Dynamic Difficulty?

[The Chef]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I'm just about to give up on DD, the swings are WAY overdone. I know some said you had to play a lot of games for it to dial you in but I don't think there is any dialing in when it can change from one game to the next. I'm 45 games in so for it to not have "dialed" me in still and would rather promote me when I have one good game then take 2-3 games to demote me back is just too much. It's hard enough at times to play when you're in a slump but when you've gotta deal with the DD throwing you all over the place it gets even worse. I really hope the developers listen for next year and make the "+" levels selectable so I can simply select AS+ and leave it there but since they haven't I'll just settle for AS difficulty for pitching and leave it alone. The idea is solid but heavily flawed imo, it is just too quick to promote you and all that does is make your bottom of the rotation guys even worse when their turn comes around right as you've been promoted to the level you have no desire to even be on. Perfect example, I was just promoted after a 4-1 loss at Arizona, I have absolutely zero idea why it promoted me up after a losing effort when the idea is you can only get promoted when you're winning by 3 runs or more so not sure if it was a glitch or if I'm just incorrect on how this works. I start the game at the Mets with Kershaw on the mound, they have the best patience I've ever seen and the rare times they swing they either foul it off or somehow get a hit, the QC's I was getting stuck with was a constant stream of 3 ball counts regardless of the fact that Kershaw was pitching and regardless of who was hitting, I didn't notice this issue on AS+ so I'm left to assume that the higher you go up difficulty wise the harder the counts become seeing as I'm lost as to an explanation otherwise. Anyways, I think DD was a worthwhile addition to the game and with some fine tuning it will be excellent but it needs to get a better formula in place for how frequently you can promote a level, ie. take a larger sample size then say 1 game or even 3 games. If the game is capable of counting stats from the last 10 days to figure out who is hot and who isn't maybe using a sample size as large as 5 or 10 games before promotion or demotion would be a better method. With the current system you can play a 3 game series against a light hitting team and shut them down only to have the game believe you're too good at the current level and boost you up only to get rocked the moment you go up when you face a better team.

[The Chef]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

Very helpfull thread. Have a few questions and apologize in advance if its been covered and I missed it.
Im currently hitting on rookie+ which Im sure contributes to the insane hr totals I have. 52 in 31 games. If I progress to Veteran and hopefully AllStar at some point does it get noticably tougher to hit hrs? I know some will suggest lowering human power but I really hate messing with sliders too much unless I have to.

Regarding levelling up. If you strike out alot does this penalize you more? Ive had innings where I dont get any hits but worked the count and made good contact. Seems to penalize me less than quick innings where I struck out. Perhaps Im just imagining it.

Lastly if I decide to not use DD anymore and switch to say All Star difficulty then DD is reset back to Rookie if I re visit it?

I've never seen it give me "credit" for working counts but not getting on base. The entire system being setup off of OPS tells me it's probably just a placebo effect and you're still somewhat early on so the swings aren't as drastic as they seem to be the further you get using it.

As for your last question, I thought the DD was tied to your universal profile so changing it to say All-Star and eventually changing it back to DD should still load it in right where you left off I would think but I can't say with 100% certainty.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I've never seen it give me "credit" for working counts but not getting on base. The entire system being setup off of OPS tells me it's probably just a placebo effect and you're still somewhat early on so the swings aren't as drastic as they seem to be the further you get using it.

As for your last question, I thought the DD was tied to your universal profile so changing it to say All-Star and eventually changing it back to DD should still load it in right where you left off I would think but I can't say with 100% certainty.

You can turn it of and on and will and not lose your progress. So yes, you can say it with 100% certainty! LOL!

One more thing. Note: SCEA, if this is a bug, please DO NOT patch.

I'm confused on the 3 run rules here. I've occassionally used the All-Star team vs. AA team method for leveling up or down. But here's the thing: I'm only pitching. Why is it that I can advance full levels while not being up 3 runs (how can I? I'm only pitching so DD is off on the hitting portion)?

Don't get me wrong, I love that I can do this (I repeat, if it's a bug, please don't patch it!)? But doesn't doing this break the 3 run lead rule?

[Dolenz]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I have not doe much with DD on my franchise but I have a RTTS player that has used it since I started him. I am in mid August and the game has bumped the level up to Legendary.

I am not sure I want to be dealing with that. I am thinking about taking it back down to a static Hall of Fame level.

[darkknightrises]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I'm just about to give up on DD, the swings are WAY overdone. I know some said you had to play a lot of games for it to dial you in but I don't think there is any dialing in when it can change from one game to the next. I'm 45 games in so for it to not have "dialed" me in still and would rather promote me when I have one good game then take 2-3 games to demote me back is just too much. It's hard enough at times to play when you're in a slump but when you've gotta deal with the DD throwing you all over the place it gets even worse. I really hope the developers listen for next year and make the "+" levels selectable so I can simply select AS+ and leave it there but since they haven't I'll just settle for AS difficulty for pitching and leave it alone. The idea is solid but heavily flawed imo, it is just too quick to promote you and all that does is make your bottom of the rotation guys even worse when their turn comes around right as you've been promoted to the level you have no desire to even be on. Perfect example, I was just promoted after a 4-1 loss at Arizona, I have absolutely zero idea why it promoted me up after a losing effort when the idea is you can only get promoted when you're winning by 3 runs or more so not sure if it was a glitch or if I'm just incorrect on how this works. I start the game at the Mets with Kershaw on the mound, they have the best patience I've ever seen and the rare times they swing they either foul it off or somehow get a hit, the QC's I was getting stuck with was a constant stream of 3 ball counts regardless of the fact that Kershaw was pitching and regardless of who was hitting, I didn't notice this issue on AS+ so I'm left to assume that the higher you go up difficulty wise the harder the counts become seeing as I'm lost as to an explanation otherwise. Anyways, I think DD was a worthwhile addition to the game and with some fine tuning it will be excellent but it needs to get a better formula in place for how frequently you can promote a level, ie. take a larger sample size then say 1 game or even 3 games. If the game is capable of counting stats from the last 10 days to figure out who is hot and who isn't maybe using a sample size as large as 5 or 10 games before promotion or demotion would be a better method. With the current system you can play a 3 game series against a light hitting team and shut them down only to have the game believe you're too good at the current level and boost you up only to get rocked the moment you go up when you face a better team.

I agree that you should be able to select the + levels and I bet we will beable to next year has this guys alrease listen and make upgrades to the game un like madden with madden IQ and a lot of other things lol these guys build on what the have and I beat they really even make undjustmens next year on how this thing works. I would like to play on pitching all star + has on allstar I am to good but on hof not good enough so the + would maybe be perfect for me. In the past I have ether played on all star or half of fame. On all star default I though to many strikes and don't give up enough runs. On hof the computer hits everything and I cant strike them out enough.

[cibo2]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I like the idea of DD but so far for me, it hasn't produced the results I would like. I've played 15 games and I'm 12-3. Dynamic Difficulty has put me at Veteran + for pitching and All-Star + for pitching. Until this year, I usually set the difficulty to HoF or Legend for pitching and hitting. The game is simply too easy for me right now and DD isn't adapting fast enough. How long would you guys say it takes for DD to "catch up" with me? I don't know how long I should stick with this for. I enjoy a challenge, I don't like pounding the CPU every single game.

Also I have this issue where I'm at Veteran ++++ for pitching, I pitch well enough to move up (retire 9 hitters in a row) and the difficulty changes to Veteran +. What gives? anybody else run into this?

[bcruise]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I like the idea of DD but so far for me, it hasn't produced the results I would like. I've played 15 games and I'm 12-3. Dynamic Difficulty has put me at Veteran + for pitching and All-Star + for pitching. Until this year, I usually set the difficulty to HoF or Legend for pitching and hitting. The game is simply too easy for me right now and DD isn't adapting fast enough. How long would you guys say it takes for DD to "catch up" with me? I don't know how long I should stick with this for. I enjoy a challenge, I don't like pounding the CPU every single game.

Also I have this issue where I'm at Veteran ++++ for pitching, I pitch well enough to move up (retire 9 hitters in a row) and the difficulty changes to Veteran +. What gives? anybody else run into this?

The big key to promotion on hitting is sustained offense, with a lot of extra base hits. That can get you promoted in one inning sometimes.

It depends on which hitting mode you're using, but if you're using zone just swing Power. It'll increase your chance for extra base hits and, if you make contact, lead to some big innings. Once you reach a level where you're doing a lot of swinging and missing on Power, drop back to the normal swing.

Or you can do like H&V has suggested and play a MLB vs. AA game in exhibition. DD progress will save either way as long as you make sure that profile is selected on the controller select screen before the game.

Pitching is just a slow burn by nature - OPS only drops for outs recorded, and it's just going to take time to record enough of them without giving up base hits.

"Veteran+" is the sub-level after Veteran. You promoted. The "++++" you saw earlier was your progress towards promotion.

[ShaBoomer]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I like the idea of DD but so far for me, it hasn't produced the results I would like. I've played 15 games and I'm 12-3. Dynamic Difficulty has put me at Veteran + for pitching and All-Star + for pitching. Until this year, I usually set the difficulty to HoF or Legend for pitching and hitting. The game is simply too easy for me right now and DD isn't adapting fast enough. How long would you guys say it takes for DD to "catch up" with me? I don't know how long I should stick with this for. I enjoy a challenge, I don't like pounding the CPU every single game.

Also I have this issue where I'm at Veteran ++++ for pitching, I pitch well enough to move up (retire 9 hitters in a row) and the difficulty changes to Veteran +. What gives? anybody else run into this?

If you're "pounding" the CPU (beating them by at least 3 runs) you should move up 1 level per game on offense. You can only move up or down once per game.

And your difficulty actually levelled up to Veteran+. There is only 1 "+" level in between each regular level (so Rookie+, Veteran+, AS+, HOF+). The extra "+'s" are just to show you that you are getting closer to being promoted.

[cibo2]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

The big key to promotion on hitting is sustained offense, with a lot of extra base hits. That can get you promoted in one inning sometimes.

It depends on which hitting mode you're using, but if you're using zone just swing Power. It'll increase your chance for extra base hits and, if you make contact, lead to some big innings. Once you reach a level where you're doing a lot of swinging and missing on Power, drop back to the normal swing.

Or you can do like H&V has suggested and play a MLB vs. AA game in exhibition. DD progress will save either way as long as you make sure that profile is selected on the controller select screen before the game.

Pitching is just a slow burn by nature - OPS only drops for outs recorded, and it's just going to take time to record enough of them without giving up base hits.

"Veteran+" is the sub-level after Veteran. You promoted. The "++++" you saw earlier was your progress towards promotion.

This makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about trying to up the difficulty outside of my Franchise. It's a much better idea to do it in exhibition vs a AA team. That way I won't run away with the division in my franchise. Thanks for the info about the sub levels. I think they should have made it a little more obvious, the difference between the "+" indicating progress and the "+" indicating a sub level.

[mizzouj]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

The big key to promotion on hitting is sustained offense, with a lot of extra base hits. That can get you promoted in one inning sometimes.

It depends on which hitting mode you're using, but if you're using zone just swing Power. It'll increase your chance for extra base hits and, if you make contact, lead to some big innings. Once you reach a level where you're doing a lot of swinging and missing on Power, drop back to the normal swing.

Or you can do like H&V has suggested and play a MLB vs. AA game in exhibition. DD progress will save either way as long as you make sure that profile is selected on the controller select screen before the game.

Pitching is just a slow burn by nature - OPS only drops for outs recorded, and it's just going to take time to record enough of them without giving up base hits.

"Veteran+" is the sub-level after Veteran. You promoted. The "++++" you saw earlier was your progress towards promotion.

I appreciate this feedback regarding the hitting. I think who you play with has a role in this too. Normally I'm about one level better in pitching than I am hitting. I think that gets exaggerated with DD in that I'm the Royals. A good pitching team that struggles to hit with a lot of power.

So I'm winning a lot of games like 4-1. Never really threatened, but not blowing the other team out either. My pitching is climbing up, but I'm struggling to get the hitting even above rookie +. Translation: I'm winning too much and the difficulty isn't adjusting at the rate I'd like to see. I am going to try using the power swing more to generate extra base hits.

[extremeskins04]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

Yea, I'm not so sure about DD honestly because I could be playing well and up to All-Star difficulty (which is perfect for me), but then I may have a bad game and it will bump me down to Veteran and then I start smoking teams until it's back up to All-Star once again.

With pitching it's hit or miss, and I might just forget about DD with pitching alltogether because it's just too easy. I'm practically shutting out almost every team I play and if they do get runs it's in the 9th inning but it's usually 1-2 tops.

I may go back to just All-Star hitting and pitching for both.

[NDAlum]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

I found pitching too easy so I went back to HOF.

I have thoroughly enjoyed hitting with DD though. Very very pleased. The fact I can have one dynamic and one standard? Perfect!


Sent from my iPhone 5

[PitholeCreek]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

As for your last question, I thought the DD was tied to your universal profile so changing it to say All-Star and eventually changing it back to DD should still load it in right where you left off I would think but I can't say with 100% certainty.

I accidentally reset my difficulty tonight and I'm not entirely sure how, but it happened after the game went into demo mode and I hit the button to play the game out. All my progress to get the difficulty up to Hall of Fame was completely wiped out. Be careful, folks.

Hopefully in the future SCEA will include the ability for users to set a starting difficulty for DD, as it really doesn't make a lot of sense for experienced players to start at Rookie+.

[darkknightrises]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

So after 14 games I want to hear some advice and suggestions for this. I have been playing with default hitting sliders for both me and the CPU and pitching sliders for me at default and I have the cpu's 3 pitching sliders all at 3. After 14 games I am at all-star+ pitching and have been around that for a few games going back and forth between all-star+ and all-star. My hitting for the last sever games has been vertian+ and vertian. With pitching on all-star I tend to have a little bit of to easy of a time getting guys out and not giving up many runs how ever when ever I get up to all-star+ I suck lol. I have gotten up to all-star+ like 7 times and ever time but one time I have then given up at least 1 run if not more in the inning. My ERA in innings with all-star+ is probly like 27 lol. In the past show game when I pitch on default all-star I am to good at locating pitches and I fell like I can get away with mistake pitches a little to much but on default HOF I am not good enough and I find the CPU kind of hits everything and I cant locate my pitches while enough. Should I stick with DD longer or should I go to HOF and increase my pitching and decress the CPU hitting sliders? Or should I play at all star and decress my pitching control and coniste to make all-star harder?


Now with hitting I have alrease been worse at then pitching at on mlb the show games. On past show games I have found that on default all-star I cant hit good enough but that on vertian I hit to while. But I like to play on all-star with hitting sliders to make things a little easyer to hit has it is like impossible to get walked enough on vertian. Should I stick with DD longer on hitting or showed I go to all-star and increase my hitting sliders? One last thing what have people been using for fielding speed? I find on fielding speed default guys get to to many fly balls. I have tried the last few games with it at 3 and find guys still get to too many fly balls and I just put it down to 2 the last game and I have my fieder reaction at 4 what does ever one have that set to?

[The JareBear]

Re: Dynamic Difficulty?

Yeah, I had to turn DD off for pitching. I use all-star with slider tweaks for the CPU hitting.

Still using DD for my hitting though with awesome results.