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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 my thoughts on how a large amount of the historical players in NBA 2K are going to waste.
I’ll admit that I feel slightly petty when I criticise the usage of historical players and teams in NBA 2K. Over the past decade, NBA 2K games have done what was once unthinkable, simply by including a huge range of historical players and retro teams. We may not have modes like the Jordan Challenge or NBA’s Greatest anymore, but we still have retro teams spanning from the 60s through to the 2010s, All-Time squads for every franchise, and several historical players to collect in MyTEAM. Of course, some players are exclusive to NBA 2K’s card collecting mode.
That’s a major point of contention, though. We have access to many historical players thanks to the individual retro teams and All-Time squads, but not all of them. There are several mid-tier players who don’t belong to any retro teams and aren’t big enough names for the All-Time squads, and are therefore more or less exclusive to MyTEAM. Their assets being in the game is still a tremendous help to modding projects, but the situation still isn’t as convenient as it could be. Now, MyTEAM is definitely a popular mode – despite some people’s bizarre claims to the contrary – but to me, it still feels as though a large number of historical players are being wasted by that exclusivity.
Obviously there’s a method to the madness, so to speak. Exclusivity is a great way of creating demand and drumming up interest. If the only way to play with the historical players who don’t belong to any retro or All-Time teams is to partake in MyTEAM, then they can serve as a draw for the mode. Since the only way to get those players is to collect their cards, and one of the main ways to collect cards is to buy packs, and packs cost VC which can be purchased with real money, it’s another push towards participating in NBA 2K’s recurrent revenue mechanics. I realise this isn’t some mind-blowing revelation here, but we must acknowledge the reality of the situation.
It’s hard to argue against the effectiveness of that business model, and the suits don’t want to hear it anyway. All the same, I’ll argue that those historical players are going to waste to some degree when they’re only being used in a mode that is popular, yes, but not everyone is interested in playing. Since 2K has gone to the trouble of licensing those historical players, they might as well be used in another capacity. After all, one of the drawbacks of the historical players in NBA Live has been that they’re only in Ultimate Team. NBA 2K has avoided that pitfall for the most part, but I’d still like to see those MyTEAM-exclusive historical players be made available for other modes.
My first suggestion would be to expand, or if necessary revise, the selection of retro teams in future NBA 2K games. There’s a great selection of throwback squads in the game right now, but not all of them are in a satisfactory state. There are several key players missing from certain squads, and that doesn’t make them as fun to play with. Since many well-known borderline stars and role players have been licensed, it would make sense to put them to use in the retro teams as well. This may mean adding new teams, or replacing existing ones that are capable of fielding a more complete roster. These players would also then be readily available for various retro roster projects.
In a similar vein, I’d suggest something akin to the old Legends Pool from NBA Live. As it stands, if you want to use historical players in retro rosters for NBA 2K, you need to take or clone players from the retro teams. That isn’t necessarily a barrier for experienced roster modders, but I also like the idea of having a pool of retro players to pull from, so that the existing historical teams and All-Time squads can remain intact. The added benefit here is that players who aren’t currently assigned to a retro or All-Time team don’t have to be added to one in order to appear in the rosters outside of MyTEAM. They can just be added to a pool, and inserted into rosters as desired.
Now, since I’m workshopping the idea, I’d also suggest that this Historical Players Pool work a little bit differently to the Legends Pool in old NBA Live games. In those games, there was one copy of every Legend that could be taken and added to a current NBA team. Experienced roster modders could obviously clone players through DBF editing and make extensive use of the assets on hand, but the basic functionality was limited. My suggestion is that the Historical Players Pool acts as a database, listing all of the retro players in the game. We’d then be able to take that data and clone any of the players into a Create-a-Player slot, or overwrite a current player as needed.
That way, we’d never lose players from the pool, and creating new copies of players would be a simple process. We’d be able to create all kinds of fun custom rosters, without having to fiddle around with more complicated cloning processes, or breaking up the existing retro and All-Time squads. The players would still be available to collect in MyTEAM, no doubt with inflated ratings to make them more useful and appealing. However, their inclusion would be less wasteful as they could be enjoyed by gamers who prefer other modes, and custom roster projects. If it means expanding the roster with some fun new (and more complete) retro teams, then that’s even better.
Of course, that brings us to the issue of likelihood and feasibility. The pool of players, as I’ve suggested it, might be too difficult to implement with the current UI. In that case, I’d suggest the same approach as the old NBA Live games: basically the Free Agent Pool, except with all of the historical players. That’d work just fine. However, even that may be a long shot. Once again, all of those retro players that are currently exclusive to MyTEAM are serving a purpose, namely drawing people into the mode that invites recurrent user spending. The chances of 2K giving up a viable hook for MyTEAM seem very slim, making these suggestions wishful thinking on my part.
Then again, it’s a moot point for people who aren’t at all interested in the concept of MyTEAM, or are turned off by the way it works. A 97 Overall Pink Diamond Kenny “Sky” Walker card likely isn’t going to change their minds, and they’re the ones who’d benefit from having a realistically rated version of the player available somewhere in the default rosters. Meanwhile, MyTEAM enthusiasts are going to seek out that OP card, and not really be concerned with the normal version outside the mode. In other words, it probably wouldn’t have any adverse effect on MyTEAM content, or the ability to draw gamers in. We’re talking about two different parts of the demographic.
With that in mind, perhaps the idea isn’t too far-fetched after all, and worth suggesting rather than dismissing out of hand. It’s possible that it would be considered, if it’s clear there’s interest in having those players available in other modes. As always, there’s no guarantee of it happening, but if we don’t speak up with our suggestions, we can be sure that they won’t be heard. As it stands, I do believe several retro players are being wasted by not appearing in any capacity outside of MyTEAM. 2K has gone to the trouble and expense of licensing them and adding them to the game, so they might as well make the most of their investment. It’d certainly inspire some goodwill, too.
Will it happen? It’s difficult to say. I don’t think it would hurt their bottom line at all, and the simplest method of making those retro players available outside of MyTEAM likely isn’t too difficult to implement. It’d be a great show of goodwill, and a sensible use of licensed content to its full potential. However, it comes down to where the focus lies, and whether there’s any concern that they’d be giving up a hook for a mode that generates a bulk of their recurrent revenue. I don’t think it would, but the suits may see it differently. If so, those historical players will sadly continue to go to waste. There’s nothing to lose though, so if you’re interested, voice your support for the idea.
