Can't go over 95 Overall unless you play MyPARK

[Andrew]

Credit to GoldRushYT, who sent this along to me on Twitter.



We're going to talk about it on this week's NLSC Podcast, but I wanted to start a topic on it in the Forum as well. As per that reply from 2K Support, once you hit 95 Overall in MyCAREER, you can't upgrade your player any further unless you play MyPARK and level up your reputation. Since MyPARK isn't my thing, that's disappointing to hear. I imagine that gamers who prefer MyPARK but aren't really into MyCAREER have similar feelings about upgrading and playing with their MyPLAYER, only from the opposite perspective.

While I can understand the approach given the connectivity between all the modes featuring our MyPLAYERs, as well as a desire to encourage everyone to check out all the modes in the game, I'm not a fan of the concept. Along with microtransactions/arduous grinding and the love-hate relationship I have with unlockables in general, one of my biggest pet peeves in gaming is being forced into playing modes I'm not interested in to achieve something or unlock content that isn't exclusive to said modes. In this case, having to play more than one mode involving my MyPLAYER in order to max them out, should I want to attempt such a grind.

This certainly isn't something that's exclusive to or originated by NBA 2K17, nor the NBA 2K series in general. Another example would be Mortal Kombat X(L), in which certain costumes can only be unlocked by completing objectives online, or in the free mobile game. As with playing MyPARK in addition to MyCAREER, those objectives aren't impossible to achieve, but it's irritating if you're not proficient at or interested in those experiences. I'd almost rather pay $5 for some "Unlock Everything" DLC, like some of the recent WWE games have done. Speaking of which...

I'd still say the worst example of this was one of the THQ-era WWE games; from memory, Smackdown vs RAW 2006 (or possibly 2007). To unlock Jake "The Snake" Roberts on PlayStation 2, you had to first unlock him in the PSP version of the game, and then use the save data to unlock him on PS2. Of course, that assumed you had a PSP and the PSP version of SDvRAW 2006 (or 2007), or were willing to go out and buy them for the sake of one unlockable. If not, he'd remain unavailable, which was irritating whenever you took a look at the unlockables screen. Or you could just do what I did, and use an Action Replay to unlock him.

There are obviously a few issues with the way MyPLAYER connectivity and upgrades are handled, which we've discussed at length before. The VC rewards have been nerfed, and I'm not a fan of microtransactions. It's a shame that VC doesn't carry over, or that there isn't a "returning player boost" to avoid a long grind every year, especially when the story in MyCAREER makes us out to be a big deal. While there's convenience in having all the MyPLAYER modes connected, it also has its drawbacks.

In some ways, I have to admit that this issue bugs me a little more. I'm alright with the connectivity between modes, I'll grudgingly grind and even drop a few bucks to get a head start on levelling up my MyPLAYER, and once you start getting some decent playing time in MyCAREER or winning a few games in 2K Pro-Am with a good teammate grade, the VC rewards get a little better (not as good as last year, though). However, I'm not a fan of there being no way around having to play a mode you have no interest in, in order to unlock content or complete an objective that comes into play elsewhere, or game-wide.

Of course, 95 Overall is still pretty high, and makes your MyPLAYER one of the top rated players in the league, more than capable of dominating across all the MyPLAYER modes. However, the other concern is the precedent that it sets, and whether the bar will move in future iterations. For example, in NBA 2K17, we've already seen animations that were free in NBA 2K16 now placed behind a VC paywall. Who's to say that in future games, you won't have to spend more time in a mode you don't want to play to unlock abilities in a connected mode? Say, reaching a certain level in MyPARK in order to be able to throw flashy passes in MyCAREER, or vice versa?

While a lot of great stuff has been done with NBA 2K17, things like this aren't necessarily full of goodwill, and do leave me feeling a little concerned. As I said, this particular concept is also a pet peeve of mine and it's bugged me in several games across different genres, so I'm not thrilled to see it happening in NBA 2K as well. I hope it's not the start of a trend.

[ThePointForward]

However someone found out that if you create player outside MyCareer with the exact same stats, physical properties, etc they will have significantly lower OVR than the same player in MyCareer.

[benji]

It's so weird that with everything else being focused on providing more choices and more abilities to setup and play how you want with MyLeague and stuff that MyPlayer/MyCareer continues to become more and more restricted to fit some short-term narrative and online system that demands LIMITS followed by a mindless run of position lock games.

Freq and Pres are both supposed to be the greatest thing since well, LeBron I guess, and yet you're basically rated a bench warmer with no discernible skills who will be a first round pick even if you play like garbage in your FOUR GAME college career. The Summer League/D-League route has been gone for ages because now you're supposed to be a superstar but not too much of a superstar because gotta have limits for other modes. And the constant ratcheting down of rewards to build the player. If you had a great game not too many iterations ago you could instantly boost some rating ten points or more, now you're locked into these categories that have a top level limit and that you can basically only buy one point off every five games or so.

And they quickly ran away from the interesting perspective of taking an existing player and running with their career. I saved Darko's career and made him the superstar he always was back in 2K11 or whenever now it's time for me to make Andre a 99 rated FT shooter.

[benji]

Also, I love how you can't even put headbands or whatever on your player without spending dat VC.

Make you only have to buy that crap for the online modes at least. There's absolutely no reason you should have to spend a thousand VC to have your guy wear an armband or something (twice that if you want him to wear it both at home and on the road!) in your offline games.

So my guy is the greatest player to ever happen but he can't shoot, is slow for his position and can't get the trainer to give him a knee brace to wear for both home games and road games until I accumulate enough VC.

And they're afraid I might max out my player and go beat up on people online too soon?

[[Q]]

When playing online, is the difference between a 99 & 95 rated player pretty negligible?

[Andrew]

When playing online, is the difference between a 99 & 95 rated player pretty negligible?

Pretty much. Like I said though, 95 Overall is a pretty generous limit, but it's more the principle of the thing, and what it might mean for the future. For example, what if next year, you can only get to 90 or 85 Overall without going into MyPARK? What if you can't unlock certain abilities if you don't? Once again, we've already seen dribbling moves that were free in previous games be placed behind a VC paywall this year. Customisation in 2K Pro-Am now requires levelling up. The precedent is there for undesirable changes and moving the bar.

[TBM]

Fuck micro-transactions. Fuck DLC. Fuck pre-orders. Fuck day-one patches.

That is all. Carry on.

[StyxTx]

I agree with the OP. I have no desire to play mypark, or anything on-line.

Instead of playing a career I just created a player and added him to my league. Forget all that VC stuff.

[Patr1ck]

They should let you get the same upgrades by playing mycareer, but keep those upgrades for the offline game only so they don't transfer to the online modes. However, they should still allow you to reach those goals online as well. So, you could have a 99 offline, and a 95 online until you started grinding that mode.

[Andrew]

I'd be in favour of that. I'm also in favour of keeping the connection between the modes, or at least being able to use the same player across all the MyPLAYER modes, but accessing them independently from the main menu. That way, if you want to just play 2K Pro-Am or MyPARK, or jump straight into it, you don't have to go into MyCAREER first and then access them as sub-modes.

[zkritt]

I think it's strange that they have these limitations on a single player mode...
It would be a much better way to go if they separated mycareer and mypark. Let us play the single player mode as we like, I play some mypark when I have the time, but to get all the upgrades you have to spend alot of time there and not do as I do and casually play some 3 on 3 from time to time. You have to spend almost all your time in the park...

It can't be that hard to let us have the same player as a base but earn rep and upgrade separately.
Some people only rush through the career on rookie level just to get the attributes and then only play online. Others play mycareer and are not interested in the online game.
Either way to be forced to play something they are not interested in just to get everything unlocked. That's just stupid...

If 2k are only interested in making money, do as Andrew said, implement a "pay to unlock everything"-thing...

[JWL3]

I agree with the OP. I have no desire to play mypark, or anything on-line.

Instead of playing a career I just created a player and added him to my league. Forget all that VC stuff.

You should give it a try. I'm a single-person gamer myself but I've had amazing moments with random teammates across the world. Like last night, I teamed up with 2 old teammates I've played with since last year's 2k16 and we won 8 games in a row. The way we won some of them was awesome - i'd get a steal, teammate 1 would get a rebound, teammate 2 would get a 3 pointer. Total team effort where none of us had any selfish agenda, just playing as the defense dictated. You can't replicate that experience in single player. The single player experience I'm having in mycareer so far is an absolute chore, leveling up, doing stupid exercises repetitively. Don't get me wrong, you'll team up a lot with 10 year olds who hog the ball all 24 seconds. But you'll soon recognize the good guys who play the right way.

Setting aside the hacker scum in mypark, it's a great experience.

[Andrew]

I personally prefer 2K Pro-Am as far as the online experiences go, that's more my thing than MyPARK. But the point is, no one should be forced to play a mode they don't want to, in order to complete objectives or unlock content that isn't exclusive to that mode. In other words, with the MyPLAYER connected modes, it should be possible to only choose to play one, and still max out your player with the appropriate grind, without having to go into the other modes if you don't want to. As I said before, I'd be in favour of keeping the connection (so you can still use one MyPLAYER if desired), but making MyCAREER, 2K Pro-Am, and MyPARK separately accessible from the main menu.

[JWL3]

I personally prefer 2K Pro-Am as far as the online experiences go, that's more my thing than MyPARK. But the point is, no one should be forced to play a mode they don't want to, in order to complete objectives or unlock content that isn't exclusive to that mode. In other words, with the MyPLAYER connected modes, it should be possible to only choose to play one, and still max out your player with the appropriate grind, without having to go into the other modes if you don't want to. As I said before, I'd be in favour of keeping the connection (so you can still use one MyPLAYER if desired), but making MyCAREER, 2K Pro-Am, and MyPARK separately accessible from the main menu.

Yup. My significant other thinks I'm a moron for going to the gym 5x a day to do the vertical jump just to unlock cap upgrades, hahaha. She also cannot take the cursing anymore (of my 74 rated guy losing to the 80's and 90's in mypark. If I had half a brain and half my stubbornness, I'd just buy the darn VC and get rid of a major pain in my life.

Imagine aliens came to earth and watched us come home from our day jobs, only to grind for VC in our free time for "fun. "

[Andrew]

It's the principle of the thing when it comes to VC, so your reservation is certainly understandable.