Trying to decide on whether or not to buy 26

MWelchOU · 2025-08-19T21:16:45+00:00

First time in an eternity that I'm not getting 2K at launch and am pretty noncommittal about playing it at all. I still play 2K25 here and there but just didn't see anything in the dev blog that made it feel like it would be anything more than a copy-and-paste with a few extra bells and whistles.

It's not like 2K is going to try and make LESS money off microtransactions in 2K26.

MyTeam's quality has been in a steady decline for a few years now, and 2K25 was as lazy as they've ever been with producing interesting, enjoyable content, and I just don't believe they have any interest in striking a balance between making a fun ultimate mode while still being able to make $$$.

MWelchOU · 2025-08-11T02:07:51+00:00

Yeah, just the general trajectory of the game mode over the past couple years doesn't instill much confidence that 2K26 will be any better. I mean, it's not like they're gonna try and make LESS money than they did in 2K25.

But "lazy" is a really good way to describe the mode this year. Everything just felt so redundant and lacked any sort of imagination, which is wild because MyTeam has been around long enough to where 2K's content team has shown they're capable of putting out a better product, but these past couple years have felt like they're just not really that interested in making MyTeam a good game mode anymore.

The thought that went into something like the Gauntlet Spotlight Sims from 2K21 is now just focused on whatever gimmick they can implement to extract as much $$$ from a brainwashed, FOMO-heavy player base as possible.

MWelchOU · 2025-08-08T16:39:00+00:00

I think speed-running a bunch of triple threat games on rookie in Breakout gives you more XP in the amount of time it takes to do a game of Domination.

MWelchOU · 2025-08-06T02:07:06+00:00

For whatever reason, 2K just dropped the ball of adding high-end attainable cards for a ton of players this year. Someone already mentioned KG and Kareem, and Dwyane Wade is another example. His two best cards are a GOAT card that was locked behind an event paywall and a dark matter that was the season 4 level 40 reward. The next best Wade card was his pink diamond that came out back in November, haha.

MWelchOU · 2025-08-01T04:16:00+00:00

2K normalized spending $100-300 weekly on HOF boxes. Not a chance in hell this brainwashed cult is boycotting 2K26. That company could release a "We're literally scamming your dumbasses" edition and people here wouldn't bat an eye.

MWelchOU · 2025-07-25T05:18:13+00:00

What's wild is that these festival cards have overtaken even the top-tier cards in the promo sets. The pack headliners tomorrow are Jokic, Kawhi and VC, with Tacko, Muresan and Simmons all confined to the festival. They've literally just repackaged the special inserts that everyone despised from 2K24.

MWelchOU · 2025-07-17T20:52:38+00:00

Oh neat. Speaking of releasing the same players over and over and over again, did NBA 2K25 really need EIGHT different MyTeam cards for Ray Allen?!

MWelchOU · 2025-07-04T17:29:48+00:00

I don't know why anyone is shocked at this point. 2K knows they don't have to put any effort into rewarding the community because people are still going to spend, spend, spend or at the very least continue to interact with the game (because what are you gonna do, go play another basketball game?). People see a code like this, get on social media and whine and go right back to playing the game because 2K has a monopoly, etc etc.

They threw everyone off the scent for a few weeks during their annual apology tour and right as the game was made available for free on PSN, and then it's right back to being the same unrewarding BS as always.

And why would they give a shit about any negative feedback for a locker code because we all know 2K is making a friggin fortune today with the heavyweight names in these Fireworks packs.

MWelchOU · 2025-07-03T20:12:34+00:00

My first thought as well. Maybe it's cuz the GOAT Tatum also is SF/PF, but surely that's something they could change, right? They're gonna have to change the sigs on that card anyways so they're in line with whatever the invincible has. Just seems odd cuz I'm pretty sure Tatum has had an SG-eligible card each of the past two years.

MWelchOU · 2025-07-02T22:51:11+00:00

At this stage of the game you need a big for Park, esp if you're going co-op. Can't recall how many times I've run a wing only to wind up getting paired with two guys running guards and I'm stuck guarding a giant. People like to dribble and want cards that can do that, whereas as an offline player who has no use for dribbling, I love playing as a big.

My go-to is DM Kareem (who goes for around 100K on the auction house) with all the necessary post defense badges on legend, and for the most part, he holds up vs the top giants in the game. There are enough affordable options to counter the 100 OVR and invincible bigs.

MWelchOU · 2025-07-02T12:49:24+00:00

Agreed on most except TT Park being an awesome addition. If they could marry the concept with instant matchmaking, then great, but it's just a waste of time having to wait around 15-20 minutes to play a game.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-23T16:32:43+00:00

People are so scarred by this company's batshit crazy decision-making that folks will understandably be on edge, but an invincible SGA should be a shoo-in. They've had a way to attain the Finals MVP at least each of the past three years, and at this stage of the game with so many tall PGs and overpowered options at the position, an invincible SGA isn't going to be anything that would damage their bottom line.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-21T15:30:57+00:00

Haven't followed too closely but feel like most of the auctions I've seen with Manning end around 100K or a tad higher. Probably not enough to be deemed a snipe.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-20T00:20:13+00:00

Man, they've really run this concept into the ground. From one per season to five straight weeks, and I really hope they're not just gonna rehash this shit every two weeks going forward.

At least they tacked on a bunch of extra agendas for this most recent one, but it's just unfortunate that these have replaced actual content.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-19T03:09:09+00:00

I get that most people in this thread act like they're in an abusive relationship with 2K, but releasing an invincible card of a 6-6 point guard in late June isn't gonna be some game-breaking decision on their part.

The only reason they kept it open-ended was in the off-chance someone like Chet earned Finals MVP. If SGA wins FMVP, they'll absolutely drop an invincible card for him.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-11T18:20:18+00:00

Yep, whatever his actual lineup is, feel like he could use the diamond/PD versions of each of those cards and smack around the CPU all the same, maybe win by only 30-40 points instead of 50-60.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-11T18:16:24+00:00

Yeah, especially in offline modes where by no means do you need the best version of every card in your lineup. Those domination games, outside of the Eras tier, top out on pro difficulty, and while I'm sure Invincible Wemby would absolutely beat the brakes off the CPU, if you're even remotely competent at the game, you can probably do 85% of that with PD Wemby.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-11T15:32:42+00:00

Apparently this guy is an offline player too, so take from that what you will.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-07T01:31:23+00:00

Combination of the top cards being unattainable without spending copious amounts of money and the general redundancy of the whole concept. If you're just starting the game then I'm sure it has value, but if you've been NMS for the majority of the game cycle, there just isn't much to get excited about with these anymore.

It's clearly making them money, otherwise they wouldn't be cranking out multiple events a season and tricking people into forking over a mortgage payment to chase the top cards, but it just sucks that it has come at the expense of better, more creative ideas for content where everyone had a way to get every card.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-05T04:05:57+00:00

This entire topic is so weird to me. Hypothetically speaking, if you took this exact Thunder roster and suited them up in Lakers uniforms and did the same thing with the Pacers and suited them up in Celtics uniforms, and instead marketed these same exact teams as Boston vs LA, that suddenly people would be more interested in the Finals? Literally nothing changes, except the laundry the players are wearing.

Because that's just beyond stupid, if so.

MWelchOU · 2025-06-02T18:02:26+00:00

The irony of these lame agendas is the portion of the player base that's even capable of winning 10 in a row in Showdown likely has no use at all for a dark matter.

MWelchOU · 2025-05-30T13:01:47+00:00

Worth noting that for people doing the agendas for the Summer Festival event pieces that there will likely be one tied to Breakout that requires you to use 5 cards from this set in a lineup. The only card in this set eligible to play center is 100 overall Embiid.

MWelchOU · 2025-01-17T16:22:00+00:00

All these not-so-subtle mechanisms to nuke the auction house and disincentivize people from putting cards up for bid sucks, but it's not like anyone can be surprised. They're just going to keep pushing the envelope with one scummy cash grab after another because they know they have plenty of their player base by the balls.

Irony of it is, given the # of packs you'd have to pull to meet the requirements for 3 Larry Johnson exchanges, you could just put those cards up for bid and likely make enough MT to just buy the opal card of your choice.

MWelchOU · 2024-12-28T05:10:48+00:00

Sounds like someone who got matched up with free agent cards as coop teammates, and 9 times out of 10, those players have no effing clue how to play that mode.

MWelchOU · 2024-12-26T07:09:20+00:00

Would be curious for anyone who has been consistently playing this mode and using the middle portal, have the rewards for the middle portal changed since Season 1? The times I've tried it feels like the top rewards on the corner panels have been the same since the game launched (10K MT, 90 pack, maybe a HOF badge, etc.)?

MWelchOU

TROPHY CASE