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Post by rjwils30 on Feb 2, 2023 1:55:04 GMT -5
Maybe it’s brought more people to the game but I’m not sure it really amounts to anything substantiative. Can you imagine if instead of the PGA content they devoted their resources to the graphics and playability and expanded the potential of the course designer. Wish they’d gone down that road instead of filling the game with content that has very little impact on the actual experience of playing the game…Unless of course you are into playing pretty mundane TPC courses….
Maybe I’m off base. Curious what others think the value of the PGA Tour has been to this franchise.
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Post by axelvonfersen on Feb 2, 2023 2:33:14 GMT -5
I think the 2k Association is a bigger deal.
On the one hand, 2k is evil, and don't really care about the game or playerbase.
On the other hand, if 2k hadn't stepped in, I'm not really sure if this community would exist today with many thousand players on the tours every week.
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Post by yeltzman on Feb 2, 2023 5:09:47 GMT -5
You could make a case without TGC tours the game wouldn't have got past the first version, This Site made the game (The Golf club) but Since Anthony left the vision changed not for the better in my view, just look back at TGC1 how you could set up 4 versions of the course to play and a live friend just joined you on the first tee. Yes the gameplay as improved but the ways to play with friends or ghosts has gone a long way backwards, Plus i really miss the single player custom mode they took out in 2k21 with not being a tour or social player loved to edit the names and custom the tour.
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Post by martbloke on Feb 2, 2023 6:29:17 GMT -5
I think the association with the PGA TOUR has been good for the series and actually is an improvement on the fake names from earlier versions. Having licensed tours, players, courses is always a good thing. It's just HB/2K have not really done anything great with it. You could have a deeper, more immersive career mode for example that plays in with how it is on the tour irl but they went basic with it in the hope the names did the job for them. They could've allowed you to play as a licensed pro too if you wanted to win the Tour Champ with say Ricky or Tiger - stats are unique per golfer and cannot be changed. Play as yourself coming up through college all the way to tour improving stats/equipment/virtual currency etc. So many options but they just have no imagination.
What it has done is brought in some of the real events on tour and courses which is nice although HB aren't fantastic at creating them. Also a realistic structure to the season too with entry requirements to make certain events which is also usable in societies.
Outside of this, it's just been pretty poor. We don't know how much they have had to spend to get these licenses and whether that has impacted production of other areas of the game. If you'd say to me that if the money spent on licensing the game was instead invested to other parts making a game of just fake names/players but a deeper career mode with AI playing alongside, more options in CD and societies, a lobby style MP mode with decent ranked play, less need on MTX grind modes so no more consumable ball type mechanics and gameplay was more in tune with some golf and less arcade stuffs - I'd take that over licensing all day!
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Post by sroel908 on Feb 2, 2023 9:44:07 GMT -5
It's a blessing and a curse. Same goes for all the additional clothing, club brands, etc. that are in the game.
Having the PGA Tour license helped give the series "legitimacy", in terms of it becoming a "AAA" sports title. Before, when it was just "The Golf Club", it was a totally niche title that wasn't mainstream in the same way the NBA, NFL, NHL, etc. game were.
Now, with both 2K's financial support, and the PGA Tour license, PGA 2K is in that same level.
However, this means that they now had to adhere to certain contractual agreements that would limit freedom that they had when they were just a small, unlicensed game that kind of flew under the radar. We used to be able to change the color of our clothes, but now you can't because there are actual brands of apparel in the game. We are super limited in what we call created courses, because they have to shell out money to license real-life tracks for career mode. I mean, we used to have Solo Societies, which allowed you to create an entire customized season schedule with any courses you wanted...that went away pretty much as soon as the PGA Tour came on board.
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Post by martbloke on Feb 2, 2023 9:53:13 GMT -5
It's a blessing and a curse. Same goes for all the additional clothing, club brands, etc. that are in the game. Having the PGA Tour license helped give the series "legitimacy", in terms of it becoming a "AAA" sports title. Before, when it was just "The Golf Club", it was a totally niche title that wasn't mainstream in the same way the NBA, NFL, NHL, etc. game were. Now, with both 2K's financial support, and the PGA Tour license, PGA 2K is in that same level. However, this means that they now had to adhere to certain contractual agreements that would limit freedom that they had when they were just a small, unlicensed game that kind of flew under the radar. We used to be able to change the color of our clothes, but now you can't because there are actual brands of apparel in the game. We are super limited in what we call created courses, because they have to shell out money to license real-life tracks for career mode. I mean, we used to have Solo Societies, which allowed you to create an entire customized season schedule with any courses you wanted...that went away pretty much as soon as the PGA Tour came on board. Yeah the solo societies disappearing was annoying. Bring it back and make it playable by multiple peeps. Don't even care if they have fake AI names or if they restrict licensed courses from it. |
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Post by rjwils30 on Feb 2, 2023 10:30:38 GMT -5
I think the association with the PGA TOUR has been good for the series and actually is an improvement on the fake names from earlier versions. Having licensed tours, players, courses is always a good thing. It's just HB/2K have not really done anything great with it. You could have a deeper, more immersive career mode for example that plays in with how it is on the tour irl but they went basic with it in the hope the names did the job for them. They could've allowed you to play as a licensed pro too if you wanted to win the Tour Champ with say Ricky or Tiger - stats are unique per golfer and cannot be changed. Play as yourself coming up through college all the way to tour improving stats/equipment/virtual currency etc. So many options but they just have no imagination. What it has done is brought in some of the real events on tour and courses which is nice although HB aren't fantastic at creating them. Also a realistic structure to the season too with entry requirements to make certain events which is also usable in societies. Outside of this, it's just been pretty poor. We don't know how much they have had to spend to get these licenses and whether that has impacted production of other areas of the game. If you'd say to me that if the money spent on licensing the game was instead invested to other parts making a game of just fake names/players but a deeper career mode with AI playing alongside, more options in CD and societies, a lobby style MP mode with decent ranked play, less need on MTX grind modes so no more consumable ball type mechanics and gameplay was more in tune with some golf and less arcade stuffs - I'd take that over licensing all day! I guess I’m wondering is it the career mode that keeps players coming back? Or is that something that people just blow through in a few weeks after which they just play societies/TGC tours. TGC tours seems like the best part about the game from a competitive standpoint anyway. I started playing the career mode and found it pretty dull. Like you said they haven’t really captured the full experience. But at what cost are they really going to get that, and do the bones of the game get sacrificed as a result. |
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Post by sroel908 on Feb 2, 2023 10:42:39 GMT -5
I guess I’m wondering is it the career mode that keeps players coming back? Or is that something that people just blow through in a few weeks after which they just play societies/TGC tours. TGC tours seems like the best part about the game from a competitive standpoint anyway. I started playing the career mode and found it pretty dull. Like you said they haven’t really captured the full experience. But at what cost are they really going to get that, and do the bones of the game get sacrificed as a result. It seems that, outside of the TGCTours community, many do play career mode. Just look at any of the social media posts about Pebble Beach here in the last couple days, and people continue to ask if the course will be in career mode. And all the real-life official courses in the game get tons and tons of plays...one would assume that's due to online play and career mode use. That's honestly why EA is coming back, IMO. Because 2K can't capture a decent career mode experience, there's a huge gap there for an immersive single player mode - and rumor has it, there may even be a multiplayer career mode in EA's game, too. |
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Post by rjwils30 on Feb 2, 2023 10:42:50 GMT -5
You could make a case without TGC tours the game wouldn't have got past the first version, This Site made the game (The Golf club) but Since Anthony left the vision changed not for the better in my view, just look back at TGC1 how you could set up 4 versions of the course to play and a live friend just joined you on the first tee. Yes the gameplay as improved but the ways to play with friends or ghosts has gone a long way backwards, Plus i really miss the single player custom mode they took out in 2k21 with not being a tour or social player loved to edit the names and custom the tour. I agree TGC tours is the best thing this game has going and it’s too bad they didn’t really build on the potential of it instead of going down the career mode rabbit hole which, despite much investment, has yet to become the truly immersive PGA experience that it wants to be. And now with EA coming along you have a game that could far exceed that experience if only for the inclusion of the Majors, which are the only golf tournaments I really care about. |
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Post by rjwils30 on Feb 2, 2023 10:56:37 GMT -5
It's a blessing and a curse. Same goes for all the additional clothing, club brands, etc. that are in the game. Having the PGA Tour license helped give the series "legitimacy", in terms of it becoming a "AAA" sports title. Before, when it was just "The Golf Club", it was a totally niche title that wasn't mainstream in the same way the NBA, NFL, NHL, etc. game were. Now, with both 2K's financial support, and the PGA Tour license, PGA 2K is in that same level. However, this means that they now had to adhere to certain contractual agreements that would limit freedom that they had when they were just a small, unlicensed game that kind of flew under the radar. We used to be able to change the color of our clothes, but now you can't because there are actual brands of apparel in the game. We are super limited in what we call created courses, because they have to shell out money to license real-life tracks for career mode. I mean, we used to have Solo Societies, which allowed you to create an entire customized season schedule with any courses you wanted...that went away pretty much as soon as the PGA Tour came on board. Fully agree with these points. The legitimacy is what makes the game bigger and more popular but as you note the costs of building the game out to meet the PGA expectation costs a lot of money. Most of which goes to things that have limited effect for the on course game play. I had hoped with the additional popularity and revenue there would have been greater advances in the core of the game. |
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Post by bubbadave on Feb 2, 2023 13:35:58 GMT -5
I guess I’m wondering is it the career mode that keeps players coming back? Or is that something that people just blow through in a few weeks after which they just play societies/TGC tours. TGC tours seems like the best part about the game from a competitive standpoint anyway. I started playing the career mode and found it pretty dull. Like you said they haven’t really captured the full experience. But at what cost are they really going to get that, and do the bones of the game get sacrificed as a result. It seems that, outside of the TGCTours community, many do play career mode. Just look at any of the social media posts about Pebble Beach here in the last couple days, and people continue to ask if the course will be in career mode. And all the real-life official courses in the game get tons and tons of plays...one would assume that's due to online play and career mode use. That's honestly why EA is coming back, IMO. Because 2K can't capture a decent career mode experience, there's a huge gap there for an immersive single player mode - and rumor has it, there may even be a multiplayer career mode in EA's game, too. I gravitate towards games with career modes as I like how they measure progression. I played an old EA hockey game and soccer game in the 80s that both had great career modes, and the old EA NCAA football franchise was the same way. However, it seems HB/2K has missed the boat. Here is how I would set up a career mode:
—Continuity/Immersion. I struggled in both 21 and 23 versions getting through the Korn Ferry. However, the opponents I played against and beat me, never moved onto the tour. They were always still in the Korn Ferry the next 2-3 seasons. How hard would it be to randomize all the players names and promote them to the PGA Tour. Then after however many tries to get to the PGA, you're running up against them? You want a legitimate rivalry function? What is more rewarding than bettering the Korn Ferry player who had your number while on that tour? —Complete ability to Change Tour Courses. Let's see how Tiger or Thomas or Scheffler do on Persephone or Emery Beach or any number of designed courses. —Customizable Tours. I'd prefer to see a College track to the Korn Ferry to the PGA. I'd also like to be able to program how many tournaments are played each season. Maybe I want a 32 week Korn Ferry or to expand the PGA season. Maybe I want 12 college events. Flexibility and change is the key to replayability.
Just give us options.
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Post by Mick on Feb 2, 2023 14:41:26 GMT -5
Now that EA are back 2K should brand itself with LIV Golf...I'm only half kidding.
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