Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

[ManiacMatt1782]

I am gonna have to say yes. It really doesn't take much skill. Time it right and hope to get solid contact. There is no locking on to a pitch. Fighting off close pitches. None of that is controlled. It's timing only with swing influence made simpler. Using it offline vs the cpu, no issue, but in my opinion, this doesn't belong anywhere near online play.


Also, is there a way we can lock out control schemes in online franchise? I would like to ensure everyone was using zone (buttons or analog) and pure analog or button accuracy in the field.

[bobtrain]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I'm going to disagree with this. One of the reasons why MLB The Show is so great is the variety of ways you can play it. Saying the devs should lockout a type of hitting because you use it probably isn't really the best approach. There's probably a large camp who use a certain pitching mechanic, should the rest be eliminated? Probably not. Also directional does have disadvantages such as player attributes have more weight. Also knowing players are using directional means thinking more about how I approach pitching and shirts.


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[nemesis04]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

It does not bother me at all.

Also, people also said the same thing about pure analog when it was introduced.

[Bobhead]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

Who cares?

Where do you plan on drawing the line? Should we remove all the difficulty levels except for Legend, since that one takes the most skill? It certainly takes more skill to win with the Houston Astros than the Detroit Tigers. Should we remove the Tigers from online play?

Actually, now that I think about it, The Show in general doesn't take much skill, compared to real-life baseball. How about we just remove online play entirely?

My opinion is that your online opponent paid $59.99 for the right to use the option that makes them happiest. If it haunts you that much to know your opponent is using a marginally "easier" mechanic, there are plenty of offline modes for you to try.

PS: It's clear you have limited/no experience actually using Timing or Directional hitting; your claims of it requiring little difficulty and skill could not be further from the truth.

[therewillbechud]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I've never played the show online, I'd assume it works something like Madden online where 99% of the players just look to get every little advantage to beat the other guy. That's fun to a point, but really it just comes down to "how big of a douchebag are you really prepared to be in order to win an online game." and you're left with a product that doesn't really resemble the game it's meant to emulate.

I think that yes there should be one uniform control scheme or difficulty to play a game online, or should be set by the servers ahead of time, otherwise it's not really a competition. It's two different rulesets for two different players. That's how my $59.99 feels so I'm more than happy not playing the show online.

[vidgames]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I have played with directional quite a bit and it really doesn't involve much skill whatsoever. Z

[majesty95]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I've just given up on playing online. Even in madden, where the options are basically the same, 65% oh your games are cheese and glitch fests. I do think The Show could allow players to play users with like settings. But it's never going to be a great experience online. It will never be free from bugs and exports and, unfortunately, I think this generation is never going to change from one in which they find the easiest route to a win possible.


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[Dolenz]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I am gonna have to say yes. It really doesn't take much skill. Time it right and hope to get solid contact. There is no locking on to a pitch. Fighting off close pitches. None of that is controlled. It's timing only with swing influence made simpler. Using it offline vs the cpu, no issue, but in my opinion, this doesn't belong anywhere near online play.


Also, is there a way we can lock out control schemes in online franchise? I would like to ensure everyone was using zone (buttons or analog) and pure analog or button accuracy in the field.

I don't play online so it makes no difference to me. What I will say is that swinging with good timing is harder than it seems. I think the timing window is smaller. At least it seems that way to me after playing zone all last year.

Also, swinging with good timing does not guarantee solid contact. I have fouled off strikes near the center of the strike zone and had the system tell me my timing was good.

[BrianU]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I have no problem with people using directional hitting but I think it could be implemented better..

I don't think you should be able to adjust your directional hitting zone in the middle of the pitch. There should be a downside just as there is an advantage. You get a boost if you are looking for that outside fastball to push, if the pitcher jams you inside you should not be able to move your left analog stick to that area and get that bonus.

Once the ball is released from the pitchers hand wherever your directional hitting decision is it should remain locked. Being able to adjust mid pitch is cheesy.

[ManiacMatt1782]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I have no problem with people using directional hitting but I think it could be implemented better..

I don't think you should be able to adjust your directional hitting zone in the middle of the pitch. There should be a downside just as there is an advantage. You get a boost if you are looking for that outside fastball to push, if the pitcher jams you inside you should not be able to move your left analog stick to that area and get that bonus.

Once the ball is released from the pitchers hand wherever your directional hitting decision is it should remain locked. Being able to adjust mid pitch is cheesy.

My issue is a friend of mine has figured out that he does not have to pick a direction at all, he can just swing and if he gets perfect timing, he has a good chance at solid contact. it takes away from the strategy in pitcher vs batter matchups. when playing zone, and you have a guy sitting on a low pitch and you know he's sitting on a low pitch, you could give him a "meatball" that he will pop up because he's cheating his aim for the low pitch. That kind of strategy goes out the window against a guy using Directional because they do not have to aim, just swing. To me it over simplifies the pitcher batter match up and takes away from the mental battle.

[cardinalbird5]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I've used both and directional is much easier to use. You only have to worry about 1 facet of hitting.

Will it get you better results than someone that knows what their doing with zone? Heck No! That is why it has not really bothered me. The better players all use zone for the most part.

The same goes for classic pitching. Do I think it should be allowed for online? Not really...but it does not bother me because it is very inconsistent even with the best pitchers. If it gets more people online (which I think it has this year) then that is great.

One thing I disagree with in this thread is a lot of you said you do not play online but you seem to be totally against the OP's reasoning for removing it. I don't think it is fair to judge his opinion if directional hitting belongs in online play unless you've actually played and tested it yourself (hitting and pitching).

Similar to the OP stating that he has not tried directional hitting himself, a lot of you may never know if it is balanced or not without actually testing it online.

Again, I am not necessarily for or against directional hitting being allowed for online. I am just simply stating my observations of using and pitching against directional hitters in nearly 100 games online total.

[cardinalbird5]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

I've used both and directional is much easier to use. You only have to worry about 1 facet of hitting.

Will it get you better results than someone that knows what their doing with zone? Heck No! That is why it has not really bothered me. The better players all use zone for the most part.

The same goes for classic pitching. Do I think it should be allowed for online? Not really...but it does not bother me because it is very inconsistent even with the best pitchers. If it gets more people online (which I think it has this year) then that is great.

One thing I disagree with in this thread is a lot of you said you do not play online but you seem to be totally against the OP's reasoning for removing it. I don't think it is fair to judge his opinion if directional hitting belongs in online play unless you've actually played and tested it yourself (hitting and pitching).

Similar to the OP stating that he has not tried directional hitting himself, a lot of you may never know if it is balanced or not without actually testing it online.

Again, I am not necessarily for or against directional hitting being allowed for online. I am just simply stating my observations of using and pitching against directional hitters in nearly 100 games online total.

Honestly it should just be another filter. I am sure some of you would be totally against using only guess pitch online. It makes things easier for sure and is annoying to pitch to. If you want to face zone only hitters then it should be an option like being able to face guys that do not want GP on. If they are going to allow all of these options for online then they need to allow users the ability not to have to worry about facing them either.

Yeah they need to draw the line somewhere for what is allowed in online play and what can be filtered. However, simplifying something as challenging as hitting is really questionable. Hitting is arguably the hardest thing to do in any sports title and it is not exactly balanced if one user can eliminate one of my pitches and only has to worry about the timing aspect of hitting, while I read my own pitches, use my LS to put the PCI on the ball and then time it all at once.

For things like pitching and fielding...I could care less. The difference between using something like Pulse and Meter pitching is negligible to me.

[ManiacMatt1782]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

Thanks for actually reading my post Cardinal. Although I have tried out directional, and dislike the lack of control. I do realize it is going to hamper a better player. But my opinion is that it really spoils the pitcher batter mind games. You are taking one of the factors out for a pitcher, Location. You make it so your only weapon is to upset their timing and hope they don't get lucky. Where if someone is using zone and they catch onto a pattern and sit on a high fastball and crush it, I kinda just tip my cap and feel they earned that one. In directional, i feel pretty much every hit is pretty much luck. There is alittle with influencing left or right. But most arent even doing that, it's just time it with X and let the cpu auto aim the swing. Getting solid contact on pitches on the black that they likely could not do on zone.

[BrianU]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

My issue is a friend of mine has figured out that he does not have to pick a direction at all, he can just swing and if he gets perfect timing, he has a good chance at solid contact. it takes away from the strategy in pitcher vs batter matchups. when playing zone, and you have a guy sitting on a low pitch and you know he's sitting on a low pitch, you could give him a "meatball" that he will pop up because he's cheating his aim for the low pitch. That kind of strategy goes out the window against a guy using Directional because they do not have to aim, just swing. To me it over simplifies the pitcher batter match up and takes away from the mental battle.

I have not played much zone hitting or online this year but I understand the mechanics. From what I know imo Zone hitting actually gives you more of an advantage than timing. I don't think you realize how bad the PCI placement can be for timing hitting especially with lower rated players. With Zone hitting the player ratings don't mean as much and you can master that control method much easier. I have no way to know but I can almost promise that most of the top hitters on the leaderboards use zone hitting. With that said it would be great to have an option to have zone hitting locked as well as separate zone hitting leaderboards.

[baconbits11]

Re: Should Directional Hitting be removed from online play?

Im glad they allow it, because last year I don't think it was allowed and it kept me from wanting to play online (along with the lag).

I've always been a timing only guy, so glad I can play online this year. It doesn't seem to make things imbalanced against a better player using a different interface.

Any lag makes another interface difficult at best. i can't even use meter pitching online because of potentital lag.