Monday Tip-Off: Low-Stakes Basketball Gaming
In this week's Monday Tip-Off, Andrew discusses how he's developed a preference for low-stakes basketball gaming.
The post Monday Tip-Off: Low-Stakes Basketball Gaming appeared first on NLSC.
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 reflections on how much I’m enjoying low-stakes basketball gaming.
Naturally, Play Now/exhibition mode is a necessary staple in basketball video games, as it is in all sports titles. It’s important to be able to just jump into a game where the result doesn’t have to count, especially while we’re getting acclimated to a new title. However, historically speaking, I generally haven’t played too many exhibition games once I’m hooked on a release. More often than not, I’ve just used Play Now to grab screenshots for an article or news post, immediately quitting after getting what I need. If I was going to settle down to play a full game, I wanted it to count for something.
Over the past few years though, my habits have drastically changed. I’m still eager to play games that count, as my ongoing NBA 2K14 MyCAREER and other preserved save files demonstrate. At the same time, I’ve become far more open to – and keen on – low-stakes basketball gaming. Even putting aside sessions where I’ve just fired up a game to capture screenshots or video for a feature, I’ve probably played more Play Now and exhibition mode games in the past couple of years than I have in a long time; perhaps ever in my decades of hitting the virtual hardwood! I must say that it’s been incredibly refreshing, and as such, it’s something that I intend to keep doing.
For too many years, I was dedicated to the grind in MyCAREER in the latest NBA 2K release. Sure, I’d partake in a few Play Now games to see what the regular non-player locked gameplay was like, but in order to advance beyond the underpowered starting ratings and develop an avatar that is capable of being used online, the grind must begin on Day One. Honestly, I find it so disheartening that gamers will actually defend the tedious grind in MyCAREER. The truth is that it could still feasibly be an enjoyable journey to high ratings and virtual hardwood domination if a MyPLAYER started out at 75 Overall or so. As I’ve discussed, greed is the only point of the grind!
It’s a shame, because MyCAREER is capable of being a really fun way to play virtual basketball. For a few years there, I even had a good time jumping online; not every session, but certainly quite regularly when I was playing with friends. Unfortunately, the pushiness of the recurrent revenue mechanics made levelling up a player to viable – never mind powerful and dominant – an increasingly lengthy and rather unenjoyable process, if you didn’t spend on shortcuts. Again, it’s bewildering that people defend designing games to be less fun if you don’t pump more money into them, but that’s where we’re at. You find yourself devising ways to streamline all of the grinding.
So, why did I subject myself to it for so many years, even when it was clear that I was receiving diminishing returns as far as my enjoyment? Quite simply, it was a habit. I’d become very adept at finding ways to maximise VC earnings while going No Money Spent, although that became tougher as the games began removing convenient ways to get bonus VC payouts. I was stuck in a rut, and even when I changed things up with MyTEAM, I fell into similar habits grinding for XP and rewards via the Agendas. My time with MyCAREER in NBA 2K14 PS4 has reminded me that it should be about the journey and experience, not budgeting virtual currency or repetitive checklists.
Revisiting an older title and discovering how much I enjoy it – something you can actually do when you don’t have to sink hours into grinding, or worry about a viable build – has actually made it difficult to maintain interest in new games. It doesn’t help that I have a number of gripes with the gameplay in NBA 2K21 through NBA 2K24, but playing games that predate the series’ greed going into overdrive has destroyed my tolerance for grinding to avoid predatory microtransactions. After repeating the cycle of levelling up a player and collecting cards, only to have to start again every year and eventually lose them when the servers shut down, I just can’t get invested anymore.
Something else happened when I gave NBA 2K14 PS4 a second chance, allowing it to retroactively become an all-time favourite. On top of MyCAREER, I played some exhibition games, including several matchups with the classic teams. Returning to gameplay where I’m controlling the entire team after so many years of being locked to a MyPLAYER was a breath of fresh air, and I couldn’t get enough! It’s obviously led to the NBA 2K14 Retro Series for the NLSC YouTube channel, but it’s also changed my basketball gaming habits in general. I now have a far bigger interest in low-stakes basketball gaming, where I don’t have to worry about progress and overarching goals.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still interested in that; I wouldn’t be in my sixth year in NBA 2K14 MyCAREER if I didn’t love the idea of multi-season play with accumulated stats and accomplishments! I wouldn’t have interest in picking up my Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 06 to continue that journey. I enjoy what deep modes bring to basketball gaming, and always will. These days however, I’m taking a much greater interest in creating my own fun. That includes indulging my nostalgia with the classic teams, as well as makeshift squads in NBA 2K14, NBA Live 10, NBA 2K6, and other titles. It also scratches the itch for some minimalist modding, and the creativity that inspires.
The low-stakes nature of exhibition play has also carried over to the NCAA titles. It’s been great spending more time with them, and while I won’t rule out playing a season or even a multi-year franchise with a school in one of the games, once again, I’ve been drawn to the classic teams. Naturally I’m trying to win every game I play, but with no stakes or progress to worry about, dropping a contest doesn’t sting quite as much as long as I had fun and created some highlights. The same goes for any other basketball games that I feel like firing up. It’s never fun to lose, but it’s far more annoying when there’s a record to blemish, or the prospect of players being injured for several games!
Also, while the commitment required for a franchise or career mode game is without a doubt a major part of the fun, I’m greatly enjoying the freedom that comes with low-stakes basketball gaming. Sure, it’s satisfying to lead the Chicago Bulls to more titles on the virtual hardwood, and I’ve become quite attached to the Philadelphia 76ers in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER as well. However, there are times when it can get stale using the same team over and over again. Playing more one-off showdowns with a variety of teams has allowed me to use squads that I might not normally play with, and certainly wouldn’t have a chance to when sticking to a franchise or career game.
In some ways, I feel I’m making up for lost time. That may sound harsh, and I don’t want to portray or think of my years playing MyCAREER in the latest NBA 2K as a waste, or something I regret. I still found a way to enjoy those games until I put them down, but there’s a ton of content that I couldn’t make the most of when I was on the grind. Furthermore, I used to love revisiting old favourites and bringing them back into the rotation, what with my predisposition for retro gaming. Breaking the habit of going through the same grind year after year has not only opened up time to have a few favourites constantly in the rotation, but dip into my collection to try other titles.
As I’ve said on the NLSC Podcast, one of my goals for 2024 is to try to play at least one game from my collection each week that I haven’t spent much time with before. That includes some more obscure titles, as well as prominent ones that I simply didn’t play when they were new (several older NBA 2K releases would qualify as the latter). Obviously that’s helpful as far as producing retrospectives for Wayback Wednesday, but it’s for my own enjoyment as well. After so many years of the same routine that didn’t leave as much time for older games outside of content creation, I’m having a blast discovering some hidden gems, and finding out what other games are all about.
At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun. I mean, that’s what video games are supposed to be! Now, fun can mean different things for different people, but in my Grumpy Elder Millennial opinion, the rise of the competitive scene has resulted in people taking gaming too seriously. As always, I acknowledge the irony in saying that when I’ve been running a video game fansite for over twenty years, but I’ll argue that there’s a stark difference between indulging an ongoing passion, and allowing a hobby to become an unhealthy obsession. There’s also being the person that takes gaming so seriously that it spoils the experience for everyone else who’s playing with them.
I certainly encountered my fair share of those people in the online scene, from selfish teammates in The Rec and poor sportsmanship from opponents, to those who treated the online scene as though it were the NBA 2K League. It’s a toss up as to who’s the worst out of the people who care too much, the people who care too little, and the people there to troll and ruin games on purpose, but in any event, the fact there are stakes to the games makes it all the more frustrating that you’re relying on them to play nice in order to have a good time. And yes, when you jump on the mic to be profanely abusive because you’re losing an online game, you’re taking it too seriously!
I’ve had my fill of that as much as grinding up a brand new player every year and repeating a rookie’s journey in the NBA side of MyCAREER. And so, for now, it’s low-stakes basketball gaming for me in between my ongoing saved games. I may start a new season or perhaps even a Playoffs game, but I’m not going to put all of my eggs in one basket. I’m just going to play what appeals to me at any given time, and not be beholden to grinding and agendas. If you’re in a rut, I recommend doing the same! Trust me, I know how tough it can be to break deeply ingrained habits, but when you do, you won’t regret taking a chance on something new, low-stakes or otherwise.
The post Monday Tip-Off: Low-Stakes Basketball Gaming appeared first on NLSC.