Competitions in the most recent “NBA 2K17” and previously “NBA 2K16” have been poorly planned and structured. Cheating has been rampant in qualification rounds and exploits utilized heavily. There has also been a lack of an even playing field because of the advantages granted to participants who paid money to upgrade their characters over those who chose not to do so. Some element of customization must remain for strategic purposes, but there will have to be a system in place to ensure competitive balance.MORE: The biggest sports gaming stories of 2016 Arguably the biggest concern related to the “NBA 2K” series is the online reliability of the game. “2K” has struggled mightily over the years to simply bring the online play up to basic standards. Those issues have mostly been met, but server issues still remain frequent and problematic. Even in “NBA 2K17,” the online Pro-Am mode, which has been utilized for the game’s eSports events thus far and is likely what will be played in the NBA 2K eLeague, has failed in many respects. Competitors are often kicked out of games, leaving their spot on the roster to be controlled by an inferior CPU. The league concept for eSports definitely has a great deal of promise should those issues be worked out. Not only would it be far more interesting to follow an actual league, with the stories that will naturally develop over the course of a full season, but having the “NBA 2K” teams tied to actual professional clubs could help create a rooting interest and reason for the events to be followed — which has been completely lacking from sports video games that have been involved in eSports.Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is co-founder of the sports gaming site HitThePass.com, hosts the “Press Row Podcast” and be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.
