We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on how my basketball gaming habits are more vanilla than they used to be.
Over the years, there are two initiatives within our community that have gone a long way in improving the basketball gaming experience after a title is released: modding, and slider tweaks. Mods have added missing content, created new experiences such as retro, college, and foreign league rosters, and attempted to fix issues with the games wherever possible. When it comes to refining the gameplay, devising the right slider adjustments has made a huge difference for many gamers. In short, few would say that playing the game as-is – vanilla basketball gaming, if you will – is optimal.
During my time as a content creator in the basketball gaming community, I’ve created roster mods, and I’ve devised sets of slider tweaks. I’ve also installed other people’s mods, and tried out their sliders. However, I have to admit that my basketball gaming habits have changed over the past decade or so, to the point where you might say that I’m playing a vanilla game. This isn’t because I don’t appreciate the hard work of our modding community, nor is it because I believe that games can’t be improved upon with slider tweaks. Rather, a combination of my preferred modes, primary platform, and even my content creation habits, have led to more vanilla basketball gaming.
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