I haven't read through this thread because it's way too long. So I'll just say my peace. I really enjoyed the Live 18 demo. I enjoyed the my player mode more so than I did the last couple of attempts by 2K. And I maxxed out to Lvl 20 on the demo by playing the online 5v5. I couldn't get a decent enough team together to beat Chris Smoove or LSK's overpowered ass teams. But I did do some damage in the 5v5 so I was happy with that. I do think that 2K's graphics are better. 2K's "2K" camera is also better. But overall I really enjoyed the demo and I plan on buying the game.
2K16 was the first 2K game I'd played since maybe 2K12 or 2K11 I can't remember so I was excited to jump back into it after a hiatus. What I found was some familiar gameplay, which I appreciated, and online dominated by VC built create a players. I just couldn't stomach it. Maybe some folks don't see anything wrong with VC, but I don't like that 2K allows people to play online with characters they have created essentially using real world cash to raise their attributes. From what I've seen of Live, they aren't planning on doing that. I'm not sure what the consensus is on TheColi, but for me, no VC is almost enough reason for me by itself to buy Live over 2K.