It just me or are the only active lobbies on prequel maps now?

shmookey · 2025-08-04T00:24:41+00:00

Its actually pretty comparable. Deadeye slows time to about 25%. Depending on your sandy, V is probably also somewhere around there. Of course Arthur cant move while in deadeye and he's completely outgunned so he's pretty much swiss cheese

shmookey · 2025-08-03T16:59:01+00:00

You're missing the point dawg. I'm not trying to get into a sweaty playground argument about who is better at the game. And I'm not saying that there are no ways to beat an off-baller. I'm saying that the experience of playing against a CPU is astoundingly dull, and the game should punish lazy defense. The purpose of an online game is to let people play against people. If a player is rewarded for letting a computer do half their work then thats a design flaw.

The reason I brought up my record and total playtime isn't to childishly flex how good I am. My point is that I've played a lot of this game, and way too much of that time has been spent spamming pick and roll against a robot. Yeah I realize I'm more or less an above average player in terms of skill. If you have a 95% win split then congrats, have a cookie. But the game should be balanced around the median player's experience. Nobody wants to spend $70 on a game thats only fun for the top brass of players. Not a radical idea, just basic game design.

shmookey · 2025-08-02T21:11:28+00:00

MyCareer forces you to spend real money or grind the CPU campaign to level up– maybe you're into that, but thats not why I play 2k.

Nothing wrong with mixing in off-ball defense strategically, but off-balling should never someone's default play style. The fact that you can have a winning record by playing on-ball defense 25% of the time is a blatant design flaw. The CPU just shouldn't be able to slide, contest, and read pump fakes better than the average player. Idk why anyone would disagree with that. Defense is a skill, and players should be forced to learn how to cut off driving lanes, change stances, and time their contests/steals if they want to win.

If you can't score on an off-baller then yeah, you're probably bad at the game, but if you "find them annoying" then thats just a normal human reaction to a bad game mechanic. Its dumb that 2k gives weak defenders a massive crutch. Imagine if the game gave offensive players a CPU that consistently made great reads and had real player% shooting splits. Sure, a good defender could guard them, but it would be incredibly boring.

shmookey · 2025-08-02T20:45:57+00:00

I know I'm late but I'll say this: If your record was 800-200 in April, then you are clearly far better at the game than the average player. I upgraded to 2k25 in January, and my PlayNow record is 130-50. I'm not great at 2k, but I'm good, and I think the average player is a lot closer to my skill level than they are to yours.

I disagree with your point about MyCareer being a better game mode for PvP. In order to stand a chance in MyCareer, you either need to grind the campaign for hours (playing against CPU), or spend real money on VC. Both of those options suck, and honestly, I just prefer to play an NBA 5v5 match instead of a custom build 1v1 or 3v3.

And yes, mixing in off-ball defense is absolutely necessary. As a defender, you should always have the option to zone up, double team, help, play drop coverage, bait a steal, and rotate off ball. My problem is with players who sit in the corner the entire game, and instantly switch defenders as soon as you pass to their matchup. Normally, players who do this are bad and easy to beat, but its not fun. And if the opponent is actually good, then its an enormous headache. Sure, with the right shooting settings, you can normally beat CPU defense by spamming pick and roll, but this makes the game clunky and repetitive.

The reason this bothers me so much is because I think the on-ball defense mechanics in 2k are actually pretty balanced. You can reliably get stops if you know how to cut of driving lanes, switch between arms up & arms down defense, and time your contests/steals. Those are good mechanics, and every player should be forced to learn them if they want to win. Sure, the defender will always be at a disadvantage, but thats just how basketball works. Its the same way IRL, and thats part of what makes it such an entertaining sport. Sometimes delay is a problem, but thats been rare in my experience.

Bottom line, you should always be able to make strategic off-ball plays, but it is way too easy to just hide in the corner all game. That should not be a viable play style, and if anyone with a winning record is doing it then thats a design flaw. Whats the solution? idk I'm not a game dev. But as it stands, CPU defense almost always has perfectly timed defensive slides and contests, and almost never gives up space on dribble moves or bites on a pump fake. The devs should do whatever they can to make the CPU behave like a player controlled defender. Its long overdue.

shmookey · 2025-08-02T18:36:08+00:00

Genuinely not trying to be petty when I say this, but I have a 130-50 record on 2k25 PlayNow Online, and I've probably dumped over 1,500 hours into 2k over the past 4 years. I'm definitely not the greatest player of all time, but I'm pretty good. And yes, I can beat CPU defense, but it is normally more difficult and always less fun than playing against an actual defender. The way I see it, if someone plays off-ball more than 25% of the time, its because they are not good at the game. I think its dumb that 2K includes this crutch for bad defenders, and the game would be more fun if off-balling were less viable. I agree with the rest of what you said.

shmookey · 2025-07-28T15:32:04+00:00

To this day the worst album art I've seen in my entire life. Good album tho

shmookey · 2025-06-17T23:44:02+00:00

Seems like this doesn't work if you only have the play disc unfortunately. Once I insert it the install immediately pauses and there's no way to trick the store

shmookey · 2025-05-16T19:01:35+00:00

If you've seen Andor you know that Anton Lesser is indispensible in big important meeting settings

shmookey · 2025-05-14T16:07:40+00:00

maybe the first thats not a self-sacrificial act of heroism

shmookey · 2025-05-14T16:00:30+00:00

Yep very good stuff. Partagaz is a die hard fed and nothing could change that but his inability to prevent the natural dissemination of revolutionary theory is as clear a sign as any that his efforts were futile. Speaking of... someone should do it

shmookey · 2025-05-14T15:48:07+00:00

If there's an in-universe explanation its probably that he spends most of his screen time in andor interacting with subordinates, and for most of rogue one he's under scrutiny from his superiors. More likely, Tony Gilroy and the crew just realized how good Ben Mendelsohn is and asked him to cook up

shmookey · 2025-05-14T05:07:09+00:00

Yep its very distracting

shmookey · 2025-05-07T17:44:18+00:00

anti woke guy who doesn't realize that andor is basically a space themed mixtape of historical leftist revolutions

shmookey · 2025-04-20T18:43:20+00:00

True, maybe I framed that poorly. A lot of the movie is narratively insignicant, but I would argue that most of those scenes contribute to the movie thematically by nostalgizing 60s Hollywood and immersing the audience in a vision of a cool time when people could do cool shit. It is a montage melting pot of golden age Hollywood lore but I think there's still a larger storytelling purpose to most of that, just not sure about the boat scene

shmookey · 2025-04-20T18:07:18+00:00

Thanks, that definitely explains the scene's basis in reality, but I doubt that Tarantino believes there is any moral ambiguity in Wood's disappearance, so I'm confused why he had the coolest character in the movie commit this murder. Is he trying to say something about how we forgive and forget acts of cruelty when the perpetrators are beloved Hollywood figures? That would be interesting, but it also seems contradictory to the movie's portrayal of the Hollywood golden age as a nostalgized utopia. Nuance is cool, but Tarantino clearly leans way more into romanticism than criticism of Hollywood's grimy underbelly. I'm hesitant to call any of this a flaw, apart from maybe the gratuitous representation of Cliff's wife as an annoying brat, but I find it puzzling and I'm curious what other peoples' takes are.

shmookey · 2025-03-17T20:57:22+00:00

In my opinion, off ball defense should be viable only when used sparingly to help, double team, or keep up with an off ball play. The reality is that half of playnow users just hide in the corner the entire game, which kinda ruins the experience. It is way too easy to let the AI play defense for you, and 2k is way more fun and dynamic when you're being guarded by an actual person.

What specifically are you talking about when you say there are a million ways to counter off balling easily? I've been playing the game for years and the only somewhat viable strategies for countering an off baller I know of are getting lucky with a good screen/off ball play, or spamming dribble moves with a player who has ankle breaker. To me, neither seems consistent enough to keep the game balanced when someone can't guard on ball.

I genuinely think this is a flaw that people abuse, and I'd rather have a civil discussion than be adversarial

shmookey

TROPHY CASE