Firstly, i don't have any problem with OS writing this article and presenting it to us as a differing or opposing opinion on 2k's business practices.
I just want to address a couple of specific points made.
The problem with this point, is that it completely negates the length of time people need to put in in order to grind from 60 to 85. In VC terms, the grind is approximately 190,000 vc, and most of this will need to be played as a professional basketball player that can't make a shot, layup, pass, dribble or move up and down the court in a way that is above the skill and speed of an average 10yr old. To reach that initial 85ovr, you're probably looking at approx 200hrs, or the equivalent of 5 week full time job. Does that seem reasonable for non-youtubers/people with grown up work/education/commitments?
I do think that once you've hit the level where you're banking VC at a faster rate than you need it for your upgrades, then 2k have done a good job this year of balancing it out. I'm earning between 2700-3500k vc per game and that's the best since 2k14. I'm pretty sure I'll hit 96ovr this year, so at that point I'll be earning between 5400-7000k vc per game, and that will be the most of all time in any game since 2k introduced VC.
I'm only creating one player this year, so all this VC I have banked isn't going anywhere and will only increase further and further. Maybe I'll treat myself to one of those skateboards so hilariously *cough cough* mocked in the article.
This is where you hit the absolute nail on the head, and it is where you stray furthest from what 2k would actually want written into any article. People play video games for fun, or at least that used to be the aim. But grinding hour after hour after hour loses its appeal quickly when there is no reward to go along with it. Once you hit a certain ovr, the grind between that and the next upgrades are punishingly long and monotonous.
Personally, I couldn't care less about having a 99ovr that is actually closer to a genuine 89ovr than the label we're given, but I do want those attribute upgrades. The fact that for the 2nd year running, 2k have given us zero control over what we unlock just forces an on-going grind designed to bore 2k's own customers into giving in and creating a new build with the potential for money to be spent on VC, all over again.
This for me, is the most common misconception any critics of the archetype system receive; It's predictable, boring, and not anchored to reality.
I started playing 2k originally because of mycareer; I loved that I could create and grow my own players like KD, MJ, KAJ etc, not to end up as a 99 ovr Joe Ingles (apologies if you're reading this, Joe - loved what you did against playoff P!) Archetypes were introduced for 2 reasons in my opinion; E-sports and limiting what players could do in order to get them to make more builds.
2k15 parks were never this empty ever, even on the night that 2k16 was released, and 2k16 parks were never this empty, and you know what? People were enjoying playing those games right through the games cycle.
2k15 gave us practically unlimited attributes, and I agree that 7ft SF's were an issue, then the 7'2PG glitch was an even bigger issue, but those could have been addressed in a similar way to 16. You want to be 7ft? Great, well now you're going to be slower and worse at ball control, shooting etc.
Another problem with archetypes is that imo they're actually responsible for the many game affecting issues we see now. In 17, players complained about playmakers being able to finish at the rim so effectively, so what happened last year? The attempt to balance that out lead to the layup off the underside of the backboard issue, and this year has lead to the fact that I can barely finish my dinner under the rim as a pure post scorer, never mind hit layups with dudes nearby consistently.
You can almost see the tightrope that 2k are forcing themselves to walk each year, as they try and make all archetypes as both viable and balanced. I don't envy them for putting this much work back on themselves when it's so completely and utterly unnecessary.
People complained about a skills gap the last couple of years as archetypes and badges have proved a crutch to bail out players instead of their own abilities. No one ever complained of a skill gap in 15 or 16 for the very reason that we all had access to the same players. There is no skill gap this year again because shooting builds exist and they can finish contested 40 ft jump shots at a higher rate than I can finish 6 inch layups with a dude behind me.
Give 2 teams of 3 players 99's in each attribute and only silver badges, you'll find the better team wins, give the winners of the first game each a defensive playmaker, and give the other team sharps, and the better team with better players are unlikely to win; that's the opposite of a skillsgap. Being a good 2k player should never come down to running left and right before pressing a button once to shoot.