Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

[Trevytrev11]

I guess this is aimed more at the mods and editors of OS than the public, but...

It would be interesting to know what the thoughts of the 2K dev team are on the game and where they plan on taking it next year.

Obviously they made some questionable decisions on certain aspects of the game this year and it would be nice to know why certain choices were made, but most importantly it would be nice to know that these mistakes that were made are realized by the development team and will be addressed next year.

I think with this being VC's first year, many are willing to cut them some slack on some/many of the problems that we are seeing, but at the same time, I think most want to be reassured that they are aware of these problems and are going to focus on them next year.

[Guffers]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

This game frustrates me so much, not because its a bad game but because its a few small changes away from being a great game. But those small changes are critical to my enjoyment of it. I've had a great time with the pitching controls and adore the new presentation and commentary but then my game gets upended by some atrocious fielding or uber aggressive AI batting. I've been trying to convince myself its not game breaking but in all honesty, for me at least, I think it is. I'm glad some people are managing to enjoy it but I think I may have to bench it.

I will say that I am excited for next year though. If they can completely sort out the fielding and AI behaviour ( give us our sliders back!) and really expand on the real time broadcast presentation then I think VC will have a fantastic game on their hands. At the moment I just feel its so close but yet so far.

[jeffy777]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

I will say that I am excited for next year though.

We've been saying that for at least 3 years now. Let's hope they finally don't let us down next year.......

[stlstudios189]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

We've been saying that for at least 3 years now. Let's hope they finally don't let us down next year.......

I agree with you there but, this was the 1st year for this team and they came close. I see the potential and that's why I'm so frustrated I see a 9.5 game and have a 7.0 rated game.

[brendanrfoley]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

I think the sheer number if improvements included in the second patch indicate Visual Concepts is taking this franchise very seriously.

I would love a post-mortem discussion. I also think Visual Concepts could take a tremendous leap forward if it made in-roads with the community. What Ian Cummings is doing over in the Madden forum is nothing short of amazing, and the early Community Day is a big deal.

Heck, I'd pay my own way out to California next November to get an early hands on with 2K10.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

This game will never turn the corner until they TOTALLY Overhaul the Animations in this game. Not to mention slowing down the Game Speed to where players move realistically...

[jeffy777]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

I agree with you there but, this was the 1st year for this team and they came close.

I'm not sure I totally buy the bit about this being the "1st year" for the VC devs. I kind of think that's just an excuse that 2K has been pushing because if you look at 2K7, it has the Visual Concepts logo right after the 2K logo when you start the game, so VC had their hand in previous MLB games in one form or another, so it's not like they were totally rookies this year, though I think they would like for us to believe that so we will give them more slack for their mistakes.

If you look at their wikipedia page, Visual Concepts has been involved in all of the 2K baseball games before 2K9:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Concepts

Even if Kush (which was owned by VC) was doing the main development for 2K7, 2K8, etc. it still seems that VC was at least over seeing the project, and perhaps even more involved than we know.

[snowmizer]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

Even if Kush (which was owned by VC) was doing the main development for 2K7, 2K8, etc. it still seems that VC was at least over seeing the project, and perhaps even more involved than we know.

I would think there's a great bit of difference between managing/overseeing vs day-to-day work in the programming trenches.

[jeffy777]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

I would think there's a great bit of difference between managing/overseeing vs day-to-day work in the programming trenches.

I was saying even if that was all they were doing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were even more involved, especially with 2K7 since it looked so much better than 2K8 and it had the VC logo right after the 2K logo, and we know for a fact VC developed the World Series baseball games:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_Baseball_2K2

and VC developed MLB 2K6:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_2K6

So to say this is their first year working on a 2K Baseball game is not accurate. This may have been their first year taking over after Kush took over as the lead developers, but this was definitely not the first time VC has developed a baseball game, and even more specifically, this was not their first time working on 2K's MLB games either.

[Kane182]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

So to say this is their first year working on a 2K Baseball game is not accurate. This may have been their first year taking over after Kush took over as the lead developers, but this was definitely not the first time VC has developed a baseball game, and even more specifically, this was not their first time working on 2K's MLB games either.

I'm not defending them, but how do we know it's even the same team. For all we know, they could all be new. Just a thought...

[jeffy777]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

I'm not defending them, but how do we know it's even the same team. For all we know, they could all be new. Just a thought...

That's a good point, and I'm certainly not trying to bash them. I just think 2K really milked the "1st year" thing as a way for us to give them slack and as an excuse for this game's faults. I guess I just don't like hearing excuses from game developers. If the "1st year" thing was indeed true and they knew the game would have problems because of it, then they shouldn't be charging us full price and then make excuses about it not being as good as it could've been if they had more time to develop it. If it's not a fully developed game, then don't fully charge us for it.

[Kane182]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

That's a good point, and I'm certainly not trying to bash them. I just think 2K really milked the "1st year" thing as a way for us to give them slack and as an excuse for this game's faults. I guess I just don't like hearing excuses from game developers. If the "1st year" thing was indeed true and they knew the game would have problems because of it, then they shouldn't be charging us full price and then make excuses about it not being as good as it could've been if they had more time to develop it. If it's not a fully developed game, then don't fully charge us for it.

I agree with you there. I am tired of hearing the same excuses as well.

I would even be happy if they skipped this version or waited longer to release it so that it would have had a longer development cycle. Of course I know that is not feasible because they would have taken a huge hit releasing long after The Show I'm sure.

[Blitzburgh]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

This game will never turn the corner until they TOTALLY Overhaul the Animations in this game. Not to mention slowing down the Game Speed to where players move realistically...

No doubt! The animations are ridiculously choppy! I pop the game in because I keep thinking that magically it will play smoother and not have any slow downs in the outfield. Um, it never happens.

[Eddie1967]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

[quote=jeffy777;2039434369]I'm not sure I totally buy the bit about this being the "1st year" for the VC devs. I kind of think that's just an excuse that 2K has been pushing because if you look at 2K7, it has the Visual Concepts logo right after the 2K logo when you start the game, so VC had their hand in previous MLB games in one form or another, so it's not like they were totally rookies this year, though I think they would like for us to believe that so we will give them more slack for their mistakes.

If you look at their wikipedia page, Visual Concepts has been involved in all of the 2K baseball games before 2K9:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Concepts

When has 2k "pushed the first year excuse". Clear to post any quotes from the developers? I know fans say this a lot, but I have yet to read anything from visual concepts making any excuses about this or any other game.

[jeffy777]

Re: Will there be any kind of postmortem with 2K?

When has 2k "pushed the first year excuse". Clear to post any quotes from the developers? I know fans say this a lot, but I have yet to read anything from visual concepts making any excuses about this or any other game.

Well, the developers themselves rarely post (which is a problem in itself), but Admin Ron and the mods at 2K have mentioned the first year thing repeatedly and Ronnie alluded to it when some of the bad reviews were posted on their forum. I know the mods aren't paid employees of 2K, but Ron is, and he had plenty of chances to correct them from saying it over and over if he didn't agree with it.

EDIT:

Here's one quote from Ron using VC's "first year" as an excuse as to why certain features where in previous games but not this year:

"Features weren't taken out of any games this year, this game was built on an entirely different engine and by a entirely different team this year".
http://2ksports.com/forums/showthrea...14#post2288314

And another:

"In year 1 with VC, maybe they wanted to focus on the offline game. I am sure they'll look to do that in the future"
http://2ksports.com/forums/showthrea...69#post2288469

And Ron using the 1 year as an excuse for any potential problems with the PC verison:

"If you're expecting the first PC release by the MLB team to go off without a hitch, and the first PC demo ever by 2K Sports, then you're not realizing what all is involved."
http://2ksports.com/forums/showthrea...48#post2288248