Dear Santa,
Hey, big guy! How’s the North Pole treating you? How are Mrs. Claus and Rudolph? Anyway, I bet you’re really busy this time of year, so I won’t take up too much of your time.
As you already know, I love basketball and video games. Obviously, I already have NBA 2K24 and play it all the time. That means I don’t need to ask for you to bring me a basketball video game at all this year at Christmas, which should save on some of your time and labor costs with your elves. But it’d be nice if you could take a hard look at NBA 2K24 and maybe change a few things to make the game more fun.
I’m not asking for anything huge here since I know even you have limits to the kind of wizardry you can perform. These are just some little tweaks to parts of the game where the people who made it were clearly being more naughty than nice.
This also might be a good way for you to prove once and for all that you’re real. I have a few friends who tell me you’re not and I’m getting pretty tired of telling them they’re wrong.
As always, I will leave out for you three chocolate chip cookies because I know you like those better than the carrots and celery you get at some houses. I don’t want you thinking that these are any sort of bribe or anything, but I have heard that the quickest way to your heart is through that sweet tooth of yours.
Here are some thoughts that would probably be good to send to your elves as soon as possible. That way they’ll have more time to get to work on these ways to make NBA 2K24 the game that I really wish it was.
Faster MyCareer Progression
Greed isn’t something that should ever be condoned, especially in this season of giving. It’d be refreshing then to see some unexpected generosity within NBA 2K24 by having players in MyCareer receive greater rewards for participating in online and NBA games. If virtual currency were being doled out like a repentant Ebenezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol, it wouldn’t be nearly as enticing to purchase the VC instead.
The same goes for ascending MyCareer levels within each season, where it should be conceivable to reach Level 40 without paying a dime or sacrificing all of your free time. Sure, that could ultimately make a small dent in the game’s profits, but I think we learned from Whoville residents that Christmas is hardly about material things, right?
More Affordable Attire And Accessories
It’s somewhat of a tradition to receive clothes for Christmas, but NBA 2K24 makes it so even hanging a stocking on the mantle will set me back a pretty penny. It’s hard to put together any sort of respectable wardrobe when I’m trying to invest all of my VC in improving my attributes so I don’t get laughed off the courts.
Of course, people just snicker now instead at the clothes I acquired through completing some quest and the 2K-brand generic shoes that are almost worn as something of an act of protest against commercialism run amok. What if there was a giant sale, even if only for the holidays, at Swag’s and all of the other stores in the City that gave people an opportunity to finally look fly in the streets and courts? I know this sounds like I’m basically asking for a Christmas miracle but ’tis the season for those after all.
Better Park Courts In The City
The start of a new year is a time for reflection and re-invention, where every person and even perhaps places can get a fresh start. It’s a good time to look at the affiliation courts within the City’s parks and realize that they’re in need of a bit of overhaul when it comes to how they operate. We should no longer be expected to waste our time waiting next to the courts for a game to end when we could just as easily be playing one.
As someone who appreciates efficiency and time management, you’ll understand better than most, Santa, that twiddling your thumbs doesn’t get anything accomplished. Since Christmas is also a time for connecting with people, let’s go ahead and add a matchmaking queue to these courts that allows you to create new bonds with players without needing to wait for a game to end. This could even factor in the skill level and experience of all involved to ensure that the discouragement that comes with habitually losing is kept to a minimum.
Less Input Lag In Online Games
Considering the kind of tight schedule you’re forced to maintain while trying to deliver presents around the world in a single night, no one is more likely to grasp the importance of timing in NBA 2K24 than you, Santa. For the sake of comparison, just imagine if you were trying to get some gifts to a family, except something was a little off and your wrapped packages rimmed out instead of getting nothing but chimney. Such is how it feels sometimes to play online games across all modes in NBA 2K24.
Because you need to be precise on shots when you release the button or shot stick, it’s less than ideal to find there’s an input lag that fluctuates slightly from game to game. It’s hard to get any consistency with my shot when what might be a perfect release in one game is considered to be early or late in the next one. While this has been an ongoing problem in NBA 2K for years now, that lag can also make defending harder as it relates to staying in front of your man. In short, it’s never too late for developers to find a solution, just like Rudolph and his nose did for you on that one foggy Christmas Eve.
Shake Up MyTeam
There’s no better time for surprises than Christmas, but you won’t find many of those within NBA 2K24‘s card-collecting MyTeam mode as it’s an awfully familiar package dressed up in the wrapping paper of a new game. You’ll find the same old online and offline game modes that you’ll need to use in order to complete objectives for the eventual reward of better cards. You’re liable to get awfully tired of those game modes though since It’s an overwhelming and tiresome grind that’s required if you hope to accumulate the MyTeam currency needed to procure any of the most valuable cards. Meanwhile, people can indulge in microtransactions by purchasing level rewards and gambling on packs that only prove the adage that the house always wins. MyTeam could use some serious innovation if it’s ever going to be appealing and worth investing any time in for those who would rather not be paying to win.
Thanks for listening, Santa. I hope and believe you’ll be able to make at least some of these basketball wishes come true at this magical time of year. Of course, I might be crazy for thinking that you’re the best hope we have for any meaningful changes to the kind of greed and complacency that I mentioned was on display in NBA 2K24. But then again, they say I’m delusional for still believing that Santa is real and writing letters to him as an adult too, and I guess you know better than anyone how wrong they are about that one.
Merry Christmas,
Kevin
