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We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on the pros and cons of NBA 2K24 running with a “Green or Miss” approach to shooting.
As revealed in last week’s developer blog on gameplay, shooting in NBA 2K24 will come down to “Green or Miss”. In other words, precise timing will be required, as any shot that isn’t a Green Release will be unsuccessful. However, this won’t be the case across the board. In modes such as MyNBA, MyTEAM, and Play Now, the timing will be more forgiving on lower difficulty levels, meaning that you’ll be able to make some shots without getting a Green Release. However, if you’re playing on Hall of Fame difficulty, or one of the online competitive modes, it’ll be “Green or Miss”!
It’s a strict approach to the shooting mechanics, though obviously not as strict as it could’ve been. It could prove to be a controversial decision, and will certainly fuel further arguments between NBA 2K gamers. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the “Green or Miss” approach, and the way it will be implemented in NBA 2K24. The idea has merit from the standpoint of establishing a skill-based competitive scene, but the concept still has its flaws. It needn’t impact the gameplay experience on offer in the traditional modes, but it’s still there in the background. I’m sure there will be many elitist takes on this, so let’s take a more nuanced look at the “Green or Miss” concept.
What Sounds Good About “Green or Miss” in NBA 2K24
First and foremost, I like that it’s not something that everyone is going to have to deal with. Not everyone is going to be bound by this harsh approach to shooting success; if you don’t play the competitive online modes, and you opt for a difficulty below Hall of Fame, you don’t have to worry about it. This is an excellent move, because an idea that’s tailored for competitive play and gamers who want a supreme challenge won’t spoil the fun for everyone else. It may have found a way to balance shooting between online and offline modes, potentially giving both contingents of gamers what they want out of the virtual hardwood. It isn’t being forced on everyone indiscriminately.
From the perspective of offline/traditional gamers, making it exclusive to the Hall of Fame difficulty level is logical. One of the ways to increase the challenge with each difficulty setting is to make the game progressively less forgiving on badly-timed shot releases. To that point, it does make sense for that to top out at “Green or Miss” on the highest level. If you’re playing on Hall of Fame, you clearly want the game to give you everything it’s got, and to demand that you bring your “A” game as well. That means sharp timing and stick skills, with a thinner margin for error. If you’ve felt that Hall of Fame is too easy, then this may be the increase in difficulty you’ve desired.
Conversely, if you’re a more intermediate gamer or you prefer a more casual approach to sim basketball, you won’t be stuck with a mechanic that’s intended for elite gamers. Through a combination of the other difficulty levels and slider settings, it should still be possible to devise a suitable challenge. Also, even if you aren’t new to basketball video games, “Green or Miss” isn’t necessarily a preferable way to make gameplay more challenging. NBA Live 19 adopted this approach with its final patches, which ruined offline play because the AI was too adept at closing in and taking away Green Releases. NBA 2K24 is avoiding that pitfall by not making it a universal approach.
For online gamers, making baskets reliant on Green Releases is a move that’s being made with the skill gap in mind. In an arena that’s meant to put your stick skills to the test, it makes sense not to constantly bail out or even reward gamers with fortunate dice rolls. If you or an opponent is constantly nailing shots, it’s because you’ve been able to master the controls to create space, elude defenders, and time your releases perfectly. You won’t win or lose thanks to sheer dumb luck; or at least, not to the same extent as when you don’t need to Green your shots! As for dunks and layups, it’ll take more skill than just recklessly barrelling to the rim and hitting the button/stick.
On paper, it seems that the approach is aiming for the best of both worlds. It’s taken an idea that favours competitive play and gamers seeking the ultimate challenge, and limited it to the online scene and toughest difficulty level. It’s a change that comp players will most likely appreciate, while everyone else will seemingly be largely unaffected. As I said, the “Green or Miss” approach isn’t being forced on everyone, whether they like it or not. This may have avoided one of the long-standing issues with developing a game that’s both a traditional sim and competitive online title, namely solutions that have ended up favouring one group of gamers over the other.
What Sounds Bad About “Green or Miss” in NBA 2K24
The potential drawbacks are mostly with the online scene, but even implementing “Green or Miss” for Hall of Fame difficulty may be controversial. Once again, it’s a harsh approach to shooting mechanics. As NBA Live 19 demonstrated, it can make shooting virtually impossible if shot contest logic and other defensive mechanics take away Green Releases too easily. Naturally this applies to online play as well, but an AI defender is usually far more adept at sticking to their man, resulting in fewer wide open shots and defensive lapses. It’s definitely going to be challenging and that’s the whole point of Hall of Fame difficulty, but it could turn out to just be frustrating.
Of course, it will be possible to avoid “Green or Miss” simply by playing on the lower difficulty levels in offline/team-control modes. Online gamers won’t have a choice, and while this will delight the elitists – those who love to snark “get good” – it seems highly likely that it’ll perpetuate the toxicity and gatekeeping of online play. Sure, it makes sense to focus on skill in competitive play, but it’s setting a high standard of entry. It sends a message that the scene is for elites only, with no entry level that allows gamers to master the controls and to “get good”. This is the Catch-22 with the whole “get good” mentality: gamers are willing, but they need the means to do so!
I’m not just talking about grinding up a player, either. That’s always been preferable and more efficient to do in the NBA side of MyCAREER; not that it’s stopped people from jumping online before their avatar is ready, and I imagine that’ll still happen! The other issue is that offline play in MyCAREER doesn’t truly prepare you for the online scene. A jumpshot that works superbly for you offline won’t necessarily be suitable online, because now you’re dealing with lag. Indeed, server performance is going to be critical in how well “Green or Miss” works in NBA 2K24. Precise timing isn’t exactly a fair expectation when online lag makes it artificially harder to achieve.
This is something to keep in mind, because during development, the game is being tested under ideal conditions, over a local network. One of the reasons I struggled to get into LIVE Pro-Am in NBA Live 16 is that it was never going to be as smooth as it was playing it prior to release at a community event, right there at EA Tiburon. And sure, you might say that this is mostly an international thing, and that most gamers are in North America anyway. Fine, but it’s still a game being released worldwide, fully-featured and full-priced. If the tiniest bit of lag renders a mechanic impossible to master, then you have to consider whether it’s actually a good idea to implement it.
It also renders the results rather predictable. If you’ve played basketball in real life, I’m sure you’re familiar with putting up a shot that doesn’t feel at all good when it leaves your hands, only for it to fall through the hoop for a bucket. Likewise, you’ve undoubtedly launched a shot that you just knew was going in, only for it to bounce off the iron; think Nick Young’s infamous premature celebration! When shot-making is reliant on Green Releases, we lose those unpredictable moments. It’s done in the name of skill of course, but the drama of the unexpected is a vital ingredient in sports. It also telegraphs contrived results, meaning there’s no longer a need to try on the play.
What This Means For NBA 2K Moving Forward
I know I’ve mentioned the Reddit thread about the “MMO-ification of NBA 2K” in a number of articles, but as the years have gone by, it’s been proven right time and time again. The online scene has continued to favour elite gamers (or at least, gamers with an elitist attitude), while becoming more hostile to newbies and more casual virtual hoopers. A push to make the online team play modes the home version of the NBA 2K League has drawn a line in the sand: if you’re not good enough, if you’re not elite, then you don’t belong here. This mode isn’t for you, unless you get good. Mind you, we’re not going to provide a fair way for you to get good, so just figure it out or leave!
Referring once again to Rocket League, this is where casual and competitive settings – or perhaps Ranked and Unranked play – could be a solution. A hardcore comp scene could enforce “Green or Miss” and tougher gameplay tuning in general, while a casual scene could operate more like a social league. It’d be a way to get your feet wet and improve your stick skills, to the point where you can get Green Releases on cue and start venturing into the competitive leagues. Of course, elitists will shout down that idea, because ironically they’ll bleat about the skill gap, but also despise skill-based matchmaking! After all, it’d prevent them from racking up easy wins against newbies.
One of the key points from Nick’s Reddit thread was player retention. He noted that the more that future games favoured elite/elitist players, the higher the chance that the rest of the userbase would abandon the online modes, if not the game entirely. It’ll be interesting to see if “Green or Miss” is finally the straw that breaks the camel’s back. If the approach proves to be off-putting and gamers start abandoning the online modes in droves – taking recurrent revenue with them – then 2K might have to quickly and embarrassingly backpedal on a concept that they’ve touted as a major improvement. If the elitists aren’t a big enough group for a viable scene, then 2K will have to pivot.
Unfortunately for the online team play modes, it might be too late. Many of the changes to the competitive scene over the past few years have been building to this, acquiescing to the whims and demands of the elitists and gatekeepers. Goodwill has been squandered as the grind has gotten worse, and the push for recurrent revenue has grown even greedier. If “Green or Miss” ends up drastically affecting player retention because it sends the message of “be elite or get out”, winning those gamers back will be an uphill battle. It’ll also require going back on a promise to comp players who like the change, thus returning to the conundrum of disappointing one group or the other.
Maybe this is a cynical view for the future. Apart from the lack of a casual/social league setting in the online team play modes, it sounds like NBA 2K24 is trying to be balanced in its implementation of the “Green or Miss” approach. It might not be an issue for many gamers, who will either like the change, or simply not have to deal with it as they’re not playing online or on Hall of Fame difficulty. As I’ve pointed out before however, NBA 2K’s online scene isn’t nearly as great as it could and should be. The issues go far beyond shooting mechanics, yet “Green or Miss” is an impactful change; one that may either enhance the competitive online scene, or leave it in ruins.
