MyNBA has lost its way...

[vetmin]

I'm sure this has probably come up within larger threads (like Impressions or general discussions about franchise mode), but I feel like it deserves its own thread.

From the relevant NBA 2K21 Courtside Report:

...we decided that we would take everything that we’ve learned and built with MyGM, MyLEAGUE, and MyLEAGUE Online and put it all together in the all-new and all-encompassing MyNBA.

Starting with NBA 2K21 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, our franchise mode has been re-branded and will now be called MyNBA. At its core, the name pretty much says it all – it’s your NBA, it’s your franchise mode, however you want to set it up. The mode has every single feature that you know and love from the previous modes, all rolled up into one where you have full control over which ones you want to turn on and off.

My understanding is that this held true for 2K22, but then they started neutering the mode (mostly of MyGM-sourced features) in 2K23, continued in 2K24, then -- in 2K25, by relaunching MyGM as a separate mode -- basically reversed the consolidation process that created MyNBA in the first place. I feel like the excitement surrounding Eras since 2K23 has allowed this backsliding to slip by a bit unnoticed, but I have to imagine that non-retro franchise-mode gamers have been feeling more and more screwed every year since 2K23.

At this point MyNBA is basically what MyLEAGUE would have been if they just kept things segregated the way they were on old-gen. I think people got used to the idea of MyNBA being a vast improvement on the old-gen franchise modes, and it was for those first couple new-gen 2Ks, but the entire selling point of MyNBA as an all-in-one franchise mode has been thrown out the window at this point. MyNBA is not even really as good as modded MyLEAGUE on old-gen. It's a shame because the MyLEAGUE/MyGM merger really was a good idea, and I have to imagine that the most frustrated people of all are the devs within 2K who really believed in this vision, only to have it abandoned after two releases. The frustrating thing for me is that PC didn't have 2K22 new-gen, because if it did, we could've just continued playing that game with updated rosters, likenesses, etc.

Maybe for the PS6 gen we'll get MyFRANCHISE or something, which fuses MyNBA and MyGM? Crossing my fingers...

[CX1329]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

Having MyGM and MyNBA as separate modes makes sense, though. Some people like the RPG elements in MyGM while others don't want to deal with the RPG aspects and want a more customizable experience that focuses more heavily on the on-court side of the game as opposed to the off the court things you do in MyGM.

That's entirely fair and having them as separate modes caters to both kinds of players. Now, if only they would apply the same philosophy to online (Park, City, whatever they're calling it these days) vs offline (Play Now, both franchise modes) and made it so gameplay changes and tweaks meant for online players didn't also affect offline players, I would be a happy camper. I'm tired of gameplay changes made to appease online players and YouTubers also affecting us offline guys.

[vetmin]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

Having MyGM and MyNBA as separate modes makes sense, though.

One can have that opinion, but in that case MyNBA isn't really MyNBA anymore; it's just back to being MyLEAGUE. That's all I'm really calling attention to—the fact that 2K made a whole to-do about how MyLEAGUE/Association and MyGM have been separated for many years, but that now with 2K21 they're launching a new mode, MyNBA, that brings the modes together... only to abandon the vision after two game releases and completely reverse course with 2K25. It was sold to us as MyLEAGUE + MyGM = MyNBA, so what happens when you subtract MyGM from MyNBA? It's no longer MyNBA; it's MyLEAGUE.

Some people like the RPG elements in MyGM while others don't want to deal with the RPG aspects and want a more customizable experience that focuses more heavily on the on-court side of the game as opposed to the off the court things you do in MyGM.

The whole idea of MyNBA was that you had free reign to make the mode whatever you wanted it to be. You could have a classic MyLEAGUE experience by simply toggling off the Role-Playing Elements, or you could have a classic MyGM experience by toggling them on and controlling a single team, or -- newly possible with MyNBA -- you could mix and match elements of both modes to have exactly the sort of franchise-mode experience you wanted. For instance, having MyGM-ish experience, but controlling 2 teams instead of one, and having the ability to go in and address unrealistic things that you could always address in MyLEAGUE, but not MyGM.

If you happened to dislike MyNBA when it was launched and preferred the old MyLEAGUE / MyGM split, then of course you'll be happy that 2K has reversed course to that, but for those of us who liked the MyNBA concept, it's a shame that it was so short lived.

[MiracleMet718]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

The feedback many people gave was that doing all that work to setup exactly how you want to run MyNBA was way too much. Most people just want to go in, do a Franchise mode, and not have to worry about all of that customization around the RPG side. So to make it easier again, they split up the modes where one is for the true Franchise player (still fully customizable) and the other is for those that want the RPG experience. It makes it much easier for the casual player to pickup and play how they want.

[vetmin]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

The feedback many people gave was that doing all that work to setup exactly how you want to run MyNBA was way too much. Most people just want to go in, do a Franchise mode, and not have to worry about all of that customization around the RPG side. So to make it easier again, they split up the modes where one is for the true Franchise player (still fully customizable) and the other is for those that want the RPG experience. It makes it much easier for the casual player to pickup and play how they want.

Did 2K come out and give some sort of explanation to this effect or something? Because I doubt that’s the reason, since it was already incredibly straightforward to disable RPG elements if you didn’t want them (i.e., by literally just deselecting the big “Role-Playing Elements” item on the MyNBA setup screen). If even that was too complicated for some people, 2K could’ve easily just added a pop-up prompt when starting a new MyNBA that lets you choose the experience you want to have: Classic MyLEAGUE (which would deselect the RP Elements item for the user), Classic MyGM (which would leave the item selected, but limit you to controlling one team), or Custom MyNBA (which would simply close the pop-up and let you set up your league unrestricted, as normal). That would’ve been just as easy for users, would’ve been easier for the developers to implement, and would’ve retained franchise-mode flexibility that is now gone.

Personally—when 2K23 came out with all of the ‘Chit Chat’-ish RPG elements missing—my hunch was that Eras killed it, since all of the dialogue and visual aspects of those scenes are very modern. Maybe 2K didn’t like the idea of a GM chit-chatting with 1984 Larry Bird and asking Larry, “When going camping, do you think cell phones should be used only for emergencies? Or is it OK to still use ‘em for taking pictures and stuff?” I would kinda understand 2K wanting to strike things like that from the game but would still disagree with it because those who find it unimmersive could still choose the non-RPG experience. Even if 2K wanted to not give people the choice for past Eras, they still could’ve left it intact for new Modern Era franchise saves.

Now, with 2K25 reintroducing MyGM as a separate mode, we are seeing some new features that maybe they didn’t want to take the time to coherently integrate into MyNBA, so maybe that was the reason (or an additional reason). Again, that doesn’t mean they had to remove any overlapping RPG features from MyNBA, and I wish they hadn’t, but they probably want users who value RPG features to not have a choice but to play the new mode they’re marketing.

Bottom line: I’ve just been a little bit surprised that—considering how over-the-moon this forum was about MyNBA when it was first announced (including about the MyLEAGUE/MyGM merger)—there’s been barely a peep about 2K reneging on the main feature that set it apart from its old-gen predecessors, especially since the feature was exactly as advertised and very easily toggleable according to one’s preference.

[Junior Moe]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

Count me as one of those franchise players disappointed in the regression of MyNBA. I was under the impress that we would be able to mix and match RPG and sandbox elements to our hearts content. Not only that, but that 2K would continue to iterate on both aspects.

I want the option to have a tech billionaire buy the Hawks and start meddling with the team. And having the chore of building a great team with unlimited resources, but then having to juggle a crazy Jerry Jones like owners whims. That could just be with the Hawks.

In the same MyNBA I might want to just play as Luka and the Mavs and try to win without any of the other stuff.

I want all of it to matter though so that when I am playing with the Mavs, commentary and the halftime show mentions things going on with the Hawks situation and other stories happenings around the league.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using Tapatalk

[ffaacc03]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

Agreed, always more options, more editing, more features is the way to go, specially for MyNBA, not less. They could of had let it be as it was for MyNBA (the best of both worlds) and have the 2 other modes for those on the poles: MyLeague and MyGm.

[simbayless]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

We need that same hunger when 2k first introduced Myera because right now they taking a break and adding a era per year and didn't fix
The bugs ect ..

[sirdez]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

I think it's a pretty impressive piece of work in terms of depth and complexity, but it is still disheartening that so many legacy bugs are still present, along with such poor AI decision-making.

I also feel like they miss a trick when it comes to the cultural and marketing side. Why can we still not add additional courts, city jerseys etc to expansion teams? The days of a team just having one court design and two main jerseys are long gone, but that has not changed one bit in about 5-6 years. If I create a team, I should be able to tie court designs to uniforms at the very least.

[JAY_D1]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

We need that same hunger when 2k first introduced Myera because right now they taking a break and adding a era per year and didn't fix
The bugs ect ..

Agreed, we need more support and added time.

[vetmin]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

I think it's a pretty impressive piece of work in terms of depth and complexity, but it is still disheartening that so many legacy bugs are still present, along with such poor AI decision-making.

I also feel like they miss a trick when it comes to the cultural and marketing side. Why can we still not add additional courts, city jerseys etc to expansion teams? The days of a team just having one court design and two main jerseys are long gone, but that has not changed one bit in about 5-6 years. If I create a team, I should be able to tie court designs to uniforms at the very least.

Absolutely, whether MyNBA, MyLEAGUE, or MyGM, 2K's franchise modes have been fantastic for a long time, and this thread would not exist if—in the transition to new-gen—they had simply continued the MyLEAGUE-and-MyGM-as-separate-modes approach from old-gen. Instead, they announced an ambitious new vision for the franchise-mode aspect of the game, conceived as a new mode called MyNBA, receiving a ton of praise in the process... only to completely jettison that vision in very short order and go right back to what they had before.

It'd be like if I was a hobbyist graphic designer happily using some free photo software, then someone surprised me with Adobe Photoshop as a gift... only to take it back a month later. I mean, I was fine with the free software I had and I'll be fine with going back to it, but why even give a gift like that if you're going to take it right back? It's just an awkward thing to do and a bad look. In 2K's case, at best it reveals a wishy-washy, unstable vision for that aspect of the game (i.e., incompetent / short-sighted planning), or at worst—if one is being cynical—it may just be an example of 2K gimmickry (i.e., adding features to sell a new game on a new gen, then slyly taking them away to re-market to us under a different banner). Either way you slice it, it's a bad look for 2K.

[simbayless]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

You know this is bad when softdrinktv is
Disappointed about this!

https://youtu.be/aM-58uarAj4?si=w_mWiVvjNDQJz0zx

[sirdez]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

Nice to see all the ongoing/legacy issues summarised in one video, but I suspect those who make the decisions about where to focus money and resources aren't the ones who are passionate about basketball.

These days you just have to treat MyNBA as a customisable blank canvas, not a finished product.

[vetmin]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

These days you just have to treat MyNBA as a customisable blank canvas, not a finished product.

As a relatively new 2Ker (5 years-ish), I feel the same. Maybe once upon a time on a 2K I've never played (like 9 or 11 or 14 or something) the franchise mode was less dysfunctional when not micromanaged, but—for at least as long as I've been playing—these modes have seemed to me more like the NBA sim equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons character sheets, maps, etc., i.e., as tools for helping gamers realize and operate their virtual world, but which otherwise don't do anything. All of the complaints are fair, but if they were important to me then I would've always been too frustrated to have fallen in love with 2K franchise mode in the first place, since these complaints have been relevant for as long as I've been playing.

[sirdez]

Re: MyNBA has lost its way...

So you can't recreate the GSW/NJ trade, because the game doesn't let you trade injured players (Melton) or 2-way players (Beekman).

Is stuff like this ever going to be updated properly?