MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

[Knight165]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

I'm trying to cut back on posting here but I'll attempt to explain. In mlbts 14 there were too few runs scored in manage mode, full count, default sliders. That problem has been fixed in mlbts 15. There are low scoring games, medium scoring games and high scoring games. I just finished a game in which there was a total of 1 hit for the entire game. Cosart no hit my Braves and Minor + my bullpen limited the Marlins to 1 hit. If that happened in mlbts 14 I would have been upset about another ridiculously low scoring game but I'm glad to see it this year because there are also high scoring games. I believe the reason there were too few runs in mlbts 14 is because the devs "fixed" some things and in the process broke some other things.

Yes, I have notice no pickoff attempts just like last year's version but I'm worried if the "fix" pickoffs they will break stolen bases. The catchers still pitch out frequently and base stealers get thrown out at a realistic rate so I'm not worried about pickoffs.

I have also noticed the cpu using squeeze plays. That should be toned down a little but if they don't patch it I still like the game. I'm not seeing it every time a runner is on third base.

I have noticed fast players with good bunt ratings bunting too much but I'm worried if the "fix" that those players will never bunt which is also unrealistic. Players do bunt on their own in MLB.

Carry over saves is something I advocated for a long time and unfortunately they forced you into GM mode if you carry over your franchise. GM mode should be optional, I doubt many people carrying over their franchise want to be fired and kicked out of the franchise they carried over. That is disappointing but not bad enough to make me want to quit the game.

They fixed the problem of signing young players long term to cheap contracts, that is a major improvement.

I haven't played enough to have an opinion on the new progression. I didn't see anything wrong with previous progression. Time will tell what the "fix" did to progression.


Weather is always the same, that is a minor issue.


For me the improved gameplay and graphics far outweigh the minor issues with the game. My concern is in the process of doing a quick "fix" of a few issues they will break something else and ruin what is now, for me, a great game.

I will repeat my previous statement. As a long time manage mode player this is the best baseball game I've ever played. If they fix some of the issues without breaking something else that will be great. If they don't fix it I will continue to play the game and enjoy it immensely.

tessl

I think Y2Y saves actually shuts off GM mode. The boxes are there..but you'll stay with the same team.
Maybe next year if you start a Y2Y carry over with a franchise started THIS year with GM mode on....it will stay on(it should)

M.K.
Knight165

[linfux]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

I've never played Manage Only; can you call for a bunt?

[miamikb2001]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

I've never played Manage Only; can you call for a bunt?

Yes you can call for Sac bunt,squeeze bunt,or bunt for a hit.

[Knight165]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

My mistake....it's 30 team control that disables the actual GM mode. Not the Y2Y save itself.

Sorry.

M.K.
Knight165

[tessl]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

I've never played Manage Only; can you call for a bunt?

You can do everything except get a hamburger at the concession stand. They are working on that for next year.

[My993C2]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

You can do everything except get a hamburger at the concession stand. They are working on that for next year.

You can't get your bunters to stop going after balls that are clearly out of the strike zone in MoM games. Once you call for the bunt one of three things will happen:

1) Your batter lays down a bunt.
2) Your batter will foul off the bunt or pop it up into the air.
3) Your batter will be called for a strike when he chased a ball out of the strike zone.

I know the MoM community keeps asking for this to change. But so far it hasn't. Speaking of burgers, has anyone figured out how to prevent a "Five Guys Burger" from disintegrating in your fingers before in disintegrates in your mouth.

[bkrich83]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

Really?

1) You have not noticed that they have completely removed pickoffs at 1st base out of the game? Pickoffs worked fine in MLB 13 where you could be picked off, but you could also pick the opposition off. In MLB 14 they changed the game where the CPU would never try and pick you off because they removed the extra step the base runners would take when you called for a steal or a hit and run out of the game. But in some rare instances we could still pick off base runners in MLB 14. Now in MLB 15 picking off base runners has been completely removed from the game. How is that an improvement?

2) You have not noticed the high number of suicide squeeze plays at home plate. Of course this condition effects all game modes, not just MoM games. But the suicide squeezes are a huge flaw in this build.

Don't let the awesome graphics, new player animations and new ball physics fool you into thinking they changed the MoM code base this year. Nothing new concerning the actual game play was added.

i've seen one squeeze play to this point.

[My993C2]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

i've seen one squeeze play to this point.

Are you a Quick Counts player?

[Knight165]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

Are you a Quick Counts player?

Likely....
I've only had one in 20+ games as well.

Hopefully they addressed it for you guys playing w/o QC's...

M.K.
Knight165

[monteith]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

Runner windows are back. That's great, BUT... they don't show up on the screen until AFTER you select your action, which unfortunately, pretty much defeats the purpose of having them in MoM. They almost got it. I was pretty amped when I saw the patch dropped today. Gotta say, this killed the buzz right quick. Oh well, maybe in the next patch?

And maybe in the next patch they can also add back the pitch speed display to the score bug after the pitch. That one is still missing.

[My993C2]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

The base runners diamond in the top right corner is useful. But yeah outside of showing us the base runners speed without having to look it up on the Main Menu, the Runners HUD does not offer much. The whole feature does not work like it did in MLB 14. Of course the pick offs were removed from the game as well. I am still having fun with the game, but MoM is definitely NOT the same as it was in MLB 14 despite being told it would be. : d

[Knight165]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

The base runners diamond in the top right corner is useful. But yeah outside of showing us the base runners speed without having to look it up on the Main Menu, the Runners HUD does not offer much. The whole feature does not work like it did in MLB 14. Of course the pick offs were removed from the game as well. I am still having fun with the game, but MoM is definitely NOT the same as it was in MLB 14 despite being told it would be. : d

There were no pick off attempts in '14 either.

M.K.
Knight165

[My993C2]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

There were no pick off attempts in '14 either.

True the CPU stopped trying to pick us off in MLB 14. We have to go back to MLB 13 to when they last were able to pick us off. But we were able to pick off the CPU base runners in MLB 14 (albeit a pretty rare occurrence, but it was possible). We have to go back to MLB 13 for when pick offs worked in MoM game for both sides and I got slammed the other week by some people when I brought this up.

Hey I love the new lighting graphics in MLB 15 and the stadiums look great. For this, I can still have fun playing MoM games. But I am just disappointed that features that worked fine in previous years no longer work now or have been completely removed from the game. Am I not supposed to bring these sorts of things up? Sorry I too am a software developer so I am aware of the challenges the SCEA DEVs deal with and I have no doubt that they work hard and put in some insane hours. But because I too am a developer, I am aware of why things break. I am aware that sometimes you break things fixing something else, and the only way to protect yourself against this is to do thorough regression testing.

I am crossing my fingers that yesterday's patch fixed the suicide squeeze problem. I lost my MoM game yesterday 7-3 so the CPU was never in a position at any point in the game where it would have attempted a suicide squeeze, so the jury is still out on the fix. For a second in a CPU vs CPU game last night I thought I was in a position to see if a suicide squeeze would occur. It was the 8th inning and one team was trailing the other team with base runners on 2nd and 3rd. A prime condition where the suicide squeeze would have occurred prior to the patch. But then I realized this team was down 2 runs not 1 and I had never seen a suicide squeeze when the team was down by more than 1 run (and why would they when a base hit could possible drive in 2 as opposed to 1 run). As long as the suicide squeeze problem is fixed, I can live with pick offs being removed from the game. I just hope this recent trend of removing features from MoM games is not an annual tradition.

[miamikb2001]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

Hey fellow Mom guys since this is my first year with Ps4 was wondering how you play out your strategy for Mom games?I use Qc mostly but would like to hear what everybody does such as pitching-Just hit play now,Pitch to batter,Pitch aggressively,Pitch Around.When you use certain stragies at certain counts.For hitting same type of ?Is hit play now the same as hitting X then O for said player hitting?When do you like to hit and run?

[My993C2]

Re: MLB 15 - Manage Only Mode

Hey fellow Mom guys since this is my first year with Ps4 was wondering how you play out your strategy for Mom games?I use Qc mostly but would like to hear what everybody does such as pitching-Just hit play now,Pitch to batter,Pitch aggressively,Pitch Around.When you use certain stragies at certain counts.For hitting same type of ?Is hit play now the same as hitting X then O for said player hitting?When do you like to hit and run?

I usually let the pitchers do their own thing, except when there is a base runner on first with no base runner on second. When my first baseman is covering the bag I will instruct my pitcher to throw outside on left handed hitters or throw inside on right handed batters in the hope of avoiding having the ball hit in the gap between 1st and 2nd. More often than not, this works. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I will use pitch around when I have a 0-2 count on the batter, but more often than not when up in the count I will instruct the pitcher to throw at a corner. I used to use pitch aggressive when I wanted a fastball, but that didn't always work. Now when I want a fastball I find telling them to pitch high is a better option. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Another tactic I find that works reasonably well when up in the count and I have a right handed pitcher against a left handed batter or left handed pitcher against a right handed batter is to throw low and away for a few pitches followed by a high and away pitch. This tactic has given me a decent number of strike outs.

As far as hit and runs, I don't use them that much. I pretty much will only use them when I have a reasonably fast base runner on 1st with a reasonably good hitter and a 2-0 or 3-1 count. More often than not I will use the steal base option when I have a decent base runner on 1st. It's my observations that the batter will always swing no matter how bad the pitch is on a hit and run whereas they will hold their swings on stealing attempts when it is a bad pitch. Oh and if I have a good base stealer on first and a good batter at the plate with two outs and the batter has fallen behind 0-2, I will instruct the base runner to steal. This way if he gets caught stealing the good batter gets a new cut at the plate the next inning with an 0-0 count, or I have a base runner at 2nd with a good hitter still at the plate.