NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
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 some reflections on the addictiveness of grinding in modes such as MyCAREER and MyTEAM.
Much has been written about the predatory mechanics found in NBA 2K, and many other Triple-A video games over the past generation. On several occasions, I’ve joined the chorus of people who have criticised the practice. There have been many articles and videos that have discussed how recurrent revenue mechanics prey on those who struggle with impulse control and addictive personalities. That remains a huge issue, and I still condemn those mechanics. Regardless, even if you opt for a “No Money Spent” approach, you can still find yourself getting hooked.
I’ve at long last properly begun a MyNBA game in NBA 2K22, marking an overdue return to franchise gaming. If you know how long I’ve been talking about wanting to do that due to feeling burned out on MyCAREER, you can appreciate how big of a deal that is for me! I feel energised having returned to my roots as a franchise gamer, in no small part due to revisiting MyGM in NBA 2K14. However, I’ve been thinking about why it took so long, and why I continued to spend time with MyCAREER and its connected modes, with a detour to MyTEAM in NBA 2K21. I’ve realised that even if you resist the pressure of microtransactions, there’s addictiveness in the grinding.
While I don’t have an addictive personality, I am a creature of habit. Of course, some might suggest that’s splitting hairs. Admittedly I’m no psychologist, so I can’t speak with any authority from a medical standpoint. With that said, I can attest to never having had any problems with addiction, be it gambling, substance abuse, or any other vice. I am a keen gamer though – basketball and otherwise – and I do love getting immersed in the games that I play. I know what I enjoy, and tend to stick with it until something else takes my fancy. It’s not that I won’t try anything new, but I do find familiarity appealing. That makes it easy to get comfortable when something works.
And to that end, MyCAREER did work in so far as satisfying my desire to hit the virtual hardwood. It was by no means a miserable experience playing the mode year after year, winning virtual NBA championships, and joining up with friends and other gamers to partake in online team play. The latter in particular provided an incentive to make MyCAREER my mode of choice, since increasing my attributes and earning Badges was crucial for online success. However, even as members of our NLSC squad boycotted new games and our sessions ended, I continued to play the mode. How could grinding – increasingly more chore than fun – have such addictiveness?
As I said, I was still getting enjoyment out of MyCAREER. There is a certain amount of satisfaction to grinding that feeds the addictiveness, especially when you like the basic concept of MyCAREER, and enjoy the on-court experience. Once again though, familiarity appeals to me, and after playing MyCAREER for several years, I had my routine down pat. I knew the build that worked for me, and the attributes I needed to upgrade first in order for my player to be viable while they were still low-rated. I’d worked out how to grind for VC and Badge XP efficiently. I knew how to put up stats and have fun, despite basically repeating the same journey I made in last year’s game.
Frankly, switching to another mode would’ve been changing a routine that I knew worked, and could consistently deliver a familiar and fairly enjoyable experience; at least offline! I may have been burned out and in a rut, but there was still a level of comfort in the consistency of both my routine and my goals. Whether it was the self-imposed challenge of breaking assist records and performing other statistical feats, or unlocking the rewards granted by MyREP or the Road to 99, there was addictiveness in grinding to get there. There was a sense of accomplishment and completion, as well as getting my money’s worth. To get there without buying VC also felt like a triumph.
Even when I began moving away from MyCAREER and played more of MyTEAM in NBA 2K21, there was similar addictiveness to its grinding. I may be able to easily resist the pressure to spend money on virtual currency, but the bells and whistles intended to trigger dopamine rushes still encouraged me to sink hours into the mode, attempting to level up and earn rewards before the Season ended and they were gone. I was still having fun, and was able to stop grinding when I hit a wall and it ceased being enjoyable. Nevertheless, I still sought out every viable way I could earn XP, eagerly trying to get to the next level to gain rewards and unlock new content.
Although I wasn’t investing any money in MyCAREER or MyTEAM, I was still investing time. I’d suggest that’s preferable as playing virtual basketball is far more fun than buying virtual currency, but it does lead to the same drawback at the end of the year: all that progress is gone when the new game comes out, and the process begins anew. The first couple of times, it’s not so bad. It’s a brand new journey after accomplishing your goals in the previous title, and still relatively fresh. After a few years, it begins to feel more disheartening, and like a chore. Unfortunately, due to the addictiveness of the routine, the urge to keep grinding persists in the face of burnout.
It certainly helps – or doesn’t help, depending on your point of view – that despite the staggering length of the grind in MyCAREER and MyTEAM, those modes arguably provide more immediate rewards compared to franchise modes such as MyNBA, MyLEAGUE, and MyGM. Every game earns something: VC to upgrade ratings, MT to spend on packs or in the Auction House, or XP to progress to new rewards. There’s a bonus on top of simply winning a game of basketball. You do earn VC for playing games in franchise modes, though it has no use in them. Ironically, this makes playing franchise modes an excellent way to grind VC for use in MyCAREER or MyTEAM!
Eventually, my burnout and a rekindled enthusiasm for franchise gaming broke my addiction to the grind. Mind you, between the release of NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K22 – and for a few weeks after the latter came out – I did get hooked on MyCAREER in NBA 2K14, despite my weariness with the mode. It speaks to the addictiveness of grinding when the journey is engaging, and the rate/cost of progression is fair. There’s a chance that I’d still be hooked on MyCAREER’s grind if it hadn’t evolved into what it’s become, and I hadn’t reached a breaking point. It’s unfortunate that it took the mode becoming unpalatable for me to move on, but I’m also glad to leave it behind.
With that in mind though, there is an upside to the addictiveness of grinding. Ideally the modes in basketball video games should keep our attention and encourage us to keep playing them. The hours I’ve spent in franchise modes in years gone by speak to how addictive that experience can be as well. As long as you’re having a good time and not neglecting other responsibilities, it’s not unhealthy and needn’t be considered a problem. Still, there’s a line between being enthusiastically hooked, and grinding just because it’s necessary and the routine is now familiar. MyCAREER had become routine for me, so again, in a way I’m grateful for the changes that broke the habit.
I should also note here that although I can easily resist the urge to spend, the grind is absolutely designed to put the pressure on gamers to buy VC. Even if you don’t buy VC, the amount of time you spend playing the game to grind for it is still great for NBA 2K’s engagement numbers. I’d much prefer to contribute to that figure than their recurrent revenue numbers, but we should still be mindful that the addictiveness to the grind in MyCAREER and MyTEAM is a two-pronged attack to maximise NBA 2K’s profits and profile. It’s no mystery as to why Take Two would want to do that, but the downside is that those tactics don’t prioritise gameplay quality, or overall enjoyment.
They are effective in keeping us hooked though, for years on end. It shouldn’t be so exciting to go up a single Overall Rating point, but it does feel like a satisfying step forward when we do. It shouldn’t feel like an accomplishment to unlock MyCOURT customisation yet again, and yet I still strove for it. As for MyTEAM, it shouldn’t feel like a big deal when I acquire a Michael Jordan card. After all, I can play with retro teams that include MJ any time I want, not to mention pull out folders containing real trading cards featuring His Airness. It’s nevertheless been an annual goal, and I’ve taken pride in doing it without spending money. I’m still grinding for the MT, though.
In Episode #401 of the NLSC Podcast, I mentioned how refreshing it feels to spend less time with those modes, and simply enjoy playing virtual basketball without the need to dedicate myself to all that grinding. I don’t regret all the time I spent with MyCAREER and MyTEAM in previous games. I have no doubt that I’ll dabble with both modes here and there, particularly MyTEAM as it’s a much fresher experience for me compared to MyCAREER. At the same time, reflecting on repetitive journeys, the inevitable server shutdowns, and tricks intended to make the grind addictive, I’m quite eager to break with routine and prioritise modes that are just about basketball.
Once again, I don’t mean to imply that there isn’t any fun to be had in MyCAREER or MyTEAM. There wouldn’t be such addictiveness to their grinding if there wasn’t anything of substance to them. However, I speak from experience when I say that the addiction to an annual routine can outpace your enthusiasm and enjoyment. It can keep you hooked even when you’re burned out, though after a while, you’ll definitely be going through the motions. Furthermore, it’s easy to see why a number of gamers invest money as well as time, and how predatory those mechanics are. It took a while to break the habit, but now, less laborious times await me on the virtual hardwood.
