MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

[omegaminus]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

As an offline only player that means the mode is worthless to me. That is a shame because it would be an extra way to use my DD team beyond Conquest games.

As a fellow offline-only player, the likelihood of me buying MLB 20 went way down. Join-and-quit using dummy accounts now looks like nothing more than a loophole that could end up getting patched out at any time if they think of another way to deal with booting players.

[BigOscar]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

As an offline only player that means the mode is worthless to me. That is a shame because it would be an extra way to use my DD team beyond Conquest games.

Hopefully they've actually made some reason to play a 9 inning game of offline DD this year, it's pretty ridiculous that last year there wasn't any reason at al and even the option to do it was hidden away under "extended play".

Side not, bit strange how weirdly quiet it is on the DD front considering the game is out in about a week and it's their main seller. I get that the DD stream is last, but it's weird that they haven't at least shown the gist of what the mission structure and cards will be like this year. I am getting a bit of bad feeling that it will essentially just be exactly the same as last year with innings programs, XP rewards, moments, signature cards, team affinity and the like, but with just different rewards for doing the same thing.

Every other year they've changed it, but I haven't seen or heard anything about it yet I don't think?

[Dolenz]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

Hopefully they've actually made some reason to play a 9 inning game of offline DD this year, it's pretty ridiculous that last year there wasn't any reason at al and even the option to do it was hidden away under "extended play".

Side not, bit strange how weirdly quiet it is on the DD front considering the game is out in about a week and it's their main seller. I get that the DD stream is last, but it's weird that they haven't at least shown the gist of what the mission structure and cards will be like this year. I am getting a bit of bad feeling that it will essentially just be exactly the same as last year with innings programs, XP rewards, moments, signature cards, team affinity and the like, but with just different rewards for doing the same thing.

Every other year they've changed it, but I haven't seen or heard anything about it yet I don't think?

Yeah, it does seem to be that DD is not getting a lot of Hype this year. My only guess is that it is because it will mostly be the same as last year. I think they found a formula that worked and kept people engaged last year.

And don't get me wrong, I am a pretty big fan of Conquest, especially the multiple maps with lots of hidden rewards this past year. I like being able to sit down to play for an hour or so and being able to progress more than one game. Three inning games are great for those with less time.

But something along the lines of an offline ranked season mode or even an offline events mode would be nice. I understand that they could not have the same level of rewards as online, unless they somehow tweaked the offline settings to make it equally as tough to be successful as the online counterparts.

[BigOscar]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

Yeah, it does seem to be that DD is not getting a lot of Hype this year. My only guess is that it is because it will mostly be the same as last year. I think they found a formula that worked and kept people engaged last year.

And don't get me wrong, I am a pretty big fan of Conquest, especially the multiple maps with lots of hidden rewards this past year. I like being able to sit down to play for an hour or so and being able to progress more than one game. Three inning games are great for those with less time.

But something along the lines of an offline ranked season mode or even an offline events mode would be nice. I understand that they could not have the same level of rewards as online, unless they somehow tweaked the offline settings to make it equally as tough to be successful as the online counterparts.

Tbh, I am not particularly enthused about playing the same game as last year, even if I enjoyed it for a while. It would be incredibly lazy to just do the exact same thing again, but with the rewards moved around, so hopefully they are saving the changes for a final hype boost in the last week.

As you say, I actually really like conquest as well, but that alone is far too little for the entire offline DD content, particularly as they ended up linking about 90% of the maps to innings programs anyway so they had no replay value at all. Moments aren't really DD and were incredibly tedious("hit a homer with player X" repeated about 200 times), whereas Mto just straight up isn't DD, even if they offer meagre DD rewards. So that pretty much just left "innings" and experience as the only things beyond conquest, which is incredibly aimless. Offline seasons would be absolutely great, offline events would be cool, just more missions that link to actually playing the game would suffice though tbh. But the fact that they've not mentioned anything doesn't exactly get my hopes up.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

Tbh, I am not particularly enthused about playing the same game as last year, even if I enjoyed it for a while. It would be incredibly lazy to just do the exact same thing again, but with the rewards moved around, so hopefully they are saving the changes for a final hype boost in the last week.

As you say, I actually really like conquest as well, but that alone is far too little for the entire offline DD content, particularly as they ended up linking about 90% of the maps to innings programs anyway so they had no replay value at all. Moments aren't really DD and were incredibly tedious("hit a homer with player X" repeated about 200 times), whereas Mto just straight up isn't DD, even if they offer meagre DD rewards. So that pretty much just left "innings" and experience as the only things beyond conquest, which is incredibly aimless. Offline seasons would be absolutely great, offline events would be cool, just more missions that link to actually playing the game would suffice though tbh. But the fact that they've not mentioned anything doesn't exactly get my hopes up.

We're in the same mindset man.

Now, they HAVE mentioned some new DD mode called Showdown...which is probably another lame online thing. But who knows?

Offline DD was as bad as I thought it would be when they had their content stream last year. It just seemed insanely empty and that's exactly what happened as they shifted the focus way too much to the online guys.

I cannot do Moments again; they just were not fun (aside from the Signature team program - THAT wasn't bad). MtO is NOT a DD mode and shouldn't be tied to it in any manner (other than the normal stub/XP for games played). And while I enjoy knocking out some Conquest games, it's a bit dull when you're not trying to accomplish anything else. Frankly, if they had the stat grind missions (like in the 11th inning program) in each program all year, it would've been a lot more fun. They can do "little things" like having varying roster restrictions for Conquest maps, or having them vs "signature teams" instead of just vs the Live Series guys. Give me a reason to play 9 inning games other than "grinding innings for team affinity...". It's kind of like where I am with franchise mode...I'm not asking for a lot here...just little improvements for us offline guys.

If offline content (note I said "content", not "rewards") is as bad as it was last year (and it was awful), I will have to skip DD entirely this year (and that sucks because it is a fantastic side-mode for me when I want a quick 30 min diversion). Now, I've been looking at past DD modes, and they DO seem to change things up each year. So, I'm hopeful they change the paradigm this year.

[Dolenz]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

We're in the same mindset man.

Now, they HAVE mentioned some new DD mode called Showdown...which is probably another lame online thing. But who knows?

Offline DD was as bad as I thought it would be when they had their content stream last year. It just seemed insanely empty and that's exactly what happened as they shifted the focus way too much to the online guys.

See I thought offline content was the best it has ever been. I accomplished more and created two great teams this past year where I have not even come close to getting an even getting 5 or 10 diamonds in the past.

I did not mind most moments. To be honest I would rather hit a HR with a juiced player in moments, where i can easily try over and over, rather than being forced to add a bronze or silver card to my team and play actual games to try and get him that same HR.

That said, I did not do many of the early story moments and only completed the easiest of the three Moments Extreme groups, and even that one drove me crazy.

[BigOscar]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

See I thought offline content was the best it has ever been. I accomplished more and created two great teams this past year where I have not even come close to getting an even getting 5 or 10 diamonds in the past.

I did not mind most moments. To be honest I would rather hit a HR with a juiced player in moments, where i can easily try over and over, rather than being forced to add a bronze or silver card to my team and play actual games to try and get him that same HR.

That said, I did not do many of the early story moments and only completed the easiest of the three Moments Extreme groups, and even that one drove me crazy.

To me, this is the difference between what some people mean by content and what others would call rewards. Offline rewards were great last year, you got stuff thrown at you left, right and center without much effort at all. To me, content is things to actually do, in which case last year was pretty barren from an offline perspective. There was conquest, moments, then team affinity (aimlessly grinding innings) and the offline daily missions, which again where all just aimlessly grinding innings. That was it iirc.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

See I thought offline content was the best it has ever been. I accomplished more and created two great teams this past year where I have not even come close to getting an even getting 5 or 10 diamonds in the past.

I did not mind most moments. To be honest I would rather hit a HR with a juiced player in moments, where i can easily try over and over, rather than being forced to add a bronze or silver card to my team and play actual games to try and get him that same HR.

That said, I did not do many of the early story moments and only completed the easiest of the three Moments Extreme groups, and even that one drove me crazy.

My own definition so you know why I am saying what I am sating: To me, new cards are not content....those are rewards. Content is something new to actually play...

As for the other piece...I'd rather play a full game to get that bronze guy a HR then some slider-manipulated situation that has nothing to do with the team I'm building. I LOVE being able to mix-match lineups to accomplish missions (18 was FANTASTIC in that regards) while playing real 9 inning baseball games.

[goillini03]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

We're in the same mindset man.



Now, they HAVE mentioned some new DD mode called Showdown...which is probably another lame online thing. But who knows?



Offline DD was as bad as I thought it would be when they had their content stream last year. It just seemed insanely empty and that's exactly what happened as they shifted the focus way too much to the online guys.



I cannot do Moments again; they just were not fun (aside from the Signature team program - THAT wasn't bad). MtO is NOT a DD mode and shouldn't be tied to it in any manner (other than the normal stub/XP for games played). And while I enjoy knocking out some Conquest games, it's a bit dull when you're not trying to accomplish anything else. Frankly, if they had the stat grind missions (like in the 11th inning program) in each program all year, it would've been a lot more fun. They can do "little things" like having varying roster restrictions for Conquest maps, or having them vs "signature teams" instead of just vs the Live Series guys. Give me a reason to play 9 inning games other than "grinding innings for team affinity...". It's kind of like where I am with franchise mode...I'm not asking for a lot here...just little improvements for us offline guys.



If offline content (note I said "content", not "rewards") is as bad as it was last year (and it was awful), I will have to skip DD entirely this year (and that sucks because it is a fantastic side-mode for me when I want a quick 30 min diversion). Now, I've been looking at past DD modes, and they DO seem to change things up each year. So, I'm hopeful they change the paradigm this year.

I agree. Last year, as an offline DD player, was the worst version of the mode that I played for the reasons you outline.

I hated doing Conquest to start the year to begin with (big map) and the fact that you had to do one each month for rewards was an awful experience for me. Missing out of the career arcs and players missions killed the mode for me. You never used your team offline.

I also got so tired of playing moments, for the same monotonous reason why I stopped playing MUT. A repeat of last year will kill the DD mode entirely like Madden did with MUT. Good news is that I saved time and money by not playing the mode.

[omegaminus]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

The impression that I get at this point is that Diamond Dynasty is developed exclusively for H2H players. The things that can be done offline (Conquest, Moments) are intended not to cater to offline players, but as the occasional diversion to break up any monotony experienced by H2H players.


I find it very frustrating. I played Road To The Show all the way from MLB 08 until I shifted toward DD in MLB 17 because I found that I really enjoyed its process of collecting cards, achieving objectives and building and improving my team. I continued playing it in 18. Then in 19, they got rid of all the interesting objectives that could be done organically in the process of proper 9-inning games and it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. It's like I had been told "This mode isn't for you. Any enjoyment you got out of it in the past was entirely incidental." And now I want it back. I find myself unwilling to buy the game if I don't get it back. So far, it doesn't look like they're willing to invite me to the DD party. Why? No idea.


Just venting.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

The impression that I get at this point is that Diamond Dynasty is developed exclusively for H2H players. The things that can be done offline (Conquest, Moments) are intended not to cater to offline players, but as the occasional diversion to break up any monotony experienced by H2H players.


I find it very frustrating. I played Road To The Show all the way from MLB 08 until I shifted toward DD in MLB 17 because I found that I really enjoyed its process of collecting cards, achieving objectives and building and improving my team. I continued playing it in 18. Then in 19, they got rid of all the interesting objectives that could be done organically in the process of proper 9-inning games and it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. It's like I had been told "This mode isn't for you. Any enjoyment you got out of it in the past was entirely incidental." And now I want it back. I find myself unwilling to buy the game if I don't get it back. So far, it doesn't look like they're willing to invite me to the DD party. Why? No idea.


Just venting.

If I am being completely honest....'18 swung too far towards offline grinding - many online-focused guys never even got Immortals and those that did went to inexorable lengths (playing on rookie non-stop for 24 hrs) to attain them. The complaints they had about the long grinds weren't without some merit.

As you point out though, 19 swung too far towards online guys (i.e. they over-corrected)....taking an approach of "we'll make this easy and quick so you stop whining". Instead of going to "no long stat grinds" as they indicated in the pre-release streams, they went with "no stat grinds".

The frustrating part is that they could have accommodated the offline-only audience somewhat by a) including stat objectives (as opposed to innings played) to earn Team Affinity and b) by including stat objectives in each inning program.

For most of the year, I went through this cycle of "play DD to earn the non-annoying stars" followed by 3-4 weeks of playing franchise (which got me to 300 by the end of the program). If I didn't also love franchise mode, I probably would've shelved the game....

[Dolenz]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

My own definition so you know why I am saying what I am sating: To me, new cards are not content....those are rewards. Content is something new to actually play...

As for the other piece...I'd rather play a full game to get that bronze guy a HR then some slider-manipulated situation that has nothing to do with the team I'm building. I LOVE being able to mix-match lineups to accomplish missions (18 was FANTASTIC in that regards) while playing real 9 inning baseball games.

I am not considering Cards themselves the content. I do consider all of those conquest maps content. I do consider Moments content.

Now, I understand that Moments seems to split players into two camps. Those who enjoy them and those that hate them. That comes down to personal opinion.

In the end it probably matters little what you or I enjoy more. What matters to SDS is which method keeps the most DD players invested deeper into the year and which method is more likely to earn them more stub sales.

[JoshC1977]

Re: MLB The Show 20 Livestream - Custom Leagues (Archive Included)

I am not considering Cards themselves the content. I do consider all of those conquest maps content. I do consider Moments content.

OK, fair enough - you just made a statement like "awesome content" and then started swooning about two awesome teams, number of diamonds, etc. Lots of people would see a new Headliners pack and scream about how "awesome the content is this year" and it really made me shake my head - I assumed you had the same mindset. You don't, we're on the same page there

Now, I understand that Moments seems to split players into two camps. Those who enjoy them and those that hate them. That comes down to personal opinion.

The "moments" where you had to play a full game with your DD squad...those made sense as being actual "DD content" to me. The ones that were like "Hit HR in 1 AB with Player X" (who wasn't even on your DD team), were just like MtO to me...they had nothing to do with DD or had any business being tied to it.

My opinion can be summed-up like this, "When I want to play DD, I want to play DD - not some other mode!".

In the end it probably matters little what you or I enjoy more. What matters to SDS is which method keeps the most DD players invested deeper into the year and which method is more likely to earn them more stub sales.

No arguments here

And just like custom leagues....everything is to cater to the "competitive" online crowd...