Has a friend ever told you about a popular song you have yet to hear? He tells you that it’s tearing up the charts and he can’t figure out why because it’s so terrible. So one day, you’re driving home from work and the song finally comes on the radio. You’re ready to agree with your friend, but you find yourself bobbing your head and thinking, “you know, this song ain’t that bad.” You’re almost embarrassed to admit it, but you actually like the song.

Well, that’s the frame of mind I was in when I wrote this article three months ago. And now that I’ve listened to the song a few times, I now understand where my friend was coming from.

In the three months that have passed since that article posted, I have spent roughly $60 in VC to beef up my MyTeam roster. Here is what that money has gotten me:

PG Damon Stoudamire (ROTY)
SG Klay Thompson
SF Jimmy Butler
PF LaMarcus Aldridge
C Ben Wallace (DPOTY)

No diamond cards. No amethyst cards. Nothing. And, look, it should be noted that this lineup is a lot of fun to play with game to game. But what about the cards the 2K team likes to advertise? What about the weekly #FBF and #TBT releases? What about prime Dirk and prime Kobe? Given the number of packs I have opened and the amount of money I have spent, shouldn’t I have at least a few top-tier cards?

And that’s my biggest problem with this mode. You either have to be extremely lucky or extremely wealthy to build a team of your favorite legends. I say lucky because I understand I can only speak for myself here, and I’m certain there are others who have spent even less than me and lucked into some top cards. I just know that I was not that lucky. And I also say wealthy because I’m sure if I was willing to dump even more cash into this mode, I would eventually get a few diamond cards. But if $60 was not enough to get me anything good, I’m not about to spend more to find out what is enough.

To be fair, you have the option to spend MyTeam points instead of VC. You earn these points by completing various challenges and through in-game accomplishments. The problem is that it takes a long time to earn enough points to buy even the basic pack, let alone any of the more expensive packs. And even after receiving a good amount of points after getting my 250th card, I decided to spend it all on a bunch of packs instead of going after one or two players on the auction block. That strategy didn’t work, as it only got me one gold player, and he was a duplicate.

Listen, I wanted to like MyTeam. And while I absolutely did get a lot of joy out of the mode, that joy was extremely short-lived. More than that, the temporary joyous sensation was rooted in what turned out to be a false sense of hope. After each pack I opened left me frustrated with bronze player after bronze player, I thought, “brighter days are ahead -- eventually I will get some amethyst or diamond-level players.” But that wasn't the case.

The problem is, what incentive does 2K have to fix the mode? In a perfect world, VC would be eliminated, but we know that is not going to happen. I think the most realistic expectation is a combination of improved pack odds along with significantly lower pack prices, but will that happen? As with most things in life, this will ultimately be consumer-driven. If the 2K community grows frustrated enough that there is a noticeable dip in the revenue generated by MyTeam, then perhaps they would be open to these suggestions. But my fear is that the mode is generating a sufficient amount of revenue that would make these changes highly unlikely.


Have you had a similar experience with this mode? Or do you find yourself still coming back to MyTeam?