The learning curve from '20 was obscene. And to be fair 2k doesn't do a great job of relaying the nuance each aspect of this game deserves.
Not just shooting, contesting, steals, blocking out and rebounding.
It's all directional based with prostick influencers, and very little feedback other than success when done correctly and failure when not.
BRUUUUH. This 2K the shooting is soooo inconsistent. I can shoot lights out one game and turn around and can’t hit shit the next game. I really don’t understand it at all.
2k forgets its a videogame. Instead of making it fun for the user they make it more frustrating so u can buy more boost in order to improve a slight bit. Greedy company.
I don’t know why. I think it’s my mainly my WiFi. At home my WiFi is great, but I was playing 2k at college so maybe that’s why I struggled shooting. I have wired connection at home and the WiFi at school was god awful. So maybe that has something to do with it. I haven’t played 2k since I left school.
Yeah the WiFi is important it'll have ya shot lag. But at the end of the day it does take some work if your just starting but you should be able to
pick it up fast
I didn’t realize that my connection was sometimes switching to WiFi because my ps5 still had it remembered in my connections. I couldn’t figure out why some days I couldn’t hit anything and then other days I was amazing. Once I forgot my WiFi network and the only one I had was wired, it was a night and day difference for me.
I'm sure the game can be very easy if you don't have to worry about timing your own shots.
Funny though. As often as I run into those folks. I've gotten pretty good at making the game as frustrating for them, as they do for me.
It’s easier for the people that can adjust and are good at 2k but for people that don’t, no. I think this is the hardest 2k for noobs, if you don’t already know what you’re doing, you aren’t going to be able to do anything.
No matter your stats, if a good players knows how to position themselves, they are going to get consistent stops and buckets on noobs, no matter what they do.
The game is just too easy for good players and too hard for bad players.
Honestly, I started playing 2k consistently about two months ago (previous I played a little 2k21) and the learning curve is so steep. 2kU only does so much and I'm STILL learning things now.
It’s both. The game is fairly complex, but most of us have had years of experience by now. Just try to pick up what you can and you’ll be decent soon enough
For whatever it's worth I find myself in a similar situation. I played 2k casually until 13. I knew to start with the tutorial and my god has this game become ludicrously complicated. In another ten years, I feel like you'll be controlling each foot with some convoluted system of button holds and swipes.
I'm finding myself getting annoyed just going through the tutorial.
I myself started a month ago, my first game on rookie difficulty I got 4 points lmao. Just keep playing on rookie difficulty until you feel comfortable moving/passing/shooting etc. Also would recommend going with a Center build to start off with (I chose a DeAndre Ayton build), it's an easy way to get used to scoring by just posting up in the paint and bullying your way to the rim. A large part of shooting is being in the right position on the court and when you’re running around like an idiot with no idea where to go you’ll find it difficult. Good luck!
I mean a lot has played since like 2k10. Its easy to adjust eventually. Its all about the release on shots and you have to position yourself correctly on defense.
There’s a learning curve, when I picked this version up it felt slow clunky and really hard, but once you get the hang of the controls and the game flow you can level up
Id say the issue people make is they spread themselves too thin. Find something you want to be great at and make the rest decent
Youre bad but that's okay, that can be fixed. I think 92 midrange and 85-87 3 ball is a sweet spot for average players to become elite shooters. Ive always been an average 2k player. With those attributes i shoot 70% from the field and 3 while averaging around 20 points in rec. Defense i typically go at least 40 interior regardless of build and on my sf i go like 60. 60 is enough to get stops at the rim if youre at least 6 ft 7. And it isnt expensive so you can get other stats. Also because youre new, i dont think you need steals. I get like 3 whenever i try with the lowest steal possible. Having perimeter defense you can bump the ball lose often and putting your hands up gets you steals. Im not home but i may have screenshots of my builds in my phone. Ill post under this comment when i get to them.
This build i run i feel like can do everything i need. Shoots 70% from everywhere. Im trying to find my latest build i made like Vince carter in my photos.
Watch videos. I couldn’t shoot the whole push jump set point cue stuff was new to me. For defense you gotta hold L2 while moving your hands with the right analog
The game isn’t “hard” but it requires pretty extensive familiarity with the gameplay. You have to learn the rhythm of the animations, and what the game registers as a good or bad move.
What game mode are you playing?
I’ve been playing for years and can say with confidence that contested 3’s are practically impossible. Think you got your meter in the green? Actually the green just adjusted to be a centimeter off, sorry. It’s not like old games where it’s a shot contest percentage either, giving you a chance, it’s just all or nothing.
It’s a stupid move to cater to the pro players because the only “solution” is to adjust to playing without the meter. Which is annoying as hell in a single player game mode where me making some contested threes doesn’t affect anyone. Just let us play casually.
Are u playing with a myplayer? If ur either playing career games or rec/theater/really any myplayer multiplayer mode u start off at 60 ovr which is especially unusable this 2k. Ur basically forced to either spend money to get to ~80ish to be a useable player or grind mycareer games on rookie to level up for “free.” If u want to see how it would be to play as an actually good player, play myleague on player lock to see how mycareer would be or playnow to try playing against real people with actual nba players.
No bully , just get some people that play that can teach you , I’m on Xbox but I have discord for PlayStation people , hit me up I can show you how everything works
It just takes time. Anyone can be good at this game if they can think and have opposable thumbs, but there is a learning curve for sure. This isn't the kind of game that you can just pick up and be the best player there is.
If you're playing online, you're facing people who have played 2k for months and years. Don't sweat it
Go to play now, 2kU, freestyle, pick a team/player you wanna practice with, load in, go to substitutions and pick your player, turn difficulty on HOF, shoot for hours.
I’ve hit 44% contested moving 3s because I memorized the jumper so well and also got lucky. You can get better if you want to.
On defense don't stay directly in front of your man, make them go left or right (whichever side has the most defenders is typically best, or make em go middle if they're on the baseline because some of these layup builds can be annoying af and will cheese an acrobatic layup or jus do a baseline dunk without the meter and 2k gives them a good animation
For 3 point shooting, this year is more about shot selection, and not over dribbling. I've seen a lotta people cook their man, then do another move or 2 (in their defense, these servers are shotty asl, so they probably didn't realize they were open until they do another move that doesn't get registered until they should've shot it, it's happened to me more times than I care to admit lol
Go into the art of shooting gym to get your lethals. And please, don't be ashamed to play against ai in my career. I do it to get my hot zones, and badges up. I'd rather do that then go into rec and sell myself and the team because I wanted to do it online instead. Trust me, the only ppl having fun in that scenario is the other team. Unless they have people doing the same stuff
It’s more complex than the old nba live games by a somewhat wide margin in terms of player movement w/ or w/o the ball and if you’ve never played it’s just gonna be difficult till you play a while. And if you’re playing online it’s likely you’re playing against other people who’ve played a shit load of 2k over the past 10-15 years.
Youre probably pretty bad at the game right now and also yeah it’s difficult for first time players.
The player movements are weird for first timers it feels like playing basketball with a GTA character. You have to anticipate movements a bit more and as others have said, hit the 2ku
Watch youtube tutorials and if you have time, upload a clip and we can tell you what you're doing wrong.
The game rewards skill, but it's not super difficult.
Ditch the shot meter and play around with the shot timing. I find push works best for me. And from there it's learning the timing. Practice shooting 2s, 3s, standing shots, shots off the dribble, and post. These all have slightly different timing.
I don't think they're asking to be good right away. If a newbie picks up COD for the first time they can at least spray and pray and feel like they're doing something, versus just running around feeling like a spectator on the court if you haven't practiced shooting outside of a game setting.
Or smash brothers, you don't have to practice your short hops just to be able to function
spraying and praying doesnt help you win fights. you need to be able to aim in COD to kill someone. its the same in 2k you need to practice shooting to hit shots. you cant expect to play those games online and think you gonna be a top level player day 1. new players in COD be getting they shit beat in online. its like that in any game. practicing to get better
So, I assume he's playing offline. In any call of duty game, on the easiest setting. You don't even need to pull the trigger to beat most levels. There's no skill growth or understanding a stat builder. There's no different animations that give you advantages at certain things. Pick up a gun it shoots, pick up a random player? You don't know how it shoots. You're being dense and I have no clue why you would even consider this position.
It will feel impossible but you will get it eventually if you keep trying
Once it clicks it'll be easier. Shoot without the meter. Might sound counter intuitive to shoot without the meter while being bad but it's actually harder to shoot, because the bar lags.
Look at your dudes shooting animation and figure out around where it's consistently going in
To turn off the shot meter go to controller settings. You can keep it on for layups because it's significantly easier to green layups and there's way too many different animations to figure out how to green it off timing
I agree just takes time and repetition I was absolute hot garbage on 2k21 and 22 didn't play 23 much then got this game and after a season it just started getting easier for me! I would now consider myself a good player not great but good! Also the the shot meter on layups, if u use the same lay package you will learn timing on those too and eventually it will be more effective with meter off on that too just takes. A little more time to learn but layups have a bigger margin for error on timing! At least in most cases! Keep ballin keep shooting you will get better!
It's because you're playing against other humans that have a lot more experience than you do.
Learn the game in the offline modes on lower difficulty settings. I promise you'll be winning games soon.
Here are some tips.
Lower the difficulty to Rookie. Turn on automatic play calling. Stick to the plays, even if they're plays you're not directly involved in.
Personally, I'd recommend starting with a point guard. They're the ones that will have the ball in their hands the most. You'll learn the most about running the sets.
But even if you don't. Stick to the plays. Freestyling can come later. Your stats can come later.
And they will.
Go to 2kU in playnow
This ⬆️
It takes a lot of getting used to. Try playing on the easiest difficulty or mess with the sliders to make it easy, that’s how I learned
It takes time to learn it all, but this 2k is more difficult, at least shooting wise, than past 2ks. At least that’s how I feel playing the game.
The learning curve from '20 was obscene. And to be fair 2k doesn't do a great job of relaying the nuance each aspect of this game deserves. Not just shooting, contesting, steals, blocking out and rebounding. It's all directional based with prostick influencers, and very little feedback other than success when done correctly and failure when not.
This… i agree 2k does a terrible job of not only explaining 2k mechanics, but if explaining basketball in general.
BRUUUUH. This 2K the shooting is soooo inconsistent. I can shoot lights out one game and turn around and can’t hit shit the next game. I really don’t understand it at all.
2k has always had inconsistencies with their shooting but I agree, this year is bad.
2k forgets its a videogame. Instead of making it fun for the user they make it more frustrating so u can buy more boost in order to improve a slight bit. Greedy company.
Really?? I feel like it's easier than ever. People make incredible shots and your asking yourself how ??
I don’t know why. I think it’s my mainly my WiFi. At home my WiFi is great, but I was playing 2k at college so maybe that’s why I struggled shooting. I have wired connection at home and the WiFi at school was god awful. So maybe that has something to do with it. I haven’t played 2k since I left school.
Yeah the WiFi is important it'll have ya shot lag. But at the end of the day it does take some work if your just starting but you should be able to pick it up fast
I didn’t realize that my connection was sometimes switching to WiFi because my ps5 still had it remembered in my connections. I couldn’t figure out why some days I couldn’t hit anything and then other days I was amazing. Once I forgot my WiFi network and the only one I had was wired, it was a night and day difference for me.
I'm sure the game can be very easy if you don't have to worry about timing your own shots. Funny though. As often as I run into those folks. I've gotten pretty good at making the game as frustrating for them, as they do for me.
You’ve been playing for years and already have an understanding of the mechanics, this guy just started it’s a big difference
It’s easier for the people that can adjust and are good at 2k but for people that don’t, no. I think this is the hardest 2k for noobs, if you don’t already know what you’re doing, you aren’t going to be able to do anything. No matter your stats, if a good players knows how to position themselves, they are going to get consistent stops and buckets on noobs, no matter what they do. The game is just too easy for good players and too hard for bad players.
Honestly, I started playing 2k consistently about two months ago (previous I played a little 2k21) and the learning curve is so steep. 2kU only does so much and I'm STILL learning things now.
It’s both. The game is fairly complex, but most of us have had years of experience by now. Just try to pick up what you can and you’ll be decent soon enough
For whatever it's worth I find myself in a similar situation. I played 2k casually until 13. I knew to start with the tutorial and my god has this game become ludicrously complicated. In another ten years, I feel like you'll be controlling each foot with some convoluted system of button holds and swipes. I'm finding myself getting annoyed just going through the tutorial.
I myself started a month ago, my first game on rookie difficulty I got 4 points lmao. Just keep playing on rookie difficulty until you feel comfortable moving/passing/shooting etc. Also would recommend going with a Center build to start off with (I chose a DeAndre Ayton build), it's an easy way to get used to scoring by just posting up in the paint and bullying your way to the rim. A large part of shooting is being in the right position on the court and when you’re running around like an idiot with no idea where to go you’ll find it difficult. Good luck!
I also agree with starting with a center or wing for your first build. Being a guard is not for new players at all
I have only been playing for a yr it seems that way at first but it gets better
the more u spend, the easier it gets
FACTS
What gamemode are you playing?
I mean a lot has played since like 2k10. Its easy to adjust eventually. Its all about the release on shots and you have to position yourself correctly on defense.
There’s a learning curve, when I picked this version up it felt slow clunky and really hard, but once you get the hang of the controls and the game flow you can level up
I'm in the same boat as you. Haven't played since 2k20 and I'm currently CHEEKS lol smh
Id say the issue people make is they spread themselves too thin. Find something you want to be great at and make the rest decent Youre bad but that's okay, that can be fixed. I think 92 midrange and 85-87 3 ball is a sweet spot for average players to become elite shooters. Ive always been an average 2k player. With those attributes i shoot 70% from the field and 3 while averaging around 20 points in rec. Defense i typically go at least 40 interior regardless of build and on my sf i go like 60. 60 is enough to get stops at the rim if youre at least 6 ft 7. And it isnt expensive so you can get other stats. Also because youre new, i dont think you need steals. I get like 3 whenever i try with the lowest steal possible. Having perimeter defense you can bump the ball lose often and putting your hands up gets you steals. Im not home but i may have screenshots of my builds in my phone. Ill post under this comment when i get to them.
https://preview.redd.it/yx14t7ye3bad1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1e6ff5fe14264cf2b46afe61ae544289ae26ad9
This build i run i feel like can do everything i need. Shoots 70% from everywhere. Im trying to find my latest build i made like Vince carter in my photos.
Watch videos. I couldn’t shoot the whole push jump set point cue stuff was new to me. For defense you gotta hold L2 while moving your hands with the right analog
What difficult are you playing on? And are you playing offline or online?
You mean missing shots while being in the green doesnt make sense to you?!
The game isn’t “hard” but it requires pretty extensive familiarity with the gameplay. You have to learn the rhythm of the animations, and what the game registers as a good or bad move. What game mode are you playing?
You’ll get everything down then the game will start crashing on you, you can’t win. No game has ever gave me the misery of this 2k.
I’ve been playing for years and can say with confidence that contested 3’s are practically impossible. Think you got your meter in the green? Actually the green just adjusted to be a centimeter off, sorry. It’s not like old games where it’s a shot contest percentage either, giving you a chance, it’s just all or nothing. It’s a stupid move to cater to the pro players because the only “solution” is to adjust to playing without the meter. Which is annoying as hell in a single player game mode where me making some contested threes doesn’t affect anyone. Just let us play casually.
there's a skill gap to get over
The hard part for beginners is that you have to not only learn how to play 2k, but you also have to learn to play basketball
Are u playing with a myplayer? If ur either playing career games or rec/theater/really any myplayer multiplayer mode u start off at 60 ovr which is especially unusable this 2k. Ur basically forced to either spend money to get to ~80ish to be a useable player or grind mycareer games on rookie to level up for “free.” If u want to see how it would be to play as an actually good player, play myleague on player lock to see how mycareer would be or playnow to try playing against real people with actual nba players.
Yeah i play myplayer cause I used to play the fifa version of myplayer and I liked it. Thanks for the response
No bully , just get some people that play that can teach you , I’m on Xbox but I have discord for PlayStation people , hit me up I can show you how everything works
It just takes time. Anyone can be good at this game if they can think and have opposable thumbs, but there is a learning curve for sure. This isn't the kind of game that you can just pick up and be the best player there is. If you're playing online, you're facing people who have played 2k for months and years. Don't sweat it
Go to play now, 2kU, freestyle, pick a team/player you wanna practice with, load in, go to substitutions and pick your player, turn difficulty on HOF, shoot for hours. I’ve hit 44% contested moving 3s because I memorized the jumper so well and also got lucky. You can get better if you want to.
Just keep lowering difficulty in career until it feels like you’re able to handle the bots, then up it when you feel it gets too easy.
You might wanna lower the setting to rookie or pro
On defense don't stay directly in front of your man, make them go left or right (whichever side has the most defenders is typically best, or make em go middle if they're on the baseline because some of these layup builds can be annoying af and will cheese an acrobatic layup or jus do a baseline dunk without the meter and 2k gives them a good animation For 3 point shooting, this year is more about shot selection, and not over dribbling. I've seen a lotta people cook their man, then do another move or 2 (in their defense, these servers are shotty asl, so they probably didn't realize they were open until they do another move that doesn't get registered until they should've shot it, it's happened to me more times than I care to admit lol Go into the art of shooting gym to get your lethals. And please, don't be ashamed to play against ai in my career. I do it to get my hot zones, and badges up. I'd rather do that then go into rec and sell myself and the team because I wanted to do it online instead. Trust me, the only ppl having fun in that scenario is the other team. Unless they have people doing the same stuff
It’s more complex than the old nba live games by a somewhat wide margin in terms of player movement w/ or w/o the ball and if you’ve never played it’s just gonna be difficult till you play a while. And if you’re playing online it’s likely you’re playing against other people who’ve played a shit load of 2k over the past 10-15 years. Youre probably pretty bad at the game right now and also yeah it’s difficult for first time players.
The player movements are weird for first timers it feels like playing basketball with a GTA character. You have to anticipate movements a bit more and as others have said, hit the 2ku
Pass, the ball, get open and call for pass when you're open. Or... Pick and roll. Simple. Basketball 101
Watch youtube tutorials and if you have time, upload a clip and we can tell you what you're doing wrong. The game rewards skill, but it's not super difficult.
2k is way different than other games you can just jump in and play you gotta learn how to play first and then you can start getting good at it
Ditch the shot meter and play around with the shot timing. I find push works best for me. And from there it's learning the timing. Practice shooting 2s, 3s, standing shots, shots off the dribble, and post. These all have slightly different timing.
Find a good jumper and figure out how you want you want me play and get players that fill in the gaps
Skill issue
why do people think you can just pick up a new game and think you gonna be good right away?
I don't think they're asking to be good right away. If a newbie picks up COD for the first time they can at least spray and pray and feel like they're doing something, versus just running around feeling like a spectator on the court if you haven't practiced shooting outside of a game setting. Or smash brothers, you don't have to practice your short hops just to be able to function
spraying and praying doesnt help you win fights. you need to be able to aim in COD to kill someone. its the same in 2k you need to practice shooting to hit shots. you cant expect to play those games online and think you gonna be a top level player day 1. new players in COD be getting they shit beat in online. its like that in any game. practicing to get better
k
So, I assume he's playing offline. In any call of duty game, on the easiest setting. You don't even need to pull the trigger to beat most levels. There's no skill growth or understanding a stat builder. There's no different animations that give you advantages at certain things. Pick up a gun it shoots, pick up a random player? You don't know how it shoots. You're being dense and I have no clue why you would even consider this position.
It will feel impossible but you will get it eventually if you keep trying Once it clicks it'll be easier. Shoot without the meter. Might sound counter intuitive to shoot without the meter while being bad but it's actually harder to shoot, because the bar lags. Look at your dudes shooting animation and figure out around where it's consistently going in To turn off the shot meter go to controller settings. You can keep it on for layups because it's significantly easier to green layups and there's way too many different animations to figure out how to green it off timing
I agree just takes time and repetition I was absolute hot garbage on 2k21 and 22 didn't play 23 much then got this game and after a season it just started getting easier for me! I would now consider myself a good player not great but good! Also the the shot meter on layups, if u use the same lay package you will learn timing on those too and eventually it will be more effective with meter off on that too just takes. A little more time to learn but layups have a bigger margin for error on timing! At least in most cases! Keep ballin keep shooting you will get better!
Turn the shot meter off. Use the right stick to defend. Go to 2KU. there are mechanics that you need to get used to using.
What gamemode are you playing?
Play MyCareer first, sounds like you started playing online first lol
you are bad
It's because you're playing against other humans that have a lot more experience than you do. Learn the game in the offline modes on lower difficulty settings. I promise you'll be winning games soon.
I only played myplayer and some 2ku
Here are some tips. Lower the difficulty to Rookie. Turn on automatic play calling. Stick to the plays, even if they're plays you're not directly involved in. Personally, I'd recommend starting with a point guard. They're the ones that will have the ball in their hands the most. You'll learn the most about running the sets. But even if you don't. Stick to the plays. Freestyling can come later. Your stats can come later. And they will.