NBA Live 18

Zero-Cool

This review gave NBA 2K18 3/10 going to town on the VC and 2K got them to take it down but they have since put it back up :pac:

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2017/09/21/nba-2k18-review/

They have a statement on it here http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2017/09/22/with-regard-to-our-nba-2k18-review/

Zero-Cool

New online challenges live now, finally have online a go and it's like night and day from the demo. Everyone passed, defended and very few stupid shots. Absolute zero lag which is very welcome. Took a vid of it, 5 players vs CPU NBA All Stars, good example of online done right. I even got Play of the Game. Couple of mistakes and bad decisions but in the low amount. Went into a pick up game after it 5v5, great game as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NaII0uCO0

irishman86

Plumped for 2K
The franchise on Live just ruined it for me

irishman86

irishman86 wrote: »

Plumped for 2K
The franchise on Live just ruined it for me

Note the VC farming solution mentioned earlier is mainly gone now.

It seems to work on a first occasion, not sure did they put a timer on it but it seems to be good for 800 coins every log in(every few hours).

irishman86

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Note the VC farming solution mentioned earlier is mainly gone now.

It seems to work on a first occasion, not sure did they put a timer on it but it seems to be good for 800 coins every log in(every few hours).

I dont usually use VC end up with loads spare at the end

irishman86

So started playing today and enjoying the story in myGM so far
The game play feels better more fluid
I've been reading it has a few bugs so hopefully thats sorted by the time i reach the second season

*Sigh*...

Just worked my way into the startling line up in Career in 2k in the past few days.

Was playing short games so it takes a little longer.

Those step back shots players took last year ARE still there, needlessly take a step back without the need and you know it's an automatic miss then.

But a bigger issue is the minutes mgmt.

In the past two games I've sat for the last chunk of time.

Completely ridiculous coding tbh. We're playing Pilly, down by 12 after I sub back in. We get it down to 2 or 4 with 2-4mins to go, called to bench and game ends.

Then I played the Suns there, I upped it to 10mins to try get a stat streak going. I sit for 7mins in the first half, last min in 1st and 6mins of the second.

I come off again for like 5/6/7 mins in the 3rd quarter and then with 6mins left in the game I get pulled for the remainder.

They don't make this game with lasting appeal unless you're a Park addict who can put up with the constant unacceptable levels of lag that comes with it.

Zero-Cool

I wish Live had a custom Pro-Am mode like 2k. Make your own team, jerseys and court. I watched a few 2k vids today and a general theme is that bigs rule the court again this year. They are fast like guards on defense and easily contest shots, nice and quick on offense, hard to guard. I always pick a small guard and get destroyed in 2k every year. In live, if a big tries to guard me, his ankles will get destroyed everytime, really makes all positions worth while if they are played right.

I was thinking today how I'll probably get 2k eventually but none of the videos I looked up seemed fun. Cutscenes everywhere and really bad ones. People complaining on all comments, just more negatives than positives. Putting on Live then and every game is just great, keep pausing to take screenshots or little clips. Seriously best fun playing a basketball game in a long long time. Live definitely has problems, not for you if are looking for franchise or great depth in the modes but The One career has been with the price alone for me.

irishman86

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I wish Live had a custom Pro-Am mode like 2k. Make your own team, jerseys and court. I watched a few 2k vids today and a general theme is that bigs rule the court again this year. They are fast like guards on defense and easily contest shots, nice and quick on offense, hard to guard. I always pick a small guard and get destroyed in 2k every year. In live, if a big tries to guard me, his ankles will get destroyed everytime, really makes all positions worth while if they are played right.

I was thinking today how I'll probably get 2k eventually but none of the videos I looked up seemed fun. Cutscenes everywhere and really bad ones. People complaining on all comments, just more negatives than positives. Putting on Live then and every game is just great, keep pausing to take screenshots or little clips. Seriously best fun playing a basketball game in a long long time. Live definitely has problems, not for you if are looking for franchise or great depth in the modes but The One career has been with the price alone for me.

Franchise for live turned me of it
I was all ready to pull a LBJ and take my talents to EA but i'm a franchise guy not a myplayer

Zero-Cool

A few clips from Live 18. The second clip was ridiculous travelling :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDW-nzeakhc

buyer95

Going to buy 2k18 tomorrow. I play for the franchise mode and I have heard good things about My GM mode, so buying mainly for this.

Wonda-Boy

Zero-Cool wrote: »

A few clips from Live 18. The second clip was ridiculous travelling :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDW-nzeakhc

Man you are really good with the skillz, very good.

Making it look easy, which its not.

Zero-Cool

Wonda-Boy wrote: »

Man you are really good with the skillz, very good.

Making it look easy, which its not.

Ha, thanks man. You get a chance to play it yet?

Chris Smoove sounding like the VC thing finally getting to him in 2K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOOf866Un48

Wonda-Boy

Did not pick it up yet but I am sure I will shortly......still bet into Destiny m8.

Zero-Cool

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Ha, thanks man. You get a chance to play it yet?

Chris Smoove sounding like the VC thing finally getting to him in 2K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOOf866Un48

I saw that yesterday.

Actually on that video, look how bloody smooth the park is for Americans.

I thought we all played in crap servers.

It's not really worth stumping up for the game to play the Park under our conditions.

There was a big patch two days ago but I didn't read the notes yet.
Was getting a bit sick of career a few nights ago so I'll check what that addressed.

There's one massive bug in the game that patch would want to have addressed and its where the wing player leaves a shooter free in the corner to run to protect the paint, but there's nothing to help.
It happens a couple of times per match and it's a borderline game breaker.

I doubt the step back 3s has been addressed considering its carried over from last year.

I'd advise anyone without it to hold off. Unless you're looking to play 1v1(MyTeam was very smooth in the 10 games I played) its the same old story and you'll tire of it in two weeks.

Laggy park, repetitive plays in career, samey games, bugs and glitches ever present.

Your opinion and playability of it will return to 2k17 levels after a week or two of play.
So if you played that all year, you'll play this. If you packed in 17 early like myself you'll find yourself leaning that way again.

Zero-Cool

I got a bit stuck on the pro-am tour with the Goodman League finals. John Wall and KD is kicking our ass. Went back to the NBA as a break and loving it. I've only 62 3pt shot but I caught a hot streak and started nailing 3's. My guy then turns to the camera and pulls this off all on his own :pac:

https://twitter.com/Sheehy_83/status/913850281607262208

Zero-Cool

This is 20 quid on the psn sale at the moment, absolute bargain!

v3ttel

You still tipping away at this Zero-Cool? Any tips for playing through the One, like which dribbling animations are best, etc?

I seem to be really struggling to get open shots or to create my own. In pretty much all catch and shoot situations, I find the AI gets out to contest before I can get the shot away. I dont think I've ever gotten a basket where there was no green on my shooting bar. I'm high 70s to low 80s on pretty much all my primary/secondary skills which probably doesn't help.

The only baskets I ever seem to get as a point shooter are drives.

Zero-Cool

Hey man, traded it in a while back The One NBA got a bit stale, the highlight was the streetball side of it. I never figured which animation packages were the best, just went with the newest unlocked.

Was the same when I played it, impossible to get an open shot. Could be wide open in the corner, shoot, and somehow a defender jumps near you and it's contested. Most of my points came from drives as well. Thought they would have patched it, not sure what support it still gets.

One of the best moves is the step back jumper if you can grind the gold badge for it.

0:34 through the legs Step back jumper
1:04 speed dribble between legs and explode one way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDW-nzeakhc

Looking forward to NBA live 19 to see how they built on 18. Haven't even been tempted to try NBA 2k18, the greedy bastards.

v3ttel

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Hey man, traded it in a while back The One NBA got a bit stale, the highlight was the streetball side of it. I never figured which animation packages were the best, just went with the newest unlocked.

Was the same when I played it, impossible to get an open shot. Could be wide open in the corner, shoot, and somehow a defender jumps near you and it's contested. Most of my points came from drives as well. Thought they would have patched it, not sure what support it still gets.

One of the best moves is the step back jumper if you can grind the gold badge for it.

0:34 through the legs Step back jumper
1:04 speed dribble between legs and explode one way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDW-nzeakhc

Looking forward to NBA live 19 to see how they built on 18. Haven't even been tempted to try NBA 2k18, the greedy bastards.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with that issue of contested shots. I thought I was just rubbish!

I was looking at the videos you posted and was wondering if you'd stumbled on some OP animations, but I guess anything is more likely to work in the Street rather than in the League against the higher level difficult AI. I'm so far behind now in terms of rating that I'd just get humped when playing the Street.

I'm looking forward to Live 19 too. I might park Live 18 when I finish my current season - finding the higher level difficult impossible to make shots which is unrealistic, and at one difficulty level lower - I'm beating the AI every game by a cricket score. Enjoyed it overall though, big step forward from where Live was before.

Potential-Monke

Just picked this up the other day, and while it does play fairly well, it's obvious they're playing catch up to 2K. I'm loving the fact that Live doesn't have any of the VC BS which is why I got Live this time (2K recently turned off the servers for 2K16 and my 100+hour campaign is just gone...). But, it is very inferior to 2K (and that's 2K16, not the more recent ones). The animations are slow, and I've lost count of the amount of times that a dunk animation plays even though it would have been literally impossible, but the defenders move out of the way while standing still. As others have noted, it's very hard to get an open uncontested shot, and the times I do manage to drop in a jump shot it's random and completely unexpected, when I'm missing what I believe are more open shots.

Luckily, due to the way it's laid out, I ended up taking position as a Wing Scorer, which means he's pretty good with the dunks, but is supposed to be good at 3-pointers too, which he's not, at all, aside from the random shots that inexplicably go in. I'm finding no issues driving to the basket and dunking, but it just doesn't feel right, and sometimes he'll layup or stop and take a shot instead of driving for a dunk. I'm pressing the same combination of buttons, and aware of the angles, but it just seems random at times. Compared to 2K, it just doesn't feel fluid.

It's also slower, and doesn't look as good as 2K16. I've increased the speed, but it still feels slower. The commentators don't have a patch on 2K either, and that Stevens fellow (one of the 2 real guys), oh I want to shoot him. Give me back by CG Shaq!! Even the in-game commentators are not as good, or even nearly as good, as 2K. I've only played 7 full games (12 minute 1/4's, 40 minutes for me), but they're already badly repeating themselves. If they tell me how much is expected of me, and that they watched my pro ams games over the weekend once more, I'm tempted to turn it off completely.

I started on pro, as it's the second basketball game i've played since NBA Jam on the SNES, but we're easily winning everything. I upped it to the next higher one, and couldn't even dunk anymore. At least on 2K it seems natural that I wouldn't have been as good after leaving pro, but I was still able to play. With Live, I had to put it back onto pro to start enjoying myself again, and not be fuming!

I've no interest in the Streets side of things, but I was of the belief it would also be part of the 'campaign', but it's not, and I can't see anywhere to play as me against AI, as i'm just not good enough at modern basketball games to be any good online against other actual people with genuine interested in basketballs, and I don't know any of the plays, so I just follow the in game stand here, run there markers.

EA have a looooong way to go to catch up with 2K, but they can do, unless 2K realise that VC is a horrible way to progress and drop it. Keep it fo cosmetics, people will still buy them, but they need to unlink the VC from the 'story' mode for progression. And they might, I believe there was enough of an uproar over 2K18 and it's greedy mechanics. If they literally re-released 2K16 but with better graphics and called it 2K19 (oh, and remove that stupid single player story where I'm supposed to be black, but i'm white), i'd buy it instantly.

Zero-Cool

In career, you can choose to pay Street where it takes you to a league on the different street courts, fully against AI just like NBA career. It was my favourite part of the whole thing as the street setting suited the easy drives/dunks. Plus you don't have the awful NBA commentary and games are much shorter so less repetitive. I'd definitely recommend giving it a go. Story branches to the NBA side as well as your friend is always on your street team and messages you about getting him into the NBA.

I'd be happy if they just focused 100% on the Street side and fleshed it out more, leave 2k to deal with the NBA side which will never be topped in the production value side.

Once I was done with career, online has the same ****tiness as 2k so I traded it but I enjoyed it so much more than 2k17.

Yupp, will be interesting to see how 2k19 is but I don't care how many complaints they got, people had bought legend edition and still dropping 200 dollars real money to get their guy to 85 on launch night. No way 2k will give up that kind of income.

Zero-Cool

Also, this is 8 euro on the psn store sale at the moment, well worth checking out for that.

Wonda-Boy

Yeah I picked it up its well worth it for that price, really miss the 2K series but no way back now after they burned me really bad.

Its a great looking game but lacking a little bit.

Zero-Cool

Horrible thing happened this morning. I woke up and felt like buying 2k18..... Second hand of course, but still not a nice feeling. I saw it for 35 yesterday and I'm going back and forth on whether to get it

Zero-Cool

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Horrible thing happened this morning. I woke up and felt like buying 2k18..... Second hand of course, but still not a nice feeling. I saw it for 35 yesterday and I'm going back and forth on whether to get it

You'll get your moneys worth with it anyway before it gets stale and the repetitiveness kicks in.

The main problem is the lag we get playing in the Park.
That's where the depth is but the lag is just horrible.

I actually thought it was universal until I saw Smoove play and realised its just us in Europe are playing on US servers.

Zero-Cool

gilberto_eire wrote: »

You'll get your moneys worth with it anyway before it gets stale and the repetitiveness kicks in.

The main problem is the lag we get playing in the Park.
That's where the depth is but the lag is just horrible.

I actually thought it was universal until I saw Smoove play and realised its just us in Europe are playing on US servers.

Yeah I read a thing this morning saying you could choose player rated shooting instead of timing. Timing used players will have an advantage but it means people with lag won't have to worry about missing every single shot. Not sure if it was implemented or not but they seem to have stopped their gameplay patches so hopefully will be optimal to play now.

Zero-Cool

So, ended up getting 2k18 in cex for 40 (3 euro after trading in 2 games). 1st impression, Live 18 looks way better. 2k is cartoony compared to Live. 2k presentation is on another level though and has better physics and animations.

Onto My Career. Jaysus, ovr 60 and I'm absolutely shyte. Layup is my highest stat and missed 2 of 2 layups in my first game. Ah good ol' 2k...

https://twitter.com/Sheehy_83/status/995807143881211904?s=19


Had 1k VC when I started, another 1k from my first game. Pumped up my stats to a staggering 61 ovr...

Have to say, the neighborhood is kind of class. Not touching the park yet, already saw a custom teeshirt making fun of 60 ovr players

The cutscenes are ****ing horrible, bad writing, bad acting, too long and....unskippable. **** ye 2k.

Best thing so far is everything you do from shooting around in your court, practice with your team, hitting the gym, etc. Gives points to auto build your badges. I could see myself enjoying the grind to building a better player if it wasn't so obvious they just want you to buy your way to 85 ovr.

Tried my Team and in my starter packs, 2 golds including a D Wade and a few silvers. Seem to have a decent team straight away. Also fairly quick getting a create your own arena card and looks like I'll have the create your own jersey and logo cards after the next goals. Looking forward to getting stuck into it more.

Apologies for posting 2k stuff in a live thread

Wonda-Boy

TURN COAT