Does anyone turn variable umpire off??

[go tribe]

Re: Does anyone turn variable umpire off??

GREAT post, all around - this is EXACTLY why it should be turned off - the CPU benefits from it being on way more than human players for the exact reason you stated.

I played an entire season of '11 with it ON, and despite repeated frustration continued to leave it on. I am okay with the variability, but it felt like (i.e., my perception which isn't necessarily reality) the vast majority of bad calls went against me. The close balls that were sometimes called strikes didn't bother me nearly as much as the clear strikes that were called balls at horrible times (3-2 counts, or with 2 out in an inning and almost working myself out of a jam, etc.)

I'm sure it isn't programmed to favor CPU versus human, but the CPU does a much better job than I at letting extremely close pitches go by. When I'm protecting the plate, I have trouble ignoring borderline pitches - had I let more of these go, then I may have benefited from blown calls as much as the CPU - but even though I think I have a decent eye for balls and strikes, it clearly isn't as refined as the precise digital/virtual eye the CPU possess, and thus I saw more of these occur when I was pitching than when I was hitting. What's more, so many of those blown calls seemed (again perception) to go against me at crucial points in the game.

So, in my current season in '12 I have turned this feature off, and I am enjoying the game more. I think what other people may be interested to know, is that through 44 games of my new season what I have noticed is that there is still some variability in calls. Pitches that are clearly balls are always called balls, likewise pitches that are clearly strikes are always called strikes. However, on borderline pitches where varying amounts of the ball touch the strike zone, I have noticed that some are called balls some strikes. It's just enough variation that I can live with.

I miss having the individual umpires calling different zones, but there doesn't seem to be a setting whereby they would each perfectly call their own preferred zones.

[chuckm1961]

Re: Does anyone turn variable umpire off??

I see plenty of variability with this off.

Having it on would drive me nuts.