Monday Tip-Off: New Gen Of Modding, Old School Approach
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on how NBA 2K25 New Gen coming to PC provides an opportunity to revive an old school approach to modding.
The announcement that NBA 2K25 PC will be New Gen – i.e. a PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X port – was naturally greeted with enthusiasm in our community. It’s taken longer than we were hoping, but the PC will finally be receiving the flagship version of NBA 2K once again, with all of its enhancements and content. That of course includes MyNBA Eras and its associated rosters, which should provide a massive head start for retro season modding projects. It’s exciting, especially as it could well herald a new golden age in our modding community.
However, to ensure this new era of modding is as successful as it could and should be, we need to adopt the right attitude. To be frank, this new gen of modding requires an old school approach. That doesn’t mean we should get bogged down by old ideas and thus fail to innovate, but I believe that in some respects, our modding community has lost its way. We’ve drifted from the philosophies and values that allowed us to create fantastic works that everyone could enjoy. We’ve also grown so accustomed to being able to do anything and everything that we allow imperfections to be a roadblock. To that end, an old school approach will greatly benefit NBA 2K25 New Gen modding.
Let’s start with what’s probably the less controversial of the two issues that I outlined above: being discouraged by limitations. Our modding community has been able to do some amazing things throughout the years, going right back to the heyday of NBA Live. From adding faces that look better than the default likenesses to in-depth retro rosters to all kinds of overhauls to the aesthetics, we’ve been able to change so much in our favourite games. This is absolutely something to strive for every year, but there is a downside. Expectations of matching and topping what’s been done before can make us unappreciative of minimalist projects, and making do with what we’ve got.
I’ll admit to having a greater appreciation for minimalist projects because I remember the early days of NBA Live modding. Outdated logos, incorrect portraits, and other inaccuracies that we weren’t able to fix were readily overlooked, because there was still novelty in the updated or retro rosters. Even roster editing wasn’t as easy to begin with, as NBA Live 95 PC required great care when overwriting text strings to rename players. Over the years, there have been other limitations, not to mention the need to develop new tools and techniques, which have made modding more challenging. Our ability to rise to the challenge and make the best of the situation has been admirable.
At the same time, we can be too quick to throw up our hands in defeat whenever the situation isn’t ideal. Focusing on what we can’t do with modding not only gets in the way of persevering for solutions, but also fails to take into account what we can do. This is something to avoid when we get our hands on NBA 2K25 New Gen. If we can’t assign faces right away, or change jersey assignments, or edit certain team and player data, that’s unfortunate, but it shouldn’t stop us. Instead, we should focus on what can be done with the in-game customisation functionality, and strive to do as much as possible with the wealth of content that we’ll already have at our disposal.
Indeed, that old school approach is what gamers have been doing with the New Gen versions of NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K24 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Despite the lack of external editing tools and custom textures, people like MJWizards have created comprehensive updates to the MyNBA Eras rosters. Missing players have been added, historical Draft Classes have been updated, and the custom rosters are far more accurate as a result. Are the created faces as good as the best cyberface updates? No, but many of them are quite impressive! More to the point, playing with complete lineups featuring well-made created players is far better than having no update at all.
Again, that’s not ideal on PC where we’re used to complete updates, but it’s preferable to the default rosters. Besides, we can always polish up projects once we have all of the necessary tools and techniques; to put it another way, we do the best we can until we can do even better. This may sound like an incredibly obvious solution, but since we’ve grown accustomed to mods that are accurate down to the last detail that we can feasibly change, it’s easy to get snobby about projects that are minimalist, or aren’t as deep for some very understandable reason. Frankly, there’s entitlement in expecting every roster mod to be fully-formed out of the gate, rather than developing over time.
It’s tough to say without sounding preachy and scolding, not to mention unambitious, but the achievements of our modding community over the years have spoiled us, and left us with some lofty expectations. Yes, we certainly do want to be able to add new textures and models on top of replacing existing ones, as well as edit roster data that’s inaccessible in-game; that’s how we’ve created some incredible mods! They aren’t the only worthwhile projects, though. There’s value in an old school approach of doing as much as possible using the functions and content that NBA 2K25 Next Gen provides, and then getting more ambitious with modding projects as new tools are developed.
Simply put, this means valuing the gameplay experience over artistic perfection. This is why we create mods in the first place, after all: to add missing content to the game, and create new experiences. Not to belabour a point, but a fixed MyNBA Eras roster with all the missing players, fixed ratings, accurate lineups, and Draft Classes without placeholders, is far superior to what’s in NBA 2K by default; even without realistic cyberfaces. It still gives gamers who are interested in retro rosters something far more fun to play with, since we can add unlicensed players without any problems. Well, unless we do something foolish, like try to charge money for rosters and other mods.
That brings us to the ticklish issue as we prepare to embark on a new gen of modding, and why I believe an old school approach is important. Just as the recurrent revenue mechanics in NBA 2K have been a major factor in preventing the game from entering a new golden age, the modding scene is likewise afflicted by a desire for profit. It’s genuinely disheartening how normalised the concept of charging and paying for mods has become. There was a time when anyone who dared to ask for money would’ve been run out of the community. Now, people will openly offer to pay for work. It’s gotten to the point where modders are in no position to scold Take-Two about greed.
I’ve already discussed the legal and ethical issues with charging for mods, but the short version is that neither the law nor morality is on your side if you do. Profiting off of likenesses and licenses that you don’t own through modding doesn’t fall under fair use, and is at risk of legal action (not to mention bringing modding under scrutiny that no one should want). Expecting to make a 100% profit from your work without compensating any of the entities that own those licences/likenesses, not to mention anyone who helped make your project a reality with tools and other contributions – or indeed the platforms that provide promotion and hosting for them – is simply scummy.
Even when there’s no money changing hands, modding often falls victim to another online scourge: clout chasing. Our modding community has always been at its best when the goal has been to enhance the games we love, and to create cool projects that we and our fellow gamers will enjoy playing with. If your goal is to become a “name” and achieve some level of online celebrity, gain influence with 2K just to feel special, or even to blatantly angle for a job, in all honesty, that’s just gross. There’s nothing wrong with promoting your work or wanting to be a developer, but if your approach is self-serving and arrogant, then it’s the furthest thing from being community-oriented.
Our modding community has an excellent opportunity to correct course with NBA 2K25 New Gen coming to PC. Yes, we should be excited about the possibilities that come with getting the flagship version of the game, but we also have a chance to – for lack of a better word – reboot our approach. It begins with a willingness to start small and do what we can right away. We need to identify what can and can’t be done, put what can’t be done on the list of long-term goals to work towards, and roll up our sleeves to get started on what’s feasible in the short term. No external modding right away? No problem! We’ll work on that, and in the meantime, create what we can.
As we develop tools and techniques that go beyond the in-game customisation, we need to share resources and information with each other. Nothing should be hoarded or paywalled. After all, modding is about making the games that we play better, not fawning adulation and profiting off of our fellow gamers…right? Just as modes such as MyCAREER and MyTEAM are hindered by greed, so too is modding. Let’s be better than the suits that we so often rightly criticise! Focusing on the goal of making the game better however possible will also help us to be patient, doing whatever we can with the tools and functions at our disposal, until we’re able to achieve even more.
NBA 2K25 New Gen coming to PC is an opportunity to move away from the toxicity that has done our community no favours; to bring back that old school approach that allowed modding to be so fun and successful. If we get too hung up on perfection and an ideal scenario where we can replicate previous projects right away, we’re going to impede our own progress. If we choose to be greedy and self-serving, we’ll only stand in the way of completing and enjoying some fantastic projects. This may be a new generation, a new day, but there’s wisdom from the past that can help us foster a better modding scene moving forward. Let’s not squander this rare and exciting opportunity.
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