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Monday Tip-Off: Fear & Losing in NBA 2K

Monday Tip-Off: Fear & Losing in NBA 2K

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how a fear of losing and having a bad time in NBA 2K’s connected modes has poisoned the online scene.

It’s been a familiar sight since the introduction of The Neighborhood in NBA 2K18. Plenty of MyPLAYERs running around or just standing there idly, while others wait at the Got Next spots, hoping in vain to get the numbers to play a game. Meanwhile, in The Rec, MyPLAYERs enter the locker room, only to quickly exit before a game can begin. Naturally, you stand a much better chance of getting a game if you’re with friends, but the hub world concept is intended to encourage gamers to socialise and form impromptu squads for pick-up games. It hasn’t quite worked out that way!

To put it bluntly, there’s a fear of losing in MyCAREER’s connected modes. No one enjoys losing of course, but when the fear of taking an L is so great that you’d rather not even play, that’s a big problem! At the same time, there are legitimate concerns about the quality of the online experience. It isn’t just about not wanting to lose, but also having no desire to team up with selfish players and trolls who are going to make it incredibly difficult to win. Between some people taking things so seriously that they don’t want to risk a loss, and others not wanting to jump into a game knowing that it’s going to be a bad time, the online scene in NBA 2K remains shockingly substandard.

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The Friday Five: 5 Corrections to Previous Articles (Part 2)

The Friday Five: 5 Corrections to Previous Articles (Part 2)

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five provides five further corrections to some of my previous articles.

Many years back, I was having a spirited conversation in the Forum with one of our veteran members about some current event in the NBA. I mistakenly believed that I accurately recalled a statistic off the top of my head, which was the whole basis of my argument. I had no choice but to concede when I was fact-checked, at which point said Forum veteran – who frankly had an unhealthy love of debate and dislike for ever agreeing with anyone – scolded me for giving up too easily. I asked him, what did he want me to do? My position was based on an error. Debate over, first round knockout!

Unfortunately, online discourse is too frequently about performative debate. I wasn’t about to double-down on my own fallacious argument that had been disproven, and that meant I wasn’t playing the role that was expected of me. That’s too bad, because I have no interest in getting roped into that game! Similarly, I never want to be one of those content creators that refuse to admit when I’ve made a mistake, and I do make them! As I said when I previously made some corrections to a few of my articles, I like to think that I know my stuff and do my due diligence, but I have slipped up. As the saying goes, “fess up when you mess up”, so here are five more corrections!

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The Friday Five: 5 Reasons The City & Neighborhood Suck

The Friday Five: 5 Reasons The City & Neighborhood Suck

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five provides five reasons why The City and The Neighborhood in NBA 2K’s MyCAREER quite frankly suck.

I realise that bluntly stating that The City and The Neighborhood suck isn’t exactly constructive criticism, and provocative to the point of almost being clickbait. With that being said, am I wrong? When The Neighborhood was announced for NBA 2K18, I remember it being met with considerable enthusiasm. I also recall feeling more cynical about the idea, and although I wasn’t alone in that regard, 2K had enough goodwill at the time for people to shout down any criticism as hating. Not to be smug or anything, but five years later, we supposed “haters” were proven right.

That’s not to say that everyone now hates The Neighborhood in Current Gen, or The City in Next Gen. Several gamers bemoaned NBA 2K20’s recycling of NBA 2K19’s Neighborhood, as if it were the biggest issue with MyCAREER and the online scene. However, many more gamers have come to see the problems with MyCAREER attempting to have an open world, and are growing fed up with its impact on online and offline play alike. It may sound like hyperbole to say that they’re the absolute worst additions to NBA 2K’s career and connected experiences, but as these five criticisms outline, The City and Neighborhood have had a major negative impact.

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Monday Tip-Off: Bringing Online Team Play to NBA MyCAREER

Monday Tip-Off: Bringing Online Team Play to NBA MyCAREER

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with an out-of-the-box suggestion for the NBA side of MyCAREER: online team play.

When MyCAREER in NBA 2K17 brought us Orange Juice – both the story and dual player controls – I figured that the mode would continue to innovate in its mechanics. The ability to control two players and switch between your MyPLAYER and Justice Young was a novel concept, and underscored the theme of becoming the next great duo in NBA history. However, the NBA side of MyCAREER neither repeated nor built on this creative idea. Instead, the focus has been on mechanics such as Takeover and the online meta. It’s about finding the most powerful builds for online team play.

On one hand, this is understandable. The online scene is extremely popular, while NBA MyCAREER is beginning to gain a reputation similar to franchise modes, i.e. “that’s something for old heads”. That’s not to say that younger gamers don’t play the NBA side of MyCAREER, but gamers young and old are more frequently using it to level up their player for online team play. I believe there’s a missed opportunity here, for both gamers who prefer the online scene, and those who enjoy NBA MyCAREER. What if the two could be merged? No, I’m not talking about 2K Pro-Am, The Rec, or The Playground. I’m talking about an online multiplayer element to an NBA career.

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Monday Tip-Off: Zero-Sum Thinking & Basketball Gaming

Monday Tip-Off: Zero-Sum Thinking & Basketball Gaming

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with my thoughts on how there’s too much zero-sum thinking in the basketball gaming community.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, zero-sum thinking involves perceiving situations as a zero-sum game; in other words, a scenario where a gain for one side means a loss for the other. Needless to say, this leads to a belief that mutual gain and benefits are impossible. Our success must come at the expense of someone else’s failure, and every situation involves a winner and a loser. Obviously there are zero-sum games and scenarios where this is true, but a bias towards zero-sum thinking does result in fallacious assertions.

Needless to say, zero-sum thinking occurs in a number of matters, many of which are more serious than basketball gaming. However, since that’s what we cover here at the NLSC, that’s the context I’m discussing here today. If you’ve observed or partaken in the discourse in the wider basketball gaming community, you’ll have encountered zero-sum thinking, even if you didn’t recognise or label it as such. Again, it’s hardly unique to basketball gaming, and is inevitable when passionate people have different ideas about their hobby. That doesn’t mean we can’t call it out though, because it does foster toxicity, and doesn’t help in the development of better basketball video games.

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Monday Tip-Off: Guess It Is A Barbie Dress-Up Game

Monday Tip-Off: Guess It Is A Barbie Dress-Up Game

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with my observations of how, contrary to what Ronnie 2K once said, NBA 2K has become a Barbie dress-up game.

There’s an online maxim to the effect of “the internet doesn’t forget”. In short, it refers to how the comments and content that we post online is there in perpetuity, and may reflect poorly upon us when it’s rediscovered years later. Celebrities have lost face (and gigs) when old Tweets have resurfaced. Everyday people have had difficulty in their offline lives after they’ve gone viral for the wrong reasons. I’ve been contacted by a few former community members asking if we can scrub their posts from the Forum, as they don’t want youthful silliness to affect their future job prospects.

Controversy has a way of following people long after they’ve apologised and atoned, or indeed, allegations have been proven false. As they say, mud sticks. However, one might suggest that that’s fair if the person in question has remained unapologetic, and the problematic situation persists. It’s certainly fair to keep bringing up an issue that people try to sweep under the rug. That happens far too often within the basketball gaming community, where outrage over persistent problems is fleeting. It’s why every so often, I’ll bring up the time that Ronnie 2K made a snarky comment about NBA 2K not being a Barbie dress-up game; especially now that it’s kind of turned into one.

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NLSC Podcast #426: Variety & Options on The Virtual Hardwood

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #426 of the NLSC Podcast!

After an unscheduled break due to one of us being under the weather, we’re back on the air! We’ve been playing a variety of classic basketball games since our last show, particularly favourites from the late 90s and early 2000s. Notably, we’ve been playing them with some classic teams and legends roster mods, which is tempting us to get stuck into some retro modding. We also provide updates on our ongoing seasons, including Shawn Kemp highlights and an example of video games imitating life. On a less positive note, a couple of recent Tweets have reminded us that elitism and gatekeeping is alive and well within the basketball gaming community. Needless to say, we feel compelled to hit back against those attitudes. In this week’s mailbag, the community tells us their favourite games in the NBA Live series, and we share our thoughts on those titles.

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

Monday Tip-Off: Shot Aiming Is A Hit & Miss Idea

Monday Tip-Off: Shot Aiming Is A Hit & Miss Idea

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on shot aiming mechanics, and how they are a hit and miss idea; pun fully intended.

There’s been a lot of talk about the skill gap in NBA 2K in recent years, as you would expect with a greater emphasis on the online competitive scene. Much has been said about the need to separate the good from the great, the scrubs from the elite, and truly celebrate and reward stick skills on the virtual hardwood. Mind you, several gamers push back on the idea of proper matchmaking, so I do question how “competitive” the scene really is. Many of the mechanics that those gamers champion are likewise of questionable value when it comes to the skill gap, and overall quality of gameplay.

Shot aiming is a prominent and somewhat controversial example. On paper, it’s a good idea. It’s more skilful then simply pressing and holding a button, and one could argue that it’s trying to emulate actual basketball skills and technique. In practice, it’s seldom worked out as well as intended, and developers have ended up shelving the concept quite quickly each time it’s been attempted. I have some mixed feelings about shot aiming. I can see the logic behind the idea, but its repeated shortcomings leave me sceptical that it can truly work. Furthermore, I’m bothered by the elitism that it fosters, and the notion that any objections or criticism of it indicates a lack of skill.

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Monday Tip-Off: NBA 2K Has All The Leverage Over Cheesers

Monday Tip-Off: NBA 2K Has All The Leverage Over Cheesers

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with my thoughts on how NBA 2K has all of the leverage over cheesers, and should take advantage of that.

The December patch for NBA 2K22 Next Gen included an attempt to reduce cheese in the online scene. More specifically, it addressed exploits with quick left and right bursts – the infamous “zigzag cheese” – that has been contributing to a homogenised, unrealistic style of play. Needless to say, the cheesers weren’t pleased. There were more than a couple of angry comments, usually along the lines of how NBA 2K had been ruined, and that video games shouldn’t have to be realistic. It’s clear that a vocal contingent of online NBA 2K gamers are in favour of utilising cheesy tactics.

As someone who has been turned off the online scene due to its toxicity and style, and believes that a sim game should maintain a base level of realism and strategy, my response is: tough cheese! A truly competitive scene should facilitate different styles of play, and discourage easily repeatable exploits. Mastering a single move and then proceeding to spam it over and over again is hardly skilful. It certainly isn’t basketball either, and while there’s value in taking liberties with realism, a sim game should still be realistic at its core. That the developers have taken a stand against cheesers does suggest that they believe this as well, but to that end, it’s vital that they stand firm.

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NLSC Podcast #415: Being The NBA 2K Playmaker

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #415 of the NLSC Podcast!

What would you do if you were made the Gameplay Director for NBA 2K? We discuss our visions for the series, and open up the mailbag to find out what the community would do if they were in the driver’s seat. Our Parsec sessions over the past week also produced some incredibly fun games with NBA Jam: On Fire Edition and NBA Live 2001, and we’ve been challenged to aim for a statistical goal in the latter. Speaking of which, recent attempts to curb turnovers and reach milestones in NBA 2K14 MyCAREER raises the question: do we psyche ourselves out when we’re trying to pad stats and set records on the virtual hardwood?

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

The Friday Five: 5 Worst Aspects of My Favourite Modes

The Friday Five

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five lists the five worst aspects of my favourite modes across years of playing various basketball video games.

When it comes to the quality of basketball video games, gameplay is paramount, but modes are still crucial. Deep modes can’t be enjoyed without great gameplay, but the gameplay won’t be nearly as interesting and engaging long-term without modes that keep us hooked. Fortunately, the modes in basketball games have come a long way. They’ve gone from a basic single NBA season – or just three rounds of the Playoffs – to comprehensive multi-season franchise modes, career modes with connected online team play, and card-based team building modes.

Of course, whether you’re talking about gameplay or game modes, perfection is an impossible goal. As is the case with the experience on the sticks, ideally the franchise, career, card collecting, and other modes will be relatively bug-free and enjoyable, but for a few quirky issues or missing features here and there. Although I was a long-time franchise gamer after the concept was introduced, over the past decade I’ve branched out into other ways to play basketball video games. I’ve had literally thousands of hours of fun with my favourite NBA Live and NBA 2K titles, but reflecting on those fantastic experiences, these are some of the worst aspects of my modes of choice.

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Monday Tip-Off: The Upper End of the Demographic

Monday Tip-Off: The Upper End of the Demographic

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 being at the upper end of the basketball gaming demographic.

For all the criticism that The Simpsons receives for staying on the air as long as it has, it continues to be referenced in memes. Such is its impact on pop culture, and online discourse. There are two references to The Simpsons that are frequently trotted out to comment on age, and not surprisingly, they both involve that lovable curmudgeon, Abraham Simpson. In a flashback where a young Homer mocks Abe for being out of touch, Abe very ominously warns that when it comes to no longer being “with it“, it’ll also happen to Homer one day. Abe is also the infamous old man yelling at a cloud.

Now that I’m around Homer’s canonical age, I have to admit that I’m starting to feel what he felt in that episode. At the same time, I also relate to what Abe was talking about. Even though we Millennials are still copping flak from older generations, to Gen Z, we’reold heads“, too. We grew up admiring different players, and the video games we played didn’t have microtransactions. Our expectations are therefore quite different, and it’s apparent that many features are not aimed at us. As I said, I’m far closer to Homer in age than I am to Abe, but as I find myself at the upper end of the basketball gaming demographic, Grampa’s warning thus feels increasingly apt.

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NLSC Podcast #385: Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

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Episode #385 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this weekly podcast that’s all about basketball gaming.

Parsec continues to impress, as we’ve now found a way to play NBA Jam: On Fire Edition by using it in conjunction with the Xbox One app. Between NBA Live 10 and the two NBA Jam games from EA Sports, we’re deeply entrenched in a 2009-2011 retro basketball gaming kick! Looking to the future, we’ve had our first glimpse of NBA 2K22. The game is set to feature the best Dirk Nowitzki face we’ve ever seen, but we’re sceptical about some of the touted gameplay improvements. On the other hand, matchmaking in The City and Seasons in MyCAREER sound promising. Meanwhile, EA Play gave us little hope for the future of NBA Live, leading us to join our fellow gamers in lament. We also reflect on our favourite teams to use in Play Now games.

Join in the conversation in the comments below, or here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as mailbag questions and topic suggestions for future shows. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. The show also comes out on our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe for future episodes and other video content.

NBA 2K22 First Look: Screenshots, Mode & Gameplay News

NBA 2K22 First Look:

A freshly posted developer blog and a handful of Tweets from the official NBA 2K Twitter have given us our first look at NBA 2K22! In addition to screenshots of cover players Luka Doncic, Dirk Nowitzki, and Candace Parker, we’ve been given some early information about the game.

In addition to outling some of the offensive and defensive gameplay improvements we can expect to see in NBA 2K22, the first look has also dropped some tidbits about modes. Seasons will be returning in MyTEAM, and have now been added to MyCAREER and The W. The Draft will also be returning to MyTEAM, and as previously noted, there will be cross-gen progression.

Both The City and The Neighborhood have been re-designed. There’s a new Quest system in The City, which will be more closely integrated with the MyCAREER experience. Online matchmaking has also been added in Next Gen, which is something that I’ve long been pushing for. MyNBA and MyWNBA gamers can expect some new features as well. A Game Informer preview has also confirmed that Rookieville has been dropped, and Next Gen MyCAREER will take a different approach with storytelling.

As always, I encourage you to check out the blog in full. I’ve recapped it in further detail below however, where you can also find the first look NBA 2K22 screenshots. What are your thoughts? Have your say in the comments, and join in the discussion here in the Forum!

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Monday Tip-Off: AI Players in Online Modes

Monday Tip-Off: AI Players in Online Modes

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 by tackling a controversial issue in NBA 2K: the use of AI Players in online modes.

I’ve covered several topics related to online modes in NBA 2K, from gatekeeping and elitism to forced grinding and a lack of matchmaking. One issue that I haven’t touched upon all that much is the use of AI Players in the online arena. As you know if you’ve played MyCAREER’s connected online modes, AI Players are utilised in one of two ways. Either they make up the numbers when there aren’t enough users to completely fill both squads, or they take the place of a user when they quit or foul out of a game so that everyone else can keep playing.

The use of AI Players in online team play modes is particularly controversial, though. It ties into the aforementioned issues of matchmaking and elitism, but there are some legitimate complaints regarding the practice. The presence of AI Players in the online modes runs contrary to their very concept, yet at the same time, it facilitates them. It’s an issue where it’s impossible to cater to two very different preferences, at least with the current options and mechanics. Moving forward, it’s an issue that NBA 2K will have to resolve, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at both the drawbacks and the benefits of AI Players in online modes, and why the matter evokes strong opinions.

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