The whiff...

[dubplate]

Re: The whiff...

I’ve been struggling myself as it seems the timing windows were shrunk this year. I’ve been trying to grind it out, but am getting a little annoyed, but instead of lowering the difficulty I will probably adjust the timing slider one click.

[RogueHominid]

Re: The whiff...

I wound up lowering the difficulty from HOF to AS & that's made a difference.

I'm also just going to up CON 1 for the HUM, as CON affects vision, timing, and check swing success rates. Kind of seems like a one-stop shop for precisely the issues at play here.

I'm happy that AS this year is tougher than last year.

[Gagnon39]

Re: The whiff...

I’ve been struggling myself as it seems the timing windows were shrunk this year. I’ve been trying to grind it out, but am getting a little annoyed, but instead of lowering the difficulty I will probably adjust the timing slider one click.

Ive been playing with it at 7-8 and still striking out a lot. There’s many, many times that I feel like I’ve timed the ball well on a pitch in the zone and it’s fouled off. I find myself in two-strike counts more often than not because of this.

I should also note that I am striking out the CPU at a much, much higher rate.

I do believe, as someone previously mentioned, that the use of the contact swing is huge. I typically try to use it with two strikes but need to make sure I’m doing it even more.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[ktd1976]

Re: The whiff...

Ive been playing with it at 7-8 and still striking out a lot. There’s many, many times that I feel like I’ve timed the ball well on a pitch in the zone and it’s fouled off. I find myself in two-strike counts more often than not because of this.

I should also note that I am striking out the CPU at a much, much higher rate.

I do believe, as someone previously mentioned, that the use of the contact swing is huge. I typically try to use it with two strikes but need to make sure I’m doing it even more.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you use Directional hitting, right?

I'm wondering if something was adjusted along those lines as well, where even a perfectly timed swing results in a swing and a miss, or a foul ball more often than in the past.

I mean, directional hitting relies on timing, but it also heavily relies on the contact rating of the individual player. For example, I use the Tigers, and JaCoby Jones is going to swing and miss much more often than someone like say Miguel Cabrera in his prime. And it has nothing to do with human timing, but rather player ratings.

I have seen several times, when looking at replay (I turn swing feedback off) that I almost perfectly timed a swing, and swung over/under the ball, resulting in a miss or a weak foul.

[bigd51]

Re: The whiff...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you use Directional hitting, right?

I'm wondering if something was adjusted along those lines as well, where even a perfectly timed swing results in a swing and a miss, or a foul ball more often than in the past.

I mean, directional hitting relies on timing, but it also heavily relies on the contact rating of the individual player. For example, I use the Tigers, and JaCoby Jones is going to swing and miss much more often than someone like say Miguel Cabrera in his prime. And it has nothing to do with human timing, but rather player ratings.

I have seen several times, when looking at replay (I turn swing feedback off) that I almost perfectly timed a swing, and swung over/under the ball, resulting in a miss or a weak foul.

There have been plenty of times in the past where I've had a good-timed swing completely whiff on a ball in the strike zone w/ Directional (especially on change-ups, sinkers, etc. that are low in the zone) so I know it's not new for '21. But I'm not finding it to be any more or less frequent this year than before.

I love it, though. I used to get infuriated when it would happen. Even when good-timed swings would result in pop-ups, weak-grounders, etc. b/c I expected every good-timed swing to be a solid hit -- until I started to accept the fact that that's baseball. Even well-timed swings IRL can miss or barely get a piece of a ball.

And that's why I laugh at the people who think that using Directional in an online ranked game is somehow an "unfair advantage" over those who use Zone. I even saw a post today going through the official The Show forums where someone said that Zone should be the default interface in online ranked games b/c of the usual "it's not hard to hit the ball when they only have to worry about timing" and "I can always tell when someone's using Directional by the PCI placement in the swing info".

Like, no, you obviously don't even have a clue about how Directional actually works lol. And if you have no clue how it actually works, then how are you able to tell when someone is using it?

Sure, using Zone does take more skill b/c you have to move the PCI yourself to go along w/ timing the ball properly. But it's also nearly impossible to strike out using Zone b/c it isn't difficult to always get at least a part of the PCI on the ball enough to foul it off, especially when using 90+ rated players whose PCI covers nearly the entire strike zone by default.

Directional, on the other hand, takes less skill b/c you only have to worry about timing, but it takes the PCI placement out of your control and in the hands of the CPU, which can lead to more of the aforementioned whiffs on pitches in the zone w/ a good-timed swing.

[ktd1976]

Re: The whiff...

There have been plenty of times in the past where I've had a good-timed swing completely whiff on a ball in the strike zone w/ Directional (especially on change-ups, sinkers, etc. that are low in the zone) so I know it's not new for '21. But I'm not finding it to be any more or less frequent this year than before.

I love it, though. I used to get infuriated when it would happen. Even when good-timed swings would result in pop-ups, weak-grounders, etc. b/c I expected every good-timed swing to be a solid hit -- until I started to accept the fact that that's baseball. Even well-timed swings IRL can miss or barely get a piece of a ball.

And that's why I laugh at the people who think that using Directional in an online ranked game is somehow an "unfair advantage" over those who use Zone. I even saw a post today going through the official The Show forums where someone said that Zone should be the default interface in online ranked games b/c of the usual "it's not hard to hit the ball when they only have to worry about timing" and "I can always tell when someone's using Directional by the PCI placement in the swing info".

Like, no, you obviously don't even have a clue about how Directional actually works lol. And if you have no clue how it actually works, then how are you able to tell when someone is using it?

Sure, using Zone does take more skill b/c you have to move the PCI yourself to go along w/ timing the ball properly. But it's also nearly impossible to strike out using Zone b/c it isn't difficult to always get at least a part of the PCI on the ball enough to foul it off, especially when using 90+ rated players whose PCI covers nearly the entire strike zone by default.

Directional, on the other hand, takes less skill b/c you only have to worry about timing, but it takes the PCI placement out of your control and in the hands of the CPU, which can lead to more of the aforementioned whiffs on pitches in the zone w/ a good-timed swing.

100% agree.

It's like this way. JaCoby Jones. His contact ratings are very low. So, he should swing and miss a lot more than the better hitters in the game do. Because he does in real life. He strikes out a lot.

With "Zone" hitting, I could easily hit over .300 with him, with few strikeouts, just because "user skill" is more of a determining factor in that hitting interface. But, if you want a realistic game, with realistic stats, that isn't the way to go. I get that they make the lower contact players have a smaller PCI. But a good user can still square up pitches with relative ease.

IMO, Directional hitting is much more challenging, because not only does the user have to time the hit right, but the player's ratings come much more into play, thus players will perform much more like their real life counterparts than they would using "Zone" hitting.

[cvantu]

Re: The whiff...

There have been plenty of times in the past where I've had a good-timed swing completely whiff on a ball in the strike zone w/ Directional (especially on change-ups, sinkers, etc. that are low in the zone) so I know it's not new for '21. But I'm not finding it to be any more or less frequent this year than before.

I love it, though. I used to get infuriated when it would happen. Even when good-timed swings would result in pop-ups, weak-grounders, etc. b/c I expected every good-timed swing to be a solid hit -- until I started to accept the fact that that's baseball. Even well-timed swings IRL can miss or barely get a piece of a ball.

And that's why I laugh at the people who think that using Directional in an online ranked game is somehow an "unfair advantage" over those who use Zone. I even saw a post today going through the official The Show forums where someone said that Zone should be the default interface in online ranked games b/c of the usual "it's not hard to hit the ball when they only have to worry about timing" and "I can always tell when someone's using Directional by the PCI placement in the swing info".

Like, no, you obviously don't even have a clue about how Directional actually works lol. And if you have no clue how it actually works, then how are you able to tell when someone is using it?

Sure, using Zone does take more skill b/c you have to move the PCI yourself to go along w/ timing the ball properly. But it's also nearly impossible to strike out using Zone b/c it isn't difficult to always get at least a part of the PCI on the ball enough to foul it off, especially when using 90+ rated players whose PCI covers nearly the entire strike zone by default.

Directional, on the other hand, takes less skill b/c you only have to worry about timing, but it takes the PCI placement out of your control and in the hands of the CPU, which can lead to more of the aforementioned whiffs on pitches in the zone w/ a good-timed swing.

Those people online can think that, but if someone has mastered pinpoint pitching, directional hitting is much more disadvantaged. I'm nailing about 60% of my pitches as perfect, and directional hitting users have struggled immensely countering it (not that zone users have faired much better).

[jack1535]

Re: The whiff...

How is adjusting difficulty to match your skill level such a problem? That’s the point. Changing games back to 20 because you don’t want to just lower difficulty seems insane

And I also have seen few complaints from anyone in regards to online DD hitting so not holding out for that change

[cvantu]

Re: The whiff...

How is adjusting difficulty to match your skill level such a problem? That’s the point

And I also have seen few complaints from anyone in regards to online DD hitting so not holding out for that change

DD hitting is easier than playing normal ranked matches on All Star IMO. I'm batting .345 on DD and .215 (as Cleveland) in ranked (also because I played a lot on HOF too).

EDIT: However, I forgot that spring training is on a lower difficulty level.

[bigd51]

Re: The whiff...

How is adjusting difficulty to match your skill level such a problem? That’s the point. Changing games back to 20 because you don’t want to just lower difficulty seems insane

And I also have seen few complaints from anyone in regards to online DD hitting so not holding out for that change

I'm not exaggerating when I say in all my years playing sports games and visiting every type of popular forum imaginable, I don't think I've ever run into someone who has complained about having to use the plethora of options available to adjust the game to their skill level, when 99% of people want as many options as possible to do just that.

Let alone down-right refusing to use said options when they struggle (within the first week of release, mind you)... after admitting a lot of their strike-outs are due to user error by swinging at pitches outside of the zone ... and still demanding the core game mechanics be tailored to their needs.

That's a whole other form of entitlement right there lol.

[bigd51]

Re: The whiff...

My timing has adjusted and I'm getting back to similar results I had at the end of 20. Gonna keep it on dynamic this year I think with the slider at 1

Sent from my SM-G970U using Operation Sports mobile app

Same here.

Discipline, timing, and contact have gotten much better on All-Star. So maybe will be bumping back up soon if things stay on path. Might even try Dynamic now w/ the added ability to choose your starting point.

[bigd51]

Re: The whiff...

Not bragging here, but just to prove a point... I said to hell w/ it and bumped from All-Star to Legend (yes, Legend) and played a 3-inning Conquest game using default sliders:

• 11 total AB's
• 3 K's (all were my fault/user-error)
• 3 hits (including 1 solo-HR)
• 1 walk

Won the game 2-1 after scoring 2 in the top of the 3rd and closing out the game in the bottom. I was using Directional and Pure Analog pitching.

[Spaced Ace]

Re: The whiff...

Check swings were way too lenient in past versions of The Show. While my strikeouts are up in The Show 21, (which annoys me) it is just going to eventually make me an even more disciplined hitter. I play on HoF across the board.

[Padgoi]

Re: The whiff...

But it's also nearly impossible to strike out using Zone b/c it isn't difficult to always get at least a part of the PCI on the ball enough to foul it off...

I've been coming to these forums for easily over a decade and this has to he one of the most asinine comments I've ever read so kudos to you. Impossible to strike out using zone? Put the difficult on legend and the pitch speed on 7-10 and come back to me, dude. Don't just spout nonsense. Impossible.....


Sent from my SM-F916U using Tapatalk

[bigd51]

Re: The whiff...

I've been coming to these forums for easily over a decade and this has to he one of the most asinine comments I've ever read so kudos to you. Impossible to strike out using zone? Put the difficult on legend and the pitch speed on 7-10 and come back to me, dude. Don't just spout nonsense. Impossible.....


Sent from my SM-F916U using Tapatalk

Come back to me, dude, when you go back and read my comment where I said it was nearly impossible -- not flat-out impossible -- to strikeout using Zone.

And also the more vital part where I was specifically talking about online ranked games -- where you can't use custom sliders or difficulty.