Sports Game Developers Are Overlooking Single Player...

[ianlast]

Quote: Originally Posted by smuhead

I don't think I missed the point at all. You say the gameplay and presentation is specifically tailored towards the online crowd, when that is not true. Like I mentioned in first response, NBA 2K15 onliine, there IS NO PRESENTATION. There is NO view of the arena from the outside before tipoff. There is NO Shaq and Ernie pregame show. There is NO custom sliders option, there is NO custom roster option, there is NO halftime interviews. Do I need to continue? These options are for offline, single play modes. And let's not even mention the main menu reads from left to right, My GM, My Player, My this My that. And this game is tailored towards what crowd again? The gameplay is really never much of difference. Except the responsiveness is smoother offline. Lastly you make an assumption that everyone would skip intros and cut scenes, that also is not true. I happen to have a crowd of friends that actually would love to enjoy every aspect of the game. Every single feature the offline player is provided. I mean...isn't it only fair? We paid the same amount of money right? My crowd would also welcome mis snaps at the line of scrimmage and any other mishaps that happen in real life. Just this year, there have been numerous complaints online that there wasn't enough penalties being called. The only solution to this is to make all the features available for both modes.

Fair enough. I don't have 2K15, so I can't really speak to that.

[CaseIH]

This article is so true, and what upsets me most with games now days. Companies worry so much about the little snot nosed online whiners, and forget the true sports fans of video games that made them the company they are today. There was a time when devs put everything into getting simulation stats right, so your franchises stats were close to realistic, and franchise modes was the most important mode. According to the numbers us offline gamers are still the majority and these devs need to start paying attention and putting more effort into franchise modes. MLBTS devs are the only ones who still put a effort into franchise mode, where as the Madden dves and NBA2k devs worry way to much about the online gamers, and why both of their franchise modes are a joke, and glitch. NBA2k devs haven't did a darn thing in a long time to improve Association mode, while Madden has done some, but its full of issues. Hope one day these dves wake up, and start putting a effort into what is still the most important mode in sports gaming.

[SOPMODM68]

I couldn't agree with you more CaselH!
Well said!!!!

[ILuvMN81]

Good article my friend. Thanks for putting this out there for conversation.

Personally, never been much of an online gamer. I have played racers like Forza, F1, NASCAR, MotoGP and MvA online, but never was a fan of FIFA or Madden online due to the fact that in my early experiences, I would get paired up with a quitter, a big mouth or both. I remember my first time playing Madden 08 online was before I had XBL so I played on my sister's 360. Went up 14-0 before the end of the 1st Q and the other player quit because they didn't want to get "beat by a @#%^ girl".
Speaking of racers, that is probably the only genre I prefer online, though it's still not the same because we can't put 43 NASCAR players together in a room for various reasons yet, for instance.
Racing AI is notoriously difficult to program realistically so running against other real people and their abilities (or lack thereof) kind of makes up for it; biggest problem I get there is the notorious "wreckers", you know people that join a session just to drive around backwards, run into other players, etc.
I like that gamers have organic leagues of their own, but I don't have the time to stick to a schedule I didn't create or something that doesn't require weekly "attendance".

[Culture Rot]

This was evident many, many years ago

[bumpyface]

Quote: Originally Posted by Prospect357

The issue w/ game developers is that there always spinning there wheels. When will they actually progress forward ea. yr instead of taking 2 steps forward & 4 steps back. One yr they talk about getting away from canned predetermined animations, then the next yr its back w, a vengeance more canned than ever b4 (speaking on 2k in that regard). If u look at sports games from 1990-2015 which is 25yrs, what has really changed?? nothing pretty much but graphics. 25yrs and the only sport revolution is graphics REALLY??? Laker Vs. Celtics/ Bulls Vs. Blazers had personality all superstars had signature styles Jordan up & unders, Kiss the rim dunks, Barkley threw his off the backboard etc..They got away from it 2k in 2k7 staring bringing personality back, still behind the 8 ball tho & Live is not even worth discussing w, is SAD how they 4got how 2 make sports games. Madden was incorporating gang tackles in '04-'07. Then when they converted 2 X360/PS3 they started working backwards, took away user control 4 yrs, I finally gave up in '09. 2 robotic 4 me even tho I love football, its not a accurate representation. Its more of EA's version of football rather than NFL football. 10 yrs ago EA had more game innovations than what they do now in 2015??? Hate 2 call developers Lazy or repetitive but the proof is int the pudding. They pretty much give you graphics which is a given due 2 advancement in technology, but gameplay and variance is something that takes attention 2 detail which is absent all 2gether. Its all about $$$ w/ no substance GOT CARDS 4 U. Not interested

You deserve a Truth award. Preach brotha, preach.

[erickonasis]

Great read ...not everyone cares about online..i stopped playing sports games online years ago. And when the servers go down i cant even play single player because of the online aspect...hate it

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by Teirminator

I can promise you sports game developers are not overlooking single player. Only 10-15% of all players will ever play online. Hence, online gets about 10-15% of the attention and usually has issues at a product's launch.

Where are you getting those numbers from? That seems way low. All the articles I've read say it's more like 70% of gamers play online. I'm not a fan of online gaming, for a variety of reasons, but It's hard to ignore how it is taking over.