If you haven’t yet seen it, the NBA 2K21 MyTeam Courtside Report was released last week, and it gives us a pretty good overview of the MyTeam changes. However, there are definitely some details missing and questions to be answered. In this case, I want to talk about the NBA 2K21 MyTeam multiplayer questions that remain since I already talked about offline modes (and my hopes and dreams) before the blog was released.
So in this online wishlist, I’ll address things in the blog that are still relevant in terms of the information we now have and what I still hope we hear about before launch.
MyTeam Unlimited
I flirted with Unlimited in 2K20, mainly during the month they offered up opal Michael Beasley. I made two runs at 12-0, and each time I got to 6 wins before being knocked out. Overall, I regretted spending that time.
Some of the games were fun (even losses depending on the opponent), but more often than not, I found myself fighting lag to chase around 3-point cheesers and failing miserably. I don’t have high hopes that this will be rectified for the current-gen version of 2K21 MyTeam, but, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that somehow the move to next gen will solve all of those problems.
Even if that were not an issue, I still probably wouldn’t care about chasing perfection to go 12-0. The games are too long, there’s too many variables and I’m just not that good (or patient) of a player. Maybe if the rewards they gave out along the way (for going 5-0, 6-0, etc.) were better, that’d be a different story, but in 2K20 it definitely wasn’t worth it for me.
Based on the blog, getting the ultimate reward (whatever it may be) in Unlimited 2.0 is actually going to require MORE work than 2K20. Fighting through 9 tiers and then having to go 12-0 in the last tier would take forever. Even if I were an elite player, I don’t think it would be worth it for the kind of prizes mentioned so far. I would want to see a cornucopia of loot for all of that sweat.
For starters, a unique card PLUS a sizable amount of tokens, MT and (deluxe) packs (or actually a box) of whatever the current promo is (Lights Out, Prime, NBA is Back). Then at least the rest of us could potentially benefit from new cards constantly being posted to the auction house from the Unlimited winners.
But again we don’t know for sure how valuable the rewards are for moving between the tiers in 2K21, plus apparently we’re earning XP along the way too, so, we’ll see I guess.
MyTeam Limited
Now this is the new feature I’m most excited about.
Even if it’s a nightmare to jump in and play due to the reasons I mentioned above, it will have a specific (and potentially dramatic) effect on the auction house each week. I enjoy working the auction house, it’s arguably the most interesting “mode” in the game, and if Limited ends up being a highly trafficked mode, the meta will constantly change based on the requirements to get in.
I love the idea that I need to think strategically about cards I collect/sell because you never know which older cards will be the key to victory in a future week. Then of course hopefully it will level the playing field so I’m not constantly going against god squads.
On the other hand, I’m a little worried about the “championship rings” that we have to earn in order to unlock the grand prize. It sounds like acquiring the rings will involve some amount luck or chance, similar to the Vault maybe?
Person A could potentially earn one after a single win, and Person B (probably me) might be a little less fortunate and finally earn one after 25-plus wins. I hope there’s a way to get one after X amount of wins no matter what because getting that red light from the Vault over and over again quickly lowered my morale and my desire to keep playing.
Triple Threat Online
This is the online mode I played the most in 2K20, and I think it’s pretty clearly the most fun mode in the game. But, there were definitely issues:
Matchmaking is very inconsistent, and I found myself often going against far superior teams. That needs to be addressed for sure.
Then my main concern is that I never actually saw any cards on the board during the “special events,” and that was frustrating. Now a main part of that was because I probably won about 50 percent of my games, which I feel like isn’t terrible, but it also means that I didn’t get to the 5-ball drop very often (since it required near-perfection).
But there still should have been some cards on the lower boards, or other prizes (like current packs) that are worth the effort.
It sounds like in 2K21 there will at least be a screen when you login that tells you what’s on each board before you dive in, which is awesome and will help me decide if I want to dip a toe in those waters on a given day. Because it really is fun to jump into a quick game and try out new cards, I just want it to be worth the time.
Other Modes
I never actually played a multiplayer challenge in 2K20.
The amount of MT and tokens you could earn did rise to a decent level at the very end of the year, but by that point I just didn’t care and honestly forgot it was even a thing. My only suggestion for that mode would be to really amp up the lineup restrictions to differentiate it from Unlimited and level the playing field. But, since it sounds like Limited is going to do that, maybe multiplayer challenges have run their course and won’t be in 2K21.
Again, we’ll see.
It’s also probably safe to say that 2K wouldn’t leave info about a draft mode (or anything else major) off the developer blog and surprise us at launch. It would be cool if that were the case, but I won’t hold my breath. Nor does it really seem necessary to me if Limited and Unlimited 2.0 actually live up to their potential.
Personally, I’d just like an easier way to take my favorite cards into a quick game (5-on-5 or 3-on-3) against my friends while still earning MT, VC, XP and/or tokens. Then to go a step further, I’d love it if there was a way to create my own MyTeam tournament among a group of 4, 8 or 16 friends, and maybe wager MT or cards. Though honestly, bragging rights might be enough of an incentive, especially if we could do it without wasting contracts.
Final Thoughts
Again, I’m not a huge online guy, but I’d like to be one.
Until that experience feels as good to play as other online multiplayer games in terms of latency (Call of Duty and so on), I probably won’t ever go all-in, but if the rewards are worth the effort, I’ll at least try it more more than I did in 2K20. Based on the blog, that looks to be the case, and I’m excited to learn more.
What about you? How did you like playing online in 2K20, and what are your main concerns going forward?
