As we head into a new year and adjust to seeing and writing 2024 instead of 2023, it’s customary to take stock of the year gone by and make resolutions that will ostensibly help make this year a better one than the last.
Of course, it’s all too common to see many of these resolutions fall by the wayside before the calendar has turned over to February, but that doesn’t stop people from starting the year out with some hope. The same concept can apply to sports gamers, who begin each year telling themselves that it will be a banner year only to fall into some of the same old habits that plagued them in years past. It doesn’t have to be that way though. By making the right resolutions, we can break free of the chains that have kept us bound until now and defy conventions.
Here are are just a few changes it would be nice to see in the sports gaming community to make 2024 a fulfilling year.
Go Easy On The Microtransactions
These days, some of the biggest sports games make it more enticing than ever to invest as much money as you can to receive rewards that too often just aren’t worth it. Whether it’s career modes like in NBA 2K24 or card-collecting Ultimate Team modes as in Madden 24, there’s every attempt being made to part you from your hard-earned savings. If you want to have your skills or cards be on par with others online, the game’s developers are hoping you’re willing to speak with your wallet.
To be fair, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to spend your earnings on a game you enjoy if it can make that game even more enjoyable. But ask yourself, where does it end? The more that people are willing to accept these microtransactions as being business as usual within these games, the more prevalent these microtransactions will become.
Give Love To “Free” Modes
One way to potentially avoid the constant lure of the microtransaction siren song is to stick to modes where they simply aren’t present. Franchise modes, for instance, might seem a little neglected because they don’t bring in any additional income from microtransactions, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t without merit. For all of the complaints about the predatory nature of NBA 2K24, there’s an incredibly deep and rewarding franchise mode within the game that even allows you to play in notable eras from the league’s history.
MLB The Show’s Road to the Show career mode has its charms, even though it lacks polish and an engaging storyline. The ultimate hope is that if more people frequented these kinds of modes, they might actually receive attention from developers finally and become better. Let’s just pray that doesn’t just mean these safe havens will ultimately become infested with microtransactions like the rest of the game once they’re popular.
Avoid Hyperbole
There’s a tendency in our current culture to think that when it comes to opinions, having the strongest one will somehow make you the winner. This has seeped its way into sports gaming discourse when you see someone from the community feel the need to post an all-caps rant declaring why Madden 24 (or insert other game here) is the worst game ever. Mistaking volume and vitriol for actual insight, their jumbled thoughts will typically be short on specifics and long in general. This has developed into such a common phenomenon that anyone with intelligence has learned that those leading with hyperbole actually do a disservice to any real points they’re trying to make.
The truth is that that most sports games, especially the bigger ones, are mediocre at worst and, despite their flaws, possess some saving graces that keep people playing. If you want to be taken seriously by the community, it’s better to be measured in your criticisms and realize that you can target the weakest parts of a game without needing to always take a flamethrower to the whole thing.
Play Some Smaller Indie Games
Because of the ubiquitous status they’ve reached, it’s all too easy to become fixated on the AAA games that will be released throughout the year. With the steady amount of content that each of these games churn out throughout a game’s cycle in an effort to get you hooked, it’s no wonder that it’s hard to turn your attention elsewhere. But to fall victim to this type of tunnel vision is to ignore that there are smaller companies trying to find an audience for games that don’t have nearly the marketing budget as the bigger brands.
For every MLB The Show, there’s a Super Mega Baseball 4 providing the same kind nuanced baseball simulation only with an arcade look. Those looking to complain about how complacent and flawed the larger games are should realize why it’s all the more imperative then that they seek out alternatives. Though the smaller titles might not have the same polish as those that rule the industry, it’s only through building a community that they will slowly amass the kind of budgets that will allow them to compete within the space.
Steer Clear Of Toxicity
It doesn’t take very long being on mic while playing a sports game to realize that you will inevitably run into some of the worst people in the world. This is true of opponents who insist on antagonizing you as they trounce you and teammates who will perform terribly themselves at the same time as they are screaming at you about what you are doing wrong. The challenge is to try to not let that discourage you from the fact that there are also good and kind people playing these games, even though they might sometimes be hard to find.
It’s entirely possible even that you will meet some new friends while enjoying online games and they will become your regular crew that you look to partner with whenever you log on. However, it’s not worth trying to force a connection when it’s simply not there. Rather than getting into some kind of yelling match that you will never be able to win with any toxic individuals, it’s a much better idea to just mute the offending parties or, if you need to take further action, remove the headset completely and put on some music or a podcast while you play.
