2K Sports Series Complaint

[berzirk]

As someone who tried to put time into 2K14 and was greeted somewhere around 30% of the time by critical server errors and an inability to play multiple game modes offline, after the recent promo where 2K15 was on sale for $11 on Amazon, I justified buying it after applying $6 in giftcards.  Well...apparently 16 months after release, 2K14 servers are now down for good, and apparently the offline features don't work like they were promoted.  Ouch. 

http://www.polygon.com/2015/4/6/8354137/nba-2k14-servers-shut-down-save-files-filesaves-mycareer-mygm

Considering how bad the servers were when they were operational, and reading some complaints that 2015 is experiencing the same, I canceled my order for 2K15. 

Is this trend quite alarming for fellow CAGs?  Imagine some of your favorite games of the past, having virtual currency woven in to milk out a few bucks during playthrough, only to learn that things you spent that on, and features you played, were now gone forever. 

A couple of things stun me here :

1) It's legal to have so much of a game shutdown in such a short amount of time, and on top of that, gamers aren't going nuts

2) The servers for both launches have been so instable, I can't believe that hasn't led to greater outcry.

Just boggling to me that a product can be managed so poorly with no recourse for buyers other than to take their money elsewhere the next time around - which is what I'm doing.

Shame on you 2K. :/

 

[CheapLikeAFox]

By the time I get 2K games on PC the servers are usually shut down so I guess I don't know what I miss.  I only pay $5 for the NBA ones and play the hell out of the career mode so I get my money's worth, but it definitely sucks to see stuff lose support so quick.  

 

[indef]

There's tons of outcry every year when 2K launches another broken basketball game.  They still release more broken games, people still buy them.

That said, they really screwed the Xbox1/PS4 users by tying solo career mode into their stupid online currency system.  People playing MyPlayer on those platforms lost their careers with the server shutdown.

They did fix that bit with 2K15, so when those servers get yanked, solo careers will survive.

 

[indef]

...aaaaand they're back.

“2K has restored the NBA 2K14 servers and all online services," a representative told us via email. "Beginning today, we are extending the support of all NBA 2K servers from 18 to 27 months following each release, giving our players more time to experience and enjoy the highest rated NBA simulation video game franchise. The opinions of our community continue to have a positive impact on our business decisions as we strive to create the best possible experience for all of our fans.”

 

[berzirk]

Nice to see they felt some pressure over that ridiculously short timeframe.  Now if only their damn servers were operational closer to 90% of the time, I'd buy a 2k basketball game...for $6.

2+ years is a small victory I suppose, but I'd love to see some regulation or common business practice require companies to make servers available for up to 5 years maybe.  Just seems like a more reasonable number with the lifespan of consoles these days.

 

[Mercer]

Nice to see they felt some pressure over that ridiculously short timeframe. Now if only their damn servers were operational closer to 90% of the time, I'd buy a 2k basketball game...for $6.

2+ years is a small victory I suppose, but I'd love to see some regulation or common business practice require companies to make servers available for up to 5 years maybe. Just seems like a more reasonable number with the lifespan of consoles these days.

5 years? For a sports game? When new ones get released every year?

Does no one consider the money that has to be spent on electricity? The actual server hardware? The bandwidth? To people to operate and maintain them? Ultimately paying for space to house them? Insurance? And a dozen other costs that go into running servers?

Playing the sports games online is free (no xbl and ps+ do not count) so if running those servers becomes a fina cial burden why should they continue to run them?

The obvious answer is if you want them running longer then gamers should pay a fee, but then they would bitch and whine about that.

Sports games dont sell like grand theft auto and bring in a billion dollars in a week. They sell well for a short period of time then sales drop off and prices get slashed so 2k only makes money off retail sales of their games. They divert money from a particular games sales to the online servers so if that games sales drop within a year to the point where they lose money running its servers why should they continue?

Nothing is ever really free, someone is paying for everything.

Besides you can still play the game even if you cant play it online. People act like they cant play the game at all ever and somehow got ripped off.

 

[berzirk]

Ehh...have you not noticed them micro-transactioning the shit out of their games lately?  Do you think they make more money than they spend? The answer to both questions is obviously yes.  5 years might be exaggerating, but I do think 3 years is totally acceptable. Regarding the last point where you say you can still play the game offline, clearly you didn't read the post or understand what is getting cut when they turn the servers off.  You actually can't play several parts of the game offline, and specifically you were unable to play a game in the fashion they promoted as possible, when the servers first went down.  That was part of what went into 2k reversing course and extending the server time.

2k is a big enough company to run servers for awhile.  This isn't a couple of dudes at an indie dev borrowing money from mom and dad to keep them running.

If they didn't limit gameplay offline so severely, this wouldn't even be a complaint. Since they do limit it, I believe they have a consumer obligation to keep them running longer.

If you can still buy the game from the publisher/developer's website, they should be maintaining the servers:

https://www.2k.com/games/nba2k13

 

[ludus]

I rarely play sports games online these days anyways, so I'm good. I actually just got NBA 2K13 and I don't mind that I can't play any online modes. I'm glad they did fix this for those who want those options on newer titles for longer.