Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

[BigOscar]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

Man I have no idea what game you’re playing but it’s not the same as mine lol with HOF difficulty and 10 pitch speed idk how u could say that hitting isn’t difficult enough…….. most people that play online with the softball style slow pitch speed are the ones saying it’s to easy to hit and it is obvious why when u watch clips of those games, it’s horribly unrealistic looking and there’s no way I could play like that


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It doesn't matter what difficulty I play on, I doubt I strike out even 5 times a game. "Hitting" isn't too easy, making contact is. You can foul off balls for days, even if you don't time it particularly well or swing particularly close. Eventually you'll put it in play.

Also, talking about playing with the pitch speed sliders up is literally changing the game and not how the game actually plays. I'm sure I could change the sliders until I can't constantly make contact, but that's not the balance of game they've created and pretty irrelevant.

Feel free to criticise the online players (I'm not one of them) but they have literally no option but to play on those settings, they have every right to criticise the way the game plays as they have no option to change it. They are playing the actual game as the designers have created it, if you've changed the slides then you are playing an altered version. Even you yourself are describing it as "softball style slow pitch" and "horribly unrealistic looking", yet are criticising them for not being happy with that?

[JoshC1977]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

It doesn't matter what difficulty I play on, I doubt I strike out even 5 times a game. "Hitting" isn't too easy, making contact is. You can foul off balls for days, even if you don't time it particularly well or swing particularly close. Eventually you'll put it in play.

Also, talking about playing with the pitch speed sliders up is literally changing the game and not how the game actually plays. I'm sure I could change the sliders until I can't constantly make contact, but that's not the balance of game they've created and pretty irrelevant.

Feel free to criticise the online players (I'm not one of them) but they have literally no option but to play on those settings, they have every right to criticise the way the game plays as they have no option to change it. They are playing the actual game as the designers have created it, if you've changed the slides then you are playing an altered version. Even you yourself are describing it as "softball style slow pitch" and "horribly unrealistic looking", yet are criticising them for not being happy with that?

I can't like this post enough because it perfectly sums up the other side of the equation.

Imagine being a franchise player and there were no sliders at all.....most of y'all would be crying about every little thing. That's basically where the online guys are.

[jcar0725]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

It doesn't matter what difficulty I play on, I doubt I strike out even 5 times a game. "Hitting" isn't too easy, making contact is. You can foul off balls for days, even if you don't time it particularly well or swing particularly close. Eventually you'll put it in play.

Also, talking about playing with the pitch speed sliders up is literally changing the game and not how the game actually plays. I'm sure I could change the sliders until I can't constantly make contact, but that's not the balance of game they've created and pretty irrelevant.

Feel free to criticise the online players (I'm not one of them) but they have literally no option but to play on those settings, they have every right to criticise the way the game plays as they have no option to change it. They are playing the actual game as the designers have created it, if you've changed the slides then you are playing an altered version. Even you yourself are describing it as "softball style slow pitch" and "horribly unrealistic looking", yet are criticising them for not being happy with that?

My comment above about not seeing this at all was based on offline, I didn't realize he was talking about online.

[bcruise]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

My comment above about not seeing this at all was based on offline, I didn't realize he was talking about online.

Well, he did say "it doesn't matter what difficulty I play on" so I think it's fair to think he was referring to offline (or online vs CPU) as well, since you can't choose your difficulty in head-to-head and are usually on All-Star unless you're in the upper levels of Ranked Seasons.

FWIW, if I play the CPU in diamond dynasty on Legend with similarly structured teams I feel like it plays very close, if not identical, to offline competitive mode on the same difficulty with no slider changes. Obviously if I play with my best cards against MLB-level teams, it's going to be a lot easier (though Legend can at least keep those interesting).

[bkrich83]

Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

Man, I'm not seeing this AT ALL.

Same. Either am I.


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[DonkeyJote]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

But the biggest issue, as it has been for years, is the complete lack of swing and miss. The lack of strikeouts leads to the incredibly wonky BABIP and the fielders covering insane amounts of ground in order for the scoreboard to not be ridiculous. Honestly, I find the game almost unrecognisable from an actual game of baseball. The entire field plays way too small, all to correct the over load of balls in play.

That's not even remotely close to my experience. My last 4 Ranked Seasons games, I've swung and missed on 24.2% of pitches. My opponent is at 26%. Real Life average is 11%. So far in 15 Ranked Seasons games this year, I'm striking out 45.2% of the time (I suck at hitting) and striking out my opponent 31.7% of the time. Real Life average is 22.6. I'm seeing lower BABIPs (.251) but not insanely low for the sample size/batter skill (real life is .282).

Last year (larger sample size, 1483 innings pitched), I struck out 11.8 batters per 9 innings. And you think it's hard to get strikeouts? I think it's easy to the point where pitching online is boring.

The solution is simple, they just need to make hitting significantly more difficult, but obviously most people don't want to play a game where they struggle to put a ball in play. But that's baseball, putting the ball in play is incredibly difficult

That is the exact opposite of the solution, imo. They need to make pitching (pinpoint especially) more difficult, SIGNIFICANTLY so on higher difficulties. And they need to provide players with better aids for plate discipline.



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[allBthere]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

I just wanted to chime in that for me hitting is good but I'm surprised at the performance issues during rain - even on my XSX it drops to what feels like a constant low 20s frame rate!

Also - it rains too much in general and if there are performance issues when it's raining than maybe tone that ish down.

In general it feels a lot like last year to me as a non-long-timer w/ the show - I don't "love" the game but it's addictive AF lol, you can get career games in under 5min a pop! I'm 1/2 through my second big league season already.

[gamingfranchise]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

It doesn't matter what difficulty I play on, I doubt I strike out even 5 times a game. "Hitting" isn't too easy, making contact is. You can foul off balls for days, even if you don't time it particularly well or swing particularly close. Eventually you'll put it in play.

Also, talking about playing with the pitch speed sliders up is literally changing the game and not how the game actually plays. I'm sure I could change the sliders until I can't constantly make contact, but that's not the balance of game they've created and pretty irrelevant.

Feel free to criticise the online players (I'm not one of them) but they have literally no option but to play on those settings, they have every right to criticise the way the game plays as they have no option to change it. They are playing the actual game as the designers have created it, if you've changed the slides then you are playing an altered version. Even you yourself are describing it as "softball style slow pitch" and "horribly unrealistic looking", yet are criticising them for not being happy with that?

Oscar do you play with strike zone cam? If so that could be why hitting may be easier for you. That cam is duck hunt deluxe. Seems nearly everyone online plays with that cam...bad for baseball.

[PVarck31]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

I can't speak for online play. I don't play online at all and never have.

As far as offline hitting, I think it's the best it's ever been from a pitcher/batter standpoint.

I play with pitch speed at 9. Hall of Fame difficulty. I swing through pitches, I get fooled and chase pitches out of the zone. You have to also compensate for change in pitch speed. They did a really good job this year with pitch speeds. A lot of pitchers throw fastballs at different speeds, and that well represented this year. Like I see a lot of pitchers that show their fastball range is say, 91 to 96. You gotta be ready for that change in speed. Sometimes you have to sit on pitches, and then you just get locked up and watch strike 3. I love that. I get pissed at myself, but it's realistic.

As far as foul balls, I think the default slider for it is perfectly realistic. Major league hitters foul off a ton of balls. Especially with two strikes. If you are swinging at anything close down in the count, you will foul off a lot of balls if they are slightly out of the zone. But, it doesn't always happen like that. I think the balance is fine as it is.

I know it's been talked about a lot, but squaring up the ball is just one part of hitting. You have to take into account launch angle and that players power. It also depends on where your bat is in the zone when the ball makes contact. I don't really ever see weak contact resulting in home runs in the game. Not saying it doesn't happen, I just don't see it. When I played, I swear I had horrible luck. I was able to square up a lot of balls, but always seemed to hit it right at someone. My launch angles sucked because my swing was flat. My slash line wasn't great because of this. If it was better, I might have played at a higher level. I swear that's not me trying for a humble brag. I just feel like it was worth mentioning because it happens so much. Over a 162 game season, if squaring up a ball led to the amount of hits or home runs that some people think it should, a ton of players would be hitting 40-50 home runs and 100 RBI would be common place. But I think most people here understand this.

I do agree that the CPU fielding is too good. Even lowering the outfield speed and reaction sliders doesn't help all that much. For me, I can almost never hit a ball over an OF head. They run down balls in the gap they have no right getting to. It seems like they made the OF look bigger, but it doesn't seem to play bigger. This is just from my experience. We all know people's experiences with this game differ.

If you get in the zone at the plate, the CPU pitchers will throw a wide array of pitch types and locations. If you are patient you can draw walks, but at the same time you can be fooled and swing at the wrong pitches. As far as people not seeing enough K's while hitting and making contact too easily, It's rare for a major league player to NOT make contact with a fastball in the strike zone. You will more than likely put the ball in play or foul if off. Yes, you can still swing under it or over it and whiff. But most players can put a pitch like that in play or foul it off. I know strikeouts are more common than ever, but as a user in a video game, you won't strike out at that level. It's just how the game is programmed. Especially if you play with zone hitting. Sometimes I take the first pitch and let fate decide if I go up or down in the count. I almost like going down 0-1 so I can try to draw some breaking stuff. In this game, the pitcher AI is so good that they will throw breaking stuff out of the zone like pitchers do in real life to try and fool the hitter. If I'm in the zone, I can watch these pitches go by and either get myself ahead in the count and look for a BP fastball, or if I'm down, I can look for a hanger. If I don't get those, I take a walk if I don't get fooled. Which I do for sure.

The best thing about this game is that there are a ton of ways to play it. Sliders work for the most part. Difficulty works for the most part. CPU AI is very good most of the time. There are a handful of things that need to be better for sure. But IMO, this game is a phenomenal representation of baseball.

Sorry about the long post. TLDR, the Show is good.

[Detroit Tigers]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

"Hitting" isn't too easy, making contact is.

This is definitely true but the issue can be drastically reduced by your approach. If I look at the box score and see I only struck out once or twice I don’t necessarily see that as a good thing; it probably means I was extremely impatient, ironically. Instead of waiting for pitches I could drive I was probably swinging at whatever and making contact just “because I could.”

This goes away when you make it a point to commit to (most of) the swings you take. Stop hitting in protect-mode all the time and take some chances and commit to some big swings, you will K doing this.

Edit: and to be clear I’m not talking about home runs. I’ll add an example of the kind of swing I’m talking about when I get home. Gimme a few.

Edit 2: swings like this are what I’m referring to, and they are only possible if you sell out to what you think you see: https://youtu.be/T4Zs587w0dY

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

This is definitely true but the issue can be drastically reduced by your approach. If I look at the box score and see I only struck out once or twice I don’t necessarily see that as a good thing; it probably means I was extremely impatient, ironically. Instead of waiting for pitches I could drive I was probably swinging at whatever and making contact just “because I could.”

This goes away when you make it a point to commit to (most of) the swings you take. Stop hitting in protect-mode all the time and take some chances and commit to some big swings, you will K doing this.

Edit: and to be clear I’m not talking about home runs. I’ll add an example of the kind of swing I’m talking about when I get home. Gimme a few.

Edit 2: swings like this are what I’m referring to, and they are only possible if you sell out to what you think you see: https://youtu.be/T4Zs587w0dY

To add to this, everyone should probably be swinging a lot less than they are. I struggle with this too. Major Leaguers swing at fewer than half the pitches they see. They only swing at around 70% of pitches in the zone. In a given game, around 1 out of every 6 pitches (16.4%) is a called strike. It's tough, because we aren't trained professionals and don't have the pitch recognition skills major leaguers do, and haven't developed the approaches they have. But if you're patient, lay off the "bad" strikes and wait for the good ones, you'll make a lot more solid contact.

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[JayhawkerStL]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

To add to this, everyone should probably be swinging a lot less than they are. I struggle with this too. Major Leaguers swing at fewer than half the pitches they see. They only swing at around 70% of pitches in the zone. In a given game, around 1 out of every 6 pitches (16.4%) is a called strike. It's tough, because we aren't trained professionals and don't have the pitch recognition skills major leaguers do, and haven't developed the approaches they have. But if you're patient, lay off the "bad" strikes and wait for the good ones, you'll make a lot more solid contact.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

This is an excellent point. My strategy is to monitor pitch counts, with my target over/under being 15. My goal is to force the opponent into making a pitching change earlier than they want. While battering them will do this, increasing pitch count increases your odds of better innings later.

And the thing is, the game holds up. Patience is rewarded, not just with production, but with an even deeper strategy rewarded. And pitching is the same way. You keep throwing in the zone, and they will punish you. It’s surprisingly well done AI.

When they added quick counts, it made me want to barf. The count is only half the story, maybe less. HOW did you get there? Blasting a fastball up in the zone past a hitter feels good when you earned it earlier in the count with low pitches. And when you decide whether to keep it in the zone, or just above depends on what you’ve thrown before.

There are a lot of reasons I’ve come to really enjoy this year’s game so much, but one is the batter vs pitcher AI. It rewards plate discipline and smart pitching as well as any game I’ve ever played. It think they leveraged the same tech 2K was using, but regardless, it’s really well done.

[DonkeyJote]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

This is an excellent point. My strategy is to monitor pitch counts, with my target over/under being 15. My goal is to force the opponent into making a pitching change earlier than they want. While battering them will do this, increasing pitch count increases your odds of better innings later.



And the thing is, the game holds up. Patience is rewarded, not just with production, but with an even deeper strategy rewarded. And pitching is the same way. You keep throwing in the zone, and they will punish you. It’s surprisingly well done AI.



When they added quick counts, it made me want to barf. The count is only half the story, maybe less. HOW did you get there? Blasting a fastball up in the zone past a hitter feels good when you earned it earlier in the count with low pitches. And when you decide whether to keep it in the zone, or just above depends on what you’ve thrown before.



There are a lot of reasons I’ve come to really enjoy this year’s game so much, but one is the batter vs pitcher AI. It rewards plate discipline and smart pitching as well as any game I’ve ever played. It think they leveraged the same tech 2K was using, but regardless, it’s really well done.

My approach, and I've started using this online and offline, is that if a guy doesn't have the "first pitch hitter" quirk, I'm not swinging first pitch in most situations. And even then, I'm looking in a certain area. It's helped me not be as terrible.

For pitching, absolutely. Real pitchers throw in the zone 40-45% of the time. There's a reason for that. I'm most often around 50% in the zone, and that's still too much. The CPU throws in the zone too much as well (around 45-50% for me); I think that's SDS compromising realism some because players generally have horrific plate discipline.

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[baseballguy99]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

Are you guys finding the cpu offence is absolutely punchless? I swear it’s been like this for the past 5 years or so. They just can’t hit even on higher difficulties

[AUTiger1]

Re: Five Worst Gameplay Issues in MLB The Show 22

To add to this, everyone should probably be swinging a lot less than they are. I struggle with this too. Major Leaguers swing at fewer than half the pitches they see. They only swing at around 70% of pitches in the zone. In a given game, around 1 out of every 6 pitches (16.4%) is a called strike. It's tough, because we aren't trained professionals and don't have the pitch recognition skills major leaguers do, and haven't developed the approaches they have. But if you're patient, lay off the "bad" strikes and wait for the good ones, you'll make a lot more solid contact.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

Definitely!! Just because a pitch is a strike doesn't mean you have to swing at it if its not a pitch that is in a spot that can lead to solid contact. I routinely draw a ton of walks cause of how patient I am. When I start struggling it's when I find myself swinging at everything. I like that cause it's just like real life. I have to force myself to get back into seeing pitches and waiting for a good one to hit. Sometimes I'll sit my controller down and just watch a couple pitches so I'm not temped to swing. If I work a 3-0 count and I've got a hitter who's not all that good at the plate I sit the controller down and attempt to work for the walk. It's a good strategy that has severed me well over the years.