This is spot on.
I keep saying that it seems like some of this comes from 2K making changes in areas that are unrelated to gameplay.
Why?
I used to see some of these same things back on the 360 when I used to hex edit my files.
The unedited file would play one way, and the edited file would have everyone moving a touch faster, a little more "herky jerky" to their movements, distances closed for a block increased, AI teammates wouldn't guard people...and the changes I made were to my player in MyCareer.
Only code adjusted where my athletic attributes, and occasionally an accessory or two. The more changes I made, the worse the gameplay got. Now, this was MyCareer, so I had no access to sliders to counter some of the stuff, and I would just go back to my original un-edited file.
I don't think it's "behind the scene" changes from a standpoint that 2K are tweaking things. It seems that the source code is so fragile, a change here --->
can unintentionally throw off something over
---->here.
That's simply the nature of code depending on the architecture of it. If they're using the same codebase(and it looks like they are), it's a legacy issue. Something that's deeply rooted in the code that went unchecked way back when the codebase was first written. Some things are anchored so deep, it's not cost effective to step through the issue and try to find a resolution. Especially if it's not an impediment.
But if these unexplained changes that people are noticing were present in the last gen of consoles, and they're still present in this gen of consoles, the only common denominator is the code that makes up the game. And it doesn't look like 2K has overhauled their codebase.
It's not a question of "can you do what you want to do?" I wouldn't think that's the issue. You can always adjust. It's just a matter of "why don't my players move the same way they did on Sept 29th?" It's the same game, no?
It just seems so accepted that "welp, you're gonna have to just adjust to 2K..." but I don't know why, when we don't have this issue with other games.
Game speed turning up is not a purposeful tweak by the devs. I can say that with almost 100% certainty. Because it wouldn't make any sense, and it serves no purpose. That's the last thing a programmer does. Programmers follow YAGNI (you aren't gonna need it) and KISS (keep it simple, stupid), religiously.
We don't just implement stuff for the hell of it. Faster game speeds, out of nowhere, serves no purpose. It wasn't intentional.
But if those faster speeds appeared after a "Update Required: Return to Main menu", therein lies the theory that their changes to other portions of the game, is adversely affecting other areas (namely gameplay).
It's not a conspiracy theory, I'm not talking about nonsense like "comeback code"; I'm simply talking about how the delicate balances of any codebase can be thrown off. 2K devs are the only ones who can unit test it, which would probably be outside of their workflow...so basically, it is what it is.
Probably the wrong place to have this discussion tho.