Wacky PCI

[Konsonum]

It may just be me, but I've noticed the PCI is kind of screwed up for me in online play. I just played against an opponent who uses the same batting method as me (don't move PCI, don't use guess pitch or influence, smash the ball when it goes down Broadway), and the opponent seems to be able to hit balls that are outside his PCI. He hit a few doubles on pitches that were in lower corners while his PCI didn't move anywhere from the middle (the hits came up as Solid - Perfect/Normal, which I don't understand). He also managed to hit a home run off of a cutter up and inside, without moving the PCI (it was off the foul pole).

This isn't the same case for me. When I don't normally wait for a pitch that's well inside my PCI, I usually miss swinging by 'Just Missed' or 'Missed'. I also wanted to note that once, I swung at a fastball that came into the lower half of my PCI, but that came out as a 'Just Missed - Just Late' swing.

Is this just the fault of Sports Connect?

On another note, I seem to keep hitting liners right at fielders or flyballs into the warning track. I almost never get an extra base hit, except for the occasional homer. The only advice I've been given so for is to play in day games. Any helpful advice?

Also, what's the 'Superb' rating I see once in a while? Is it or is it not better than a 'Meatball'? I've seen a person hit a 500+ feet home-run with that before. I've also seen a person grounding out into a double play with that as well.

[cardsleadtheway]

Re: Wacky PCI

The PCI doesn't make that much sense to me. I have seen ground balls while swinging at pitches that were well above my PCI, and I have popped up pitches that were so far below my PCI that I should have missed it by a mile. I have never played online so I don't know if it is different there, but the physics of the game are pretty off. It is a game though so whatever.

As for the Meatball versus Superb, I believe Meatball only happens when the pitch is left in a location that doesn't require you to move the PCI. I also believe that the Superb rating is when you move the PCI to the perfect location where the ball ends up. You can still get a superb location and have poor timing, thus the ground balls. As for hitting liners right at fielders, some of this is just bad luck, while a lot of it has to do with the pitcher's hit/9 rating. A higher H/9 will have a higher chance of inducing line outs, even when the pitch is left over the plate.

[Konsonum]

Re: Wacky PCI

The PCI doesn't make that much sense to me. I have seen ground balls while swinging at pitches that were well above my PCI, and I have popped up pitches that were so far below my PCI that I should have missed it by a mile. I have never played online so I don't know if it is different there, but the physics of the game are pretty off. It is a game though so whatever.

I've noticed a trend whenever you swing a bat, so I'm just going to share this strategy since it's hard to utilize. Whenever you swing early, you hit the ball to the batter's other side (for example, a righty would hit to the left), with somewhat of a chance it being a ground ball, but that really depends. Whenever you swing late, you hit the ball to the batter's strong-handed side (for example, a righty would hit to the right), with more of a chance it being mostly into the air, or a pop up.

This is just my general observation, but this can vary. This, especially, is influenced by the batter's and pitcher's ratings, and where in the strike zone the ball is hit in.

[Konsonum]

Re: Wacky PCI

Now I'm ticked off. I just lost 0-1 to a person using the 2nd place Rangers who scored after hitting a pitch outside the zone, FAR from the PCI. It went down as a double, as the first base runner scored.

Even when I hit pitches that are far from my PCI, it doesn't register. And even when I hit a ball that was right in the PCI, Just Late, it was a ground ball that went into a double play.

Seriously. What the hell.

[Jgainsey]

Re: Wacky PCI

What difficulty level are you using for these online matches?

[Konsonum]

Re: Wacky PCI

The default. Veteran.

[Jgainsey]

Re: Wacky PCI

Well there ya go man. The PCI is (almost)completely irrelevant on veteran. Plus, I've always had the impression that the Online difficulties are a little bit easier than their offline counter parts. So you're playing on a pretty easy difficulty.

IMO, If you want the PCI to come into play more, you'll need to start playing games at HOF or Legend.

[DonOfDeth]

Re: Wacky PCI

Well there ya go man. The PCI is (almost)completely irrelevant on veteran. Plus, I've always had the impression that the Online difficulties are a little bit easier than their offline counter parts. So you're playing on a pretty easy difficulty.

IMO, If you want the PCI to come into play more, you'll need to start playing games at HOF or Legend.

The PCI isnt irrelevant on Veteran. Every time I play against a "center-swinger" I check his stats after the game. Very rarely do center-swingers hit over .300. I always move the PCI and I am batting .372 in almost 5000 at-bats.

[Jgainsey]

Re: Wacky PCI

The PCI isnt irrelevant on Veteran. Every time I play against a "center-swinger" I check his stats after the game. Very rarely do center-swingers hit over .300. I always move the PCI and I am batting .372 in almost 5000 at-bats.

Irrelevant was probably the wrong word to use there. It just plays a much smaller factor in determining the success of a batted ball. This is why the OP, as well as others, have seen so many good hits come from poor PCI placement(or no placement at all).

Sure, someone who can locate the PCI well is probably going to have more success than someone who doesn't move the left stick. That is going to ring true for all difficulties except Rookie. But if you are looking for gameplay that relies more on good PCI placement to be successful, you probably need to be playing at a higher difficulty level.

[Konsonum]

Re: Wacky PCI

The PCI isnt irrelevant on Veteran. Every time I play against a "center-swinger" I check his stats after the game. Very rarely do center-swingers hit over .300. I always move the PCI and I am batting .372 in almost 5000 at-bats.

Not always true. I've seen many center-swingers with averages above .300, one of them being me (I have a .367 average, last I checked). But that really depends on the person doing it.

I can very easily outpitch someone who's trying to locate their PCI and is using Guess Pitch (this is the common combination; I've never seen a center-swinger primarily using Guess Pitch as well), excluding some various moments where they correctly predict where exactly I'm pitching in the strike zone with what pitch type. I've noticed I had more problems with 'center-swingers', since it's hard to locate my pitches and it's very easy for them to foul off anything close to the strike zone. Anything farther from would be an easy lay off. The only way I would strike them out is if I catch them off guard or if they aren't very good at tracking down pitches hence not being familiar with the method they're using.

The reason why it works so well is that 9 times out of 10, the pitch doesn't go to where the pitcher wants it to be. You can try to throw the fastball down and out of the zone, but when you're trying to tag the yellow line in the pitching meter, and miss it, even if you land right next to it, the pitch may very well end up right down Broadway. Even if you manage to tag the line, the pitch sometimes drifts in another direction.

The only sure way to make sure the pitch is in a location is if the opponent uses the Guess Pitch feature and guesses correctly.

I do admit I use Guess Pitch sometimes, but that's only when the opponent discovers that I'm not very good at tracking a certain pitch and starts using it excessively.

[ParisB]

Re: Wacky PCI

The PCI isn't absolute. It's not a hitting marker. It affects the "plate coverage" and increases/decreases your chances of getting good hits based on your placement. The player attributes matter most and they have their own plate coverage ratings built in. If you push UP on the PCI on a low pitch, it doesn't mean you will swing above the pitch and miss it. It just decreases your chances of getting a solid hit. If you are Joe Mauer it won't affect you too much.

That's why you can still see good hits without movement of the PCI.