EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

[ChaseB]

Since its release in August of last year, one of the best things that PGA Tour...

Written By: Kevin Scott

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[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

I'm disappointed to see that there was no mention of the mode-breaking leaderboard problems in PGA 2K21's career mode. The career mode in 2K21 would actually be fine if the leaderboards work...although the overpowered Justin Thomas issue is also a problem. But Tiger was always OP in the old TW games, too, so it's not a new thing.

Honestly, EA can set itself apart from 2K by just simply communicating with customers. HB/2K have said little to nothing in regard to the swing updates they made, or about if/when there would be a third season of the Clubhouse Pass, or about the development of a future title. After they announced the Tiger Woods signing, 2K/HB just seemed to disappear and there's been radio silence. If EA can just keep everyone informed of the game updates, the features, and such, they'll already have interacted more with the public than 2K and HB ever did.

[48hour records]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

They already did, by buying exclusive rights
Like they always did to create an environment of exclusive licenses to kill sports gaming once again .!!!
Ea is the root reason why there is only one of Alamost every game person sport .!

[scagwi]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

EA is going to stand out by exclusively having the Majors, very modern next-gen graphics, a full suite of tremendous first party courses designed to a very high level, many pros that you can actually play as, non weird multiplayer, leaderboards that work....on and on

We could be here all day.

HB is so bad at what they do, that EA can hit a home run by just hitting a single into the gap here.

[VoltSwoosh]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

They already did, by buying exclusive rights

Like they always did to create an environment of exclusive licenses to kill sports gaming once again .!!!

Ea is the root reason why there is only one of Alamost every game person sport .!

You really think Augusta is going to do a deal with both companies?


Sent from my iPhone 12 Pro Max

[TheBleedingRed21]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

All EA has to do is have a career mode that is not broken and they win my money. 2K could not even do that because they just wanted to focus on their season passes.

[Hornets4ColeAnthony]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

By having an in depth career mode that doesn’t get stale after a few days. Playing tournament after tournament with not much else to do gets so repetitive. Also by letting us actually take control of the pros in the game. Obviously after reading the article these were addressed in it. Agree with having a player progression system. You should start out bad and as you play more you increase your players attributes. It gives you something to actually work for.

[Hornets4ColeAnthony]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

I'm disappointed to see that there was no mention of the mode-breaking leaderboard problems in PGA 2K21's career mode. The career mode in 2K21 would actually be fine if the leaderboards work...although the overpowered Justin Thomas issue is also a problem. But Tiger was always OP in the old TW games, too, so it's not a new thing.

In my game it’s Bryson. He seems to win almost every event but yeah the leaderboards are so bad. I’m in my third season in career and I think only like eight different golfers have won.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

In my game it’s Bryson. He seems to win almost every event but yeah the leaderboards are so bad. I’m in my third season in career and I think only like eight different golfers have won.

Haha...it was Patrick Reed and Adam Scott for me!

[DBMcGee3]

Just stay as far from that Rory formula as you possibly can.  That game was absolute ****e.

[golfnut67]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

I've been reading this forum for years and finally decided to sign up last week to post my thoughts on the current status of what we have available now, and especially, what's coming. I'm really excited about what both EA and 2k have in store for us in the coming months. I will buy both games the day they come out. I'm truly ate up with PlayStation golf, and recently, real golf. I've been playing sim golf all the way back to the early Links games, all the TW games, and most recently before the 2k21 game, Rory, which I didn't enjoy at all for all the reasons you all know.

First let me say, I am obsessed with 2 sports, and 2 sports only....Cincinnati Reds Baseball (love The Show as well), and golf. I had a mild interest in real golf 10 years ago or so, probably played 20-30 rounds in my life, but I had a spinal issue that made it impossible to continue. I had surgery in 2019 and just starting playing real golf again this year. I suck, never broken 100, but gawd I love the game.

Ok, on to the point of this post. Like I said, I read the golf forum on OS every day, in fact I just keep the tab open and refresh it multiple times per day to see any new posts or news. I've read every post on pga tour 2k21, and the upcoming EA game. I am chomping at the bit for both games coming next year. As far as 2k21, I generally agree with everyone's assessment of the positives and negatives of the 2k game, but I would have to say overall I'm a bit more on the positive side. Maybe a lot more.

I bought the game in December of last year. To this day (including right before posting this), I play at least 20 rounds a week. My wife often plays with me, she's better than I am, even though she only plays one or two rounds a week. There are obviously many shortcomings with this game, but here is a list of the things that keep me glued to it and coming back day after day:

-The ball physics and swing mechanics. I have no interest in the 3 click method, although I get why some people like it. To me, the challenge is using the thumb on the stick to try to be as accurate and consistent as possible, and it's hard to do. To me it's more tactile and physical than the 3 click method and it's hard to be consistent with it. It's incredible to me how every shot bounces or kicks exactly the way you would expect from the terrain that you can see before the ball lands. Every tee shot, before it hits the ground, you say to yourself "that looks like it's going to kick right off the edge of the fairway and run about 15 yards to the right", and it does.

-The customization of the levels of play. The difference between amateur to pro-am, pro-am to pro, etc, are incremental but very noticeable. If you find that you're winning maybe a few too many tournaments in pro-am, simply go up to pro or above and watch your average scores go from maybe 5 under to 5 or 10 over. It's humbling, and challenging. Everyone can find their level that makes the game challenging and fun.

-Putting. It's the best implementation of that aspect of the game that anyone has ever done in my opinion. Whether you use the grid or distance meter or not, the ball physics and the stroke are the best I've ever played. And yes, I am actually a fan of the updates they did on the fast swing issue...and I noticed, but haven't seen anyone comment on it, that they also tweaked the effect of the ball being above or below your feet and how it determines how you shift your feet and your aim. Same thing with shots from the rough or the sand. When the game first came out, it seems there was very little penalty in your stroke if you were hitting out of the long grass or the sand, but now it's much more realistic. Same thing with taking the driver off the deck. Months ago, I could take the driver from the fairway to try to get to the green in 2 on a long par 5, and it would generally be maybe 20-40 yards shorter than a tee shot, which is not realistic. Now I never try to do it, because it always goes shorter than a 3 or 5 wood and generally doesn't go where you want it to. Nice tweak they did there without mentioning it (as 2k is famous for...they don't tell us much!)

-Player created courses. This is huge. It's incredibly fun to play some beautifully rendered course in France or Switzerland, and especially to play the local courses in my area (Dayton, Ohio), like NCR, Moraine Country Club, Walnut Grove country club, Miami Valley Country Club (where my dearly departed Dad was a member), etc. I'm a professional singer and guitar player and have played events at all of those courses, and have played golf at Walnut Grove many times. It's a mile from my house. Oldest course in the area and a true beauty.

Now, on to the things that suck and need improvement, both in the next version of 2k and hopefully EA:

-The player faces and choices are grotesque and very limited. I found an avatar that generally looks like me, but those TEETH and freaky eyes on all of the player choices are from 2005. They have to improve that. Same thing with the graphics in general. Screen ripping in 30fps when they pan around the course and show the buildings is just ridiculous in 2021.

-Bull**** leaderboard data. Can't believe they haven't fixed that. They better next time. Unforgivable. I've noticed lately that Justin Thomas does not win every tournament anymore...they've obviously tweaked that without saying anything. In the past, I could be in 2nd place, maybe 5 under on the 16th, and he wasn't even in the top 8 of the leaderboard. Then he would magically appear on the 17th tied with me or one stroke behind. Lately it's been Cantlay or Bryson or Patrick Reed that I'm constantly chasing. They gotta get that stuff right next time.

-Ties always going to your player because of a "countback". How hard would it have been to implement a playoff round? It would have made the game sooo much more exciting.

-Playing as a pro. I don't really care about this, I would rather create my own player and compete against the pros, but I know this is huge for so many people. Obviously EA is going to have this, and 2k better get it figured out if they have any chance of competing with them.

There are many other negatives I could go into, but you all know what the shortcomings are. All that said, I've never played a video game more than pga tour 2k21. It just makes me so excited and impatient for the next 2 games coming. I want them NOW.

Thanks for reading my long rant. Would love to hear your comments. Glad to finally be an official member of this awesome community.

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

2k

Putting is fine.
Handicap is broken
Career is broken
User created courses biggest selling point in the game
User Difficulty is decent need something between Pro and Master
Engine is old but not really that bad

EA

Frostbite

Interested to see how they handle what 2k hasn't been able to these years.

Assuming you play very few games is it worth upgrading to current gen if you can even got your hands on the machine?

I don't expect 2k to do too much on the next version and for me to buy a new console it has to be an incredible recreation of golf. At this point EA has a lot to prove. No baseball no basketball and a hockey game that hasn't improved much since 2010.

[golfnut67]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

I play on a Playstation 4 plus, and even that can't run the game in 60fps without lots of screen ripping and stuttering. So I've just settled on 30fps, which considering these graphics, is fine. All the grass textures and things like that look fine and it runs very smoothly.

But of course, you should get a next gen console when you can, just because they are so hard to come by. I check every day. I'm obviously going to need a PS5 when the EA comes out (and hopefully 2k will be taking advantage of that as well). I'm guessing there will be plenty of PS5 machines at regular retail price by next Spring when the EA game comes out.

In the meantime...if they could only fix the Leaderboard issue, it would make this game massively more engaging, even with all of it's other flaws. It's just unforgivable that they've let that go without patching it. It just about ruins the Career Mode, which is already lacking in depth and content.

[VoltSwoosh]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

I've been reading this forum for years and finally decided to sign up last week to post my thoughts on the current status of what we have available now, and especially, what's coming. I'm really excited about what both EA and 2k have in store for us in the coming months. I will buy both games the day they come out. I'm truly ate up with PlayStation golf, and recently, real golf. I've been playing sim golf all the way back to the early Links games, all the TW games, and most recently before the 2k21 game, Rory, which I didn't enjoy at all for all the reasons you all know.



First let me say, I am obsessed with 2 sports, and 2 sports only....Cincinnati Reds Baseball (love The Show as well), and golf. I had a mild interest in real golf 10 years ago or so, probably played 20-30 rounds in my life, but I had a spinal issue that made it impossible to continue. I had surgery in 2019 and just starting playing real golf again this year. I suck, never broken 100, but gawd I love the game.



Ok, on to the point of this post. Like I said, I read the golf forum on OS every day, in fact I just keep the tab open and refresh it multiple times per day to see any new posts or news. I've read every post on pga tour 2k21, and the upcoming EA game. I am chomping at the bit for both games coming next year. As far as 2k21, I generally agree with everyone's assessment of the positives and negatives of the 2k game, but I would have to say overall I'm a bit more on the positive side. Maybe a lot more.



I bought the game in December of last year. To this day (including right before posting this), I play at least 20 rounds a week. My wife often plays with me, she's better than I am, even though she only plays one or two rounds a week. There are obviously many shortcomings with this game, but here is a list of the things that keep me glued to it and coming back day after day:



-The ball physics and swing mechanics. I have no interest in the 3 click method, although I get why some people like it. To me, the challenge is using the thumb on the stick to try to be as accurate and consistent as possible, and it's hard to do. To me it's more tactile and physical than the 3 click method and it's hard to be consistent with it. It's incredible to me how every shot bounces or kicks exactly the way you would expect from the terrain that you can see before the ball lands. Every tee shot, before it hits the ground, you say to yourself "that looks like it's going to kick right off the edge of the fairway and run about 15 yards to the right", and it does.



-The customization of the levels of play. The difference between amateur to pro-am, pro-am to pro, etc, are incremental but very noticeable. If you find that you're winning maybe a few too many tournaments in pro-am, simply go up to pro or above and watch your average scores go from maybe 5 under to 5 or 10 over. It's humbling, and challenging. Everyone can find their level that makes the game challenging and fun.



-Putting. It's the best implementation of that aspect of the game that anyone has ever done in my opinion. Whether you use the grid or distance meter or not, the ball physics and the stroke are the best I've ever played. And yes, I am actually a fan of the updates they did on the fast swing issue...and I noticed, but haven't seen anyone comment on it, that they also tweaked the effect of the ball being above or below your feet and how it determines how you shift your feet and your aim. Same thing with shots from the rough or the sand. When the game first came out, it seems there was very little penalty in your stroke if you were hitting out of the long grass or the sand, but now it's much more realistic. Same thing with taking the driver off the deck. Months ago, I could take the driver from the fairway to try to get to the green in 2 on a long par 5, and it would generally be maybe 20-40 yards shorter than a tee shot, which is not realistic. Now I never try to do it, because it always goes shorter than a 3 or 5 wood and generally doesn't go where you want it to. Nice tweak they did there without mentioning it (as 2k is famous for...they don't tell us much!)



-Player created courses. This is huge. It's incredibly fun to play some beautifully rendered course in France or Switzerland, and especially to play the local courses in my area (Dayton, Ohio), like NCR, Moraine Country Club, Walnut Grove country club, Miami Valley Country Club (where my dearly departed Dad was a member), etc. I'm a professional singer and guitar player and have played events at all of those courses, and have played golf at Walnut Grove many times. It's a mile from my house. Oldest course in the area and a true beauty.



Now, on to the things that suck and need improvement, both in the next version of 2k and hopefully EA:



-The player faces and choices are grotesque and very limited. I found an avatar that generally looks like me, but those TEETH and freaky eyes on all of the player choices are from 2005. They have to improve that. Same thing with the graphics in general. Screen ripping in 30fps when they pan around the course and show the buildings is just ridiculous in 2021.



-Bull**** leaderboard data. Can't believe they haven't fixed that. They better next time. Unforgivable. I've noticed lately that Justin Thomas does not win every tournament anymore...they've obviously tweaked that without saying anything. In the past, I could be in 2nd place, maybe 5 under on the 16th, and he wasn't even in the top 8 of the leaderboard. Then he would magically appear on the 17th tied with me or one stroke behind. Lately it's been Cantlay or Bryson or Patrick Reed that I'm constantly chasing. They gotta get that stuff right next time.



-Ties always going to your player because of a "countback". How hard would it have been to implement a playoff round? It would have made the game sooo much more exciting.



-Playing as a pro. I don't really care about this, I would rather create my own player and compete against the pros, but I know this is huge for so many people. Obviously EA is going to have this, and 2k better get it figured out if they have any chance of competing with them.



There are many other negatives I could go into, but you all know what the shortcomings are. All that said, I've never played a video game more than pga tour 2k21. It just makes me so excited and impatient for the next 2 games coming. I want them NOW.



Thanks for reading my long rant. Would love to hear your comments. Glad to finally be an official member of this awesome community.

TW PGA 14 actually has playoff holes which is really cool. Ea better bring it back


Sent from my iPhone 13 Pro Max

[jbd345]

Re: EA Golf Vs. PGA Tour 2K21: How EA Can Set Itself Apart

Im going to wait and reserve judgment on ea. I’ve been burned too many times with Madden. Many are saying this will knock 2k out while forgetting how much of a low effort they put in Madden every single year. I’m not ready to jump on any bandwagon yet with nothing shown.