JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

[LanteriX]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Hi Josh,

I've been using your sliders in my RTTS career as well as my Red Sox franchise. I love how these play in almost every aspect. I'm getting excellent results pitching wise. Kinda middle of the pack in everything which is to be expected with my rotation. There's been a good amount of user BBs and Ks as well so no complaints at all from the mound. Hitting is mostly excellent as well. I'm walking at a steady clip (T-8th), 6th in HR, T-1st in doubles so there's been a good variety of offensive production.

My only concern so far is a bit too much contact being made as a user. It's been extremely difficult for me to strikeout/swing and miss in general without chasing. As a team I'm averaging 3.89 K per game. Any thoughts on what I might adjust to induce more swings and misses?

[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Hi Josh,

I've been using your sliders in my RTTS career as well as my Red Sox franchise. I love how these play in almost every aspect. I'm getting excellent results pitching wise. Kinda middle of the pack in everything which is to be expected with my rotation. There's been a good amount of user BBs and Ks as well so no complaints at all from the mound. Hitting is mostly excellent as well. I'm walking at a steady clip (T-8th), 6th in HR, T-1st in doubles so there's been a good variety of offensive production.

My only concern so far is a bit too much contact being made as a user. It's been extremely difficult for me to strikeout/swing and miss in general without chasing. As a team I'm averaging 3.89 K per game. Any thoughts on what I might adjust to induce more swings and misses?

Id raise pitch speeds if I was you. I like 9-8 personally because it gives me the best challenge

[LanteriX]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Id raise pitch speeds if I was you. I like 9-8 personally because it gives me the best challenge

I'm hesitant on that as a solution, because I have concerns about the affect on hit variety. I was feeling more inclined to perhaps lower human contact by a notch, since my assumption is that it makes the timing window smaller which I would hope induces more swings and misses. I'm not sure if that's right though.

[Rmiok222]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

I'm hesitant on that as a solution, because I have concerns about the affect on hit variety. I was feeling more inclined to perhaps lower human contact by a notch, since my assumption is that it makes the timing window smaller which I would hope induces more swings and misses. I'm not sure if that's right though.

Just curious how you think pitch speeds would impact hit variety at all?


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[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

I'm hesitant on that as a solution, because I have concerns about the affect on hit variety. I was feeling more inclined to perhaps lower human contact by a notch, since my assumption is that it makes the timing window smaller which I would hope induces more swings and misses. I'm not sure if that's right though.

I wouldn't lower user contact as the CPU will be more inclined to throw you hittable pitches.

Your best bet might be to lower user timing a tick or to increase both pitch speed sliders (the latter is the better option IMO).

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Im going to stick with these sliders going forward. Something about HOF this year that just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s like a slugfest every game and once I hit a home run one inning the next you better believe the cpu is going to hit one.

Your sliders the game feels so much more organic. Surprised that coming from HOF to all star that these weren’t even easy for me. So far I’ve lost both games and everything seemed fair.

Thank you and good job. I’m using 9-8 pitch speeds because I can’t do the slow pitch speeds anymore

I tried out HOF for a bit and I feel the same; it feels 'off' to me. I know plenty of folks are having a blast with that level and that's great. It's not overtly difficult for me or anything like that; it just isn't my cup of tea.

-----------------------------------------
With the latest update to the sliders; I'm finally at peace with where we are (I'm back to 'playing baseball'). The ball trajectories finally make sense with solid hits at 4 (if I had to hear Matty V say "...and a line drive" one more time, I was going to puke). The slightly lowered exit velos have allowed fielder ratings to stand out again; balls are finding gaps, holes in no-man's land, and defensive ratings are finally standing out. Don't get me wrong, Solid Hits at default are better balanced than in the past, but contact is still way too "pure" (whether on AS or HOF). Relevant to this setup specifically, the solid hits drop has made the CPU hitters a bit more aggressive at swinging at pitches (nicely complementing the patience added by raising the pitch control).

I've had an obscene amount of variety since making the change. I've had 2-1 pitcher's duels, slugfests, blowouts, and everything in between in just a few games and it all feels organic. The thing I love, I truly fear the CPU hitters, and you have to really consider your plan of attack for each hitter.

I'm not a bit "stat" guy for this game, but I LOVE what I've been seeing...even the old "given up the fewest walks" bugaboo doesn't exist now...I'm middle of the pack in walks issued and in the upper half in batters struck out. Offensively, I'm hit or miss (which reflects the identity of my team - a bunch of slow power guys with lots of swing and miss). Once I hit the end of April in my Braves chise (using Bacon's fictional), I will post some of my team stats.

[bravesfan1984]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Josh, your hot streak has rubbed off to my fictional braves....put up a 16 spot vs the Dbacks yesterday lol

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[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Josh, your hot streak has rubbed off to my fictional braves....put up a 16 spot vs the Dbacks yesterday lol

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LOL, dude...the d-backs' pitchers (aside from their ace) are SO bad...

(and my team is decidedly no longer on a hot streak...we're scuffling bad....and I love it)

[Rmiok222]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Hey josh. First thing first, my sample size is very, very small but this is something I noticed. 10 games in I have given up 2 homeruns against the cpu. Be mindful 7 of those games were against the Detroit Tigers and man do they suck, Cabrera is really the only semi-threat. How is the cpu power for you? I’m using your set EXACLY as is. Would there be a negative impact on upping cpu power a notch? Thanks.


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[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Hey josh. First thing first, my sample size is very, very small but this is something I noticed. 10 games in I have given up 2 homeruns against the cpu. Be mindful 7 of those games were against the Detroit Tigers and man do they suck, Cabrera is really the only semi-threat. How is the cpu power for you? I’m using your set EXACLY as is. Would there be a negative impact on upping cpu power a notch? Thanks.


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Patience, patience, patience....and then add some patience on top of that...

I used this setup last year for 100+ games and this game isn't THAT different than 19...and I went through stretches like that...only to get pummeled by better teams. Believe me....you WILL get hit hard...it's just a matter of time.

Trust me....the little devil on my shoulder would always go "c'mon...change something..." when I went through stretches like that. Once I got locked-in, I stopped listening, kept playing, and the game never failed to deliver.

[No.27]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

I'm not a bit "stat" guy for this game, but I LOVE what I've been seeing...even the old "given up the fewest walks" bugaboo doesn't exist now...I'm middle of the pack in walks issued and in the upper half in batters struck out. Offensively, I'm hit or miss (which reflects the identity of my team - a bunch of slow power guys with lots of swing and miss). Once I hit the end of April in my Braves chise (using Bacon's fictional), I will post some of my team stats.

Played a heap of games with the new/old tweaks. I’m a little bit of a stat guy ok a fair bit and am super impressed with the Strike Percentages for both CPU/Hum at Pitcher Control 6. Also 2 particular bugbears of mine Foul Balls and Deep Strikes are looking as good as I’ve seen them. The game is playing like a dream and I think I’m set for the year with these Sliders. Cheers Josh.

[bravesfan1984]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

LOL, dude...the d-backs' pitchers (aside from their ace) are SO bad...

(and my team is decidedly no longer on a hot streak...we're scuffling bad....and I love it)

They are pretty atrocious, but I'm going to punish them before I have to face some stiffer competition!

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Played a heap of games with the new/old tweaks. I’m a little bit of a stat guy ok a fair bit and am super impressed with the Strike Percentages for both CPU/Hum at Pitcher Control 6. Also 2 particular bugbears of mine Foul Balls and Deep Strikes are looking as good as I’ve seen them. The game is playing like a dream and I think I’m set for the year with these Sliders. Cheers Josh.

Strike percentage is a huge pet peeve of mine....it might be the one and only stat in the game that will bug me if it is 'off'....because it drives SO much of what happens on the field. If you watch my streams, and you'll notice me going into my pitch breakdown screen on occasion...that's either me trying to remember my pitcher's pitches or me looking at the strike percentage...(usually the latter, lol).

Very pleased to see someone else appreciate that

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Edit:just a quick note that I have not changed anything here since the reduction to Solid Hits. This post is just fleshing-out the explanations

I'm finally settled on the sliders (geez...I coulda just fired up last year's when this game launched and saved a lot of grief...lol).

I've updated the OP to include more details around the selected values and the reasons why I did or did not change them. Remember, sliders ARE relative to one another; so a change in one can have other downstream impacts. To make sure everyone catches this, this is the summary of the selected slider values as put in the OP.

The Sliders

Dynamic Difficulty Sensitivity N/A
User/CPU Contact 5.
This slider is critical to game balancing. DO NOT EVER TOUCH THIS (unless you want to adjust about 8 other sliders...then, there's no point in playing because you've killed the meaning of player ratings). Even one tick will greatly imbalance the game (I even saw signs that raising the CPU contact to 6 will spur on a higher run scoring environment for the user as well).

User/CPU Power 5
This is another one that is critical to game balancing, changes will quickly alter the CPU's approach (whether hitting or pitching...depending on the value adjusted).

User/CPU Timing 5
I don't have issues with this at default. But, if you find pitching/hitting to be too easy/hard, a one click adjustment one way or the other can offer a nice adjustment. Be wary of adjusting this too much though, you can quickly alter hit variety (due to the adjusted timing window).

User/CPU Foul Frequency 5
I know some folks like to lower this to induce strikeouts. I call it the "swing de-sync" slider. Basically, it adds a 'dice roll' effect on swings that make little sense at times. I don't care what others might say, but if you can't get strikeouts, there is something else wrong with how your game is balanced or your ability.

User/CPU Solid Hits 4
This is a classic adjustment. Frankly, there are way too many line drives in this game at default (on any level). It impacts everything in the game, from how fielders play relative to the ball, ball trajectories, hit variety, everything. It wasn't until I moved this slider back down that I felt like I was playing baseball again.

The effects are obvious for the user; but this is a CRITICAL adjustment for the CPU offense. At default, they hit so many balls hard that it was detrimental. Now you will see more flares, dribblers, gappers, etc. Those are the hits that win games, not HRs. It's also critical for the CPU because it brought back a sense of urgency to their ABs. With the User Pitch Control at 6, they do a much better job of taking pitches. The problem, they were taking pitches that they should have been swinging at. Once we lowered solid hits, the CPU 'feared' not getting a lot of chances, and started swinging at more appropriate times. THAT, combined with the better ball trajectories, has allowed the CPU offense to shine a lot more brightly...and without introducing that feeling of random dice rolls.

User/CPU Starter Stamina 6
A needed bump here to give SPs more pitch capacity. The initial fade you see with an average stamina pitchers begins to happen about 10 pitches later than before. I'm perfectly comfortable with it at 6; but default can work as well.

User/CPU Reliever Stamina 5
This "seems" ok at default. I'm intrigued by some slider guys bumping this up. I'll closely monitor this and evaluate how effective relievers are when they pitch.

User Pitch Control at 6
CPU is more patient in ABs. More borderline pitches as they don't drift all over the place. So, expect an overall increase in walks and a smarter CPU offense as a result. If you're a "nibbler" when you pitch, you're going to have issues with this because pitches don't drift as much (unless your P sucks). You have to play baseball and really mix up throwing early count strikes both in the zone and on the periphery.

CPU Pitch Control at 6
Way more borderline pitches. You'll be forced to swing at "pitcher's pitches" more frequently. This leads to an increase in hit variety and if you're patient, you can glean more walks/Ks. While not an issue I've had, it does lead to fewer fat pitches over the heart of the plate. They'll still happen, but with a more reasonable frequency. It's a nice change because it doesn't "gimp" your offense but does make you think a bit more....which is very much to my style of play.

User/CPU Pitcher Consistency 5
With all the other settings we have, this looks REALLY solid.

Strike Frequency 5
I've seen no need to alter the CPU pitching approach with all the other settings we have, leave this alone.

Manager Hook 5
I'll be honest...I've never touched this before. But there are some occasional head-scratching decisions that have made me consider bumping this up. But there are IRL too. I'm going to leave this alone for the time being.

Pickoffs 5
This plays such an insignificant part of the game overall; I'm not willing to tinker and risk it impacting anything else.

Fastball Pitch Speed 7
Off speed Pitch Speed 6

Pitch speed is VITAL to your performance. Yes, the value you select is a personal preference, but it still comes down to one thing. How comfortable are you at the plate? If you're comfortable with the pitch speed, it's too slow for you...bump it up a notch and find a place where it's hard for you to catch up to high velo unless you're sitting on it but not so hard that you can't pull anything. One critical thing, keep the offspeed setting one notch below the fastball value. The speed settings are way too close together if the values are the same (that was a change made this year).

Fielding Errors Infield 5
Fielding Errors Outfield 5
Throwing Errors Infield 5
Throwing Errors Outfield 5
All 4 of these are perfect "as is".

Fielder Run Speed 5
Fielder Reaction 5
Fielder Arm Strength Infield 5
Fielder Arm Strength Outfield 5
Baserunner Speed 5

DO NOT INCREASE any of these above default. With the lower exit velos from the solid hits slider, increasing these values will throw off a lot of the balance. Essentially, we used the solid hits slider to hone-in the defense and make the field feel "larger". I'm VERY comfortable with where these are.

Baserunner Steal Ability 5
Baserunner Steal Frequency 5
Frankly, if the players are rated properly...they WILL steal...a lot. I've had third stolen on me numerous times. I think this is incredibly well-balanced this year.

Wind 5
Just changes the MPH of wind as a percentage. So, if you have a 10 MPH wind at 5, it will be 20 MPH at 10.

Injuries 6
Personal preference but an improvement on default. I would not simulate at any value higher than this.

Trade Slider
Personal preference - I usually use something similar to Armor's and ramp up in June/July

[soonermagic75]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 20 Sliders

Josh, have you tried these sliders with the TrueSim roster set or has anybody tried?


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