Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.
As you might know if you’ve caught any recent episodes of the NLSC Podcast, I’ve been playing a lot of 2K Pro-Am lately. In fact, I haven’t played much besides 2K Pro-Am in recent weeks, which is unusual as I’m not normally an online gamer. However, as I explained in Monday Tip-Off a few weeks back, I’m really enjoying the social aspect of the mode, and it’s been a fun change of pace from the modes that I usually play. It’s one of the reasons that I’m considering pre-ordering the Legend Edition of NBA 2K17, in order to immediately level up my MyPLAYER.
Needless to say, while I am enjoying the mode, it’s not without its problems. A few weeks ago, I discussed some issues with the grading logic that also affect MyCAREER, which I’d definitely like to see fixed. On top of that, there are some other improvements that I’d like to see made to 2K Pro-Am, five of which I’m outlining in this week’s column. So, without any further ado, here are five ideas for NBA 2K17’s Pro-Am, which I feel would greatly benefit the mode.
1. Allow Users to Switch Positions
There are times in NBA 2K16’s Pro-Am where the lineup logic leaves something to be desired. I’ve yet to encounter any problems when all five MyPLAYERs have a different position – or at the very least, there’s a user-controlled centre on the team – but if you happen to be running with a small-ball lineup, the game will assemble some very odd lineups. As we mentioned in Episode #167 of the NLSC Podcast, we recently played a game in which Eric (aka Q) was placed at centre, despite being a 5’7″ point guard. We managed to win, and Eric manned the pivot valiantly, but it’s obviously not an ideal situation.
It would therefore be really handy if we could manually set new lineups in 2K Pro-Am, with control given to the team owner. While it might lead to a few squabbles now and again, it would definitely be worth it to overcome oddities in the lineup logic. Its usefulness would extend beyond overcoming glitches, too. For example, Kenny is a small forward, but he’s been very effective for NLSC Greatness as a stretch four in some of our games. There are times when we’d like to manually move him to the power forward spot, either before or during the game. It’s an option that could create and avoid mismatches, so I’d like to see it added.
2. Leagues & Divisions
This one might be difficult to achieve, since there are regional servers for 2K Pro-Am. Finding an opponent also depends on who else is online, so it’s understandable that you’re matched up with whomever the game can find, for the sake of actually getting to play a game. All the same, I’d like to see leagues and divisions implemented, or at least some means of fairer matchmaking. It’s a step learning curve when a team of newer gamers with lower rated players is matched up with a powerful team with a lot of wins and five players who are 90+ Overall. It leads to lopsided games, which can be discouraging if you’re getting into 2K Pro-Am for the first time.
I’d like to see team rankings taken into consideration when it comes to matchmaking; or, if they already are, I think they need to have a bigger impact. You could argue that playing against tougher opponents is a learning experience, but with some of the tactics those teams use, it’s often simply too frustrating. I feel that lower ranked teams, with players who still need to level up significantly, should be eased into the mode as much as possible. Competitive games are far more fun to play, and they’re better learning experiences than getting blown out by teams with maxed out MyPLAYERs.
3. Better Camera Options
Unless I’m missing something, there are three camera options in 2K Pro-Am: Broadcast, 2K (a fixed baseline angle that rotates), and the MyCAREER angle which is similar to 2K, but follows your player and is zoomed in closer. Being a point guard, I find that 2K is the best angle to play with, offering the best view of the entire court. Unfortunately, the rotation of the camera when there’s a change of possession is a little jerky, which ultimately interferes with your momentum on the fast break. I know that you can disable auto-flip in other modes, so it’s possible I’ve overlooked it in 2K Pro-Am. If it is missing, however, then it absolutely needs to be added in NBA 2K17.
In fact, NBA 2K17’s camera options could stand to be better in general. It’s frustrating to have to enter a game to change your default camera settings, as it should be something that you can do in the frontend. I’d like to be able to set 2K as my default camera angle for 2K Pro-Am, but instead I have to change it shortly after the tip-off every game. And of course, because you cycle through the cameras with the right stick, and the right stick is also used to shoot the ball, a couple of times I’ve accidentally launched a shot from beyond midcourt while trying to quickly change my camera angle. In short, better camera options, accessible in the frontend, are a must.
4. CPU Challenges with NBA Players
Visual Concepts got the jump on EA Sports by announcing 2K Pro-Am for NBA 2K16 before LIVE Pro-Am was announced for NBA Live 16. In fact, I was attending an NBA Live 16 community event and getting my first look at LIVE Pro-Am when 2K Pro-Am was announced. Each game took a different approach to the mode, and while I initially favoured NBA Live 16’s concept, I’ve come to prefer what’s on offer in NBA 2K16. That being said, the Pro-Am moniker is more appropriate in NBA Live, since it actually features NBA players. To that end, 2K Pro-Am should probably be called MyCREW, especially as it would fit with their usual naming scheme.
That’s why I’d like to see NBA 2K17 put more “Pro” into 2K Pro-Am, with challenges featuring NBA players. While I like 2K Pro-Am’s team customisation and general approach to gameplay, I think LIVE Pro-Am had a great idea by offering multiplayer User vs. CPU gameplay via the Summer Circuit, and multiplayer User vs. User gameplay via LIVE Run. The ability to challenge teams of NBA players would be a good way for new squads to gain experience, level up, and play a few games if they’re having trouble finding an opponent. It would also make the Pro-Am name a little more relevant.
5. Improved Balance & Less Cheese
Before NBA 2K16 was released, we were told that a lot of effort had gone into balancing the game, and removing cheesy gameplay. The producers threw around terms like “dairy free” and “cheddar free”, and while I do think improvements were made when it comes to gameplay against the CPU, there’s definitely still room for further improvement. Unfortunately, online gameplay is still more noticeably problematic, at least when it comes to 2K Pro-Am. Balance kind of goes out the window when you’ve got a team full of maxed out players, and there are moments that definitely feel cheap and cheesy.
To throw a few examples out there, it feels like there are too many blocks, or at least, too many blocked dunks. The fact that there are a lot of maxed out 7’3″ centres certainly doesn’t help, especially when they can run the floor like a guard for chase-down blocks. Those maxed out bigs are often impossible to contend with defensively, as they have no trouble finishing at the rim, on top of being able to handle the ball and shoot like much smaller players. As I said earlier, it’s tough to contend with higher rated teams of maxed out players when you’re first starting out in 2K Pro-Am, and the imbalance makes it even tougher. NBA 2K17 needs to further cut down on the cheese.
Having said all that, I still do enjoy jumping into games of 2K Pro-Am with the NLSC Greatness crew a few times each week, and I’m sure that we’ll continue to do that in NBA 2K17. I’d just like to see some improvements, so that a fun mode can get even better. What are some improvements that you’d like to see in 2K Pro-Am? Let me know in the comments below, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.
The post The Friday Five: 5 Ideas for 2K Pro-Am appeared first on NLSC.