Making Peace with 2K as an Offline Gamer

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Making Peace with 2K as an Offline Gamer

Postby Breems on Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:46 am

TLDR: This is a note to self ramble to process my feelings on learning to live with 2K.

I've tried resisting 2K's nonsense for years. For a long while, I only played NBA Live 06 and NBA 2K11 on PC. I don't follow the NBA anymore, so I preferred old rosters and simplistic gameplay. Unfortunately, 2K11's My Player mode was super fun, and I recently got the itch for more.

I got 2K20 for free with PS Plus last year and decided to dive in. I'm really only interested in single-player MyCAREER and have yet to play an online game. The story was OK and the attribute/badge grinds are ridiculously tedious, but the gameplay is phenomenal. However, soon after starting, I learned MyCAREER would completely die when they shut the servers off. Knowing that all my progress was transient and would amount to nothing in a year (probably a few months now?) pissed me off to no end, so I looked for another solution.

I figured I could outsmart 2K by going back a few years and grabbing 2K16. MyCAREER was just fine aside from the cheesy story, but learning I couldn't upgrade badges or accessories - things I thought I didn't care about - bothered me too much. These offline limitations seem to have been introduced in 2K14.

NBA Live 19 to the rescue. I hadn't tried an NBA Live since Live 10, and The One looked very promising. I really like the icon and skill point system, and I appreciate the streamlined interface and less intrusive story. Unfortunately, the on-court experience is extremely mediocre in The League. I've tried a stretch big and wing shooter, and I can never get open shots against the CPU gods. On the flip side, I can score layups, grab boards, and block shots far too easily, even on All-Star+. I thought I might be having a bad start or expecting too much, but Andrew's Live 19 retrospective validated my issues. As if the gameplay wasn't bad enough, the canned commentary is absolutely horrible - even worse than Live 06. I've never heard such a dull presentation in a sports game. AFAIK, NBA Live 18 isn't much better.

So, that leaves me with going back to 2K11-2K13 to get a full MyCAREER experience, or biting the bullet and playing 2K's newer games while they give me the proverbial middle finger with their pseudo Game as a Service model. The gameplay has set the bar too high, so congrats to 2K for beating me into submission. I'll just look for free/discounted versions of their new entries and adjust my mindset to treat MyCAREER as a finite mode.
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Re: Making Peace with 2K as an Offline Gamer

Postby Andrew on Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:26 pm

Unfortunately, it's definitely how it goes with MyCAREER. I wish I'd had NBA 2K17 installed on PS4 before the servers went down so that my MyCAREER save was fully intact and I could convert it to an offline save. Of course, as you noted, even that is no longer possible in newer games.

It's one of the reasons I've finally weaned myself off of MyCAREER; that, and jumping into the online arena has been a progressively more miserable experience. After a few years of the grind, it's insanely repetitive, and there's nothing to show for it once the servers go down. It's the same with MyTEAM, but in a way that feels like less of a grind with the various cards that can be acquired via Locker Codes or playing through the challenges. Nevertheless, it's all moot after 27 months when the servers go offline.

If you still find NBA 2K17 enjoyable, then it is possible to use a trainer to access some hidden menus now that the servers are offline. Obviously it opens up the possibility for cheating, but one could also exercise self-control and just use it to change some animations and upgrade Badges after the Bronze ones have been earned. Anyway, it's something that's there to be messed around with if you feel so inclined.

I'm definitely with you when it comes to the "games as a service" model. It works and it doesn't hurt their bottom line, so nothing will change in that regard. It sure hurts retro gaming, though.
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