Re: Armor & Sword's MLB The Show 15 Timed (Directional)/Classic Simulation Sliders
About 50 games in with these sliders and I have had pitching duels, slugfests, and everything in-between. Classic pitching wise, my opinion is that it really comes down to confidence more than anything. Some games you get them chasing early curveballs or sliders and the pitch becomes real dominant throughout the game and is easier to place, get guys chasing, etc. However, the next game that same pitch might get crushed early and all of a sudden you cannot throw it for a strike, and when you finally do, guys are just not afraid to hack at it. I personally really like that as it feels much more dynamic and realistic to me. I think it is a misconception that classic pitching is easy, and that it is probably even the most difficult to play with, because you just really can't "master" it. It is controlled by the pitcher's skill, confidence, RNG, etc, not the user's skill, which in my opinion just makes you as a manager have to be that much more on top of what is happening with your pitcher.
That is not to say you have no control with classic pitching, as there are still some things I have had success with. For example, If I am struggling with a pitcher I try to go to his bread and butter pitches and get some confidence in them. If I am trying to regain confidence in a pitch that is a bit shaky I will throw it to an opposing pitcher or in hard to hit spot when I am ahead in a count. Also, tapping the button vs holding it down gives more accuracy, but there have been times I have needed a strike and just tapped a fastball down the middle, yet it still results in ball 4. I actually lost a game early in the season with a walk off walk when my closer blew a save and then the reliever I brought in for cleanup duty threw back-to-back walks for the loss. It certainly is a tough way to lose a game, but if you have watched enough baseball you have saw it happen, and I was honestly glad to see it.
My advice is to just give it a solid 20 game effort and see if you like what you are seeing. I played my first 20 games and struggled offensively with the long ball (was last in the Majors and just could not knock a ball out of the park despite getting good feedback on timing), so I posted about it to see if anyone else was struggling or if I was just in an unlucky slump. Literally played 5 games immediately after making that post and hit 11 homeruns in those games, after hitting only 4 in the previous 20. I have thrown 1 complete game shutout, a couple of complete games, yanked starters early (played against the Pirates and let up back-to-back-to-back HRs in the 2nd a couple nights ago - fun stuff), and had pitchers seemingly coast with a 5 run lead just to see it evaporate in a handful of swings. I have been playing The Show since 08 and countless baseball games before and in-between, and I do believe this is the best I have ever played. Use these sliders as a base set and make small tweaks as needed to fit your personal playstyle, and I really think you will be happy with what you see.
About 50 games in with these sliders and I have had pitching duels, slugfests, and everything in-between. Classic pitching wise, my opinion is that it really comes down to confidence more than anything. Some games you get them chasing early curveballs or sliders and the pitch becomes real dominant throughout the game and is easier to place, get guys chasing, etc. However, the next game that same pitch might get crushed early and all of a sudden you cannot throw it for a strike, and when you finally do, guys are just not afraid to hack at it. I personally really like that as it feels much more dynamic and realistic to me. I think it is a misconception that classic pitching is easy, and that it is probably even the most difficult to play with, because you just really can't "master" it. It is controlled by the pitcher's skill, confidence, RNG, etc, not the user's skill, which in my opinion just makes you as a manager have to be that much more on top of what is happening with your pitcher.
That is not to say you have no control with classic pitching, as there are still some things I have had success with. For example, If I am struggling with a pitcher I try to go to his bread and butter pitches and get some confidence in them. If I am trying to regain confidence in a pitch that is a bit shaky I will throw it to an opposing pitcher or in hard to hit spot when I am ahead in a count. Also, tapping the button vs holding it down gives more accuracy, but there have been times I have needed a strike and just tapped a fastball down the middle, yet it still results in ball 4. I actually lost a game early in the season with a walk off walk when my closer blew a save and then the reliever I brought in for cleanup duty threw back-to-back walks for the loss. It certainly is a tough way to lose a game, but if you have watched enough baseball you have saw it happen, and I was honestly glad to see it.
My advice is to just give it a solid 20 game effort and see if you like what you are seeing. I played my first 20 games and struggled offensively with the long ball (was last in the Majors and just could not knock a ball out of the park despite getting good feedback on timing), so I posted about it to see if anyone else was struggling or if I was just in an unlucky slump. Literally played 5 games immediately after making that post and hit 11 homeruns in those games, after hitting only 4 in the previous 20. I have thrown 1 complete game shutout, a couple of complete games, yanked starters early (played against the Pirates and let up back-to-back-to-back HRs in the 2nd a couple nights ago - fun stuff), and had pitchers seemingly coast with a 5 run lead just to see it evaporate in a handful of swings. I have been playing The Show since 08 and countless baseball games before and in-between, and I do believe this is the best I have ever played. Use these sliders as a base set and make small tweaks as needed to fit your personal playstyle, and I really think you will be happy with what you see.
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