NBA2K MyTeam: How To Improve Domination - Turbojugend's Blog

Turbojugend's Blog

NBA2K MyTeam: How To Improve Domination

Posted on March 4, 2015 at 06:27 PM.

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As a huge fan of Ultimate Team and other card-collecting sports game modes, I see the promise in NBA2K's MyTeam. The opportunity to create an awesome line-up of legendary and current marquee players -- combined with the dazzling athleticism and showmanship of the NBA -- gives 2K the potential to create a sports-fantasy scenario that is second to none. But while the potential for greatness is there, there are definitely some areas that are in need of improvement. Here we will focus on how to improve MyTeam's Domination mode.

For the uninitiated, Domination is an offline mode where you pit your MyTeam line-up against all 30 NBA teams, from worst to first. Along the way you'll amass an arsenal of great players, prime-time arenas, and cool throwback jerseys. The challenge ramps up according to the strength of the team you're facing, so while you'll likely be blowing out the Jazz your first time out (sorry Utah fans), you'll need a much better performance to upend the Spurs. As with most UT-based modes, upgrading your team and purchasing contracts is mandatory.

But while Domination excels with its "climb the ladder" scenario, it also stumbles with the method in which performance is measured. Of course winning the game is a prerequisite, but success is also determined by the overall number of MyTeam coins gained per game. MyTeam coins are earned for relatively simple tasks: shooting percentages, number of rebounds, etc. Somewhere around the midway point is where things start to get tricky, as the game requires you to earn 700 coins (and up) in order to obtain three stars and all of the rewards.

And herein lies the problem: although it's technically possible to earn the necessary coins through superior gameplay, it's far easier to spam repetitive exploits than it is to play solid basketball. And since the game does not inform you of your coin progress mid-game, it's actually more reliable to play it safe and fall back on bad habits. I played one game with a 700 coin requirement only to end up at 697 because there was no way of seeing how many coins I had in hand. Disappointing to say the least.

In order to maximize coin profit in Domination, one of the defacto strategies is to get the ball to your big in the post, where the potential per play (Post Move [5] + Shot Made [2] + Assist [4]) is higher than any other offensive maneuver in the game. As you can imagine, this leads to a scenario where every trip down the court leads to CP3 passing to Dirk in the paint for the fadeaway jumper. Other coin-spawning strategies are equally mundane. Due to the high profit potential on rebounds, you'll want your team crashing the boards on both ends. Effective? Yes. Repetitive? Undoubtedly, and it's all because of the MT coin requirements.

Improving the Domination experience is a simple task. Instead of implementing generic demands that lead to a "get coins by any means necessary" mentality, a reward system could be implemented where success is measured by solid on-court play.

Currently, a low-objective three-star requirement looks something like this:

1 Star = Win the game and earn 600 MT coins
2 Stars = Win the game and earn 625 MT coins
3 Stars = Win the game and earn 650 MT coins

Let's revisit a low-objective three-star requirement as:

1 Star = Win the game with a 40% 3-point percentage or higher (5 shots min.)
2 Stars = Win the game and run 10 Smart Plays
3 Stars = Win the game and tally 3 total blocks

The above method encourages the player to play a more balanced and fundamental game of basketball while demanding a certain level of play. Are there still ways to exploit the system? Sure. But at the very least, a reasonable set of specific objectives should encourage players to play to the best of their abilities while playing a great game of hoops in the process.