1) Both games came back more than 3 years from their previous release.
In PGA golf obviously it was more like 8 years. And they left the genre probably because they didn't feel the return for investment wasn't there.
You would think they would have put in a better effort to create a complete game this time around, as the current competition has a pretty strong foothold in the industry.
But instead it seems they were banking on their reputation, which has not been great in recent years.
2) Both games have minimal difficulty control options and no sliders; as a note, NBA Live 19 only allows you to play in Pro level.
Agreed the lack of difficulty has made the games have a short shelf life. Note there is a difference between difficulty and making a game too complex to play. But in this case neither applies.
I know you keeo mentioning sliders, which would work great in single player mode. But for on-line play the paramters need to be fixed so all players are on an even playing field so I don't think it is possible for skill settings.
I think the best option is to allow users to toggle any features on and off, and sliders for the skills for the AI.
3) The grinding is pretty bad in both games. Only difference is your player starts at 75 for each attribute in NBA live while PGA Tour starts at 0.
They messed up here as well, I agree there should be a cap on the skill points as this would ensure players with different capabilities playing. I don't like that users can instantly change where they can apply their skill points by paying a small penalty.
I would rather them being able to remove a poor choice and have to earn the skill points again to reapply them in another area.
This would add some life to the game, and how you manage your points would become more important.
Max level should have been set to 100 where you received 1 point per level rather than 2. And have the amount in the skill tree doubled for each skill. At least this way the it would add longevity to building your character.
And once you have maxed out your character, convert XP to VC, where 10XP is worth 1VC.
4) Gamers are being hooked to log in everyday. In NBA Live, the store changes every day; Steph Curry’s shimmy celebration is as elusive as Dustin Johnson’s wood spec.
I am okay with their daily tournaments and changes in the stores to bring people on-line. But they need to do something to make the game more balanced.
Both a handicap system in open tournaments, and different tournaments based on your scoring average (grouping similar players).
I don't think people need to win all the time, they just need to feel they are able to complete on an even playing field.
Also allow only one entry for the more competitive tournaments. That doesn't mean at the highest skill settings, it means having one of these for every skill level.
5) NBA Live 19’s Court Battle has modes that are as difficult as playing Sim in PGA Tour Tournaments.
SIM is too easy in this game even with the ridiculous RNG modeling. The shot results need to be based more around the swing mechanics, with the RNG layered overtop. The ball physics also need adjustment, especially for putting, chipping flopping and the pick shot.
For flopping and the pick shot the timing required to be perfect needs to be increased. Maybe to the point where TOO slow is a ball that is chili dipped, and one TOO fast is skulled across the green.
6) Attributes cannot be maxed out.
Attributes should be assigned to the equipment, and each club, shaft and ball should be different. Ideally we would not be told what these attributes are nor the yardages expected from.each club.
Instead provide us the ability to assign yardages to the clubs ourselves. This would add endless hours for us to test clubs and club configurations, and being that our skills would continue to upgrade make this whole experience dynamic.
Not to mention trying to determine which ball suits our game best. A high spin ball that gives us much more control, but much harder to hit straight if we don't hit it perfect.
Or a distance ball to give us max yardage but a lot less spin, or any of the variety balls with different combinations inbetween.
In fact make the balls disposable, but affordable to purchase.
7) The competition is from a more established series from 2K.
If EA can provide a good playing environment the people will come.
Currently the gameplay and physics lack the realism required. Golf is a difficult but fair game to play. And this game does not resemble that.
Nor has it created an environment where the users can build a community of players. They need to create a robust multiplayer feature along with Country Clubs so they can grow the game.
8) Online modes are limited in both games.
Unquestionably, but much more evident in this game. 2K could do more, but they have done enough to have built a strong community that seem to have survived EA's first assault. But lets be honest this was a pretty poor effort by EA.
It seems EA is still catering to the general population. For longevity they need to cater to the core demographic that plays these games. The people that actually play and watch golf. Check the numbers... these are an older generation of people, not kids.
They are more experienced (smarter), they have disposable income, they are looking for a more emersive (real) experience. Most I would like to believe are not looking to experience success through some avatar.
9) The creation mode is also limited in both games.
No doubt about that, and both seem to be stripping more features out of the game with every new release.
Though, if they were to apply the development time in making the game better instead of here I would be okay with it. But that doesn't appear to be the case.
