Voting Has Begun for the 2023 Operation Sports Community Game of the Year Awards

[Steve_OS]

It’s that time of year when we ask our OS community to vote in the 2023...

Written By: Steve Noah

Click here to view the article.

[gsize19]

Thanks Steve for putting this out every year. I love being able to voice my picks in a poll.

While I am sure mine will differ from many, my only hope is developers begin to take note of the "disappointing" question area and I am looking directly at EA when I say this.

I started an NHL25 wishlist several months back on the EA Sports NHL forum, and it has so many great ideas, many feasible, some are really not achievable or stretch goals, but EA's motto is "If it is in the game, it's in the game", so none of the several pages long of suggestions should be discredited, because the reality is, everything that people are mentioning is "in the game".

Franchises need an overhaul. EA needs to hire people who their sole function is to identify franchise improvements. They have enough people that think they know what people want from a video game only to see it backfire like the past few years.

I have looked at other wishlists with other games, and let;s be honest here, I don't think anyone is overreaching the capabilities of a Next Gen system, apart from bringing back custom music for games, which sadly has been put to bed. Hard to believe the PS3 and that generations XBox had it right and you had to take ten steps backwards when upgrading to next gen technology, but that is what has happened.

The sports gaming community is passionate. I read so many comments on here, and so many make so much sense when people speak of Offline Franchise mode. I am sure it is the same for RPG games and others, but I don't play those others, so I am not sure of the likes, dislikes or wants from the crowd, but for sports gaming, the majority here want a close to simulation style gameplay that can be played without all the arcade bells and whistles thrown on to us. This is what a gameplay option of Sim, Hybrid, Arcade should be used for. There is no reason why when you pick Sim, a game like EA's NHL series should play like NHL Hitz. I chose sim, if I wanted to play arcade, unrealistic gameplay, I would have chosen arcade, which this should probably be used for Online, or maybe Hybrid, this way you make both crowds happy.

Developers, PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy; take note to what your customers are asking for. Deeper franchises, and I am not talking in terms of years, I am talking in terms of what is involved with a Franchise. Real Coaches, multiple levels of development (i.e. ECHL and AHL for hockey games); owner negotiations within the franchise to sign new affiliates, face customization, all-star games from players who earn it in season (at least MLB The Show has this right), winter classics, Global series games, overseas games for Madden, international games for MLB, retired numbers, Retiring players who sometimes become coaches, and so many other little things that really should be done to authenticate a simulation.

Until developers finally wake up and reach out to someone who wants to take a deep dive within a franchise mode, the same headaches in addition to new ones will grow. These sports game don't need a major engine overhaul, they need some tweaking with people who aren't afraid of speaking up in a meeting and saying "HUT, MUT, FUT, we are going to make money on this from people who buy it for this type of gameplay, but it's time to cater to some of us dinosaurs who have played these games before many or you were even born, and just want some love and attention with the offline franchise depth and customization. Realism! The little things! What we would see in an arena or stadium.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Nobody does sports like NBA2K. Nobody.

[kingsofthevalley]

WWE 2K 23 and Madden 24 are the bumble bees knees ! I’m sure NBA 2K is great as well if the one I played in the past is any indicator, haven’t played any recent version’s however.

[psucolonel]

Quote: Originally Posted by gsize19

Thanks Steve for putting this out every year. I love being able to voice my picks in a poll. While I am sure mine will differ from many, my only hope is developers begin to take note of the "disappointing" question area and I am looking directly at EA when I say this. I started an NHL25 wishlist several months back on the EA Sports NHL forum, and it has so many great ideas, many feasible, some are really not achievable or stretch goals, but EA's motto is "If it is in the game, it's in the game", so none of the several pages long of suggestions should be discredited, because the reality is, everything that people are mentioning is "in the game". Franchises need an overhaul. EA needs to hire people who their sole function is to identify franchise improvements. They have enough people that think they know what people want from a video game only to see it backfire like the past few years. I have looked at other wishlists with other games, and let;s be honest here, I don't think anyone is overreaching the capabilities of a Next Gen system, apart from bringing back custom music for games, which sadly has been put to bed. Hard to believe the PS3 and that generations XBox had it right and you had to take ten steps backwards when upgrading to next gen technology, but that is what has happened. The sports gaming community is passionate. I read so many comments on here, and so many make so much sense when people speak of Offline Franchise mode. I am sure it is the same for RPG games and others, but I don't play those others, so I am not sure of the likes, dislikes or wants from the crowd, but for sports gaming, the majority here want a close to simulation style gameplay that can be played without all the arcade bells and whistles thrown on to us. This is what a gameplay option of Sim, Hybrid, Arcade should be used for. There is no reason why when you pick Sim, a game like EA's NHL series should play like NHL Hitz. I chose sim, if I wanted to play arcade, unrealistic gameplay, I would have chosen arcade, which this should probably be used for Online, or maybe Hybrid, this way you make both crowds happy. Developers, PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy; take note to what your customers are asking for. Deeper franchises, and I am not talking in terms of years, I am talking in terms of what is involved with a Franchise. Real Coaches, multiple levels of development (i.e. ECHL and AHL for hockey games); owner negotiations within the franchise to sign new affiliates, face customization, all-star games from players who earn it in season (at least MLB The Show has this right), winter classics, Global series games, overseas games for Madden, international games for MLB, retired numbers, Retiring players who sometimes become coaches, and so many other little things that really should be done to authenticate a simulation. Until developers finally wake up and reach out to someone who wants to take a deep dive within a franchise mode, the same headaches in addition to new ones will grow. These sports game don't need a major engine overhaul, they need some tweaking with people who aren't afraid of speaking up in a meeting and saying "HUT, MUT, FUT, we are going to make money on this from people who buy it for this type of gameplay, but it's time to cater to some of us dinosaurs who have played these games before many or you were even born, and just want some love and attention with the offline franchise depth and customization. Realism! The little things! What we would see in an arena or stadium.

It really appears that Operation Sports is definitely trying to move away form the "sports management" genre...evidenced by the last two years of these awards...not even a category for them any longer.