Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

[Padgoi]

I noticed that many people here play on Allstar difficulty and so many of the conversations don't really relate to those of us playing on hof because I just feel that allstar is very easy. This discussion is for those of us playing on hof difficulty.

Some questions to ask for those on this difficulty:

1. Have you tweaked any sliders?
2. Have you noticed any late game "theatrics" by the CPU that conveniently seem to get them (or you) back in the game?
3. How are your offensive and defensive numbers so far?

Please ask any other questions as well so that we may discuss.

[bcruise]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

I love HOF. It's my favorite difficulty for when I want to take more user control (of the main ones anyway, I think Allstar+ in dynamic might be my favorite overall). I've been getting some very realistic results using Zone hitting and Meter pitching on HOF - it really feels like a great mix between my own skills and the teams ratings.

I've tweaked just one slider for this difficulty up to now - Strike Frequency down to 3. This changes the way the CPU pitcher approaches the early counts - it will try to throw more pitches outside the zone early on. It's up to you if you can lay off them, and if you do you'll see plenty of deep counts, and walks when the pitcher loses his control later in the AB. I just had a game vs the Dodgers where Ryu walked me 5 times and struck me out 4. It keeps the CPU more in line with the 50 - 60% first strike % stat, at default Strike Freq it's up near 70% a little too often for my liking. That's the only thing I've changed - admittedly I have a hard time judging things like fielder speed and reaction in user-controlled games so I tend to leave them alone unless something's obviously wrong, like no XBH at all.

Ah, I know where the second question is going. I'll say this - if you thought past games in this series had these "theatrics", you're going to feel the same way once you aim to a corner and the pitch ends up over the middle to get mashed, because it's no different in that regard. You just can't do that on HOF and probably Legend - you've got to aim farther off the plate to allow for those "back over the middle" misses to not turn into deep strikes - and often longballs. The range of error in HOF pitching is HUGE (even when you hit your meter mark perfectly), and it forces you to be more cautious and perhaps even risk walking more batters, so as not to throw easily hittable pitches. It does work, it just takes a different mindset to pitch effectively at this level.

[/soapbox]

As far as my offense and defense goes, they're pretty much in line with the team I'm using - which is to say I'm lucky to scrape out a few runs with the Cubs, yet I can mash where it doesn't look like I'm playing on HOF with the Red Sox. It's really great to see my own skills work in tandem with the ratings to produce this effect - it's still a baseball sim, but I know my play is having an impact on the game.

I'm planning on streaming to Twitch quite a bit tomorrow, starting off with some pitch strategy discussion (applicable to any level, although I'll be doing that on AllStar) and later on playing a game or two on my HOF settings. Tune in if you like!

[HozAndMoose]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

I use TNKs sliders but change difficulty to HoF. Ive had 3-2 games. 4-1 games. No shutouts but thats bad pitcher managing on my part. And i just had a 15-11 game.

Edit: Just had a 1-0 game in 12 innings. Walkoff HR to end it.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

I use AS on everything except fielding(Throwing). I use HOF there. (My own set of sliders)

[Jroll11]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

Ah, I know where the second question is going. I'll say this - if you thought past games in this series had these "theatrics", you're going to feel the same way once you aim to a corner and the pitch ends up over the middle to get mashed, because it's no different in that regard. You just can't do that on HOF and probably Legend - you've got to aim farther off the plate to allow for those "back over the middle" misses to not turn into deep strikes - and often longballs. The range of error in HOF pitching is HUGE (even when you hit your meter mark perfectly), and it forces you to be more cautious and perhaps even risk walking more batters, so as not to throw easily hittable pitches. It does work, it just takes a different mindset to pitch effectively at this level.

I'm having a huge issue with this. I use Analog-Pitching, and I seem to line up the ball perfect on the meter as it "blinks" when I push up but I'll aim for the corner and it will go right in the middle of the plate. I've given up more HR than any other team in my 'chise. Might have to do what you said, problem is when I aim that far off the plate that's when they seem to be more accurate and I start throwing balls. It's when I aim for the corners I'll get a random meatball. Maybe I'm not letting the cursor go far enough down and I just don't notice it, or is there some sort of randomness to this?

[dvazquez190]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

I haven't gotten to play full games yet. I normally start my franchises later on when the OS rosters are nearly complete. At the moment i'm just playing my RTTS on HOF (Hitting, Baserunning, Defense) and the first thing I will be looking to change is the fielders speed. Fielders get to the ball entirely too quickly. I've only hit with myself obviously but my hitting attributes aren't that great (60 Contact, 53 power) but I get a lot of extra base hits. I might lower the power slider when I start my franchise as a result of this. I'll wait and see what other people are saying first before I start tinkering with all of this.

[bcruise]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

Here's my stream that I mentioned from today. The HOF gameplay is in the 2nd half, starting at about 1:06:00

http://www.twitch.tv/bcruise/c/4241435

First half of the game goes pretty well, but later on the CPU starts hitting me pretty good. Like I said on the stream at one point, if I won every game I played on HOF....I wouldn't be playing on HOF for very long.

Hopefully you'll be able to see why I enjoy playing this difficulty so much, and why I feel it's such a great mix of user skill and ratings.

[Jroll11]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

Hey Cruise,
Watched a good portion of your stream and tried out some of your suggestions last night. I just want to be certain on one thing, (I use analog pitching) you can have exact placement on the meter and still throw a meatball right down the center of the plate?


I was always under the impression that if the meter was below the line it would be low and above the line it would be high. When you push up, it determined the accuracy of the side to side. What I'm finding, especially in this year's version, is even when I have perfect placement I'm throwing pitches right down the middle. What determines that, ratings? Just very nerve wracking when you feel like you have no control of your pitches lol, I feel like it's getting in my head. I'm trying to determine the best strategy.


Thanks for posting the video appreciate your input/help

[bcruise]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

Hey Cruise,
Watched a good portion of your stream and tried out some of your suggestions last night. I just want to be certain on one thing, (I use analog pitching) you can have exact placement on the meter and still throw a meatball right down the center of the plate?


I was always under the impression that if the meter was below the line it would be low and above the line it would be high. When you push up, it determined the accuracy of the side to side. What I'm finding, especially in this year's version, is even when I have perfect placement I'm throwing pitches right down the middle. What determines that, ratings? Just very nerve wracking when you feel like you have no control of your pitches lol, I feel like it's getting in my head. I'm trying to determine the best strategy.


Thanks for posting the video appreciate your input/help

Thanks for watching! I hope it was helpful.

Yes, it happens because of ratings to some degree, but ALL pitchers in the game are affected the same way. It just has less effect on a high BB/9 pitcher throwing a high control rated pitch - the pitch is much more likely to go where you're aiming to in that situation. But the lower the pitcher's ratings, the more that range of where you can miss to increases - and the more likely that a corner strike will turn into a meatball.

The reason I tend to aim completely outside of the strike zone when I'm ahead as a pitcher is because:

1. So I can minimize the chance of a pitch coming back over the middle when the batter's only looking to make contact

2. To increase the chance of that same pitch landing on or near the corner of the strike zone instead, resulting in a called third strike or weak contact/swing and miss from the batter.

There's an equal chance a perfectly-metered pitch can move inside or outside of your target (to varying degrees based on the pitcher's ratings), but the risk of having it move inside and back over the plate (especially on HOF) is so great that it's better for me to aim farther outside and risk throwing an easily-taken ball.

This is, to some degree, the same type of risk management classic pitching users have to deal with, since they have no meter input. It just doesn't REALLY start coming into play for the meter game until HOF.

[letsgopens66]

Re: Hall of Fame difficult Discussion

So here's my problem with HOF. I can't seem to throw a fastball with a reliever without it somehow working it's way over the heart of the plate. It's pretty remarkable, actually. No matter where I aim in the strike zone, the ball will go right down the middle about 70% of the time. I love HOF but I've already blown 3 games so far in my franchise, and I'm only 8 games in. I'm using Psychobulk's sliders.