MyTeam is one of the biggest and most fun modes on 2K. The amount of players increases from the beginning of the year until it eventually plateaus around the time when Dark Matter (99 OVR) players become accessible. From then on the amount of players slowly decreases with the exception of the occasional spike due to really good new content. I believe this drop in the amount of players is because after dark matters become widely available there isn’t really any exciting content for the rest of the year. Getting the first diamond, pink diamond, galaxy opal, and dark matter players is really exciting… much more exciting then a drop full of dark matters that won’t even make your team.
To me there is a very easy fix to all of this that will result in a steady increase in players all year that will eventually plateau at the end of the year. I’m going to break this process down into multiple posts starting with this one and going all the way until the end of the year.
All of my ideas will be based around the idea that people are more willing to spend money on a game that is fun than one that is not as fun. This will benefit both the MyTeam Community and NBA2K equally. The community will receive a product that is more fun and innovative. This will draw us in and keep us playing. If we’re having more fun we will be more willing to spend money which benefits 2K.
I myself am a NMS player. Flame me if you want to, but I’m not going to spend money on a game that’s going to restart every year. I’m also a fan of grinding out a team… it’s more rewarding to me when I create a team for free by grinding.
Throughout all of this you will see a few common themes.
I’m a huge fan of evo’s and dynamic duos. I think they should be in almost every set.
We need more free and grindable content. Domination is good and all, but challenges are better. They should be either long or hard, but not both. Good rewards too!
Get creative! Everyone is tired of the same old copy and paste things every year. Creativity = more fun = more money spent
Equal chance packs are great!
The Beginning Of The End:
Now that I have explained the problem and told a little about myself it is time to start on the solution!
There are some small changes that could be made toward the beginning of the year, but for the most part 2K does a good job with that. Where I believe the problem starts is at the all star break. If we’re being honest 2K is really being lazy with their all star drops.
I like that they give everyone who participates in all star weekend cards. That’s a good start. I think they really need to lean into the past all star weekends. Take a page out of maddens book to some extent. Give us some all star weekend “legends”. Players like Vince Carter, Kobe, Aaron Gordon, etc. I k is 2K did this a little, but they really need to lean all the way into this.
I’d also like it if they gave us some free and grindable content with this drop. Don’t make them different cards! Give us some challenges that are either long or difficult. Make it where if we complete a few we get an equal chance PD back. This is something madden does, and I think it’s really effective. It’s a way for players to attempt and get a card they want for free. If you went a little farther you could get a free GO equal chance pack, and then if you finished all of the challenges you’d of course get an equal chance DM pack. This is a way for players to get their feet wet with opening packs, and could potentially lead to players buying more packs.
If 2K wanted to get really wild they could give us an All Star Weekends Past MVP. My personal pick… Stuff The Magic Dragon! I know everyone remembers his iconic “lob” to Aaron Gordon while on the hover board. I know this sounds crazy, but 2K has already given Ronnie and Quavo cards so what’s really the difference?
I’d make Stuff a “small” PG. Maybe like 6’3. Give him a dark matter with cracked dribble animations and a ton of playmaking badges. Kind of paying homage to his dime to Gordon. Then just make him decent - good at everything else. Shoot even give him a duo with Gordon that makes him super good.
Put him in packs as well as on both triple threat boards and on the clutch time wheel. That way everyone can have access to a fun card. This would get a ton of people playing the mode. Shoot you’d probably even get people who don’t normally play the mode to play. The more people playing means the more packs that will be bought.
That’s all for part 1! Sorry if that didn’t live up to expectations. I promise this is the worst one and it’s only gonna get better from here! Make sure to check out all of the other parts as well!