Commentary Thread

[countryboy]

Re: Commentary Thread

Both. Needs more depth and Matt has been there too long. It needs a new voice to give it more life.


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I think that unless you change announcers every 2 or 3 years its going to start sounding stale, since its the same announcers repeating lines from previous years. Personally, I would rather them stick with the announcing crew and continue to add depth to the commentary. Dead play lines, talk about your franchise and what is happening, team streaks, other teams besides who you are playing, things of that nature.

[NEOPARADIGM]

Re: Commentary Thread

In terms of replacing Matt & co., if it were me I'd just hire voice talent. As a Tigers slappy I'd kill for an Ernie Harwell impersonator for instance. Along the similar lines how cool would it be if there was a 1970s or 80s retro vibe to the presentation? You don't necessarily have to replicate "real life" for something to be awesome.

Also similarly, though conversely, would be cool to have some authentic Fox overlays too.

[TonyDanzaFan]

Re: Commentary Thread

I want the guys from slugfest lol. Comedy gold.

[zfarrow]

Re: Commentary Thread

Honestly, while I agree that the commentary needs more lines and that would help, I think the thing we all really want is for the commentary to be 'smarter'.

I want to see stuff like this:

-At the beginning of the season, have Matt & Co. talk about what moves a team made in the offseason if there were any big ones. These are hard-coded into the game for some teams, but what I really want to see is stuff that will change from season to season as we play!

-In game 1 of a series in franchise, talk about the roster of the opposing team. Tell me who is hurt, tell me who is playing in their place. Tell me if they made a trade or signed a free agent recently. Tell me who has been performing really well for them, tell me who has been struggling. There should be at least 5-10 variations of each of these so that it doesn't get immediately old.

-Near the all-star break, talk about all-stars on each team.

-At the trade deadline, talk about positions that my team or another team might trade for.

-After the deadline passes, tell me if a team made any moves.

-At the end of the season talk about the pennant race, divisional races, etc

-When players come back from injury, tell me about it.


Give us a lot of variations of these and it will make the commentary feel 'alive' and not scripted. All of these things are possible, as the radio show can 'smartly' talk about them. Transactions can be discussed as the game can draw the info from the transaction log. We have a league update screen whose info can be drawn from. There's lots of info out there. Use it in the commentary!

[csamuelsvt]

Re: Commentary Thread

Honestly, while I agree that the commentary needs more lines and that would help, I think the thing we all really want is for the commentary to be 'smarter'.

I want to see stuff like this:

-At the beginning of the season, have Matt & Co. talk about what moves a team made in the offseason if there were any big ones. These are hard-coded into the game for some teams, but what I really want to see is stuff that will change from season to season as we play!

-In game 1 of a series in franchise, talk about the roster of the opposing team. Tell me who is hurt, tell me who is playing in their place. Tell me if they made a trade or signed a free agent recently. Tell me who has been performing really well for them, tell me who has been struggling. There should be at least 5-10 variations of each of these so that it doesn't get immediately old.

-Near the all-star break, talk about all-stars on each team.

-At the trade deadline, talk about positions that my team or another team might trade for.

-After the deadline passes, tell me if a team made any moves.

-At the end of the season talk about the pennant race, divisional races, etc

-When players come back from injury, tell me about it.


Give us a lot of variations of these and it will make the commentary feel 'alive' and not scripted. All of these things are possible, as the radio show can 'smartly' talk about them. Transactions can be discussed as the game can draw the info from the transaction log. We have a league update screen whose info can be drawn from. There's lots of info out there. Use it in the commentary!

Your post is very good and I agree, but its time for new guys. Its so monotonous with these guys and dull. The commentary is really not that good to be honest...if we could ever get 2K level of commentary with this gameplay, the game would be perfect, but it is time for a change. I've heard the same guy since i started playing this game back in 07 I believe for the PS2. What other game can you say that about?

[bigd51]

Re: Commentary Thread

Your post is very good and I agree, but its time for new guys. Its so monotonous with these guys and dull. The commentary is really not that good to be honest...if we could ever get 2K level of commentary with this gameplay, the game would be perfect, but it is time for a change. I've heard the same guy since i started playing this game back in 07 I believe for the PS2. What other game can you say that about?

I wouldn't say the game would be perfect, per say, because there are still many gameplay issues that should probably be addressed and without a doubt, franchise problems along with them. But I totally agree about commentary.

Are all 3 guys part of MLB Network's crew? If so, maybe MLB makes them use those guys every year? There are better options out there, so I don't know why it always has to be them.

Outside of that, I don't let commentary bother me that way it use to. I know they only have a finite amount of memory for commentary anyway, and if they're going to add more on, I'd prefer them to use that elsewhere. If I get bored with it, I turn it off for a while and use the field sounds, or I start up the media player on my PS4 and play a relaxing game of baseball listening to some kickass music. Sometimes I even play better that way.

[bcruise]

Re: Commentary Thread

Your post is very good and I agree, but its time for new guys. Its so monotonous with these guys and dull. The commentary is really not that good to be honest...if we could ever get 2K level of commentary with this gameplay, the game would be perfect, but it is time for a change. I've heard the same guy since i started playing this game back in 07 I believe for the PS2. What other game can you say that about?

Uh....NBA2K. Kevin Harlan has been the play by play guy since 2k6.

[csamuelsvt]

Re: Commentary Thread

I wouldn't say the game would be perfect, per say, because there are still many gameplay issues that should probably be addressed and without a doubt, franchise problems along with them. But I totally agree about commentary.

Are all 3 guys part of MLB Network's crew? If so, maybe MLB makes them use those guys every year? There are better options out there, so I don't know why it always has to be them.

Outside of that, I don't let commentary bother me that way it use to. I know they only have a finite amount of memory for commentary anyway, and if they're going to add more on, I'd prefer them to use that elsewhere. If I get bored with it, I turn it off for a while and use the field sounds, or I start up the media player on my PS4 and play a relaxing game of baseball listening to some kickass music. Sometimes I even play better that way.

Yeah i don't mean actual "perfect" but it would make the game a lot better. The 2k commentary in their games is done extremely well with how seamless it is and how they go back to previous comments etc.

I just think its time to change it up with new guys and make them interact with each other more...more life like is all i am saying with enthusiasm/excitement

[bigd51]

Re: Commentary Thread

Yeah i don't mean actual "perfect" but it would make the game a lot better. The 2k commentary in their games is done extremely well with how seamless it is and how they go back to previous comments etc.

I just think its time to change it up with new guys and make them interact with each other more...more life like is all i am saying with enthusiasm/excitement

It's never a bad idea to switch up the teams. Hell, it would be really sweet if they had different guys each year. Say, have 3 different teams in mind and alternate between them. That would go a long way in keeping it fresh. And the repetitiveness wouldn't be as bad because if team A does it one year, you'd have to wait 2 full years before they're in the game again, so even if they have the same lines from before, you may not remember as much after 2 years of not hearing them.

It's really the easiest solution for them right now. You get different commentary each year without sacrificing more memory to add to commentary, and repetitiveness from each broadcast team is hindered from the extensive break from being in the game in between years. Barring any matters behind the scenes like licensing and such with different broadcasters, it seems like a viable strategy that I feel most people would get behind.

[Blzer]

Re: Commentary Thread

I just think it's weird that they stick to specific commentary. I know it will be easier to write lines for, but once they have the proper algorithm to make more dynamic commentary integrate with season/franchise/RttS, it would really be the golden ticket.

For example, right now they're asking us to provide them with the greatest stories for all 30 teams. If done right (not saying it's easy at all, just to throw that out there now), wouldn't next year's game be able to talk about these stories if the algorithm recognizes these players were great stories for the right reasons? Now if I play a Giants franchise, I'm not only going to hear about Matt Duffy in Week 2, but also in Week 20, and in the next year of my franchise, and if he gets traded to the Marlins in 2023, and so on until MLB 17 doesn't touch on him at all. Heck, what would be really hilarious is if I import my franchise from MLB 15 where Duffy hits like .150, then they go on having this commentary about his 2015 season yet it doesn't reflect my franchise at all.

Again, quibbles... but the best solution will hopefully future-proof the commentary if they ever choose to go this route. I can't imagine it being easy, much like franchise carry-over. It seems downright difficult as sin to pull off, otherwise more companies would have something like this by now. But it seems like most people who have issue with the commentary would be instantly righted if this was brought into the mix a little bit.

[happymadison]

Re: Commentary Thread

I have been playing MLB the show since 07 and the commentary seems almost identical but with different guys and this needs to change for next year, i'd love to hear some new guys in the booth who have some friendly banter like you have in real baseball and who also doesn't sound like they are reading from a script...please sony change the commentary and guys in the booth if you care about your fans and i know this isn't that important to some but it is to me....

[bigd51]

Re: Commentary Thread

I have been playing MLB the show since 07 and the commentary seems almost identical but with different guys and this needs to change for next year, i'd love to hear some new guys in the booth who have some friendly banter like you have in real baseball and who also doesn't sound like they are reading from a script...please sony change the commentary and guys in the booth if you care about your fans and i know this isn't that important to some but it is to me....

Funny thing is, if you listen to the beginning intro to MLB 07 (https://youtu.be/P4JnhTuFr3o?t=1m15s), you can hear Matt V. saying lines the exact same way he does in MLB 15.

I never realized that until now. Commentary desperately needs a makeover.

[Russell_SCEA]

Re: Commentary Thread

I just think it's weird that they stick to specific commentary. I know it will be easier to write lines for, but once they have the proper algorithm to make more dynamic commentary integrate with season/franchise/RttS, it would really be the golden ticket.

For example, right now they're asking us to provide them with the greatest stories for all 30 teams. If done right (not saying it's easy at all, just to throw that out there now), wouldn't next year's game be able to talk about these stories if the algorithm recognizes these players were great stories for the right reasons? Now if I play a Giants franchise, I'm not only going to hear about Matt Duffy in Week 2, but also in Week 20, and in the next year of my franchise, and if he gets traded to the Marlins in 2023, and so on until MLB 17 doesn't touch on him at all. Heck, what would be really hilarious is if I import my franchise from MLB 15 where Duffy hits like .150, then they go on having this commentary about his 2015 season yet it doesn't reflect my franchise at all.

Again, quibbles... but the best solution will hopefully future-proof the commentary if they ever choose to go this route. I can't imagine it being easy, much like franchise carry-over. It seems downright difficult as sin to pull off, otherwise more companies would have something like this by now. But it seems like most people who have issue with the commentary would be instantly righted if this was brought into the mix a little bit.

Our focus is dynamic commentary you won't be hearing last years story-lines 20 weeks into the season. They are designed for opening week only.

[Blzer]

Re: Commentary Thread

Our focus is dynamic commentary you won't be hearing last years story-lines 20 weeks into the season. They are designed for opening week only.

Well then, in that case that's really cool.

[cvbgc]

Re: Commentary Thread

It's time to let out your matt vasgerian,Eric Karros and Steve Lyons frustrations here. It's time for a commentary change. I've literally heard Matt say the same exact thing from mlb 07 the show