NBA 2K14 News Post

NBA 2K: Fixing The Flaws With MyCareer

05:14 PM - February 26, 2014 by RaychelSnr

MyCareer mode in NBA 2K14 was a cool, but flawed experience.

I don’t know about you, but having to sit through nearly an hour of cutscenes at the beginning of the mode with no option to skip really ruined the experience for me from the get go. From there, the linear nature of the storytelling was more like holding your hand through a pre-designed NBA-experience moreso than letting you live your own story both on and off the court.

To me, MyCareer represented the best of intentions with some paltry execution.

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# 1 VDusen04 @ 02/26/14 05:49 PM

Very solid article here. I'd say I'm on board with virtually everything mentioned (and then some). The idea of following a linear storyline was a complete turnoff, as I felt it almost went against everything MyPlayer mode was supposed to represent in the first place (clear your own path, choose your destiny).

Still, even without the linear storyline, I felt things became dull relatively quickly in the NBA2K13 MyCareer mode (which is maybe why 2K opted to experiment with the corny storyline to begin with). I think there's a lot of little things that could be added to the mode that'd keep things fresh. Three random suggestions off the cuff:

1) D-League: I'd love if the minor leagues came back into play. The D-League is becoming more relevant every year, and it'd be great to have that reflected in 2K, with authentic teams, jerseys, courts, coaching tendencies and fully editable rosters.

I mentioned this in another thread last night, but if the D-League were implemented in 2K13 (when my MyPlayer was drafted by the Houston Rockets), my quest would have had a unique wrinkle if I were assigned to play for their super high speed, run-and-gun Rio Grande minor league affiliate.

2) Re-introduce the Draft Combine, Summer League, and Training Camp (but provide the ability to simulate/skip any and all)

3) Observe Theme Jersey Nights (Retros, sleeves, Green Week): It sounds so mundane, but I feel little quirks like this could help during those times in one's MyPlayer career when games are just slogging through one after another. It'd be a neat bonus, in lieu of being able to choose our own jerseys, to get to the opening tip and see your squad rocking their St. Patrick's green alts.

The inability to simulate any games in the 2K10 MyPlayer mode seemed to make it feel just a little bit more a grind than I would have liked. Still, the experience of trying my hardest in the combine, summer league, and training camp, only to be assigned to the Bakersfield Jam, felt awfully legitimate. And when I finally got to the big stage, with NBA commentary, in a full 20,000 person arena, it was a heck of an award. It was a great video game moment. I wouldn't mind having the option to experience that type of career once more.

# 2 joewink23 @ 02/26/14 05:54 PM

I agree, it would be nice to skip through this stuff. Ronnie said on the PSBlog "We want you guys to experience this stuff and not skip it." But it's the parent-going-to-his-kid's-dance-recital paradigm where, of COURSE they want us to, but let us have the option.

Secondly, the game needs to react more appropriately to our performance. I lead the league in scoring and blocks at the SG position for a good 2 months before cracking the starting lineup. Also, missing the buzzer-beater should not cause me to lose my spot in the starting lineup. The system overreacts and underreacts to a lot of your performances. If I go 65pts-13reb-12ast-8blk-6stl in a game, shouldn't I be on the front page of the NBA.com menu? Also, I'm an all-world defender. Let me tell the coach "Let me check Lebron" instead of asking Arnett Moultrie to do it. Give me the ability to ask the coach for the last shot. Let me influence the Points of Emphasis; "coach, we need to hit the glass harder, they're killing us on the boards" "we have to go under the pick and roll instead of over the top on Rondo" etc.

Additionally, we have to look at what was broken in terms of gameplay. Playcalling was hit or miss AT BEST. Often it was a free-for-all and it ended with me taking way more shots than I wanted. I want the offense to be basketball, not streetball. Why do we have to play EVERY game in our first year? I can only stand going up against the damn Bucks so many times (4 in the Eastern Conference)... it's uninteresting.

So many glitches in terms of substitutions NEVER happening. My teammates refusing to play defense or go for rebounds. My teammates refusing to shoot. My teammates getting open only to dribble into a contested layup that gets blocked EVERY TIME. This is all stuff that has plagued the mode for years, it's time to fix THOSE items before worrying about how the story is presented.

# 3 Semipro91 @ 02/26/14 06:59 PM

This article seems to have been written after the guy played through the first 2 NBA games. Half the stuff he wants are in the career mode just not at game 3 of your career.

"What about having random events come up which affect your ability to play well, think MIchael Jordan's flu game here. Another cool aspect would be having a minor injury which you can fight through with lower attributes but higher VC rewards -- but playing through an injury also can result in you being injured and missing time." - This happens 30 games or so into your career, you can elect to talk to the trainer (find out you are hurt and miss a few games), or play through the injury (your ratings take a hit).

"It was a similar feeling when I had to enter every game, wait for the game to load into the arena, only to sit through the game and have random times when I’d see some in-game action. Why not allow the ability to quickly move through games and if we don’t appear, we don’t have to actually go through the process of loading into arenas?" - This ONLY happens in the first 2 games of your career.

"or on the other end be a very low-key player who just goes about his business. As I said in the first point, I think the ideal career mode isn’t a storyline driven experience, but rather the ability to make real choices both on and off the court which impact your virtual universe in real ways, but not in the West Side Story 'we're rivals and that means we're enemies' kind of way." - This happens all throughout the mode. You can do all kinds of things that change your experience (talk trash about a teammate to the GM, demand trades, refuse to pass the ball to the star player, refuse to go out with teammates, be a team player. All of these decisions change the story in one way or the other.

"I could see this all centering on a popularity/likeability type of scale, where your popularity and likeability both can change and affect the other and your ability to grab endorsements and such. A high popularity and likeability rating, for instance, would net you a major shoe deal, with a very generous VC reward to be had obviously." - This is already in the mode, all the decisions you make affect your fan rating which in turn give you crappy endorsements (ala bobs tires) or good endorsements (ala sprite, gatorade, adidas).

I do however agree with Joewink23 and Vdusen04 on their ideas. It just seems like this article was written without the author playing through much of the mode.

# 4 munky1307 @ 02/26/14 07:15 PM

Yeah i agree with Semipro91. It seems like you weren't patient enough to experience a lot of the good things that happen in the career mode. Decisions that affect how you get along with the owner and your teammates. I agree you should be able to skip any cut scene without a doubt. But the linear did give it all a little more personality compared to a Madden where you "just play the games". To each their own though.

# 5 munky1307 @ 02/26/14 07:16 PM

I will say though, the writer has some good ideas to include in next years version for sure!

Ex: "For instance, after playing at home against the Heat with a rookie from Chicago, I could choose to take to social media to trash talk the Heat or a specific player (aka LeBron James). Depending on how persistent I was, when we went on the road maybe the fans are THAT much angrier towards me and maybe the Heat are a little more amped up to stop me."

# 6 jseward92 @ 02/26/14 07:19 PM

I would just really like to be able to simulate games. That would be a huge improvement for me.

# 7 lopey986 @ 02/26/14 07:36 PM

So do you play all 82 games + playoffs in every year of your career? How do they expect you to even finish 1 season?

# 8 DMTS @ 02/26/14 07:43 PM

I would die for the ability to trash talk other players on social media. It would be cool if some fans talked about it on social media and the announcers mentioned it. Gameplay wise I think there should be some more aggressiveness in the AI for both teams.

I would love to create a Pacers - Heat type of rivalry.

# 9 allBthere @ 02/26/14 07:44 PM

Simulate games, manually get myself subbed out are HUGE.

Fundamentally though, I think we all have an idea of the type of player we want to be and lets be honest - most of us want to be a special player.

For example, if I want to be the beast that Charles Barkley was, I can do that, but why not let me at least skew it that way more freely at the beginning? I don't mind a grind, but the way it is makes you slow and a bad at 90% of things from the outset which is strange.

Also, maybe have currency for BS like clothes and separate currency for ability. Why not make my contract 2 year 300000 contract where that's for clothes and 5000 per year on skills? 2 year 1000 total VC is stupid and irrelevant. Who cares about that? I can use that app and make 150% of that EVERY day! Make it relevant. Like why waste 20,000k on shoes/shirts/shorts/suits when it's such a pain to earn those points that I can put towards skill? I'm not a 'light' player, I've put in over 60 hours, still haven't maxed myplayer and wouldn't dream of spending 2000 points on a silly suit.

Finally, add way more faces and allow a custom league. After all it's my game and I'd rather play with and against ewing, hakeem, wilkins, bird, magic etc... I may be in the minority, but I would love that.

# 10 tom180 @ 02/26/14 08:37 PM

Upgrading stats shouldn't be through VC but points you get from games you play instead. I don't like the conversation options, it's annoying because you can't really choose your personality, you select a option on what to say and ends up being a negative comment. They should show the whole caption of what you're choosing to say. I turned out to be aggressive and fighting a teammate, which is opposite of what I wanted.

# 11 garyjr33 @ 02/26/14 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lopey986


	So do you play all 82 games + playoffs in every year of your career? How do they expect you to even finish 1 season?

No, you can play key games instead of every game after the first season.

# 12 VDusen04 @ 02/26/14 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom180


	Upgrading stats shouldn't be through VC but points you get from games you play instead. I don't like the conversation options, it's annoying because you can't really choose your personality, you select a option on what to say and ends up being a negative comment. They should show the whole caption of what you're choosing to say. I turned out to be aggressive and fighting a teammate, which is opposite of what I wanted.

Good call on the conversation/press conference thing. I'm not sure how much it changed for 2K14 but I definitely remember it being a running joke amongst me and my brothers in 2K13. All I'd want to do was play it straight and have my player reflect my own personality, yet when I picked the option that seemed to hint at going that route, the player would turn wildly mid-response and spit out something obnoxious and awful.

I'd like to be able to avoid all the drama and histrionics that comes with edgy press conferences and active Twitter participation if I choose. I'd like to just be a guy who's out there playing basketball and being above social media beefs and whatnot.

# 13 DJ_Solis @ 02/27/14 01:30 AM

Gameplay wise the biggest thing that needs upgrading, imo, are the tendencies. Both player and coaching tendencies. There's no reason that Jeremy Lamb should be taking more shots than KD every time you play OKC. Or when I play teams with good low post players, they rarely seem to post them up. This might be a problem with all game modes but I notice it much more in MC.
As for the storyline I have to agree with everything you said. Inability to skip cutscenes and predetermined events make having 2 my players unbearable. Also they need to get rid of Ellis. Just make a rivalry with the top prospect at your position. I'm an SG and would much rather have a rivalry with Oladipo than Ellis.
One thing I would like to see added is making cities unique. It's just an idea but I hate how everything is the same no matter where you play. Maybe if you play New York, you'll get more fans than if you played in Milwaukee. Maybe exclusive endorsements for cities or something like that. I haven't thought of many ideas for this but I think it would be great if they're were certain pros and cons for playing in each city just as in real life.
I would also like to see home court advantage mean something. Even if it's just something small like a slight rhythm boost for role players, it would be a nice addition.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

# 14 scottyo60 @ 02/27/14 08:19 AM

For me my issues have been with post game. I've had two games now where I've lost and the media is asking me questions about winning, it's a little detail, but I didn't even feel like answering the dumb questions

# 15 canucksss @ 02/27/14 12:37 PM

Great right up! Excellent points by OS'ers too. This MC started my curiosity going back to NBA 2k11, 13 and 14. I stopped playing NBA after 2k5. The intention of 2k to write up a "script" for this mode is great idea...but somehow with poor execution. It seems that the game is "forcing" you to play pre-sets goal like Free Throw and Jump shots. I mean you don't have to missed tons of shots to get into these practices. You can be inspired to do it by the encouragement of the coach or your teammates and then you can have the option to do it or not.

Also, substitution issues, foul trouble (committing 2 fouls in 1st qtr brings you the bench while committing the 5th early in the 3rd, you're still on the court!), "get the lead down to 5 pts" are some of the issues that for me left a sour taste.

# 16 tbook24 @ 02/27/14 01:00 PM

if we could combine Live's rising stars with my career then we would have a nearly perfect experience

# 17 mrchiggs @ 02/27/14 02:57 PM

Nice article. However, the real issues are beyond cutscenes. Free agency. .. glitches... stat keeping... limited character creation. Jerseys. Sliding... playcalling... sliders... so much.

# 18 lopey986 @ 02/27/14 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garyjr33


	No, you can play key games instead of every game after the first season.

Whew, good to know. Still, rough slogging through an entire season especially with how slow it loads.

# 19 Finepanther @ 02/27/14 03:54 PM

They need to overhall how players improve. Buying attributes is BORING!! I'd like to see a gradual progression of skill through in-game or in-practice experience. This can then be accelerated by a true offseason in which we can hire various trainers for not only our skillset but also our player's bodies, bulking them up or sliming them down depending on the playing style that WE choose.

# 20 Retropyro @ 02/27/14 04:12 PM

The ability to sim any game. Get rid of the whole Key game only stuff. A more open branching story line, it's currently way too linear right now.

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