Frustrated With Current Culture of 2K Series

[TeamBuilder]

Over the years the culture of this game has shifted from a basketball sim to arcade play with hyped shot releases and badge obsession. 2K used to aim to replicate real basketball, but now it feels like their main focus is selling its gamers on badges and MyPlayer/MyTeam stuff. If that's your cup of tea, great, enjoy it. But it really bums me out that all of that stuff is having a negative impact on what used to feel like a genuine effort to replicate real basketball.

Over the past couple of years I have been quietly sticking to MyLeague, but this culture shift is starting to ruin what I loved about this series. This year, despite turning the feature OFF, my games are plagued by an irremovable green shot release circle that appears under CPU players that tells me a shot is going in before it reaches the rim. I get it, there is a large part of the player base who obsess over perfect green releases and badges and all of that, but in the efforts to appeal to that crowd, we have this nonsense that spills into all areas of the game and spits in the face of what this game used to be.

I play with Real Player % because I think the determining factor for success on a shot for a professional is largely determined by whether it is a good/uncontested shot from a spot they are familiar with. That's my cup of tea, and I have been enjoying it for years. I have to work for a good look, rather than simply learn a player's release. But this year, even though I have Real Player % turned on and the Shot Meter turned off, the game STILL factors in the Shot Meter! I know this because the CPU is occasionally getting these green light releases. Maybe I'm just getting old and can't relate to what new gamers want, but would it be too much to give us options that work for both? I really miss the authenticity (and options) this game used to aim for.

[YungGun]

There definitely needs to be a way to turn this off along with other UI things (floor general, defensive leader, etc.)

[512fm]

I don't mind the green release thing as much but the animations for the CPU have to go. So strange seeing Kawhi turn around and celebrate before hes made a shot.

[Mortiis]

pootinh shot meter and green releases was maybe the worst decision ever from 2k!

[Smirkin Dirk]

There is no better sim sporting experience than NBA2K. (Provided you play the proper modes).

[The 24th Letter]

This is essentially a longer winded way of saying that you don't like seeing green releases from the CPU, I get it, and we've had a couple threads on it (including your prior one) already, but there's definitely a lot of sim to be found in the game. A visual cue we all hate doesn't diminish things like Czars work on Team Series this year.

[Baebae32]

I think OP has a point about the MyCareer create your avatar part of 2k blending into the NBA version. And i say that because look at all the new badges.

You have hot zone hunter, flexible release, green machine, steady shooter etc. All these new badges have created seemingly with the mycareer portion of game in mind first and foremost. And i make that assumption because whenever Mike discusses the new badges he only discusses them in a Mycareer/park/proam point of view. These mycareer badges have affected the nba portion of the game in a big way in my personal opinion (im a offline/roster creator/ myleague guy).

The badges have been added to the NBA rosters but have led to the removal of key ratings (off dribble shooting ratings/contested shooting ratings/ boxout ratings etc). The creation of the new badges have 1.) led to a rework of the OVR formula (which if you play Myleague you know how important the OVR is for cpu roster building and rotation logic) and 2.) severely affected sim stats (lame offline guy stuff i know).

The dilemma presents itself as such: James harden shoots 44% from 3 in myleague sims. Why? He has a gazillion shooting badges. How do you fix this? Well just remove some of those badges. But the removal of those badges lowers hardens overall which if you apply the same mechanics across the league to get somewhat accurate simulations numbers would wreck the cpu’s roster building logic

Is this a signal of doomsday for the 2k series? No. Is 2k20 ruined? No. I will adjust as best as i can. But i will say the OP concerns do have some ground to stand on.

MyCareer is affecting the NBA side of the game. How much of an effect will it have as we get more iterations o fthe game each year? Well only time will tell. We will see

[Johnnythelegend]

Quote: Originally Posted by Smirkin Dirk

There is no better sim sporting experience than NBA2K. (Provided you play the proper modes).

I don't know if Football manager is considered sport sim but it is the most realistic experience when it comes to sports I am pretty sure.

But that's another topic. 2K maybe still is the best when it comes to these types of games but to say that it's going in the opposite direction (of sim) isn't really a lie. Greens, takeover, badges in a certain way, I know 2k has to take casuals into consideration as well but at least let us disabled these things.

I mean, I guess you could argue that 2k could remove it completely, you want to teach people how to play basketball, I mean, as close to the real sport as possible, and 2k11, which is still considered the best ever I think, didn´t have shot meter, badges takeover etc.

And the movement in the game since 2k18 isn´t real as smooth as it used to be.

To quote andrew from NLSC "What I find particularly frustrating about the various issues with player movement is that the CPU isn't affected by them, leading to imbalance. AI players feel like they're a couple of steps quicker, able to change direction easier, and can make sharper turns compared to our axis of movement. All the while, there's that all too familiar feeling of running in mud and animations playing out in slow motion."


I think defense also took a step back compared to 2k19. I have to control my center most of the time to cover the holes in the defense because players are getting backdoored too easily.

We´ll see, PS5 comes out next year, maybe we´ll see some big changes.