Thoughts on the Skill Gap & Modded Controllers (from my Twitter)

As some of you may have seen, there's a growing number of people using modded controllers to get Green Releases in NBA 2K21 with the tap of a button, completely ruining the online scene for those who value sportsmanship and fair play. To me that's right up there with the hacking we see on PC, and a rather dismal prospect for the future of competitive play if it isn't addressed soon.

I also strongly believe there are issues with the supposed "Skill Gap" in general; not just the new shooting mechanics, but everything from an over-reliance on canned moments and animation selection, to overpowered Badges and a lack of balance in general, to the absence of skill-based matchmaking across the various connected experiences. I posted a Twitter thread that's gaining some traction and resonating with other gamers who have noticed the same things: https://twitter.com/AndrewNLSC/status/1 ... 9289474048

However, for the sake of discussion I thought I'd also reproduce the thread here. Please forgive the choppiness of the sentences, as they're obviously the result of expressing my thoughts in a Twitter thread where each post has to be 280 characters or less.

Thoughts on the #NBA2K21 Modded Controller Controversy (A Thread)

Obviously, it's disheartening. It speaks to a toxic attitude in the basketball gaming community, and a lack of sportsmanship. However, it also highlights issues with the so-called "Skill Gap"; and it's not alone.

First of all, if you can mod a controller for perfect input to get Green Releases at the press of a button, it shows how exploitable the shooting mechanics are. A tremendous advantage can be manufactured by simulating just one input.

Even without a modded controller, it's a system that can be exploited via certain animation quirks that encourage unusual strategies that defy most basketball logic (and reality, in a title that is meant to be sim-oriented at its core no less!).

This means the "Skill Gap" often amounts to the difference between being able to force/cheat your way into Green Releases as much as being proficient on the sticks, and hitting a more realistic amount of perfect releases for guaranteed buckets because it's challenging to do so.

You either hit an unrealistic amount of shots, or be at a disadvantage with a realistic (or even lower) percentage. That's not balanced, or a steady learning curve. The lack of proper matchmaking options is likewise unwelcoming to newcomers and those unwilling to game the system.

That's not all, though. You've also got Badges and animations that offer distinct advantages, and thus a contrived meta game that punishes gamers for not selecting the optimal build, min-maxing as necessary, and equipping the appropriate OP/reliable animations.

Because there's no way to re-spec without losing progress and wasting VC, you have to commit to a build before you can really find out if it's broken or not. The test game in the MyPLAYER Builder CAN help, but it's offline only, so you're still in the dark as far as online play.

This is by design, of course. If you end up throwing VC away on a broken build, you'll either have to grind hard for more (hours played, great engagement stats) or pay for it to upgrade quickly (lots of recurrent revenue). And you have to do this every year; nothing carries over.

Back to gameplay mechanics. Badges end up doing a lot of the work, which also diminishes the concept of a "Skill Gap". The boosts they provide can greatly reduce the need to make a proper effort, or negate your opponent's effort. It's less masterful input, more savvy meta-gaming.

The real thing that's standing in the way of #NBA2K21 and other recent games truly having a "Skill Gap", though? The fact that success often comes down to the animation the game picks for you upon receiving your input, and the many "canned moments" that occur at both ends.

If the game doesn't pick a suitable layup animation, it leads to more swats. Same goes for backscratcher dunks in less than ideal situations. If a Slasher build triggers a "dunked on" animation, you're getting dunked on no matter how well you time that button press for the block.

Tap the steal button once when there's an opening? There's a good chance the game will decide to have your player hack wildly and grab at the ballhandler, resulting in a reach-in foul. Sure, we can learn shot timing, but there's a lot of other stuff that's left up to RNG.

Compare this to Rocket League, where you're in complete control of the car, and success depends on your input to outmanoeuvre an opponent and connect with the ball in the right way to move it around the field and score goals, or defend your own goal accordingly.

THAT'S a Skill Gap. Rocket League also has detailed matchmaking settings that allow novices and elite competitive players alike to play online, get games at their level, and rank up accordingly as they improve. It caters to social, intermediate, and hardcore competitive gamers.

NBA 2K doesn't do this. As such, on top of its exploits and harsh meta, it fosters a toxic, elitist atmosphere where gamers are expected to "get good", but not provided an environment where they can feasibly do so at their own pace. The online scene is unwelcoming and unbalanced.

Throw in the issue of modded controllers, and there's really no reason anyone with a sense of fair play and competition should want to play #NBA2K21 online. Many sneer at offline gamers, saying they're less skilled. With modded controllers, who's to say who's really skilled now?

The reason that offline play is still popular is not only because there are fun parts to the single player experience, but because you don't have to rely on other people playing fair. Of course, the CPU has its own issues with balance; as if it's playing with a modded controller!

Online and offline, NBA 2K has big problems with punishing instead of rewarding, gatekeeping instead of welcoming, pushing recurrent revenue mechanics rather than fun. It used to be about being the best, most realistic depiction of basketball. Now? Not so much.

There are ways to fix this, of course. The problem is that the game has cultivated a toxic online culture, proved a major source of recurrent revenue, and is extremely successful with no viable competitor. There's no incentive for things to change, and changing attitudes is hard.

Sadly, that means as a new generation looms, we can probably expect more of the same. It's a dismal thought, especially when you can see the potential for the game to be so much better for everyone. I'd like to think I'm wrong, but it's difficult to be optimistic right now.

If nothing else, for all the talk of Skill Gaps in #NBA2K21, success often comes down to factors beyond being a wizard on the sticks. You can flat out cheat the mechanics with a mechanical solution, and that's going to be hard for 2K to stop with the current system.

If you end up losing because of that cheating, it's not because of a Skill Gap. If you lose because the game has a tendency to hit you with canned moments that place you at a disadvantage, that's not a Skill Gap. A broken meta and OP/useless builds and Badges isn't a Skill Gap.

#NBA2K21 Next Gen can be built from the ground up, but if the blueprint is anything like Current Gen, it won't matter. It's going to be more of the same. And that'll be a tremendous shame, as well as a waste of potential and wonderful ideas and concepts.

And finally, if you're using a modded controller on any platform, or any other online hacks on PC? Shame on you. You're the kid who cheats at Monopoly and flips the board when you get called out. But hey, enjoy the wins. Doesn't matter how you get them, right? Right...

A post about modded controllers over on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA2k/comments ... ntrollers/

And a video of it in action: https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA2k/comments ... k_like_on/

It's crazy that discussion of a basketball video game can be reduced to what the current meta is for it like a Call of Duty game. Much like in COD Warzone where everyone uses the same guns and same setups as they are considered the best, even your suggestion of me building Brandon Ingram's jumpshot shows this game is going that way. Obviously the game should be determined by how good someone actually is at the game and not trying to gain every advantage over the other player before the game has even started.

It leads to homogenisation and more min-maxing, less basketball strategy, that's for sure.

Andrew, great comments. The primary reason for this happening is that many NBA 2K owners treat this as a game that "they have to beat" not a basketball simulation. Unfortunately 2K Sports (and EA Sports) promotes this attitude because the micro-transactions provide revenue for them.

Unfortunately, fun and recurring revenue doesn't go hand in hand. That's the problem. If you wanted to make a fun game that allowed people to play and simulate their favorite NBA teams and players (content that's basically included and unlocked in the game from the start), there wouldn't be much pressure onto players to build their characters and buy VC.

Skewing the game towards career and neighborhood modes have put the focus or goal on leveling up your characters and unlocking more content, clothes, animations, etc. Admittedly, when I got the game my main focus was indeed leveling up and getting VC.

Andrew, great comments. The primary reason for this happening is that many NBA 2K owners treat this as a game that "they have to beat" not a basketball simulation. Unfortunately 2K Sports (and EA Sports) promotes this attitude because the micro-transactions provide revenue for them.

Absolutely, the online scene in particular has drifted away from the game's sim roots. Basketball strategy has given way to exploitable tactics and meta-gaming.

Unfortunately, fun and recurring revenue doesn't go hand in hand. That's the problem. If you wanted to make a fun game that allowed people to play and simulate their favorite NBA teams and players (content that's basically included and unlocked in the game from the start), there wouldn't be much pressure onto players to build their characters and buy VC.

Skewing the game towards career and neighborhood modes have put the focus or goal on leveling up your characters and unlocking more content, clothes, animations, etc. Admittedly, when I got the game my main focus was indeed leveling up and getting VC.

Spot on, and it's a shame. It's the way of Triple-A gaming these days so it's not like 2K are alone, but it's just a dismal situation in general.