Thoughts about the shaky state of 2k Sports

[uponablackstar]

As a longtime fan of the NBA 2k series, I've grown pretty patient when it comes to giving 2k Sports working the kinks out of recent NBA 2k installments. And by and large, it's been well worth it, as this series is unquestionably the one of the best in the sports game genre.

However, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that patience hasn't come easily with NBA 2k17, and that's putting it lightly.

Whether it's reused dialogue mentioning Freq, face scan quirks, locker room interviews with fellow players holding phones and mics instead of reporters, or the well-documented issues affecting the core gameplay and modes, NBA 2k17 is unfortunately one of the buggier iterations we've dealt with in a good while.

And, well... it's time for things to change.

By no means is this some sort of call to arms by the sim-nation, but this is the time to start asking some serious questions towards 2k Sports about their development process. Something is clearly amiss; and for a team as talented as this one, I am one of many people that are incredibly worried about the vicious cycle of bugs spinning out of control.

Although I readily admit that a lot of gamers have a misguided feeling of entitlement, that does not change the fact that no gamer should be content with investing their hard-earned dollars into a game that requires a waiting period before the experience becomes the high-quality experience it was intended to be. It simply isn't fair or acceptable for consumers.

The NBA 2k franchise has become a franchise of caveats. Have your great game of NBA basketball, but tolerate the persistent brokenness of various modes, features, and gameplay elements because in the end, it's still a good basketball game. And why? Because we're subtly implored to comprehend and empathize with how harsh and challenging it is to make a good basketball game.

I, for one, have never disputed that, nor have I ever believed that this studio doesn't work hard. They do. But at the same time, I can only repress so much frustration when it comes to how long we've had to endure their "enjoy our game, but pardon our dust" messaging.

No one wants to spend $59.99 to put up with NBA 2k. We shell out that money to love it, but it's becoming too hard to love when authentic looking basketball appears to be its one and only calling card, all things considered.

To me, the solution is a shift in mentality by 2k Sports. Instead of being students of the game of basketball, they need to become students of video game design again. Then, and only then, will the frustrating stigma of clunky design fade away, and only then will future installments build truly great things around their inspiring gameplay foundation.

Again, 2k Sports are incredibly skilled and capable developers. No doubt about it. But, it's time for these games to release in the right condition. It's time for us to play a new iteration that doesn't make it abundantly obvious that the team scrambled to get it done. It's time for this studio to stop hanging their hats on post-release patches to compensate for miscues, and all while at the expense of our pockets and our patience.

And most importantly, it's time for 2k Sports to break this vicious cycle of work-in-progress releases. I believe they can do it, and I'm sure many of you do, too.

So, here's to hoping change is in order soon.

[Bornindamecca]

The game was released almost a month early. It doesn't matter how much money and talent you have, you can't replace time. You can't have less time and expect the same result. As soon as we saw the release date, it was only reasonable to expect either a reduction in ambition, or a reduction in polish.

So the judgement should be on how they respond to this adversity. How they communicate and the competence they display in righting the ship. I have been and will continue to be highly critical of their communication methods, but at the end of the day it's about the hardcore community holding them accountable and rewarding them if they get it right.

It's worth noting that if we are comparing this with previous years, the server performance has been A+ by comparison. Download issues, modes not working, error codes and server drops have plagued this series, and this year we were able to play it, and play it early.

So let's keep perspective and keep this all moving forward.

[RumbleCard]

I have no doubt in my mind that the game developers and designers want nothing more than to deliver a clean and polished game. I'd even go so far as to think that some might even be willing to extend release dates to achieve this.

Its not them but the higher ups that continually try and fit a square peg into a round hole because there's money in pushing unreasonable expectations into tighter time frames.

...and those guys could care less what you think. They reconcile success in dollar amounts not consumer opinions.

[Mauer4MVP]

http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/24/72...d-to-do-to-fix



This board can be pretty naive to think this is just a 2k problem. That doesn't mean that they can't be different, but the things that games are trying to implement today are far more advanced than what they were doing 10 years ago. Problems are going to occur just like any product. Video games are going to have issues. Sports teams won't have everything good to go week 1. TV shows take a while to find their formula, etc. It's just comical.

2k17 is easily the best sports game I've ever played.

[TarHeelPhenom]

It's hard running a marathon by yourself. Right now there is no other competition.

[SirGaryColeman]

They should skip a year.

Just look at MyCareer. All you would have to do is play it ONE time to see all the bugs.

They knew a lot of it was broken, but they still released it. I think the answer has to be:
They didn't have a choice, they had a deadline.

That said, is chucking out an unfinished game every year going to help them in the long run or hurt them with a ton of disgruntled fans ready to jump ship?

[SirGaryColeman]

Does anyone investigate the reviews of 2k? Are they paid reviews or are they reviewed by people that don't care?

The game gets really high reviews every year... the reviewers always review it after like a few days of its release and they usually only mention surface level things.

I think reviews help drive sales these days, so maybe we should be yelling at reviewers. If they all gave it 5/10 for the bugs, what then?

And "online influencers" like ChrisSmoove? Does he ever have anything negative to say about 2k?

[GradyMac]

Quote: Originally Posted by uponablackstar

No one wants to spend $59.99 to put up with NBA 2k.

I do gladly, every year.