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NBA 2K14 News Post


Virtual Currency (VC) in NBA 2K14 is a problem and if consumers don't voice their concerns, it's going to get worse.

Sure, there are ways to get free VC via the mobile app (if you can get it working), but gamers shouldn't be required to use VC to do simple tasks such as changing a lineup. We can understand using it in MyTeam (as it has been successful for EA Sports and Ultimate Team), but to have it added into other modes really has the community fired up. Customization isn't as fun as it once was, since VC is needed to update accessories and the ratio is ridiculous. Could this be next?

While there are many posts here at OS slamming it, other sites such as NeoGAF and Reddit have also been killing it from day one. PastaPadre has written a detailed article on it and the hate is spilling over.

VGRevolution warned users about it last year. Twitter is filled with complaints from users actually purchasing VC and not receiving it or crashing/freezing in modes, losing what they've earned. With no official word from 2K Sports, this is becoming a very large concern.

Where do you stand on VC?

Game: NBA 2K14Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments
# 21 Smirkin Dirk @ 12/10/13 11:13 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Optik
Pretty pointless blaming reviewers who generally don't give a rat's *** about sports games. Not really their job to inform the public. Aren't they paid by the game companies anyway?
I dont think they get paid but I know they get other benefits from being positive towards games.

Hypothetical examles: IGN gives 2K14 a great review, the publisher gives the site previews or whatever for other games.

Basically, reviewers and games publishers scratch each others backs.
 
# 22 quehouston @ 12/10/13 11:19 PM
I'm thankful that light has been shed upon this finally.
 
# 23 Sundown @ 12/10/13 11:37 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hadlowe
VC has secondary effects beyond just skewing the game economy.

The only reason why you are limited to 5 saves for MyCareer/MyGM is because of VC. They have to use cloud saves to prevent people from hacking the save files to give themselves free VC.

So when the cloud storage runs into errors (as in my case) where the save files become corrupted, the entire game becomes unplayable because of VC. I have a gorgeous $60 game that I cannot play at all.

It is patently ridiculous that you have to be online to play MyGM, a fully offline game mode.

I have been a loyal 2k customer for 6 years. I will not buy another 2k game until VC goes away outside of MyTeam mode. It has no place in any other game mode.
This. 2K's placing priority on securing profits through VC over quality and providing a fun, robust product above all has caused the game to suffer technically, in usability, in balance, in satisfaction, and in gameplay through the loss of various functional and gameplay features:

-MyPlayer save reliability
-MyGM save reliability
-Inability to turn off Autosave (making the above two issues catastrophic)
-MyGM couch co-op play (probably because it can be glitched to help earn VC faster)
-MyTeam playability
-MyPlayer and MyGM progress (gear is ridiculously expensive and impedes progress as VC sinks in a shared pool)
-MyPlayer customization (forget about collecting shoes, clothes, or accessories. Forget about even creating more than one shoe for your MyPlayer to actually wear.)
-Overall Game Balance and Authenticity (Why should I be able to instantly level my player just because I've been playing a lot of Quick Games or MyGM?)
-Loss of Coach Mode
-Ability to Save/Load Rosters to Hard Drive anytime (which I suspect was discouraged as part of the everything-online-walled-garden movement driven by VC)
-Expending resources on a barely functional The Park in liew of the highly demanded MyCrew (likely built simply to expose hundreds of MyPlayers to each other with forced waits to encourage more gear sales. It also makes sense that CG 2K featured and hyped "Crews", possibly a quick hack of Blacktop to get a homeless man's version of The Park in for the same purpose).

The core gameplay is good, but I am not sure I've ever seen a game lose so many features, modes, options, and simultaneously cause potential catastrophic technical issues all for the sake of expanding microtransaction residuals.
 
# 24 vtcrb @ 12/10/13 11:51 PM
The ONLY way to be heard is STOP playing Next Gen. Stop Downloading the Rosters, stop playing On-Line orany other game Mode, STOP spending VC, etc. Either Play a different NG game or go back to CG 2k14.

Now I know MOST wont do this, but the ONLY TRUE way to be heard is to stop playing 2k14 NG. The problem is You DAILY see on Twitter HOW GREAT the game is from Posters. How can a GAME be GREAT when it is BROKE(Freezing issues, cant SAVE ANYTHING, Cant Edit ANYTHING, Servers Down, etc). I know GRAPHICS are Great, etc, but that wears OFF after a week. It needs to be seen that IF USERs spend $60, they should be able to Edit the game as they see fit, play ALL Game Modes(On-Line, Off-Line, etc) and NOT have to PAY for Options that should be Included in the $60.
 
# 25 RangersCruz @ 12/10/13 11:53 PM
Say 20 of you on here might not buy VC Ronnie and them won't care because hundreads that don't ever go on here or other forums will buy it and not care

I admit if we go back to 2k13 till now i wasted at least 150-200 easy on VC..i don't hate it because i don't want to start crappy in MyCareer but it shouldn't be FORCED on those who don't want to or have extra money to spend
 
# 26 Sundown @ 12/10/13 11:57 PM
Curious, what's the reception on 2K's own forums?
 
# 27 Sundown @ 12/11/13 12:03 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by vtcrb
The ONLY way to be heard is STOP playing Next Gen. Stop Downloading the Rosters, stop playing On-Line orany other game Mode, STOP spending VC, etc. Either Play a different NG game or go back to CG 2k14.
You can't do this because then 2K will just read that as people only caring about MyTeam and will spend all their efforts on that mode.

The real way is to stop buying VC, stop playing The Park (the half-baked mode likely designed to promote gear sales), and stop playing MyTeam (likely their biggest VC cash cow). Or just stop buying the product until they lose more with VC and a smaller user base than they would have made with a larger one and a more fair VC implementation.

But starving 2K of data will just cause 2K to use and misread skewed data by people still paying 2K to play what they already purchased.
 
# 28 stillfeelme @ 12/11/13 12:08 AM






That chorus sums it up. The VC implementation is B.S. 2K knows it but marketing and sales they will do whatever they can to meet sales projections. So OS speak with your wallet and in your your comments in threads in the community. It is the only thing they will respect money first and complaints.

It is basically like this. They knew that sales would be lower this year with the new systems so they made a way to increase revenue to offset sales. I know most have money to buy the VC but it is the principle behind it so if you can fight the urge and not buy VC you will be helping out the gaming community as a whole. I know I will not be buying any VC. I will rather not play the mode that requires me to pay further to be competitive when I already paid to play the game.

  • What's next 2K VC for practice plays?
  • VC for play with friends with custom sliders
  • VC for custom leagues?
See how crazy it can get if we let this go unnoticed. "Give em and inch and they will take a mile"
 
# 29 quehouston @ 12/11/13 12:26 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundown
Curious, what's the reception on 2K's own forums?
Very much of the same as here.
 
# 30 Sundown @ 12/11/13 12:32 AM
The VC creep is consistent with one other thing-- the cheesy online play 2K seems to insist on allowing year to year.

What they share reveal a common design directive from somewhere high up in 2K-- that game balance, realism, quality, and satisfying progression can and should be sacrificed for potential profits.

Is it just coincidence that the VC logo on the VC coin looks like a piece of cheese?

LD2K mentioned that he had some difficulty convincing some at 2K to turn up the difficulty online-- and what we got still doesn't feel like Allstar Sim. There appears to be this fear that anything that could hypothetically cause inaccessibility-- even if it is ACTUAL BASKETBALL ITSELF-- would hurt profits. So they allow anyone and everyone to chuck up threes, paint spam, dunk endlessly, and succeed with hero ball.

The sad fact is, these concessions hurt the game and are baked into 2K's design philosophy from the highest levels-- when simply creating a more realistic, more balanced, more authentic, better playing game could actually increase sales.

2K's biggest jump in sales wasn't when they went casual-- but when they incorporated the greatest NBA legend and handled his addition with respect and authenticity while the other franchise tried to pander with hype and accessibility. It was also the most balanced year online, not so coincidentally.

There are some parts of the game that seemingly cling onto realism and authenticity, like the core gameplay engine. I have no doubt those involved in these parts (and most modes of 2K for that matter) are passionate about doing their work right. Unfortunately, what appears to be a top-down mandate to sacrifice the game's value, balance, and quality for sales and profits, theoretical and real, seems to taint nearly every mode and some of the modes it hasn't have already been eliminated.

There's so much good in this game. And then are these constant, baffling decisions to make the game so much less than it was, should, or could be, and these decisions seem to be growing more numerous each year.
 
# 31 Smirkin Dirk @ 12/11/13 12:44 AM
We urgently need EA to put out a competitive product, and hope they dont collude with 2K by both having these cash cows.
 
# 32 Sundown @ 12/11/13 12:46 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by apollooff320
I'm pretty positive most of the 2K bb gamers don't buy VC. They have a small amount of ppl that pay for it. With things costing even more then last year that portion of ppl is most likely smaller. 2K will get OK sells this year since know one knew of the problems this game had and the reviews were all good. But I bet this game won't continue to sell good as these stories keep getting out. 2K will lose even more sells next year if they pull the same crap and have many of it's fans going to NBA Live just to get their basketball fix.
This needs to be a major story. 2K isn't as effected either way for NG because the user install base is so small compared to CG. As it grows, discontent over VC will likely affect them, especially those that are already hesitant about going to NG. If they understand that the VC demands in NG are so much higher than what they're used to in CG, they will rethink their purchase.

2K likely used 2K14 NG as a trial run of their more egregious VC practices. They COULD have waited and hit when the user base was much larger, or hit both CG and NG simultaenously. Unfortunately for 2K, they may have created a lot of suspicion and ill-will that may be remembered as more folks cautiously make the transition next year.
 
# 33 yungflo @ 12/11/13 01:00 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnDoe8865
http://www.pastapadre.com/2013/12/10...-nba-2k-series

This should be read by ALL sports gamers. Everyone should get on board with this issue unless we all want the future of sports gaming to go in the direction that NBA 2K14 NG has us going.

Hope Owen Good and our staff here at OS pick up on this issue as well.
Sadly, this is not just sport gaming. this is gaming's future. Everyone rejoiced when they said, no online passes for used games. But they just shifted the focus to obtain money to something else. To selling you incomplete games and offering DLC to buy for selling you an incomplete game, and now. its VC./XP or whatever whatever publusher wants to call it. Its spreading nasty like an std.. no one agrees with this practice, yet you seen 90s at the park.

My cousin actually spent money on VC. Not his money, but the promotional psn credit you get for buying a ps4. I was shocked. Why would anyone do that? This game is an annual title. Why would you deprive yourself of developing your career?
 
# 34 MarvinOida @ 12/11/13 01:36 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by yungflo
Why would you deprive yourself of developing your career?

And the fact they haven't implemented the idea of importing careers from past games is funny. I mean, I know that would cause problems with 99 overalls on day one, but if everyone had to restart next year with no VC and then use that myCareer as it's "online" player and then carry over year by year it's ratings/animations/gear, people wouldn't really have a problem.

And if people want to start a new career, they should be able to load out careers they want to play as online.

So many ideas but never get implemented for some reason.

EDIT: Who's the Keith guy in the Disqus chat, he seems very fan-boyish. One of the few guys who are defend 2k in this lol.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
# 35 seanbarkley @ 12/11/13 02:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnDoe8865
The most distressing issue for me personally is the requirement to use VC to "unlock" basic abilities like changing your lineup in MYGM mode. Can you imagine in The Association mode in CG if they'd done that? I see now why they didn't give us 30 team control in MYGM.
You are wrong here! they have stated it wasn't included because of time constraints...[/IRONY]

Quote:
Originally Posted by vtcrb
The problem is You DAILY see on Twitter HOW GREAT the game is from Posters. How can a GAME be GREAT when it is BROKE(Freezing issues, cant SAVE ANYTHING, Cant Edit ANYTHING, Servers Down, etc). I know GRAPHICS are Great, etc, but that wears OFF after a week. It needs to be seen that IF USERs spend $60, they should be able to Edit the game as they see fit, play ALL Game Modes(On-Line, Off-Line, etc) and NOT have to PAY for Options that should be Included in the $60.
$60? and you think that's much? here in Spain the game is 70€, which equals $96.3!

Can you imagine how people feel over here when after spending almost $100 in a game, and once you have wasted a couple of hours with it you realize that they are bleeding you asking for more money for almost anything? and moreover, after wasting another couple of hours you realize that the same game that's trying to cheat you has been stripped down and has more bugs than a puddle of mud? Candy Crush is a free-to-play game and its microtransactions are less restrictive than this $96 game.

Do we have the word STUPID written on our foreheads???

I've been taking a look at Spaniard NBA2K forums and those are boiling too, so don't think it's just an isolated movement happening in OS or 2K Forums. Ronnie and LD just retweet positive comments but I'm sure that for each 2 positive tweets they have 50 not so nice.

2K has bitten the hand that feeds them and if they don't apologize and rectify their direction they will be in danger of starving. It's not the first time that has happened.
 
# 36 ron_bato @ 12/11/13 07:25 AM
I am very frustrated with how the guys at Visual Concepts are treating their consumers with this direction that they're headed. I was upset last year with their VC implementation and pseudo 'always online' treatment, but didn't care too much because it mostly affected MyTeam and MyCareer, modes which I did not particularly care for. But now, it's affecting even the simplest things, and limiting the fun we get out of the Association mode. I hope LD2k is reading this, and I hope they pay attention to us, because this is extremely frustrating.
 
# 37 STLRams @ 12/11/13 08:24 AM
Wow, what has happend to 2Ksports. Between this and all of the missing features, customization that is not in NBA2K14, roster issues I'm shocked that route that they have went, and have kept quit about it. Usually the 2Kdevs communicate pretty well with the consumers, but this year it has been different.
 
# 38 b0ck3n @ 12/11/13 08:30 AM
I'm fairly sure there are lots of casual gamers out there who are very upset that their MyCareers or MyGMs, that they've poured purchased VC into, are corrupted and unplayable. EA had to publicly apologize for how their product performs - I'm actually baffled 2K Sports haven't done the same, and I'm absolutely disgusted with every celebratory tweet from Ronnie2K and LD2K. NBA 2K14 NG is nothing to be proud of, so let's hold off on tooting your own horns until you've patched this bug-ridden mess up.
 
# 39 BobbyColtrane @ 12/11/13 09:18 AM
This is the most "EA" thing they've done so far. if it's in the game it's in the game lol.

my ps4's on ebay, i only really play 2k and i have very little hope they are going to make this right.

back to PC for me especially since REditor just got released.

Adios muchachos!
 
# 40 da ThRONe @ 12/11/13 10:02 AM
This whole VC issue transcends any debate about causal and hardcore fans. Who what's to pay $60 for a game and then be in a situation where they have to pay another $10-$25 just to be able to play the game as it was intended?
 


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