My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

[Gagnon39]

I always knew that eventually my reflexes and reaction time would eventually diminish. I guess in MLB: The Show I'm realizing it has happened for the first time. After weeks of frustration at never being able to tell balls from strikes I lowered the pitch speed. And then I lowered it again. And again, and again. Now I'm playing the game with pitch speed all the way down and I have to say, I'm having more fun with the game than ever before. I'm drawing more walks, making more good contact and simply seeing the ball better. And while I'm happy that I've found a way to enjoy the game more I just want to make sure of one thing, and that is that it does not change anything else.

I know in the description of the slider it says that it affects the users reaction time and does not affect physics or AI. And although it may be a dumb question because it seems to give the answer right there in the description of the slider, I guess I need some reassurance that I'm not altering the game when I'm pitching in any way.

I want to be sure that I'm not making CPU hitters "see" the ball better when I'm on the hill. I play on Hall of Fame for pitching and have a difficult enough time as it is keeping runs off the board. The CPU hitters definitely do not need any extra help in blasting my pitches over the fence.

[bcruise]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

I always knew that eventually my reflexes and reaction time would eventually diminish. I guess in MLB: The Show I'm realizing it has happened for the first time. After weeks of frustration at never being able to tell balls from strikes I lowered the pitch speed. And then I lowered it again. And again, and again. Now I'm playing the game with pitch speed all the way down and I have to say, I'm having more fun with the game than ever before. I'm drawing more walks, making more good contact and simply seeing the ball better. And while I'm happy that I've found a way to enjoy the game more I just want to make sure of one thing, and that is that it does not change anything else.

I know in the description of the slider it says that it affects the users reaction time and does not affect physics or AI. And although it may be a dumb question because it seems to give the answer right there in the description of the slider, I guess I need some reassurance that I'm not altering the game when I'm pitching in any way.

I want to be sure that I'm not making CPU hitters "see" the ball better when I'm on the hill. I play on Hall of Fame for pitching and have a difficult enough time as it is keeping runs off the board. The CPU hitters definitely do not need any extra help in blasting my pitches over the fence.

It definitely doesn't affect the CPU's decision making or reaction time. If you need proof of that, well....Nomo17 does a ton of CPU vs CPU game testing, and he does it all at pitch speed 10 for aesthetic value (it's closer to actual real-life pitch speeds). But with the other sliders where he has them (the game needs a bit of an offense bump in general when it's playing against itself), the CPU is not late on everything.

There is one thing it could affect VERY slightly, and that's stolen base success. Slower pitch = more time for the runner to steal the base. I want to emphasize it's VERY slight, and may not make a difference at all. I was playing around with the community challenge thing today with pitch speed maxed, trying to steal bases off Yadier Molina. Guys like Emilio Bonfacio had absolutely no trouble stealing on offspeed stuff, and he even beat a few fastballs and one pitch out. Point is, maxing pitch speed did not noticeably affect steal success/failure for me, and the same probably holds true for lowering it. The runner's leadoff, the jump he gets, the type of pitch, and the catcher's arm strength are still going to be the main factors determining SB's.

Personally I can't play on anything below default pitch speed because I'm too early on fastballs, and almost never late with 2 strikes. Being late on a fastball is an important part of getting the hitting balance right for me, and if it's not there I feel like it's too easy. But that's me, and that's why sliders are great.

If it's working for you, enjoy! And don't stress the SB situation too much.

[Gagnon39]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

It definitely doesn't affect the CPU's decision making or reaction time. If you need proof of that, well....Nomo17 does a ton of CPU vs CPU game testing, and he does it all at pitch speed 10 for aesthetic value (it's closer to actual real-life pitch speeds). But with the other sliders where he has them (the game needs a bit of an offense bump in general when it's playing against itself), the CPU is not late on everything.

There is one thing it could affect VERY slightly, and that's stolen base success. Slower pitch = more time for the runner to steal the base. I want to emphasize it's VERY slight, and may not make a difference at all. I was playing around with the community challenge thing today with pitch speed maxed, trying to steal bases off Yadier Molina. Guys like Emilio Bonfacio had absolutely no trouble stealing on offspeed stuff, and he even beat a few fastballs and one pitch out. Point is, maxing pitch speed did not noticeably affect steal success/failure for me, and the same probably holds true for lowering it. The runner's leadoff, the jump he gets, the type of pitch, and the catcher's arm strength are still going to be the main factors determining SB's.

Personally I can't play on anything below default pitch speed because I'm too early on fastballs, and almost never late with 2 strikes. Being late on a fastball is an important part of getting the hitting balance right for me, and if it's not there I feel like it's too easy. But that's me, and that's why sliders are great.

If it's working for you, enjoy! And don't stress the SB situation too much.

Thanks and those are good points. To me it seems like stolen base success seems to be a bit high as it is though. I currently lead the majors with Bonifacio (24 stolen bases through about 45 games). He's yet to have been thrown out. I'm considering lowering stolen base sliders, have you done that or considered it? It seems like its very high reward with minimal risk for me right now. But then again, the dude is pretty fast.

Honestly, I wish there was a slider for pitching and hitting for the pitch speed. From time to time I witch the pitch speed back to default when I'm pitching just (like you said) for aesthetic purposes. But the problem is sometimes I forget to change it back and it looks like the ball is going 800 mph.

I just played a game with the pitch speed at 0 and I struck out 10 times. Ha. I was way behind on some fastballs so I don't see it as being an issue for me. You must have much better reaction time than I do. I'm basically guessing every pitch when it's on default.

[nemesis04]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

There is a counter balance in place within the game that takes in account the stealing aspect of the game. So runners breaking on the pitch do not get any sought of advantage because of the reduced pitch speed.

[bcruise]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

There is a counter balance in place within the game that takes in account the stealing aspect of the game. So runners breaking on the pitch do not get any sought of advantage because of the reduced pitch speed.

That's definitely what we were told in the past. But Brian came on here this year and said the game doesn't do that anymore.

On the Google DOC, click the "Default" tab.

According to the slider description, pitch speed is a visual cue only and doesn't impact the AI.

Clicking on the default tab shows you the entire list.

Also, yeah, I'm pretty sure Nomo runs all his games at pitch speed 10 for aesthetic reasons. I thought the catcher throw speed was adjusted (internally) to compensate for a pitch speed slider change though?

Well if it really says that then it's 100% wrong.

We tried that one year, not since then. It breaks too much.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2046118860

[cardinalbird5]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

I use 7 and it still seems a bit easy to steal lol. I am like 80% success with the Astros.

[COMMISSIONERHBK9]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

im 28 and i am following in gagnon steps. i too just put the speed slider down to zero.i am very early now but i just have to get used to it. thank you gagnon for giving me hope.

[The Chef]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

Count me in the group that had to lower pitch speed and lower it by quite a bit. In the past I was always on default but this year for some reason I'm late on everything and can't pull anything with it even at 2, I mean I'm late on sliders on pitch speed 2. As for steals being somehow effected, I doubt it, steals are just overly effective because 95% of the time the catcher can't fire it down to second with any accuracy and that includes guys with high arm accuracy. I've got SB Ability at 2 and still steal with ease with Dee Gordon (granted he has 96 speed I believe) but there are a few closer plays when I send anyone rated below 80 in speed.

[Cavicchi]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

Wow! I don't know where I fit in but I'm playing with pitch speed at default and I'll be 72 on August 2nd.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

Wow! I don't know where I fit in but I'm playing with pitch speed at default and I'll be 72 on August 2nd.

You fit in the awesome category, that's where!

[unBEARable]

Re: My pride is humbled, but did it change the game?

Pitch speed at 1 for me. Have been for years.

Helps me judge/see the ball better.