Will an actual create a player return in NBA 2K15?

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by HowDareI

You can't tell me that 2K's create a player was ever good though? And on your last statement, a lot of us on here are worried about the direction they're steering the game in...it has nothing to do with the amount of time because looking back on the past couple of years VC is taking over the game in a bad way.

I never spoke to how good or bad create-a-player was in previous NBA2Ks - frankly I've never used it outside of creating a MyPlayer. Which I never use either. I do agree the mode wasn't that extensive; even though I didn't get into it I was always surprised by the lack of tattoo options. Not sure how it's done in other games.

The question was whether the mode would return, and I thought it was safe to assume it would given their track record and that create-a-player is generally a mode that appears in most sports games. Given all the content the game has I probably touch *maybe* 30% of it during any given year, if that.

As far as people worrying themselves over the game's direction... I don't understand it, but again - knock yourselves out worrying if you want. Most people say they released the best playing basketball games to date last year, despite the perception that gets pushed by some. I'd think that's a good direction to be going in. I'm not sure how VC "has taken over the game the past couple years"; I've played 2K13/2K14 on the 360 and was never forced to purchase VC and never thought about it. If I'm getting prompted to use it, it hasn't impacted me much, I probably have 25k of VC now just from regular play of the game - and it's not like I play the game that much. I can't speak to how intrusive it is on the XB1/PS4, but it hasn't even been a year since that game released.

[VDusen04]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

As far as people worrying themselves over the game's direction... I don't understand it, but again - knock yourselves out worrying if you want. Most people say they released the best playing basketball games to date last year, despite the perception that gets pushed by some. I'd think that's a good direction to be going in.

I think it depends what we mean by "best playing basketball game to date". Are we referring strictly to the on-court product? If so, it sounds like 2K14 could have most definitely made a case for being one of the best playing basketball games to date. I've heard folks complain about issues with gameplay, but nothing completely out of the ordinary. It seems a very common complaint this year has actually been, "The on-court gameplay is nice but off the court...."

And I think therein may lie the problem. While many wondered if 2K14 may be the best playing on-court basketball game to date, I do not believe the majority of gamers were feeling the same about the off-the-court aspects. I believe there's some off-court shortcomings that could have been chalked up as "Not included due to time issues regarding console crossover". This could be things like:

1. Create-a-Player
2. Create-a-Team
3. Various possible 2KShare Issues

On the other side, there were many other aspects of the game that'd been altered and changed that seemed to have more to do with a drifting in focus or direction. These would be things that were fully implemented by 2K14 or were already previously removed/changed this year or earlier (2K13). These would include:

1. Removal of D-League
2. Removal of Summer League
3. Removal of Training Camp
4. Change of MyPlayer salary from American dollars to fictional Virtual Currency
5. Change of Association to mode where fictional General Manager (aka a splitting image of your MyPlayer) is forced to run a franchise.
6. Implementation of tier-based levels in MyGM, removing one's previously simulation-based ability to run an organization as they see fit. Instead, gamers were then forced to earn golden coins that could be exchanged for various mundane managing abilities (ranging from the ability to adjust a team rotation to the ability to negotiate with free agents).
7. Adjusting NBA Dunk Contest from direct control-feedback response to a system that "everyone can pick up and play" where gamers follow random Guitar Hero patterns that have nearly zero correlation to what dunk a given player is performing.
8. The removal of manual roster saves
9. The limiting of potential save slots for every mode
10. Forcing an always-online directive in order for gamers to be able to fully explore modes that should not actually require being online.
11. Limiting gamers to one team control in Association, thus preventing gamers from achieving a career that best mirrors how realistic they feel it should be in comparison to real life.

As a whole, even if one chose to dispute a claim here or there (for instance, one may suggest that the "offline" versions of MyGM and MyPlayer were just as good as what one was provided for being "online" in 2K14), can it be seen how some folks may interpret many of these implementations as large scale direction changes that fall in sharp contrast to simulation/realism-based maneuvers for which 2K would previously agree to partake?

Quote:

I'm not sure how VC "has taken over the game the past couple years"; I've played 2K13/2K14 on the 360 and was never forced to purchase VC and never thought about it. If I'm getting prompted to use it, it hasn't impacted me much, I probably have 25k of VC now just from regular play of the game - and it's not like I play the game that much. I can't speak to how intrusive it is on the XB1/PS4, but it hasn't even been a year since that game released.

I believe it would depend upon which modes one enjoys and chooses to play. I think the phrase "has taken over the game" can be disputed. But it's quite clear that, for people who enjoyed the real-life simulation aspects of certain modes, virtual currency is probably taking over a lot more than they ever wanted or imagined.

For instance, to re-hash what was mentioned earlier, it looked as if gamers had no choice but to partake in virtual currency if they simply wanted to run a franchise. Well, check that, the choice was "Run one season with none of the enjoyment that comes with planning for the long term - drafting prospects, rebuilding poor teams, attempting to create a dynasty (aka Season Mode) - or try to do all of that while we make you use a fake GM who has to pay for standard abilities using gold coins."

Further, for others, MyPlayer was originally a way of injecting a small touch of fantasy into a realistic environment. I would clearly never be able to play in the NBA but in 2K10, the MyPlayer Mode felt realistic enough that I could suspend belief and pretend that recent college grad VDusen04 was finally getting his shot, if he could just make it through training camp and handle the rigors of playing for the Bakersfield Jam.

Now, in the four years since initial implementation, 2K has seemed to remove more and more realism with each passing iteration of their MyPlayer Mode. Realistic portions have been removed outright (Rookie Combine, Summer League, D-League, Training Camp, the ability to be drafted in the 2nd round), rookie contracts have been replaced by Virtual Currency (golden coins popping up once more), linear storylines have been created (every player is now a cornball who is rising from the street courts directly to the NBA), players become stars nearly instantaneously (whether they want to or not), and fun and (what should be) affordable amenities (say, an armband) now cost an unusually high amount of, you guessed it, virtual currency.

All that said, it seems possible to avoid Virtual Currency if one, say, just sticks to Quick Games or Season Mode. Otherwise, do you truly believe there has not been a tangible shift of direction for NBA 2K off the court in recent years? I'd love to sit and say, "Oh man, all I care about is the on-court product" but I have to admit, even with great gameplay, Quick Games can get repetitive for me over time. That's where the off-court modes and simulation have always come in. When they shift, the overall feel of the game shifts (for me).

[Eman5805]

Quote: Originally Posted by gremdog8

Pretty sure some of the faces are based off the devs of the game which that's nice and all to include them in the game but seriously it's next gen , gotta bring some creativity to the table 2k. They need to base the CAP on the model THQ used on the WWE games caused they had by far the best CAP.

Some of the faces are oddly disproportionate and look like some people with various physical and mental conditions I've known in the past. I wonder if 2K pulled a philanthropic move and face scanned some guys who weren't part of 2K.

[ShogunTake]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eman5805

Some of the faces are oddly disproportionate and look like some people with various physical and mental conditions I've known in the past. I wonder if 2K pulled a philanthropic move and face scanned some guys who weren't part of 2K.

Agreed. Either way they don't look the part of an 'NBA player' anyway, I really don't know what 2K were thinking with a lot of them. I'm certain that out of the 25 or so faces that at least 75% of them haven't been touched

[TGG]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

I could be wrong but I'd assume the reason the next-gen game had less options had more to do with it being a launch game releasing on the heels fully efforted previous generation game than anything else.

If this is the case don't ask 60 euro or dollar for it! Less options should be less money

[spectro]

They should have where you choose if a player is loyal or not and if games are important.

[Mauer4MVP]

Sorry, they had fully customizable draft classes and MyCareer in the game.

How tough would it have been to add create a player with those features in the game already? No excuse. They are slowly losing me as a customer (as much as I liked 2k14 in game and some of the myGM).

[mrchiggs]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Historically the NBA2K series that has been one of if not the most content-rich sports games available, with the normal accepted gameplay modes, Blacktop mode, NBA Legends, the various My-whatever modes, extensive player editing capabilities, etc. Maybe you answered your own question - had they brought out the same way of editing it would've been criticized. Maybe with a new system they can bring new editing capabilities. I don't know. I do know most system launch sports games - not just NBA2K - typically have less features than their previous gen counterparts unless they're direct ports, which NBA2K14 was not. If you want to judge the game going forward based off what they did in trying to release two somewhat different games within 2 months of each other, that's your prerogative - knock yourself out.

Two full price games. Two games that multiple Game mediums rated, yet never mentions whats missing. If you accept slop thats what you'll get.