NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

[nddot]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

First, before I begin: Thank you for writing your article.

I'm one of those that think "the neighborhood" is taking wrong approach to "blur the lines." So, I'm pretty sure my feedback will be ignored in favor of pursuing the vision of Jeff Thomas.

There are a few things that I find wrong with the execution of this vision, things that go beyond reluctant acceptance of a vision I don't share to cross the line towards turning me off from the whole.

Let's begin with the press release:



While this quote may be true for MyPARK and Pro-Am modes, I find it totally false when it talks about MyCareer.

The popular experiences of MyCareer are actually being excised from the mode in favor of more and more experiences easily monatarized and hidden behind paywalls.

Getting a haircut at Pop's is not a "favorite" of almost every MyCareer player I know - yet this is an advertised example cited. Accessory customization while liked is not "popular" in the way that the Combine, Summer League, D-League, college games and many more things stripped away from the MyCareer experience.

Even Draft Day was done away with. But hey! I can watch other gamers "work-out" in a virtual gym - I mean I really want to watch others bench press for +1 to this stat or that attribute.

Then you have this neighborhood being billed as "truly experiencing the life of an NBA athlete ... I'm sorry but that is pure bs.

Maybe it replicates the experience of some of the street legends of the 1970's back when a few of these legends actually went from courts in the Bronx or other Burroughs - guys that I learn about through film archives and Kobe's old documentary.

But does this truly represent today's athletic experience? The guys where I grew up went through a hella lot different experience - and I'm sure those from the farms in Indiana had an experience that differs from both the inner-city fantasy/replication we have and the experiences of the guys from my home area.

Instead of immersing myself into an NBA career as I once had, I feel like I am visiting a virtual Disneyland with a replica of 1970's street ball in New York and idealized "main-street" amusement park of online basketball for increasing the revenue stream.

I think trying to force MyCareer into this vision is the downfall of the execution. I think as a vision of the Park and Playground experiences it is good and its seems attractive to those enamored by those modes but I don't see the execution and implementation of this working for MyCareer peeps.

The neighborhood truly is an attempt to evolve the e-sport aspects of the Park experience and to further increase income opportunities of sponsoring tournaments and events - things that really excite many - I get that.

Please take MyCareer and the actual NBA career experience back out of the neighborhood and back into the arenas.

Post of the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[infemous]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

Just so people don't get confused

From what I read you don't load straight into the neighbourhood, your mycourt now has an elevator which goes there, hoping the loading times will be better then last years park but I'm fearing it'll be worse

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this is the only thing that puts me off about the neighbourhood.

if i have to load up the whole neighbourhood to go to the gym and work on badges it will be pretty annoying.

I hope we can port straight from our court to the gym, or have a gym at the personal crib and that.

As much as the neighbourhood seems cool and new, the main issue I had with mycareer and 2k in general is just how much of my playing time is spent behind loading screens. Its a trade off when you have so much content, but there must be efficient ways to load between places.

Unless I can literally keep working out at the gym non stop until I am badged out, that would be great, coz going home to play a career game, then going gym, then doing an event with another NBA player, then going gym etc. was such an arduous aspect of the grind.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

Allow me to clarify a little bit of what I know about load times. From what I was told (severe paraphrasing here), only certain parts of Neighborhood will load for you at one time as it would be a waste to have you wait for everything, as others have mentioned. Each part of the Neighborhood can hold x amount of guys, and as you leave one area, you "unload" yourself to free up a spot for someone else, and you'd then enter a new area taking up one of those spots.

I am not 100% certain, but I get the impression that there may be more than one Neighborhood universe. Again, speculating as I'm not entirely sure, but it would make sense when you're talking about thousands and thousands of gamers trying to be in the same place at one time.

[infemous]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

Allow me to clarify a little bit of what I know about load times. From what I was told (severe paraphrasing here), only certain parts of Neighborhood will load for you at one time as it would be a waste to have you wait for everything, as others have mentioned. Each part of the Neighborhood can hold x amount of guys, and as you leave one area, you "unload" yourself to free up a spot for someone else, and you'd then enter a new area taking up one of those spots.

I am not 100% certain, but I get the impression that there may be more than one Neighborhood universe. Again, speculating as I'm not entirely sure, but it would make sense when you're talking about thousands and thousands of gamers trying to be in the same place at one time.

i just saw Gento's vid and he said you can immediately play your mycareer games one after the other, which is PERFECT.

I guess that means we can grind badges in the gym in one go too, if we wanna put that work in.

[Mike Lowe]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

i just saw Gento's vid and he said you can immediately play your mycareer games one after the other, which is PERFECT.

I guess that means we can grind badges in the gym in one go too, if we wanna put that work in.

Yes, the entire experience of your MyPlayer is all connected and worked on simultaneously in your Road to 99. Sorry, I thought folks were aware of that already.

[infemous]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

Yes, the entire experience of your MyPlayer is all connected and worked on simultaneously in your Road to 99. Sorry, I thought folks were aware of that already.

we have ZERO information tbh.

All we know is that there is a neighbourhood and it is a hub of park, pro am and mycareer.

a blog or some information would be greatly appreciated as we still don't know how we will be able to check our actual player attributes, or whether the story is linear or determined by things you do in the prelude, how your OVR affects your story, whether we can get to 99 playing offline only, etc. etc.

[blk5tar5]

NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

"Road to 99" - Sometime back I swear I saw a video stating road to 99 will lead into 2k19. Just want to ask the community if anyone saw a video that talks about myplayer and showing there's a possibility of it being carried over to 2k19? Any info would be greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[de5m0n]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

"Road to 99" - Sometime back I swear I saw a video stating road to 99 will lead into 2k19. Just want to ask the community if anyone saw a video that talks about myplayer and showing there's a possibility of it being carried over to 2k19? Any info would be greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

I have no info on this but I'm confident to say that hell no it will not carry over.

[CaseIH]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

The part about 2k potentially adding cars in a future version doesn't even sound absurd anymore. I have a feeling we'll look back at this Neighborhood thing in a year or 2 and be glad it was just for 2k18. If they do however expand on the idea and add more GTA type stuff like cars and property then people will want a bigger game world and guns and heist missions...

This franchise is generating a lot of money and they're dreaming big but it's a slippery slope

I hope it dont go that far, why not just play Grand theft Auto if you want that kind of crap. The NBA has had their share of trash thru the years, but for the most part the league has cleaned up the image of its players. So if they were to get too far out there away from basketball itself, the league might not look to kindly on that, so I dont think they will allow it to get to ghetto like, or the league office might have something to say.
With this whole Esports idea, I think they are looking to a future where, there is a video game basketball league, and grow it that way. Personally I would rather see humans playing with actual real teams, and real NBA players in a league type idea, but I got a feeling they are looking at aleague with your created MyPlayer. Possibly using real NBA teams, but instead of the NBA players, it will be all created MyPlayers in the league.
If that is indeed what they see in the future, it could be pretty cool, I wouldnt have any desire at my age to be in something like that, as I only play offline MyLeague, but I would watch a video basketball league. Granted I think this younger generation needs to get off their lazy rears, and get outside more, rather than sitting in front of a TV screen all day playing video games, but I will say a video basketball league, could possibly be a money maker, if done right that is.

[sactown_13]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

Guess I have to play it but I don't understand the hype . Is there any NEW features other than the ability to walk around more ? I'm not bashing it just wondering .

Just seems to be more streamlined. Noticed a few new drills. Other than that seems to just all be in one place now.

[sfx]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

I'm still really confused about what my offline options will be. I just want to have an NBA career. I was willing to sit through the story and I loved playing college games and getting drafted and playing a season. I have no desire to interact with other gamers. This is my way of living my childhood fantasies. I love the All-time teams but I am/was always a My Career guy just so I can live this dream. Is that still a thing I can do?

[Mike Lowe]

Re: NBA 2K18 Looks to Blur Lines of Gaming with The Neighborhood

I'm still really confused about what my offline options will be. I just want to have an NBA career. I was willing to sit through the story and I loved playing college games and getting drafted and playing a season. I have no desire to interact with other gamers. This is my way of living my childhood fantasies. I love the All-time teams but I am/was always a My Career guy just so I can live this dream. Is that still a thing I can do?

I'm nearly certain you still can. Nothing was stripped out of this mode or any other. Nearly all modes have seen very nice enhancements with Neighborhood being what appears to be the most significant.

Neighborhood took Park and expanded, but all other functionality you'd want still is still there.

Only stripped part was the rep system which is now Road to 99.