Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

[Redskinsfan26]

So about every 5-10 games or so, I'll have a game where literally I get line-out after line-out. I'll square up 75% of the balls and they go right to the defender. I strike out maybe once per game, and the rest are outs, so effectively my BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is 1-26, as I usually can squeeze 1 cheap hit in the infield. This absolutely never happens in the real MLB. A team would never go 1-26 (or anywhere along those lines) in a full game, let alone every 5-10 games.

Why does this feel so rigged? I'm using the Red Sox, and go on huge winning streaks when it feels like the computer forces me to hit into outs to challenge me. I'm on HOF difficulty btw. Any other franchise guys encounter this? This isn't just "well that's baseball sometimes". If the Red Sox square up 75% of pitches they wouldn't EVER have a BABIP of 1-26, let alone every few games.

[Ferweezy]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

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[underdog13]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

Hey so I saw your post also on reddit. And you can take their words for what they're worth, and believe It's all rigged and believe that games are predetermined or you can just hear me out for a few minutes.

Now there there are two things that I think you have failed to considered.

1) You haven't been critical enough of yourself
2) Human beings don't understand true randomness well

1)
• So I'm not here to say you are a bad player or to say 'get good'. But when I see that you are only striking out once, I'm expecting that you are hitting 1-2 hrs per game at Minimum. Not getting one hit. Just because you can hit the ball on the outside corner and even square it up, doesn't mean It's a good pitch to hit or something you can smoak. I would recommend using more power swings early in a count and just sitting either inside or down the middle and not moving from your spot. When down to 2 strikes. Take more edge pitches. Now yes that will mean more caught looking K's. But if that slider is spotted right on the corner, are you really going to hit it for a basehit? Better to take the chance it ends up a ball and you can get a better pitch to hit next AB.

2) Human beings are just bad at understanding randomness and how things like baseball streaks can occur. Here is a good paper on it - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...3BWRO2PFzU6VfV


Now hopefully you read all that. I hope you can try and see things in a slightly different light. It can be very hard to be critical of yourself. But ask yourself, "was that really a ball I should expect to get a hit on", "if the cpu hit that, would I expect to catch"

Hopefully some of that was useful

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[Redskinsfan26]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

Hey so I saw your post also on reddit. And you can take their words for what they're worth, and believe It's all rigged and believe that games are predetermined or you can just hear me out for a few minutes.

Now there there are two things that I think you have failed to considered.

1) You haven't been critical enough of yourself
2) Human beings don't understand true randomness well

1)
• So I'm not here to say you are a bad player or to say 'get good'. But when I see that you are only striking out once, I'm expecting that you are hitting 1-2 hrs per game at Minimum. Not getting one hit. Just because you can hit the ball on the outside corner and even square it up, doesn't mean It's a good pitch to hit or something you can smoak. I would recommend using more power swings early in a count and just sitting either inside or down the middle and not moving from your spot. When down to 2 strikes. Take more edge pitches. Now yes that will mean more caught looking K's. But if that slider is spotted right on the corner, are you really going to hit it for a basehit? Better to take the chance it ends up a ball and you can get a better pitch to hit next AB.

2) Human beings are just bad at understanding randomness and how things like baseball streaks can occur. Here is a good paper on it - https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...3BWRO2PFzU6VfV


Now hopefully you read all that. I hope you can try and see things in a slightly different light. It can be very hard to be critical of yourself. But ask yourself, "was that really a ball I should expect to get a hit on", "if the cpu hit that, would I expect to catch"

Hopefully some of that was useful

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Thank you for the insightful post. I certainly hear you that I could be remembering incorrectly or ignoring my bad at-bats. I plan on recording my games so that the next time it happens, I will have some footage to look back upon.

The main thing that triggered my post was the fact that there isn't any in-between in my games. I'll either get 9-12 hits, score 5-8 runs (which happens in about 90% of my games), or I'll get 0,1, or 2 hits, while seemingly doing nothing differently. I'll be facing mediocre pitchers (70ish overalls) with some of the best hitters in the game (Betts, Benintendi, Martinez, Boegarts, ect...) and feel like each hard hit ball had a zero percent chance of dropping. And there are seemingly 12-15 hard hit balls per game, which makes me wonder.

Do you recall watching a baseball game where a team rocketed the ball over and over and over and over again, right at the opposing defense, over the course of an entire game? Surely it could happen once or twice in a year, but every 10 ish games? It just doesn't add up (and again, that's IF I'm remembering correctly).

[underdog13]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

Thank you for the insightful post. I certainly hear you that I could be remembering incorrectly or ignoring my bad at-bats. I plan on recording my games so that the next time it happens, I will have some footage to look back upon.

The main thing that triggered my post was the fact that there isn't any in-between in my games. I'll either get 9-12 hits, score 5-8 runs (which happens in about 90% of my games), or I'll get 0,1, or 2 hits, while seemingly doing nothing differently. I'll be facing mediocre pitchers (70ish overalls) with some of the best hitters in the game (Betts, Benintendi, Martinez, Boegarts, ect...) and feel like each hard hit ball had a zero percent chance of dropping. And there are seemingly 12-15 hard hit balls per game, which makes me wonder.

Do you recall watching a baseball game where a team rocketed the ball over and over and over and over again, right at the opposing defense, over the course of an entire game? Surely it could happen once or twice in a year, but every 10 ish games? It just doesn't add up (and again, that's IF I'm remembering correctly).

Yeah certainly that many hard hits balls not resulting in hits shouldn't happen that often. I do remember a Lester start this summer where he spread around a lot of hard hit outs.

One thing I will ask is how often are you walking as I find people who walk less will be much more inconsistent with their offense (even if they have a much better bat on ball abilty).

And I also struggle with those quirky 75ovr lefties Sp with 68 stamina and whatnot sometimes more than the aces.

Yeah definitely do some youtube streams or something, I would love to watch a few games.

Also something else to note, is we may I just different definitions of hard hit balls. As simple as it may seem, this happens all the time on the madden forum. Just another thing to consider.

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[Caulfield]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

So about every 5-10 games or so, I'll have a game where literally I get line-out after line-out. I'll square up 75% of the balls and they go right to the defender. I strike out maybe once per game, and the rest are outs, so effectively my BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is 1-26, as I usually can squeeze 1 cheap hit in the infield. This absolutely never happens in the real MLB. A team would never go 1-26 (or anywhere along those lines) in a full game, let alone every 5-10 games.

Why does this feel so rigged? I'm using the Red Sox, and go on huge winning streaks when it feels like the computer forces me to hit into outs to challenge me. I'm on HOF difficulty btw. Any other franchise guys encounter this? This isn't just "well that's baseball sometimes". If the Red Sox square up 75% of pitches they wouldn't EVER have a BABIP of 1-26, let alone every few games.

The games arent rigged or predetermined and the best way to see that is to either drop down a level from HoF (you'll see an immediate difference) or switch to dynamic difficulty (you'll see a gradual difference). The alternative to sticking with HoF is to dial in the right set of sliders that fits your personal skill set. It might take a bit longer to find the right set of sliders but its probably the best option if you dont want to change from HoF. Otherwise, other than ''getting better'', you will most likely continue to see similar results by sticking with HoF and making no necessary modifications.

[KBLover]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

2) Human beings don't understand true randomness well

This

But ask yourself, "was that really a ball I should expect to get a hit on", "if the cpu hit that, would I expect to catch"

And so much this.

Also something else to note, is we may I just different definitions of hard hit balls. As simple as it may seem, this happens all the time on the madden forum. Just another thing to consider.

Yep. I use the irl definition (a ball over 95 MPH velocity). That takes all my "that was hard hit" out of it. If the game says 90 MPH or 83 MPH, it wasn't hard hit. That keeps me purely objective.

I can't improve if I subjective-excuse my flaws and errors and subjective-color my tendencies.

[raneman85]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

.
Do you recall watching a baseball game where a team rocketed the ball over and over and over and over again, right at the opposing defense, over the course of an entire game? Surely it could happen once or twice in a year, but every 10 ish games? It just doesn't add up (and again, that's IF I'm remembering correctly).

OMG Yes I have coached baseball for over 25 years and played earlier. I've experienced seasons like that. Welcome to the world of Baseball my friend.

[bcruise]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

This




And so much this.



Yep. I use the irl definition (a ball over 95 MPH velocity). That takes all my "that was hard hit" out of it. If the game says 90 MPH or 83 MPH, it wasn't hard hit. That keeps me purely objective.

I can't improve if I subjective-excuse my flaws and errors and subjective-color my tendencies.

I remembered this thread and post as I was reading an article on MLB.com today, regarding hard-hit balls (it centers around David Bote, but there's some general info in there too):

https://www.mlb.com/news/david-bote-has-elite-exit-velocity-for-cubs/c-292300326?tid=277658066

Hard-hit balls (95 mph -plus exit velocity) in MLB in 2018
.523 average / 1.044 slugging

Just over 50% of balls hit over 95 mph this year turn into base hits. Which means the other half are outs. Think about how that would look if people got base hits with EV > 95 mph to the frequency that they want/expect them in The Show.

[WarningTrackPower]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

I'm not sure I'd say that games are predetermined in franchise mode, but I would say that the mode is extremely streaky and it does stack the odds against you, especially if you have won a few in a row. This is something I've noticed in franchise mode going back a few years now. The game is incredibly streaky and you play a little over .500 until about the trade deadline. After that you pick up steam and secure your playoff spot. I'm not against the results that I've gotten in my franchises as I understand that this is a simulation. My issue is with the journey to get there.


Franchise gameplay could use some tweaks. In my latest franchise I was dead last in strike outs (fewest), last in walks (fewest), and near the bottom in team batting average, yet first in homeruns. I can tell you that I achieve a lot of "good" timing on pitches over the heart of the plate only to get out a good majority of the time. I'm all for the realistic numbers but BABIP needs a look.


One thing that really irks me is after winning a few games in a row and you face a below average starter who throws a "gem" against you. The majority of the game he's just lobbing in batting practice fastballs and hanging offspeed pitches, but regardless of how perfectly timed your swings are, you're getting out at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, the broadcast team raves about how well this guy is throwing (gets under skin further). I'd prefer the game just play well and not make many mistakes, and maybe the mistakes that are made over the plate are so few and far between that it's believable that I just missed it when one does leak over the plate. The problem is the game doesn't seem to improve against you, it just lessens the odds of your success. In this case I'd prefer a challenge where a team executes well against me. At least that's not a total waste of my time.


All in all, franchise mode can absolutely feel like some of the games are predetermined. However, I don't believe the devs set out to make it this way. I feel as though they need to tweak how the game challenges you in franchise more (especially when on a winning streak). Even the scrappiest of MLB pitchers can throw a gem every now and then. Even some of the worst teams in the bigs can play close to a flawless game. It happens.

[soamazen23]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

I honestly feel like every game is different. I’ve had 17 game winning streaks and I’ve had 8 game losing streaks. During both of those times i felt like I was the one that was contributing to the teams outcome. My hitting, my pitching and my coaching. I believe this game does a great job at letting the player decide te game. Try switching to dynamic hitting that helps alot. (I pitch in HOF)

[wcu25rs]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

I wont say that it's predetermined but alot of times, it feels awfully close. I Quick Manage my games but still play alot of each game. As soon as my pitcher lets a runner on, I'll jump in and try to close the inning out. Innings 1-4, with meter pitching, I can nail my spots when getting near perfect or perfect timing. But innings 5-7 is where it almost always gets funky. Usually in those innings when the first runner gets on, I can jump in, and even with either A.)my starter that is rolling and still has plenty of energy and normal/high confidence or B.)a reliever with full energy and normal confidence, my pitches end WAY off from intended target, even with a perfect release, and hitters will tattoo pitches in their cold zone or even outside the zone.
And I'm on dynamic difficulty for pitching and it's the same on each level(on HOF right now). So almost all my games are me building a lead in innings 1-4, then giving up enough runs to where they tie or take the lead in innings 5-7, and then me either winning with runs in 8th or 9th, or me losing.

[Padgoi]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

Is it rigged? No.
Is it HIGHLY influenced? Yes.

[countryboy]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

I think over the course of 162 games you're going to run into times where it seems like no matter what you do, you can't win a ballgame. That your team just finds a way to lose, whether it be shaky starting pitching, the bullpen blowing games, can't get a hit or drive in a run, or just bad defense.

Then there will be times over the course of 162 games where it seems like you can do no wrong and lose a ballgame. You'll keep getting timely hits, perfectly placed hits, getting timely double plays to get out of jams, strike out good/great hitters in key moments, get dominant starting pitching from your 4 and 5 guys, bullpen is lights out, and every fielder seems like they are gold glove caliber.


Before the All-Star break, and mind you I had the best record (61-32) in the National League and 2nd best record in the Majors, I lost 5 straight games and finished the first half at (61-37). I couldn't win for losing. We lost 10-5, 1-0, 8-4, 7-2 (bullpen blew up late), and 2-1. Prior to that losing streak, we had only allowed 2 runs in 6 games and had pitched 3 straight shutouts. After the break, we won the first 5 to start the 2nd half. We won 7-6, 5-1, 4-2 (scored 4 in the 8th to go ahead), 7-2, 2-1. Two games later we won 4-3 after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 9th, to getting a walkoff double by Patrick Wisdom.

It happens. Baseball is a LONG season and peaks and valleys, and ebbs and flows are bound to happen. Nobody goes 162-0, and nobody goes 0-162. You're going to go on winning streaks, losing streaks, and have games where you just can't seem to buy a hit and times where you could pick a ball off the dirt with the bat and find a hole.

[wcu25rs]

Re: Why do some franchise mode games seem pre-determined?

I think over the course of 162 games you're going to run into times where it seems like no matter what you do, you can't win a ballgame. That your team just finds a way to lose, whether it be shaky starting pitching, the bullpen blowing games, can't get a hit or drive in a run, or just bad defense.

Then there will be times over the course of 162 games where it seems like you can do no wrong and lose a ballgame. You'll keep getting timely hits, perfectly placed hits, getting timely double plays to get out of jams, strike out good/great hitters in key moments, get dominant starting pitching from your 4 and 5 guys, bullpen is lights out, and every fielder seems like they are gold glove caliber.


Before the All-Star break, and mind you I had the best record (61-32) in the National League and 2nd best record in the Majors, I lost 5 straight games and finished the first half at (61-37). I couldn't win for losing. We lost 10-5, 1-0, 8-4, 7-2 (bullpen blew up late), and 2-1. Prior to that losing streak, we had only allowed 2 runs in 6 games and had pitched 3 straight shutouts. After the break, we won the first 5 to start the 2nd half. We won 7-6, 5-1, 4-2 (scored 4 in the 8th to go ahead), 7-2, 2-1. Two games later we won 4-3 after blowing a 3-1 lead in the 9th, to getting a walkoff double by Patrick Wisdom.

It happens. Baseball is a LONG season and peaks and valleys, and ebbs and flows are bound to happen. Nobody goes 162-0, and nobody goes 0-162. You're going to go on winning streaks, losing streaks, and have games where you just can't seem to buy a hit and times where you could pick a ball off the dirt with the bat and find a hole.

i think everyone knows this. the difference is in patterns. There is definitely a pattern that I'm seeing in probably 90% of my games....the scenario I described in my last post. And FWIW, I'm not one of those that mind losing. Sometimes when I lose a game and it feels organic, I actually enjoy it. But those times dont happen often.