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Generated Players: The Ultimate Blank Canvas

When I was playing NBA Live 10, I saw a lot of generated players. In fact, by the time it was season 18, Dwight Howard was the only real life player left in the league. Even though it’s not as aesthetically pleasing to see a league full of computer-generated characters with porn moustaches, it can provide an excellent opportunity to exercise your creative flair and go far beyond what you think is possible as a sim gamer.

If you’re anything like me, you love chasing achievements like triple-doubles, five-by-fives, and 50-point games. Sometimes these achievements can be the only thing keeping your Dynasty or Association mode interesting if you’re constantly winning championships. But there’s always one problem with real life players – they’re often limited by our own expectations. After all, you have to be pretty liberal with your sim gaming if you can justify someone like J.R. Smith winning the MVP trophy, or someone like Kwame Brown becoming a productive player.

With generated players, there’s no overachieving or underachieving, because they don’t exist outside of the video game. They’re a blank canvas for your imagination and the ultimate vehicle for your achievement hunting. No other player in my basketball video game experiences has embodied this more than a generated player named Borislav Perko in my NBA Live 10 Nuggets Dynasty.

Perko-2

After an awful simmed season, I found myself with a lottery pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Even though I already had LaMarcus Aldridge on my team, I decided to draft a 6’10 power forward out of Kazakhstan. This prompted me to take a gamble and trade Aldridge for J.R. Smith. It was an awful trade on paper, but in my Dynasty mode, J.R. Smith went on to win the MVP that same season.

Since Smith was the expressive, showboating type of player, I decided to make Borislav Perko the complete opposite. I wanted him to be like Tim Duncan – understated, but elite. Much like Duncan, he became my team’s anchor on both ends of the court. He blocked shots, grabbed rebounds and was an incredible passer for a big man. His ability to score wasn’t anywhere near as refined as Duncan’s, but getting 10 points per game with a player isn’t all that difficult if you know their spots on the floor.

With an all-round player like Perko, I was able to reach the aforementioned achievements that the overly offensive minded players like J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony weren’t able to reach. In fact, I was able to make Perko the first player to average a triple-double over a season since Oscar Robertson.

Perko-1

Some people are put off by generated players, as it is often believed that they dilute the Dynasty/Association experience – but they really enhanced mine. The statistics I was able to chase down with Borislav Perko gave him a legendary status amongst my readers, as well as giving me a great reason to continue on with the story.

I have yet to find another player like Borislav Perko in my other stories – which is probably the reason why they haven’t been as successful as “The Next Level”. But you never know when the next legendary player is going to be generated.

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mp3
mp3
May 18, 2015 1:44 am

Lmao I here you with the port tastes!!

EA is the master of the odd looking generated player that they also kit out with every armband, headband and long socks they can imagine

Andrew
NLSC
Andrew
May 18, 2015 10:34 am

As much as NBA Live needs to bring custom Draft Classes to Dynasty Mode, there is definitely a certain charm to the generated rookies, a fantasy element that can be a lot of fun. You definitely put it to great use in The Next Level!

I’ve very rarely gone as far as you have in Dynasty Mode (at least playing as much as you did), so I don’t have as much experience with generated rookies as you do. However, in my NBA Live 06 Dynasty game that I pick up every once in a while, I do have a few generated players that I’m looking to have a Perko-like experience with. Joaquin Arnold, who I nabbed with the fifth pick, is a point guard not unlike Derrick Rose, and will probably ultimately replace Kirk Hinrich in the starting line-up. I also filled out my roster with a few other rookies that bear similarities to a few other current Bulls players, so while I do have some real life templates in mind, there’s still room to improvise.

jrlocke
jrlocke
May 18, 2015 10:55 am

First thing I do when I get a game is sim 20 years to remove all active players. Then I play with generated characters. I like it because I adapt the strategy to those players. I like having all the different types of players and trying to figure out who is good at what. 2k14 I am working on a complete fictional league with customer art that has been provided by the community….its great.