Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

As I’ve said many times before, we take our basketball gaming seriously around these parts. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but as with any gaming community, it can lead to some attitudes that aren’t very constructive or open-minded. There are many strong opinions in the basketball gaming community, but the most important thing at the end of the day is that we’re enjoying playing these games that we’re so passionate about. We shouldn’t get caught up telling each other how to have fun, or lecture each other about the supposed “correct” way to play. There are many different ways to enjoy NBA Live and NBA 2K, after all.

At the same time, there are some strange habits and attitudes in the basketball gaming community. Again, everyone is entitled to their opinion and preferences, but some habits are puzzling, and certain attitudes myopic. In this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at a range of basketball gaming habits that are peculiar for one reason or another. I’m not saying they’re all wrong, but some are definitely a little odd. Without any further ado, let’s tip things off!

1. Focusing on Inside Shots & Three-Pointers

I’ve talked about this before, but when we play basketball video games, a lot of us have a tendency to ignore the midrange. It makes sense, because dunks and layups are high percentage attempts, and three-pointers are obviously worth an extra point. The problem is, threes tend to be more difficult shots, and if the defense packs the paint, driving to the hoop isn’t going to result in an easy bucket either. By attempting an ill-advised drive, or either stepping back for a three or failing to take a couple of steps in, we give up some really good looks in the midrange.

What makes it a strange habit is the fact that we’re giving up a sensible and realistic basketball strategy in favour of a “video game tactic”: get the dunk, or make the three. The irony here is that we’re often criticising basketball video games for not being realistic enough, yet we’re engaging in tactics that aren’t necessarily “sim”. In all fairness, it’s a tough habit to break. In the early days of basketball gaming, jumpshots weren’t as reliable as they should’ve been, so when you needed to put points up on the board quickly, you either took a bit more of a risk with the three, or pounded the ball inside. Nevertheless, it’s a habit we should now try to kick.

2. Spending a lot of Real Money on Microtransactions

I certainly understand why basketball gamers do this. It’s not like it’s the only genre of video games that is afflicted by the controversial practice of microtransactions and pay-to-win, and the games have their ways of encouraging us to shell out real currency for virtual coin. I’ll put my hand up and admit that I’ve done it, though I believe the most I’ve ever spent on microtransactions in a single basketball game is around $20 AUS. Compared to what a lot of basketball gamers apparently spend, that doesn’t even qualify as a drop in the bucket.

And that’s what I’m talking about here: basketball gamers dropping oodles and oodles of cash on NBA Live and NBA 2K. Whether it’s getting pack after pack in Ultimate Team or MyTEAM, or levelling up their MyPLAYER as quickly as possible, there are people who drop thousands of real dollars on in-game currency, which is crazy to think about. It’s a lot of dough to spend on content that you can’t play with once the servers are shut down. Then again, the amount that hoops gamers spend apparently pales in comparison to the revenue for Madden Ultimate Team. Hey, if you’ve got enough disposable income, I guess it’s yours to spend however you like.

3. Expecting Basketball Games to Accommodate Every Approach

This one’s more of an attitude, but one could argue that attitudes are born of a habit of thinking a certain way, so I’ll go ahead and include it in this list. Linguistic gymnastics aside, a vocal contingent of basketball gamers have a habit of expressing their displeasure whenever a title cannot perfectly cater to the way they want to play it. This usually happens when people create a heavily customised experience, such as mixing Legends in with current players, recreating a historical season, or some other drastic change from the core experience.

That’s not to say that basketball video games shouldn’t allow these different experiences, as I think they absolutely should. It’s just that there are limitations that we need to accept. There’s a finite amount of commentary that can be recorded, and it can’t account for absolutely every customised scenario we can create for ourselves. The focus is upon replicating the current NBA season, so some creative modding ideas have to settle for “as close as we can get”. If you have a particularly quirky way of playing basketball games, that’s fine; enjoy! Once you start tinkering to create new experiences, though, the games can’t guarantee perfect results and functionality.

4. Playing with the Keyboard

I’ll try not to step on too many toes here, as I know that some people simply do prefer playing with the keyboard. I also completely agree that if the PC versions of basketball games have keyboard support, then it should be fully functional – as much as it can be, at any rate – and definitely work as intended. However, I’ll openly admit that I find it strange that in 2016, there are basketball gamers on PC who would still prefer to play with the keyboard. It’s not that the keyboard can’t be an effective input device for gaming – I do own a gaming keyboard myself – but it’s not really ideal for basketball games, or sports titles in general.

Basketball video games have been designed with a focus on utilising dual analog stick controls since 2002, when NBA Live 2003 introduced Freestyle Control. The recommendation that they be played with a dual analog gamepad is therefore not a recent development in the genre. Again, it’s important that keyboard support works as intended and is a viable option for anyone who doesn’t want to play with a dual analog gamepad, but if that’s the way you choose to play basketball games, you need to accept that you’re not going to have the same functionality without the sticks. If you’re a PC basketball gamer, a dual analog gamepad is a sound investment.

5. Watching CPU vs. CPU Games

While I’m running the risk of offending my fellow basketball gamers for the way they like to experience the virtual hardwood, this is an approach that I’ve always found a tad strange. It’s not that I don’t understand the idea of watching the action without controlling any of the players, or playing the role of the head coach whenever a game allows it. In fact, I gave it a try myself many, many years ago, when NBA Live 96 PC allowed you to watch CPU vs. CPU games and call plays with the function keys. However, when it comes down to it, I’d much rather play the games I own than watch them.

Admittedly, I find it more puzzling when people get really upset that the CPU vs. CPU experience isn’t the primary focus of the development team. I guess it goes back to what I was talking about earlier, in that we all focus on what we each find most appealing, but I’d suggest that more people are actively playing basketball games than watching the CPU play itself. Granted, we want basketball games to have great AI, and that should be apparent in CPU vs. CPU matchups. Games are meant to be played, however, so it’s only natural that the experience on the sticks is the highest priority.

What are some other strange habits you’ve noticed in the basketball gaming community? Do you have any strange habits yourself? Have your say in the comments below, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum. That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.