I don't believe anyone on OS is an "elitist." But there has been a noticeable and
detrimental effect on 2K since the introduction of MyPark, Pro AM and VC. The game has gone from "let's build the most realistic game of basketball ever in digital form" to "let's build a game of basketball where we can give our players a chance to play against one another and
buy advantages against one another."
They've turned the simulation 2K into a pay for play model -- if you want to be the best, you got to drop some (additional) cash to be the best. Yes, you can grind your way to a lot of this, but 2K isn't dumb; if the consumer is given the choice of instant gratification or spending large chunks of time to get the same thing, the consumer will more often
buy the instant gratification than spend time earning it.
I don't think Pro Am/MyPark is the root cause of the sim crowd's woes; it's the VC. If there was no VC, if people had to earn the skills by playing sim/real basketball, we wouldn't be here. If there was no option to buy your way to the top, we wouldn't have so many complaints from the MyPark/Pro Am guys; but we do and it's a monster of 2K's making because they
sold them the idea that if they bought their skills, they'd be the best and now they want to play that way when they -- as a user -- don't have the understanding or skill to do so. Their player might be maxed out, but the user hasn't learned anything new and some don't even understand the fundamental rules of basketball.
When you sell someone the idea that, if they spend more money they'll be better, people are going to want to
see it. And if they don't see super-high shooting percentages and backstepping, fading threes with a defender in their face, they're not going to feel they got their money's worth.
And the truth is, they haven't. And they won't. Which is why the backlash from the online guys is so high and full of vitriol because not only did they pay for the game, the majority of them sunk even
more cash into it to bump up their player avatars and aren't seeing the results they expected.
It's not their fault. Like us sim guys, they put down money and didn't receive the product they wanted. We're in the same boat, and that's the problem, we need to be in different boats that suit the two communities' unique needs.
We're not "elitists" here at OS; we have a fundamental disagreement on how 2K basketball should be played with the majority of the online players and there's no way to resolve that without one or both communities getting completely shafted. The best solution is for those two portions of 2K to be divorced from one another -- if not in actual form, then at least in updates/tuning so one side doesn't affect the other.
Whether that's a possibility is in question, but that's the best solution for all parties; as it stands right now,
neither community gets the game they want.
If everyone loses, no one wins.