He left EA because of politics and the fact that it was too hard to get things done to improve the game.

We all have fond memories of NBA Live, but we have to be honest about the times. The Live we grew up with didn't have to deliver the level of realism that is required today. Contact in the paint, the level of AI, off ball movements etc are all things that we look for today. Back in 2004 you could simply add a freestyle dribble stick and we were impressed. The detail that goes into sports games today require a great mind to lead, a stellar team and the publisher all working hand in hand. From what I played in Live 14 it would be close to impossible to turn that around to something new in 9-10 months. It took 2K 17 years to get to the gameplay we see now and they have a great organization in place producing their basketball game. I just think it's time that we're all honest about who's making Live today, their track record and what we've actually seen the last couple of years. I remember them saying it had to be on next gen because current gen couldn't handle what they were about to put out, smdh.

Just my two cents, spend them how you want.. No offense intended to anyone.

Nobody should be offended by what you said. This Live team needs to prove to everyone in the community that they can make a respectable basketball game. All the excuses have run out for them because you see it in the low sales and the harsh critics and reviews from credible gaming websites.

[rtkiii]

Why is anyone surprised. I'm not.

[poloelite]

Nobody should be offended by what you said. This Live team needs to prove to everyone in the community that they can make a respectable basketball game. All the excuses have run out for them because you see it in the low sales and the harsh critics and reviews from credible gaming websites.

Agreed. When applying logic to this situation, I think they thought Live 14 was going to be it, but they couldn't execute it properly. When they saw 2K next gen for the first time they probably either knew they were doomed, or didn't believe it. I remember a statement when the trailers came out about their's was actual gameplay and 2K's wasn't, which meant they couldn't believe how good the graphics were. Judging by the new round of face scans they're doing, updated graphics will be there in Live 15, but there's only so much they can do in a tight window that they couldn't do in the previous 4 years before Live 14. I would love if they just brought back NBA Street.

[shutdown10]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

Agreed. When applying logic to this situation, I think they thought Live 14 was going to be it, but they couldn't execute it properly. When they saw 2K next gen for the first time they probably either knew they were doomed, or didn't believe it. I remember a statement when the trailers came out about their's was actual gameplay and 2K's wasn't, which meant they couldn't believe how good the graphics were. Judging by the new round of face scans they're doing, updated graphics will be there in Live 15, but there's only so much they can do in a tight window that they couldn't do in the previous 4 years before Live 14. I would love if they just brought back NBA Street.

I expect graphics to be improved in Live 15. What I'm concerned about is how will it animate. I think Live 15 will have the same robotic outdated Live engine that has the players moving unrealistic with quirky reactions. Can the over hyped Ignite Engine improve those unrealistic animations? That is the million dollar question that I don't believe they will ever deliver on. Their 3 year plan won't make it because they are pacing this game to death.

[blackngoldfan]

No excuses. EA had 2 years to come up with a solid game. They have a serious case of gamers block If there is such a thing. They come up with ideas, then scrap them whether they're good or bad. There may be some good features in this years title, but they will scrap everything and start from scratch because the game failed as a whole. Yes, NBA Elite was scraped, but wasn't there anything worth keeping? The shooting mechanic seemed pretty cool. I bet if we were to take a peek in the NBA Live meetings, there would be a huge bin full of balled up papers and nothing on the desk.

[blackceasar]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I expect graphics to be improved in Live 15. What I'm concerned about is how will it animate. I think Live 15 will have the same robotic outdated Live engine that has the players moving unrealistic with quirky reactions. Can the over hyped Ignite Engine improve those unrealistic animations? That is the million dollar question that I don't believe they will ever deliver on. Their 3 year plan won't make it because they are pacing this game to death.

I have a friend that works in the industry. He works on the dev side around animation, etc. He told me the engine is the most time consuming and costly part of the dev. He also told me once you've built the engine and locked it down, you can make tweaks to it but you can only mess with it so far without pretty much building a whole new engine. With that said, he told me from his own experiences that what probably happened was the Live Team screwed the pooch on the engine part and while 15 will be better it's not going to fix nearly as much as what people are hoping for engine wise. He told me to give people the engine they want, they'd have to build a new one from scratch and they just aren't going to do that. He said that's why even games like Madden, Fifa, etc while have better engines than the Live series only see little bits of improvment each year on that generation of a system. Its like they have to work incrementally from the engine they have established so if the engine is god awful in the first game, its not going to get that much better in 15, 16, 17 and so on unless they rebuild it...which they wont do. He said they will improve other things that have nothing to do with the engine (because cost effctive wise they can) and they will spin and promote the heck out of that in their future ad campains...but that engine minues a tweak here and there is here to stay for PS4 and Xbox1

[shutdown10]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I have a friend that works in the industry. He works on the dev side around animation, etc. He told me the engine is the most time consuming and costly part of the dev. He also told me once you've built the engine and locked it down, you can make tweaks to it but you can only mess with it so far without pretty much building a whole new engine. With that said, he told me from his own experiences that what probably happened was the Live Team screwed the pooch on the engine part and while 15 will be better it's not going to fix nearly as much as what people are hoping for engine wise. He told me to give people the engine they want, they'd have to build a new one from scratch and they just aren't going to do that. He said that's why even games like Madden, Fifa, etc while have better engines than the Live series only see little bits of improvment each year on that generation of a system. Its like they have to work incrementally from the engine they have established so if the engine is god awful in the first game, its not going to get that much better in 15, 16, 17 and so on unless they rebuild it...which they wont do. He said they will improve other things that have nothing to do with the engine (because cost effctive wise they can) and they will spin and promote the heck out of that in their future ad campains...but that engine minues a tweak here and there is here to stay for PS4 and Xbox1

If that is the case, then they better start looking at reviving NBA Street Vol, 4. If they can't give us a solid sim Next gen NBA game, then give us a solid street arcade NBA game. I think NBA Street would be a hit on the Next gen consoles if done correctly like Vol.1 and Vol.2 in the PS2 days.

[mrclutch]

Shame to see EA fall short with the vision. maybe next year....if there really is one.

[ScoobySnax]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I know "Live is Back" really sounds good in EA corporate circles, but at the end of the day, if the bottom line is suffering (and it for damn sure is), it can't continue. So just put that dev team out of their misery and just cancel the franchise.

[shutdown10]

Re: NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I know "Live is Back" really sounds good in EA corporate circles, but at the end of the day, if the bottom line is suffering (and it for damn sure is), it can't continue. So just put that dev team out of their misery and just cancel the franchise.

Yeah! After checking out Nba Live's tutorial videos on youtube, you can see in the updated comments that people who bought the game are starting to turn against it. EA put themselves in a situation where Live 15 has to be great or they have to say goodbye.

[NimaAkaJoJo]

NBA Live 14 Is Barely Updating Its Players

I know "Live is Back" really sounds good in EA corporate circles, but at the end of the day, if the bottom line is suffering (and it for damn sure is), it can't continue. So just put that dev team out of their misery and just cancel the franchise.

and what good will that bring to the table? i tell you what good. absolutely nothing. it's competition and that will only mean that we as consumers win. why? cause we have a choice, unlike other matters. so please stop with the negative mindset, cause that wont be to any good use at all.
we as basketball game fans need the live series, so the other game doesn't sit on their 'throne' and dictate what we as a basketball community have to play and accept.

competition will only make the devs work harder and hopefully ea gets that live 15 has to deliver, or they'll never get a foot inside this matchup.

[RUFFNREADY]

and what good will that bring to the table? i tell you what good. absolutely nothing. it's competition and that will only mean that we as consumers win. why? cause we have a choice, unlike other matters. so please stop with the negative mindset, cause that wont be to any good use at all.
we as basketball game fans need the live series, so the other game doesn't sit on their 'throne' and dictate what we as a basketball community have to play and accept.

competition will only make the devs work harder and hopefully ea gets that live 15 has to deliver, or they'll never get a foot inside this matchup.

"Competition" between LIVE 14 and 2K14? Is like the Allen Iverson rant, "Practice..?"
There was no competition in this years games! The ( EA/Dev) team, pushed out a beta product, and charged the die sheep $60, for broken promises!
Hey, I hear it's a fun game; but shouldn't ever video game be fun? Now, I know everybody has "different tastes"; and that's just life; but being a wolf, and posing like a Sheppard, is not right! EA wanted to grab as much money out of die's pockets as possible, and they did!
This game should have been deemed a demo from the get go; to help build a better LIVE 15! And it should have been "FREE!"
Every video game outlet store, has tons of these games Brand new, or on the Used rack!
I am personally waiting for it to hit the clearance bin for $10. and not a penny more! So I can to have "FUN" with this game!
Let's call a ball, a ball, and a strike, a strike! NBA LIVE 14, should not have been released, in the state that is is right now; and with hardly any update support; makes this much worst; for a "FUN" game!
I really want to see what EA and NBA LIVE 15 is going to WOW Us with this fall (7 months from now!)
Is EA, going to do what they do best and omit features out of LIVE 14, and reintroduce them in LIVE 16? (if it makes it to production?)
It's solely up to EA, to get rid of this bad, negative taste out of, "some" of the NBA LIVE fans mouths!
cheers