Wayback Wednesday: The Original MyGM in NBA 2K14

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the original MyGM mode that debuted in the PlayStation 4/Xbox One version of NBA 2K14.

Thanks to an extended retro gaming kick, NBA 2K14 is a game that I’ve warmed up to some eight years after its 2013 release. It has its issues for which we can rightfully criticise it, but in many ways, it was a strong beginning to a new generation of NBA 2K titles. However, while it wasn’t nearly as barebones as NBA Live 14, it did err by omitting some staple features, and introducing some new concepts without giving gamers the ability to opt for the familiar. More specifically, NBA 2K14 on PS4/X1 gave us the first MyCAREER story, and a successor to The Association: MyGM.

Despite some conceptual problems with the original MyGM mode, I’ve warmed up to it, much as I have MyCAREER and NBA 2K14 PS4/X1 in general. It introduced some interesting ideas on top of the existing depth, and while not all of the new concepts panned out, they were still innovative and laid the foundation for a better approach in subsequent games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Although the franchise experience was an innovation of NBA Live and predates similar multi-season modes in NBA 2K by a year, there’s no question that Visual Concepts ended up doing it much better than EA Sports ever did. While Franchise and Dynasty in NBA Live were extremely enjoyable and impressive upon their debuts, the amount of subsequent innovation was incremental at best. Conversely, NBA 2K kept pushing the envelope with The Association, crafting a comprehensive franchise mode that included the minutia simheads craved. The simpler approach in NBA Live could still be fun, but Dynasty enthusiasts were undoubtedly jealous of Association gamers.

With a new generation looming in 2013, Visual Concepts were looking to take the next step with their modes. For MyCAREER, that meant the introduction of a story, and the first steps towards an RPG-style open world experience. This RPG approach was also adopted for the new MyGM. Your MyPLAYER doubled as your avatar in MyGM, interacting with the team owner, other GMs, and players that you were trying to sign. It was intended to bring more immersion to a mode that’s often been about menus and spreadsheets between the gameplay. It made you a character in the game, rather than a disconnected figure making moves with little emotional connection.

It was a creative idea, but there were a few catches. Because you were role-playing with an avatar, there were upgrades and abilities to earn and unlock. This utilised VC, the same virtual currency that could be bought with real money to facilitate quicker player upgrades in MyCAREER, and speedier pack purchases in MyTEAM. This didn’t sit well with long-time franchise gamers, especially as the ability to change lineups was initially locked. Although it was a Level 1 upgrade and fairly cheap, it was the principle of the matter. Basic functionality was now behind a paywall and inaccessible before playing a single game. The change felt needless, and unfair.

Indeed, I’m sure that it discouraged more than a few franchise enthusiasts from getting into MyGM, at least to begin with. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles and on the NLSC Podcast, a few incidents where 2K developers took potshots at NBA Live 14 were very off-putting to me. Even though they weren’t necessarily inaccurate, the lack of professionalism and the disrespect towards people in the same industry (including a few future colleagues) soured me on NBA 2K14 before it was even released. Seeing an offline franchise mode marred by recurrent revenue mechanics only increased my distaste for the game, and I felt no inclination to give the modes a chance to wow me.

Looking back, I’ll defend this stance to some extent, as some of the changes were undesirable, and the VC implementation was highly questionable. However, it’s also very unfortunate that the original MyGM in NBA 2K14 made a bad first impression due to its utilisation of VC to unlock basic functionality, because there were so many great ideas as well. Let’s begin with each team having an owner with an individual personality and preferences. It was a risky idea to make everyone’s favourite team potentially undesirable to use because of the owner’s approach and expectations, but it also added realism to our selection. Some teams would be easier gigs than others.

Additionally, the concept of owner personalities had previously been explored in various iterations of The Association, so it wasn’t entirely new. With a budget, control over ticket and concession prices, and goals both on and off the court, there was now more to being a GM than just making all the trades you wished your favourite team could pull off in real life. In addition to striving to reach a level of success that could be expected of your roster, there were long-term goals such as acquiring draft picks, as well as financial objectives. There was less control, but higher stakes and different tasks and challenges in controlling each team, beyond simply winning a lot of games.

Keeping the team’s owner happy was obviously vital to your job security, and success depended on maintaining good relationships. The way you spoke to the owner, other GMs, players, and even the media, affected trust and morale. Promising too much or being arrogant could be costly. As such, the team owner wasn’t just some faceless and generic character sending nagging messages – as was the case with the PDA system in NBA Live’s Dynasty – but one you’d actually interact with. Likewise, players were more than just names on a spreadsheet, and coaches weren’t happy if you threw them under the bus; be careful about boldly stating that organisations win championships!

Success also depended on how you built and levelled up your GM character, similar to your MyPLAYER avatar in MyCAREER. At the start of a new MyGM game, you selected a GM Profile, with the choice affecting the cost of attribute upgrades. For example, a Tactician benefitted from cheaper coaching upgrades, while an Evaluator didn’t have to spend as much on upgrades to scouting abilities. On top of unlocking functionality such as adjusting rotations, GM upgrades also included boosts to trade negotiation success, and special abilities such as being able to make specific pitches to free agents. It essentially represented the process of growing and improving as a GM.

It’s a novel idea, as it paralleled the on-court development and different play styles found in MyCAREER. The focus should’ve been on special abilities rather than unlocking basic functions, but it didn’t take long to get set up. It was also possible to purchase the team if you wanted complete control, and the requirements to do so – VC price, tenure, and owner satisfaction – were logical. At the same time, it meant that MyGM couldn’t immediately function as a sandbox experience like The Association before it. The only alternative was a single Season mode without all the bells and whistles. Also, as in MyCAREER, there was no undoing your decisions/mistakes.

This was part of the challenge, of course. You needed to commit to your choices, and it was harder to cheat the system. It was also unforgiving however, and difficult to correct course after undesirable moves. In fact, you could easily dig yourself deeper! It seemed as though every move I made drove down fan interest, even though we won the first five games of the season, and my veteran signings – though unspectacular on paper – were working out. It just goes to show how there was more to worry about than just winning games, and that stick skills can’t magically fix bad optics. It was frustrating, but it made sense, and my inexperience with those aspects was a factor.

Familiar team management functions were present. You were also still in charge of the on-court action, either playing the games or setting the gameplan using Total Sim Control. The Trade Finder function was extremely effective, attracting very fair offers and allowing you to see what it would take to acquire other players. Records and other listings added history before you even began, while providing the opportunity to write new chapters. There were also a few league customisation options, on top of the usual Fantasy Draft function. On the downside, MyGM had to share the five save slots with MyCAREER. As I’ve mentioned, clunky menus were an issue throughout NBA 2K14.

To that point, once again I’ll note the discovery of a serious bug related to coaching settings in NBA 2K14. After I changed substitutions and timeouts to manual control in my MyGM save, it appeared to apply those settings globally. When I loaded into MyCAREER to play the first game of Year 2, my 76ers didn’t make any substitutions, and the only timeout came when I used the controller mic to call one using the voice commands. Switching the settings back in the MyGM save file also fixed the settings in MyCAREER, but it stands as an example of the poorly designed backend of NBA 2K14’s user interface. It appears that the menus held the game back in several ways.

Playing games yielded a respectable amount of VC with a bonus for winning, so it didn’t take too long to unlock basic functions and some initial upgrades. While I won’t justify the implementation of VC in the original MyGM mode in NBA 2K14, I will say that once you’ve played a couple of games and unlocked a few necessary menus, you can upgrade at your own pace; or at least, according to the goals your owner has set. It was a mistake that would be rectified in NBA 2K15 thanks to a new approach and the addition of MyLEAGUE, but after those initial purchases, it’s business as usual. Unfortunately, the VC paywalls didn’t make for a great first impression.

They don’t ruin the fun, though. While messing around with the original MyGM in NBA 2K14, I was tempted to keep playing it. I made a couple of deals including one that looks truly ridiculous today: Tony Snell for Giannis Antetokounmpo straight up, offered by the Bucks themselves no less! I signed James White and a pre-breakout Hassan Whiteside. Carlos Boozer got hurt in the second game, a contest where White had a huge night to spark a comeback victory, earning him a starting spot while I sat Boozer so that he could heal. It was everything I loved about the franchise experience, along with some new RPG elements that I can appreciate much more in hindsight.

Of course, it wouldn’t be completely unfair to say that the original MyGM in NBA 2K14 perhaps tried to change too much, too soon. Not everyone wanted the RPG elements, and even if you eliminated VC entirely from the mode, the general concept may still be too restrictive. That was another concern of mine when I first explored the mode when NBA 2K14 was released, and I’d suggest that it was too drastic of a change in some respects. Mind you, I believe it’s possible to overcome that. I suspect if I’d given MyGM and NBA 2K14 more of a chance, I’d have enjoyed the traditional franchise mode elements, while also sufficiently warming up to the RPG aspects.

The attention to detail remains an underappreciated aspect of the original MyGM in NBA 2K14. Before Leftos joined the team at Visual Concepts, he and JaoSming had discussed the idea of a project that would add more immersion and realistic touches to franchise gaming. Leftos was now in a position to implement those ideas, including the detail of players wearing appropriate accessories when they returned from injury, such as a knee brace. It may sound simple, but it underscored the concept of lasting effects, and events that mattered. Small as they were, such details were impactful, and a form of world building and storytelling through the action on the virtual hardwood.

Revisiting the original MyGM not only allowed me to develop a new appreciation for it, but as with my playthrough of MyCAREER in NBA 2K14, I’ve been able to create some new memories, not to mention a save file that I’ll keenly dust off whenever the mood strikes. Obviously I have the luxury of simulating selected games in MyGM, but whether I sim or play, it’s a viable retro gaming experience. However, it’s also inspired me to start a MyNBA game in NBA 2K22. I originally fired up MyGM just to mess around it and write this retrospective, but it ended up rekindling my passion for franchise gaming. I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m delighted that it happened.

As I noted, MyGM did change course after NBA 2K14. It removed paywalls for basic functions and also introduced MyLEAGUE: a more traditional franchise experience with full customisation, and more importantly, no utilisation of VC at all. Offering two deep franchise modes – both a familiar sandbox and the new RPG-based approach – better catered to the tastes of all franchise gamers. It also allowed the franchise team to keep experimenting with MyGM. Over the years, the mode adopted a storyline similar to MyCAREER, became MyGM 2.0 with online leaderboards, and finally merged with MyLEAGUE and MyLEAGUE Online to become MyNBA.

Yes, MyGM did err somewhat in its original incarnation back in NBA 2K14. Not all franchise gamers were ready for – or necessarily wanted – RPG elements. Its usage of VC was absolutely overzealous. Those remain valid criticisms, but they ultimately didn’t prevent MyGM from being a legitimately engaging mode, full of the depth that made NBA 2K’s franchise experience the best in basketball gaming (if not all sports games, period). Even as MyCAREER became the flagship mode, the franchise team still sought to innovate. Some of their ideas didn’t work out the first time around, but the original MyGM in NBA 2K14 was already a contender, poised to win some rings.