MyLEAGUE Online
MyLEAGUE Online has seen a lot of improvements in NBA 2K17. Last year, its first year, was all about delivering a rock solid mode that provided an exciting experience for you and your friends. Personally, I think we hit that mark, and even exceeded it. This year is all about taking the foundation we built in 2K16 and adding to it. The vision for this year was to add future years to MLO and make it a continuous franchise experience. I want to inject new draft classes. To see the young kids grow into superstars. And to see the superstars decline and eventually retire. All of this, I wanted to do in a new and exciting way. One that will keep you all on your toes.
MyLEAGUE Online does not revolve around money and contracts. That is something we have limited to our offline experience. Instead, we are adding a fantasy element (of sorts) to the mode this year. That core fantasy element revolves around the concept of ‘Keepers’. Every player in the league has a number of ‘keeper years’ attached to him. At the end of every season, the GM of each team is able to keep a set number of players on their roster (this number is totally customizable by the Admin), so long as the players in question have at least 1 keeper year left. Players who no longer have any keeper years left simply become a free agent.
The offseason is a fun and integral part of our new experience. Players now age in MyLEAGUE Online. This means you have player progression, as well as player regression. The draft is the centerpiece of the offseason experience. Prefacing the draft is the draft lottery where all of the teams that don’t make the playoffs get a chance for that coveted #1 pick (this works as you know it). The draft itself is where things get REALLY interesting. The player pool for the draft is a combination of the incoming rookie class coupled with all of the available free agents (e.g. players who weren’t protected and/or have expired keeper years). This essentially means that with every pick in the draft, you are going to need to decide if you want to try and draft the next big star OR spend your draft picks on developed players. If you are at the top of the draft, you may get lucky and land a marquee player like a Paul George or John Wall. That will come at the expense of drafting and developing a young rookie, though. I’ll be the first to admit, this is a unique way to do an offseason. It’s a way though, that has provided the development team here with some really, really compelling drafts and leagues that were just downright fun to be a part of. Through those personal experiences, I can’t wait for you to actually get your hands on it to see how it feels.
As this is a MyLEAGUE experience, complete customization is the paradigm we are sticking to. New support includes:
- Admins can schedule and update the offseason draft time to one that works best for his/her league.
- Admins can import custom Draft Classes directly into MLO this year. In fact, the draft classes can be imported right up to the start of the draft. Additionally, we now allow for the editing or prospects after the class has been imported. If your league members want changes to the incoming class, you have the tools to make the changes.
- As league members can play games in any order, the concept of ‘time’ is loosely based in this experience. To combat this, we have now given Admins the ability to generate new Power Rankings, Big Boards, and Mock Drafts whenever they deem fit for their leagues.
- Admins can customize the number of Keepers teams are allowed to hold onto after each season, all the way from 0 players up to 15. The default value is 5 players, which we have found keeps things interesting going from year-to-year.
- We understand that drafting a rookie entails waiting around for the player to blossom. The last thing you want to do is invest time waiting for him to blossom, only to have him walk when his keeper years expire once he reaches his potential. As such, we have added an Admin option that allows you to add additional Keeper Years to drafted rookies. This encourages you to draft them, as you will have additional years to see them develop and take advantage of their newfound skills before they enter free agency.
- Admins will now have access to the Edit Player feature of an already running MyLEAGUE Online.
- Injuries have been added to MLO for 2K17. Injury duration is defined as number of games. For those who prefer their players to all be healthy, there is an admin option to turn injuries off.
- Admins have been given the ability to manually unretired players that have decided to call it quits.
- Admins will have the ability to re-run the Draft Lottery in the event that the guy no one likes wins it (I kid, but the ability is there!). Additionally, Admins will also have the ability to manually set the draft order for the offseason draft should your league come up with a custom way to order the draft. These two options right here, I think these really show how serious we are about letting you build your league the EXACT way you want it. Customization, all day!
Even with all of the above being added to the mode, maintaining complete reliability with an “it just works” experience was still our #1 goal for this year. Beyond that, I genuinely think you are going to love what we have done to the mode this year. I can’t wait to hear your feedback once you actually have the controller in your hands.
. 2k don't give a rats ass about balance
This explains a lot
