Saturday, January 13, 2018

NBA 2K18 RANT

I have become so fed up with NBA 2K18, that I actually deleted the app a couple weeks ago. This is not coming from a “I hate 2K everything is trash” stand point but more so from a player long time player that is 100% disappointed in the game, so much so that not even my favorite modes like mycareer (ruined) and myleague could keep me playing it. 

NBA 2K18 is the first year since 2k15 that I didn’t reach “shirtless” rep, and to be honest I really don’t care. Online modes seem to be getting worse each year, and I’m pretty much over them, especially when it comes to 2K. After losing all of my players every time they shutdown their NBA 2k servers, it has come to a point where I’m like, what’s the point? That’s my time, energy and most of all my money down the drain.

I know that I'm pretty hard on 2K, but it’s only because I want the game to get better. I feel like these companies should give their VERY BEST. WE as fans and paying customers deserve that. It seems like 2K’s main focus is trying to milk every penny out of our bank accounts. Each year 2K becomes more and more focused on online money modes and less focused on what really made their game great in the first place, the gameplay and many modes we could play (that didn’t cost MONEY).

 In NBA 2k18 you can no longer convert your online mycareer offline. Not only that, offline career has absolutely ZERO FEATURES. You don’t get a mycourt, you can’t change signature styles (yes, you’re stuck with the terrible default jumpshot and dribble moves). You can’t use the custom jumpshot creator, you can’t wear customs shoes. You can’t even buy clothes, shoes or accessories. You don’t even get to choose 95% of the hairstyles available in the game. Why? Well everything is ONLINE ONLY! Online = virtual currency, virtual currency = MICROTRANSACTIONS, Microtransactions = MORE MONEY IN THEIR POCKET. 
My biggest beef with this is, when 2K turns off their servers for that game, YOU LOSE EVERYTHING. If you’re like myself and enjoy playing the older games from time to time, you can see where my issues lie. 

When the 2k15 servers shut down, I lost 2 maxed out players, my myteam progress, and over 200k VC that didn’t get converted to SP to use to make A NEW PLAYER.  When 2K shutdown the 2k16 servers I lost  FIVE MAXED OUT PLAYERS, over 100k VC and all of myteam players. I have 5 maxed players on 2k17 and 6 players that are at least 85 overall on 2k18, go ahead and add that up. Guess what’s going to happen when the servers shutoff? 2K WILL DELETE IT ALL.
Do you not see the trend? Not only that, on 2k17 and 2k18 once you play offline, as I stated you can’t change your signatures styles.  At least in 2k15 & 16 you can still change your signature styles (dribble moves & jumpshot). 

You’re basically investing this time and money if you choose to pay to play for a good year and some change and then it’s gone in a blink of an eye. That’s a waste in opinion. I still have all of my last gen games with players I made some 8 years ago, no issue.
2K is moving in a terrible direction when it comes to their NBA franchise. Not only do they make the grind unbearable to upgrade your player, they make it EXPENSIVE. Just to get your player to an 85 it costs around 190,000 VC which equals about $50 USD, that's not including clothes, hairstyles, shoes, accessories, and animations. 

 NBA LIVE 18 costs nothing to upgrade your player and it’s very easy to max out your player and get to the action (enjoying the game) the way it SHOULD BE. 2K seems like they don't care to make their game more fun and less of a player grind. I can understand grinding to unlock prizes, but spending months to grind unlocks for attributes you don’t even get to choose what you max out? NO! It really puts things in perspective with where 2K’s priorities lie.

I, like thousands of other people in the community is disappointed with NBA 2K18. 2K could have done so much. They could have given us possibly one of the best basketball games ever created. Instead we were hit with probably one of the greediest, if not THEE greediest microtransactions filled basketball game of ALL time, well at least for now, we don’t know what’s next. Literally EVERYTHING in NBA 2K18 cost virtual currency right down to hairstyles and facial hair.
 2K really tried to go GTA on us with this “OPEN WORLD” RPG type feel, but failed miserably, you see even GTA 5 lets the player preview hairstyles and gives free virtual money here and there. It costs nothing to build your character and although their prices are steep when it comes to the finer things (Cars homes etc.), I personally have never spent a dime on microtransactions in GTA nor have I felt the need to.Playing NBA 2K18 the feeling is the total opposite. 2K makes certain modes unbearable to the point where you feel like you NEED to buy VC to build your player, buy myteam packs etc. to have a good experience. I actually feel bad for the people that spent money on this game, only to find out the experience is still pretty much the same. 

NBA 2k18 feels like one long advertisement commercial, and that is not even the least of its problems. Gameplay took a huge hit, from the sloppy slip and slide dribbling, to the clipping (players and the basketball going through bodies) being the worst it has ever been. The terrible A.I team defense functionality, to the shooting and defense online, 2K has been disappointing all around the board, with few things making you feel like the game is good. 2K HAS A LOT to work on, and that’s to say the LEAST! Will they be able to redeem themselves? Well I’ll tell you one thing, If they follow my wishlist, they’ll be well on their way!