NBA 2K16 Road to the Finals Qualification System Rewards Best Cheesers, Not Best Team

[Steve_OS]

In the real NBA, it doesn't matter how you win -- all that matters is that you win. But in NBA 2K16's preliminary Pro-Am events, winning all of your games is not enough to ensure qualification for the eventual 16-team tournament. Road to the Finals is the only team competition I've ever seen where running up the score and padding everyone's stats is the key to becoming champion.

Under Road to the Finals' current scoring system, the teams at the top of the leaderboard will be the ones who are exploiting the mode's gameplay flaws by constantly throwing 90-foot outlet passes for fast-break dunks or corner threes, and trying to cause turnovers every defensive possession by repeatedly going for steals and charges.

Read More - NBA 2K16 Road to the Finals Qualification System Rewards Best Cheesers, Not Best Teams - Written by: (Jayson Young)

[ffaacc03]

Agree with this, the current method is flawed on its nature.

[The 24th Letter]

Speakownit....good post

[infam0us]

Good write up, my squad was so excited for the Road to the Finals but the current system is so flawed that there's not point in trying.

[Ray Vibes]

NBA 2k16: Where winning isn't enough.

[Junior Moe]

Playing devil's advocate and prefacing my comment with the fact that I'm a strictly offline MyLeague player. : Isn't it generally understood that online sports gaming is anything but "sim"? No matter what they do people will find ways to exploit it. And if they do, it's their game, if they're finding success doing something and having fun then why not do it? I get that 2K's ranking system may encourage shenanigans. But what's wrong with just accepting that. Am I missing something?

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Junior Moe

Playing devil's advocate and prefacing my comment with the fact that I'm a strictly offline MyLeague player. : Isn't it generally understood that online sports gaming is anything but "sim"? No matter what they do people will find ways to exploit it. And if they do, it's their game, if they're finding success doing something and having fun then why not do it? I get that 2K's ranking system may encourage shenanigans. But what's wrong with just accepting that. Am I missing something?

The simple point here is that "gaming" the system itself -- not even the gameplay in this case -- should not push you up the leaderboard.

Beyond that, I think you're making a broader point where we don't know what the future holds. As sports games try to get more and more into the "eSports" scene, there's going to continue to be this clash of what the heck it wants to be. Games like DOTA 2 don't have to worry about their game being exploited in the same way as there's no basis in reality and the way the game mechanics function are wholly different. With Counter-Strike you worry about making sure things like aimbot etc. stay out of the game as that's just straight cheating.

But with sports games, where is the line drawn with gameplay? And what would the audience even want to see? Who is the audience for a sports game eSport? Is it the person who wants to watch something that's like the real sports itself, or is it people who just want to see someone who is the "best" at the game no matter how it looks.

Having watched some competitive sports gaming, it generally hasn't been fun to watch like something such as Starcraft or CS:Go can be because the variety of what I see happening boils down to just trying to abuse the game to win rather than playing the game. It's just something on a broader scale that will be interesting to witness. I mean did people enjoy watching competitive Madden stuff when it was originally at its peak "eSports" popularity years ago?

[Junior Moe]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

The simple point here is that "gaming" the system itself -- not even the gameplay in this case -- should not push you up the leaderboard. Beyond that, I think you're making a broader point where we don't know what the future holds. As sports games try to get more and more into the "eSports" scene, there's going to continue to be this clash of what the heck it wants to be. Games like DOTA 2 don't have to worry about their game being exploited in the same way as there's no basis in reality and the way the game mechanics function are wholly different. With Counter-Strike you worry about making sure things like aimbot etc. stay out of the game as that's just straight cheating. But with sports games, where is the line drawn with gameplay? And what would the audience even want to see? Who is the audience for a sports game eSport? Is it the person who wants to watch something that's like the real sports itself, or is it people who just want to see someone who is the "best" at the game no matter how it looks. Having watched some competitive sports gaming, it generally hasn't been fun to watch like something such as Starcraft or CS:Go can be because the variety of what I see happening boils down to just trying to abuse the game to win rather than playing the game. It's just something on a broader scale that will be interesting to witness. I mean did people enjoy watching competitive Madden stuff when it was originally at its peak "eSports" popularity years ago?

I can see that. I remember seeing that terrible Madden Nation (or whatever it was called) show. The best players were always cheesers. I never saw a true X's and O's matchup or anything that I or many OS'ers would consider "sim". But, still, they were the "best" and the producers were aware of their tactics. So I assumed that it was how the producers thought the game should be played; or, accepted it as just a fun thing to do.