2K Sports Signs All-Star Lineup to Promote MLB 2K10 this Season w/ Video

[NumberOneRB]

Quote: Originally Posted by kcxiv

They really dont need to interact with the community, they know what was wrong with the game, everyone played it, everyone posted about it.

See, that's where I don't agree. Judging from 2K's past history the last few years with their MLB titles, it would suggest they DON'T know what's truly wrong with this game. True, Visual Concepts just took over the reigns last year and weren't given much to work with initially, but if we look at the overall body of work of this MLB franchise under the 2K umbrella the past few years it would suggest they could use all the feedback they can get. I'm going to assume the 2K higher-ups are preventing the developers from fully interacting with the community, unlike SCEA and EA Sports.

[AustinOrgans]

Quote: Originally Posted by NumberOneRB

See, that's where I don't agree. Judging from 2K's past history the last few years with their MLB titles, it would suggest they DON'T know what's truly wrong with this game. True, Visual Concepts just took over the reigns last year and weren't given much to work with initially, but if we look at the overall body of work of this MLB franchise under the 2K umbrella the past few years it would suggest they could use all the feedback they can get. I'm going to assume the 2K higher-ups are preventing the developers from fully interacting with the community, unlike SCEA and EA Sports.

I'd even venture to say that 2K and VC don't know too much about the sport of baseball. There was so much depth and customization missing from Franchise mode in 2K9 that was in 2K8. The manager and player AI (substituting pitchers, fighting off pitches w/ 2 strikes) was seriously lacking. Season-long batting stats weren't even in the realm of realism. The reactions and animations going on in the dugout were absurd (managers throwing up their arms) and often incongruous with what was going on on the field. Nothing about the game demonstrated a knowledge of baseball on the part of VC/2K.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by kcxiv

They really dont need to interact with the community, they know what was wrong with the game, everyone played it, everyone posted about it.

Just because they know what was wrong doesn't mean they know how to fix it and make it right and those are two completely different things.

Take last year, they supposedly fixed the over anxious hitters with the patch, but it just made it slightly better, but still way off.

If they knew baseball, they would know that some hitters need to be aggressive, some need to patient and the rest fall somewhere in between.

To say one way communication would solve as much as back and forth communication just doesn't seem very likely to me regarding pretty much everything in the world.

The "we know best" attitude seems to be what led to the demise of this franchise to begin with.

[Jamin23]

If they don't want to come on the forums and communicate with us, at least have a community day where they can get feedback from the gamers on what needs to be done better in order to make it a good game.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jamin23

If they don't want to come on the forums and communicate with us, at least have a community day where they can get feedback from the gamers on what needs to be done better in order to make it a good game.

Personally I think community days are overrated. Imo they started out more as marketing endeavors, and only later began being used for actual feedback like last year with Madden. But even then, I'm not sure it helps much for that year's game. I've seen accounts of every Madden community day and don't think I've seen anyone come away with a negative impression once - even when we all know the game was pretty bad for a while.

Nor do I think OS is the sole mecca of videogame sports knowledge. It's more like a sports radio station where you have a handful of people that may have legitimately great ideas on how to fix something, and the vast majority that think they know but don't. It's very easy for people to say they know what should be done when they don't have to deal with the consequences. If a developer truly wants to know what the community (not just OS) is thinking, all they'd have to do is pop on the sites and read up. But even then it has to be taken with a grain of salt given the over-exaggerations many use now to try to make a point. I think community feedback is important for helping detect/fix smaller issues that crop up, like issues with franchise modes, uniform/player-specific details, etc. But ultimately I think as long as the developer is competent, they should be trusted with implementing what they feel is best, be it right or wrong. And given how harsh some can be with their comments, it might not be a good idea to try to directly interact and cause more of an issue. They're obviously acknowledging the community with these community insights that will be coming up; I don't think it should be necessary that they're here telling everybody what they want to hear.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by kcxiv

The thing is we dont know anything behind close doors on what they used the guys for. I fail to see how picking major league baseball players brain for information on the mental side of the game. IMO it can only be a good thing. They had probably less then a year to build the game virtually from scratch. I know they borrowed a few things from 2K8, but i don't think it was much. If we don't see significant improvement in this years title, then i am going to be like something has got to give here. They really dont need to interact with the community, they know what was wrong with the game, everyone played it, everyone posted about it.

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

Though people may see the using of MLB Players as a waste of resources that can go else where, I see it as a situation where it can only help the game. Especially if they mo-capped them & added those mo-capped animations to the game, which simballer last year said would be done this year. *keeps fingers crossed* Thing is we really don't know other than these infomercial videos if this is the case. We also don't know how much these players were paid. (doubts it was millions) Would it have been great for them to fly some die-hards in as suggested to give input & evaluate what's been done to this point of course. I know this company deserves a lot of flack for what they've done with this series the last couple of years (especially since going next-gen) which is unfotunate

This is a good exchange. Personally, I don't see how anyone can see this and think their feedback is so useful where they couldn't accomplish what they needed to another way and for less money.

Still, showing so many major league players backing your game is how it is done today.

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Personally I think community days are overrated. Imo they started out more as marketing endeavors, and only later began being used for actual feedback like last year with Madden. But even then, I'm not sure it helps much for that year's game. I've seen accounts of every Madden community day and don't think I've seen anyone come away with a negative impression once - even when we all know the game was pretty bad for a while. Nor do I think OS is the sole mecca of videogame sports knowledge. It's more like a sports radio station where you have a handful of people that may have legitimately great ideas on how to fix something, and the vast majority that think they know but don't. It's very easy for people to say they know what should be done when they don't have to deal with the consequences. If a developer truly wants to know what the community (not just OS) is thinking, all they'd have to do is pop on the sites and read up. But even then it has to be taken with a grain of salt given the over-exaggerations many use now to try to make a point. I think community feedback is important for helping detect/fix smaller issues that crop up, like issues with franchise modes, uniform/player-specific details, etc. But ultimately I think as long as the developer is competent, they should be trusted with implementing what they feel is best, be it right or wrong. And given how harsh some can be with their comments, it might not be a good idea to try to directly interact and cause more of an issue. They're obviously acknowledging the community with these community insights that will be coming up; I don't think it should be necessary that they're here telling everybody what they want to hear.

Community days have done more for games than you will ever know.

I will say this, however. Some companies utilize the information learned during these events more than others.

You have no idea what the community leader has done for a game. And if I were capable of telling you, you'd be floored.

2k doesn't seem to have the monetary resources for a community day, IMO. That's all it amounts to. But I can tell you if they did, and were able to implement it correctly, it would do wonders for this game.

And I tell you this from personal experience.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

Community days have done more for games than you will ever know. I will say this, however. Some companies utilize the information learned during these events more than others.

You would know more than I would so I'll take your word that they are more useful than I would've thought. I did think it was likely cost-prohibitive for every developer to take the approach of flying in a handful of gamers to look at whatever game for a few days. But it would seem to me hands-on would be the most beneficial; I would think people would only see the most obvious issues from looking at a 5min clip of gameplay

[jnegs]

m straight wit "The Show"