Monday Tip-Off: Completion Is What You Make It

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 achieving completion in basketball video games is really what you make it.

Achieving completion in most video games is fairly straightforward. Any game with an ultimate win condition such as a final boss or mission/quest can clearly be finished. There may be postscript content in games that can be played after their ending, even if it’s just an opportunity to finish side quests/missions and achieve 100% completion. These objectives are usually listed somewhere in the game, allowing you to keep track of them. To that end, I can tell you which Grand Theft Auto games I’ve finished, what I’ve done in Fallout games, and how successful I’ve been in various other titles I own.

Basketball gaming is different, particularly when we’re talking about the sim titles. There are goals that you can aim for, such as winning an NBA Championship in the various season, franchise, and career modes. Simply playing every game on twelve minute quarters could be considered a form of completion, having experienced the ups and downs of an NBA campaign…then again, games can be simulated. More to the point, the depth of modern basketball games make it extremely difficult to clearly achieve completion compared to other genres. With that in mind, we have to set our own definitions of completion to achieve satisfaction before a release is outdated.

Of course, we can just keep playing games we like, but if you prefer MyCAREER and its connected experiences, MyTEAM, or Play Now Online, revisiting those modes isn’t viable once the servers are shut down. If you’re a fan of the offline experiences, older titles can continue to entertain you for years, especially if you’re on PC and take advantage of mods. Annual releases and server shutdowns do place a time limit on appeal and availability, though. Even if you’re a content creator that’s making their money by playing NBA 2K all the time, I highly doubt a year is enough to complete absolutely everything that’s on offer across every single mode. It’d be a huge grind!

That’s usually not a concern, because most gamers gravitate towards one mode in particular. Some of us do divide our time between modes, even if it’s just to dabble with something different every now and again. If you’re a dedicated MyTEAM gamer however, you’re probably not going to worry about achieving completion with the MyCAREER content, and vice versa. If franchise gaming is your bag, then you’ll probably have no interest in reaching any goals in those other modes (and you’ll also be able to return to a save years later if you wish). In short, if you’re only interested in one particular game mode, it won’t feel like a waste to have ignored everything else.

Say you are only playing one mode, though. What constitutes completion? Let’s look at a few logical goals for some of NBA 2K’s modes. As I noted, finishing an entire season and winning a championship in MyLEAGUE/MyNBA or the NBA side of MyCAREER could be considered akin to beating a game in another genre. What if you don’t play on twelve minute quarters, though? What if you simulate games? In a multiseason mode, is only playing one season falling short of completion? I’d suggest we’re entering gatekeeping territory with some of those questions if we apply them universally, but from the standpoint of personal satisfaction, we do have to decide.

What about MyCAREER and its connected modes? On top of the same questions regarding games and seasons played, quarter length, and championship victories, there are additional goals. It’s possible to retire from the NBA and be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Obviously, maxing out a player at 99 Overall is another goal, though it’s taken a backseat to MyREP in NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K21. Does achieving a sense of completion in MyCAREER hinge on making it to 99 Overall, or reaching the Hall of Fame? As for the connected modes, there’s the top MyREP level, ranking in team Pro-Am, and for some, getting recognised by 2K themselves with a logo.

MyTEAM’s various collections, not unlike real card collecting, have an obvious state of having been completed or not. It’s easier said than done, especially if you’re opting for a “No Money Spent” approach. Domination offers several campaign modes, as does Triple Threat offline, and all of the seasonal content. Of all the modes in NBA 2K, it arguably has the most obvious condition for 100% completion, though only the most hardcore MyTEAM gamers are likely to get anywhere near that. With that being the case, what is a lower threshold that counts as completing MyTEAM in any given year? Is it as simple as completing one mode, or collecting a card of every gem level?

We could go on and on here, and that’s not even getting into Play Now Online, which I do believe has a straightforward condition for completion (win all the games, thus clearing all the challenges). Before we answer any of the questions I’ve posed above, there’s a far more important one that we should ask ourselves: did we have fun with the game? Building on that, we could ask ourselves related questions such as whether or not we felt like we got our money’s worth, and if we feel satisfied in putting a game aside. Although the previous questions are useful in setting personal goals and feeling a sense of closure before moving on, “did I have fun” really is the ultimate question.

The truth is that while it’s fun to set those goals, or consider some standard criteria for achieving completion in basketball games, you don’t necessarily need to reach them to feel content. Did you play a lot of exhibition/Play Now games and only get 30 games into Year 1 of a franchise game? That wouldn’t count as completion by most metrics, but if you had fun with the game in the time that you spent with it, then that’s what’s most important. The same goes for MyCAREER. If you levelled up and could enjoy playing with your avatar offline and/or online, then that’s what counts. And, if you’re satisfied with your MyTEAM collection and gaming experience, you may feel sated.

When we realistically only have twelve months to get the most out of modes with online content such as MyCAREER and MyTEAM, completion is what we make it. Forget bragging rights if you have no interest in being known as one of the top gamers in the community. It’s easy to feel like you could’ve spent more time with a game, or reached some tangible goals as far as collecting cards and finishing challenges, or winning championships. I can relate to feeling like I didn’t spend enough time with certain games when they were new, and having some degree of unfinished business that I may or may not be able to complete. I still got enjoyment out of them, though.

It could be argued that completion is less important in sim basketball games compared to other genres, because of the ambiguous end conditions and fun that can be had with exhibition play. For example, even if you do nothing else except set up interesting match-ups in Play Now for single player or multiplayer games, that may be all it takes to scratch your itch as far as virtual basketball is concerned. Obviously, it’s leaving a lot of content on the table, but if you feel fulfilled and satisfied with your purchase of the game, so be it. In the grand scheme of things, it’s less wasteful than the games in our Steam library that we bought on sale and have only ever played for five minutes!

If you are looking for some suggestions for goals to set, there are a few things to keep in mind. Consider that if you aren’t sticking with a game for more than a year, you’ll be starting over from scratch in modes like MyTEAM and MyCAREER. Knowing that, you can focus on attainable goals. Collect a few of your favourite players, and put them to use in whichever mode of play in MyTEAM suits your tastes. Level up your MyPLAYER to the point where they’re viable for both online and offline, and play until you feel done. Don’t feel guilty about simulating; it’s a long season, and I can attest to having wished I’d simmed games in order to advance more quickly.

Again, there’s simply no way to truly complete everything that’s on offer in a modern sim basketball game within the space of the year (unless you eschew any and all other responsibilities, not to mention your social life). If you’re willing and able to do that, that’s your decision to make. My advice is to not feel obligated, and to set your own goals and standards for having fun with a game. It’ll also help in avoiding falling victim to FOMO. That fear of missing out, that feeling of being unfulfilled if you don’t get all of the top cards or hit 99 Overall, is a tactic to push recurrent revenue mechanics; not enjoyment. Instead, focus on the experiences on the virtual hardwood.

As I mentioned, there are games in my library that I wish I’d spent more time with when they were new. Some of them can no longer be experienced to their fullest due to server shutdowns, but it is what it is. That’s something else you need to make peace with: some years, you may get more out of a game than others. The important thing is that basketball gaming ultimately brings you more enjoyment than it does frustration, whether that’s due to dissatisfaction with a title, or a feeling that you could’ve and should’ve played it more. At the end of the day, completion on the virtual hardwood is what you make it. Feeling ready to hang it up is the only final boss you need here.