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[johnny_park]

hey smokey, which Rocket's teams are there? Only the 93-94? Or do we get some Clyde action up in the hizzy?

It's only the 93-94 team.

 

[RS4-]

Ugh what the fuck, my system locks up when it's trying to load the post game interview after I win game 7.

 

[Smokey]

hey smokey, which Rocket's teams are there? Only the 93-94? Or do we get some Clyde action up in the hizzy?

Only 93-94

 

[RS4-]

Well, that's twice now my 360 has locked up after winning the finals.

Lol.

 

[DY_nasty]

How's association mode? What's new?

 

[Duki]

god damn i hate how fucking sticky defenders in the post are

like fucking magnets

its such a pile of shit and its ages before it allows you to run away from them

shits even worse than last year, and it sucked dick last year too

 

[JohngPR]

The post game is going to take some getting used to. It seems harder to be creative with it right now because I don't know the moves, but I think in the long run, making Y the post up button will make for more freedom in the post.


Just started My Player and was drafted by the Utah Jazz in as the 14th pick. I like that it seems like you start off with highter attributes than last year, but it stil seems to take forever to accumulate skill points. At least the key games gives you a 2x multipler.

 

[Red Blaster]

wtf is up with your teammate defense in this game, they constantly overhelp and leave guys wide open.

And the AI just fucking cheats on higher difficultes, fast breaks off made buckets? Touch my dick 2K

 

[johnny_park]

What do you have to save so I don't have to keep entering the codes for the two teams?

 

[Syphon Filter]

From what I've seen it forces you into lowest settings and plays terrible

I only got it cause I think it looks better on my PC and I'm a single player junkie

What do you mean force?like the graphics get worse?

 

[U2NUMB]

Well, that's twice now my 360 has locked up after winning the finals.

Lol.

If it is happening when an achievement is supposed to pop up.. turn off notifications. I have had this happen in other games over the years and this solution normally works.

 

[benjipwns]

What do you mean force?like the graphics get worse?

Even if you can max out the game with all the graphics settings on and on high, when you play online the settings are all off and on low. You keep your resolution and vsync but that's it.

 

[JohngPR]

What do you have to save so I don't have to keep entering the codes for the two teams?

Save your settings immediately after unlocking both teams.

 

[CB3]

2K Sports has touted the addition of a compelling online component to Association mode in NBA 2K12 – making it easily the most anticipated new feature this year. Similar in nature to NCAA Football’s Online Dynasty mode, Online Association was designed to present all of the very same features found offline taking it beyond the concept of simple online leagues. While it still holds a great deal of potential a few design decisions have hampered the experience significantly and server issues thus far have rendered head-to-head games inoperable.

Online Association is going to hold the most appeal for those who won’t take things very seriously and/or don’t mind games simmed. Otherwise due to a lack of options and total confusion over progression it is certain to lead many to simply give up and quit.



Despite 2K’s claims there are a distinct lack of options within Online Association for commissioners – but that’ll be touched upon later. When setting them up the key things are mostly there. It’s important to get them right because they are not changeable after that point. Notably absent from Online Association is the ability to set the game style or adjust sliders – the lack of those things may be enough to turn some off from the mode right there.

There are three options to choose from for advancement periods: Slow (24 hours) – Normal (16 hours) – Fast (6 hours). Keep those numbers in mind because 2K12 doesn’t even explain what slow, normal, and fast mean when setting up an Online Association.

No one has a clear picture of how progression through the season will actually take place. The latest best interpretation of what this all amounts to is that the countdown clock runs for one “day” of the association. Slow would mean each day in the association goes essentially in “real-time” while the others speed through faster – the quickest then running through four days of the season each 24 hours. If the “game” for each “day” isn’t played then it is automatically simmed.


I guess that’s the case anyway. 2K has done a terrible job of communicating how advancement periods work. Really they haven’t explained it at all and left people to try and determine that on the fly. If I can’t figure it out most out there aren’t going to have any clue of what is going on. That is about as bad as things could be for a new feature as curiosity will lead to frustration and ultimately lack of participation. If 2K comes back with a report that no one used Online Association it’ll be obvious why that was the case and they’ll only have themselves to blame.

The other big flaw in forcing certain pacing is that there is no option for the commish to either delay, or speed through, the pre-set advancement periods. It can be understood why the current set up could have been thought beneficial for public leagues where a commish might disappear for who knows how long – but in private leagues there should be a level of control that sadly is absent here.


Once inside the Online Association all those initial settings are locked down. The commissioner basically has the power only to grant admin status or boot someone else. There is no way to reset the results of a game or sim to a certain result. That is devastating considering the state of 2K’s online performance.

It all starts up with just the commish and 29 CPU controlled teams. Users can come in and take over teams – however the commish can not actually invite people. Users will have to manually join by knowing the league name/ID and password. There can be any mix of CPU/User controlled teams. As soon as the Association is created a timer begins counting down to the start of the season. That is a wait that can’t be skipped either – and it seems designed to allow for others to join in and settle their teams before the season begins.

Despite all the confusion over how the Association advances one smart move was to allow a block of games to be played at any given time. In a lengthy season it would be difficult to expect a number of head-to-head games to be completed in order so this gives an opportunity to fit them in within a period of time. When it comes to H2H games there is even a nice feature to attempt and schedule a game in though I don’t understand why its possible to do so for months ahead. Common sense would have been adding the ability to see what users were online or offline but that isn’t the case which will make it more difficult to get in head-to-head games along the way.


This leads me to another confusing aspect of advancement – how does anyone know where they are at or what the stakes are at any given moment? There is no indication of what exactly is coming down to the wire, be it games on the schedule or a trade deadline. It’s no wonder that people are looking at a schedule with several games listed as open and thinking the countdown clock represents that all of them will be simmed when it strikes zero.

At this point though none of it really matters. Head-to-head games do not even connect leaving only the games against CPU teams playable. The mode is completely broken as long as H2H doesn’t work so certainly a fix should be expected soon – in fact it’s possible by the time you’re reading this that it will have been addressed. Even when games begin to run there are going to be the same lag and disconnect issues plaguing basic online play however. There have also been difficulties when setting up Associations or trying to log in with “can’t connect to server” messages the culprit. That has been more intermittent as of late though rather than something happening often.

The menus are somewhat difficult to get a grasp on – with the main Online Association central upon logging in and then the right stick bringing up all the basic Association features or NBA.com home. It’s just not a user-friendly way of navigating through everything. One cool element of the Online Association home is the display of the in-progress game scores.


There are no team scrimmages which is a disappointment and there is no ability to bring in different roster sets or the historic teams. There is also no way to set head-to-head games to be played offline. Injuries are reflected based on length of season and seem to work properly. In an 82 game season a 4 game injury would keep someone out for that length of time. In a 14 game season though a 4 game injury would not keep that player out a single game.

Trades can be offered to the CPU but there will be a period of time for them to “consider” it. It is unknown when, or if, trades will go through as I have yet to see any come to fruition. Free agents can also be offered contracts but again there is an unstated period of time before they make a decision. There also have been no CPU-CPU trades, and considering how many take place in offline Association due to poor trade logic, that may be a sign that it either hasn’t been implemented in Online Association or it just hasn’t been come upon yet.


The website (NBA2K.com) which is supposed to house many features as an extension to Online Association inexplicably has yet to launch. That may be a proper representation of the state that Online Association is in right now. The mode has a great deal of promise but it’s simply not ready. An admirable effort in that the idea was to take the full offline Association online but poor planning has done it in. More images related to Online Association can be found here.

Even if head-to-head games start working properly it seems unlikely that Online Association will prove worth the time and effort given the lack of commish options and frustrating unexplained nature of how progression through the schedule works. That’s a shame because bringing in the social element of participating with other users really drives a new level of interest that can’t be matched otherwise.

GG Fellas.

 

[RS4-]

If it is happening when an achievement is supposed to pop up.. turn off notifications. I have had this happen in other games over the years and this solution normally works.

I'll give it a shot. Kind of weird since I didn't have other problems with previous achievements in the game.

 

[ecnal]

GG Fellas.

is this real life?

 

[TriniTrin]

Well I bought the game for 360 rather than PC because I planned to play online but then I have troubles even connecting to the servers to search for a game.... WHY 2k WHY!! =(

Shoulda just spent 30 on the PC version...

But 360 GAF! Add me to try some games!
xr0bertpauls0nx

 

[CB3]

is this real life?

Its as if David Stern, Billy Hunter, and 2k all decided to combine forces and dagger any interest i have for the game of basketball.

 

[Smokey]

Looks like its just quick matches, my player for me then. I'm not going through the trouble of setting up a lg when I have less control than in the past. No adjusting sliders? Seriously?

 

[pilonv1]

Did anyone expect any different? Typical 2k. And they took away season mode for this.

 

[Nightz]

That's horrible. I'm sticking with Legends and My Player. See you guys next year!

 

[Apollo]

Game is unplayable in association and My Player. The damn computer traded the whole Detroit team. Then I see teams with 5 power forwards and 1 point guard. I can go on with a big list of issues. The reviewer rating these games are not even playing them.

 

[charsace]

GG Fellas.

ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!
ROFL!

Practice up suckers I'll see you next year when they fix this!

 

[ecnal]

so did they do anything to regular leagues?

are they functional? any changes?

 

[CB3]

so did they do anything to regular leagues?

are they functional? any changes?

They took that away i think lol

 

[Herpes Reasons]

y'all should've been smarter.
stop perpetuating this blind faith in 2k by buying the game before reviews.
how they fucked up the online stability is a travesty of all travesty.
EDIT: and no custom sliders for league games?
lol doesn't do justice on how much they fucked up this year

 

[ecnal]

They took that away i think lol

if true, holy shit.

 

[charsace]

And this will probably sell 5million copies too. ROFL!

 

[Red Blaster]

The best part is that 75% of the guys at OperationSports are 2K viral marketers and telling us that we should stop complaining.

Elite 13 or bust.

 

[Nabs]

The best part is that 75% of the guys at OperationSports are 2K viral marketers and telling us that we should stop complaining.

Elite 13 or bust.

I was just about to ask about op sports...

 

[Red Blaster]

I'll give 2K a few weeks to get this shit sorted out before selling this. Most of the gameplay stuff seems easily fixed by a patch.

How does a developer go from making the best sports game ever to this?

 

[zychi]

I'll give 2K a few weeks to get this shit sorted out before selling this. Most of the gameplay stuff seems easily fixed by a patch.

How does a developer go from making the best sports game ever to this?

lockout and no competition.

see: madden

 

[RS4-]

If it is happening when an achievement is supposed to pop up.. turn off notifications. I have had this happen in other games over the years and this solution normally works.

No go. Still freezing.

Lol 2k12.

And I can't skip it because it's a damn key game.

 

[bjb]

Whoever updates the roster is a fucking moron.

Unless its their entire staff which is even worse.

The tendencies across the board are laughable. I mean, in Association mode, some guys are averaging half of their career / last season average. And rebounds are way down too.

Kevin Love averaging 9 boards a game in almost 3 different simulations I've tried.

 

[ph33nix]

lol so glad I got only the PC version (I still feel dirty about it, but at least it's an upgrade). fucking 2k

 

[benjipwns]

The reviewer rating these games are not even playing them.

9.5!
9.5!
10!
5/5!
9!
4/5!
9.3!
10!
5/5!
9.5!

 

[Red Blaster]

I've seen Pau, Dwight, GREG ODEN and Channing Frye try to take guys off the dribble just inside the three point. This is the game that just keeps on giving.

Edit: Saved a replay of Pau's attempt of playing shooting guard but after I uploaded it, I found out that the NBA 2k12 site isn't even up yet! G fucking G 2K.

 

[CB3]

9.5!
9.5!
10!
5/5!
9!
4/5!
9.3!
10!
5/5!
9.5!

This is nothing new. They've been doing this shit for years. In general, reviewers have an only slight idea of the sport. and hell even if they do kinda know what they are talking about the multiplayer part wont be available because they review it before the servers go up or anyone is playing.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Speaking of review scores and sports games, wrong thread and all but Madden got hit with a big fat 6 by EGM this year. I was so glad to finally see something like that.

Sad that this series has the same flaws year after year but at least they are advancing the genre imo more than EA and Madden. I've gotten used to most of the niggling flaws anyway (autocoach, auto TO, auto subs.) Online though, come on. Gotta get that sorted out before Christmas guys.

 

[jacobs34]

Speaking of review scores and sports games, wrong thread and all but Madden got hit with a big fat 6 by EGM this year. I was so glad to finally see something like that.

Sad that this series has the same flaws year after year but at least they are advancing the genre imo more than EA and Madden. I've gotten used to most of the niggling flaws anyway (autocoach, auto TO, auto subs.) Online though, come on. Gotta get that sorted out before Christmas guys.

Just in time for the season to start

 

[DCX]

Looks like its just quick matches, my player for me then. I'm not going through the trouble of setting up a lg when I have less control than in the past. No adjusting sliders? Seriously?

SMH

DCX

 

[mik]

9.5!
9.5!
10!
5/5!
9!
4/5!
9.3!
10!
5/5!
9.5!

Not all of them.

 

[Red Blaster]

Speaking of review scores and sports games, wrong thread and all but Madden got hit with a big fat 6 by EGM this year. I was so glad to finally see something like that.

Sad that this series has the same flaws year after year but at least they are advancing the genre imo more than EA and Madden. I've gotten used to most of the niggling flaws anyway (autocoach, auto TO, auto subs.) Online though, come on. Gotta get that sorted out before Christmas guys.

These can all be turned off in the coaching menu.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Yeah I know, but is there an overall coaching profile so I don't have to turn them off every game?

Just unlocked the Hornets, man, game looks pretty sweet on PC.

 

[Hydrogen Bluebird]

Are the Warriors and Kings teams only unlockable using pre-order codes or are can they be actually unlocked in-game? Thanks.

 

[EekTheKat]

Just unlocked the Ewing Knicks but it was really close.

I could not stop Penny at all. It's scary how good he might have been if he had a longer career.

Ewing carried the knicks for 3 quarters, then Penny just went bezerk and started lighting me up. Harper fouled out on me at the start of the 4th.

The only way I was able to win was to start chucking up 3's with Starks of all things.

 

[Red Blaster]

Op Sports are starting to lock every thread I create about issues in this game lulz.

Smokey, I think you might need to do another videogame scam of the year thread.

 

[Apollo]

you didn't know the mods are 2K devs? Hell the way they act over there I wouldn't put it pass them to be the mods. Game has some serious issues and to close threads about them is just dumb. People need to know about these issues.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

you didn't know the mods are 2K devs? Hell the way they act over there I wouldn't put it pass them to be the mods. Game has some serious issues and to close threads about them is just dumb. People need to know about these issues.

If it's anything like their other game boards, they just would rather have issues confined to one megathread.

 

[Ferny]

I started a Online Association with some friends and while it does sick that pretty much nothing is able to be changed afterwards, its not bad. No lag in head to head games, the countdown is not that much of a problem anyway because you can play games ahead. It pretty much gives you like 10 games you can jump ahead if needed. It works fine but I'd like to be able to change sliders for sure.