JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I’ve been constantly dominating on pitching with all star plus default. It’s to the point where I don’t even have to pay attention to who’s at the plate. Hitting as been fair but I feel like most of my hits are either doubles or home runs.

The game plays great at default but I still think there will need changes to make it more difficult

[mitchel55]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Josh, would you imagine increasing user hitting timing (like to 6, 7 or 8) would negatively impact the gameplay or throw off the other sliders? I enjoy playing with 10/10 pitch speed but if feel like I need a little help with timing so I don't strike out 15 times per game.

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I’ve been constantly dominating on pitching with all star plus default. It’s to the point where I don’t even have to pay attention to who’s at the plate. Hitting as been fair but I feel like most of my hits are either doubles or home runs.

The game plays great at default but I still think there will need changes to make it more difficult

I think I finally got a franchise I will stick with (details on that later); but I mean, I gave up 6 solo HRs on opening day, lol.

The irony here is that both observations are very likely linked.

Stay tuned.

Josh, would you imagine increasing user hitting timing (like to 6, 7 or 8) would negatively impact the gameplay or throw off the other sliders? I enjoy playing with 10/10 pitch speed but if feel like I need a little help with timing so I don't strike out 15 times per game.

As we've continually seen with this game, even so-called "minor" changes can have unintended consequences. The timing slider is the least likely to cause 'issues'; but I would bump it by a single point and no further.

The obvious solution is to lower your pitch speed sliders. There's no real reason to jack them up that high. Pitch speeds have very little to do with "skill" and everything to do with input lag (which is a function of your display).

[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I think I finally got a franchise I will stick with (details on that later); but I mean, I gave up 6 solo HRs on opening day, lol.

The irony here is that both observations are very likely linked.

Stay tuned.



As we've continually seen with this game, even so-called "minor" changes can have unintended consequences. The timing slider is the least likely to cause 'issues'; but I would bump it by a single point and no further.

The obvious solution is to lower your pitch speed sliders. There's no real reason to jack them up that high. Pitch speeds have very little to do with "skill" and everything to do with input lag (which is a function of your display).

Yeah personally I think 7/7 is the best balance for pitch speeds

[mdgoalie37]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Josh, I've enjoyed your approach to sliders playing Madden and The Show, Close to default is the way to go. I've used your sliders the last few years and have had a great time not picking up a serious case of slideritis. I'm using your OP sliders on All-Star.

One question - I have an incredibly small sample of only 11 franchise games, but I've yet to see a fielding error by either my team or the CPU. I thought I got one the other night on a ball hit into the outfield was botched and over-run a bit causing the runner to move up to second base. However it was ruled a double and really should have been a single and an E in my opinion.

I got a realistic amount of errors last season but none yet this year - are you guys getting a decent amount and I just haven't seen any yet?

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Josh, I've enjoyed your approach to sliders playing Madden and The Show, Close to default is the way to go. I've used your sliders the last few years and have had a great time not picking up a serious case of slideritis. I'm using your OP sliders on All-Star.

One question - I have an incredibly small sample of only 11 franchise games, but I've yet to see a fielding error by either my team or the CPU. I thought I got one the other night on a ball hit into the outfield was botched and over-run a bit causing the runner to move up to second base. However it was ruled a double and really should have been a single and an E in my opinion.

I got a realistic amount of errors last season but none yet this year - are you guys getting a decent amount and I just haven't seen any yet?

Yeah, I've been seeing a good number of errors (but it's VERY rating-dependent). If you're using a good fielding team (or playing vs one); you can easily go stretches without them.

I DO think part of the perceived "issues" (and you're not the first to ask the question) is that there is a relatively low number of balls hit into play.

[Detroit Tigers]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

^another thing to keep in mind about errors is that there’s a few things going on with poor defensive plays that don’t always results in errors. Had four misplayed balls in my last game but only wound up with one error; you don’t want to go jacking error sliders and end up with 8 misplays just so you get 2 actual errors on the scoresheet.

[mdgoalie37]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

Yeah, I've been seeing a good number of errors (but it's VERY rating-dependent). If you're using a good fielding team (or playing vs one); you can easily go stretches without them.

I DO think part of the perceived "issues" (and you're not the first to ask the question) is that there is a relatively low number of balls hit into play.

That could be, and like i said very small sample size. I'm playing with Boston, not the best fielding team. We'll see what happens

[mdgoalie37]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

^another thing to keep in mind about errors is that there’s a few things going on with poor defensive plays that don’t always results in errors. Had four misplayed balls in my last game but only wound up with one error; you don’t want to go jacking error sliders and end up with 8 misplays just so you get 2 actual errors on the scoresheet.

Agreed and I won't be changing any sliders. I don't think about it so much in-game, but I notice it when I see the boxscore at the end of the game. I only recall the once tr0eu misplayed ball like I mentioned in my original post, and that should have been an error. Also have had some off-line throws home from the outfield that wouldn't be errors but show that the defense isn't perfect.

I'll probably get 4 E's in my next game.

[Sportsfan28]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I’ve definitely made some adjustments to the sliders on my end, minor ones. I lowered outfielder speed and reaction to 4, and upped starter stamina for both user and CPU to 7.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[TopSide83]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I’ve definitely made some adjustments to the sliders on my end, minor ones. I lowered outfielder speed and reaction to 4, and upped starter stamina for both user and CPU to 7.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

The only change that I’ve made to the OP set is human solid hits to 4 for the time being because I wasn’t hitting enough singles and crazy enough my hitting has improved since the change. I can see your changes being viable because year after year the outfielders are way too fast or it’s like they run to hard after the ball.

The stamina changes seem fine although I feel like 6 would do the trick. I’m not a huge fan of moving sliders more than one click up or down on the Show.

I’d really like to find a good balance with pitching. The cpu hitters just don’t give me the challenge I want on all star plus

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

OK guys. So, I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent but it will directly tie back into the sliders so bear with me.

I truly loathe the brand of baseball being played in real life right now. The major league batting average is .237! At the risk of sounding old, but back in my day, hitting .237 got you sent down to the minors (and THIS is the freakin' league average). K/9 continue trending upwards, HR/9 are now declining, and league-wide BABIP is down about .010 (even OBP is down). To me, rallies are far more exhilerating than just watching guys swing for the fences every AB. Don't get me wrong; there are still some fantastic hitters (like Jesse Winker), but the 'floor' feels so much lower. That said, I do feel like the pendulum is going to swing back in the next year or two towards more quality contact hitting as players begin to level out their swing planes a bit (we've already seen what it has done for Buxton this year).

Here's the thing. Think about the complaints many are having about MLBTS21 right now. HRs are down, Ks are up, base runners are down...sound familiar? I'll say this, this year's game (on default) is absolutely NAILING today's current environment, for better or worse, and it's doing so in a relatively balanced fashion. I strongly believe that if you want to play baseball most reflective of today's environment, keep on rolling with default at a difficulty appropriate for you and carry on.

This is the realization I finally came to admit to myself; nothing is 'wrong' with how the game is tuned out of the box (which, let's take a moment to acknowledge how utterly amazing that is for a sports game). That's not the 'brand' of baseball I enjoy though. So here is my gameplan:

1. I will retain the current setup as a "modern day" slider setup. It absolutely does reflect ratings and today's environment (at a high level). I just don't particularly enjoy it (and from the feedback, I think some of you would agree). If you're happy with default; PLEASE continue running with it.

2. I'm going to create a second setup. I will be looking for a game environment that is more in-line with what I like to see (i.e. better quality hitting and more varied outcomes). More about it below...

This goes a little against the grain for me; if default works, I'm usually the first one to embrace that. This is going to take some very careful massaging but I've dabbled enough over the last couple of years with this game to have a pretty good idea of where I want to begin. We're very much going to stick with a 'ratings-based' approach, no worries there, but I want to shift the overall balance.

I feel like we were close in my "original" setup and I have a sneaky hunch I know now where we went wrong. I'm also going to attempt to build the set using AS as a 'base'. The flaw with merely mandating AS+ from the outset is that it gives you nowhere to grow (obviously HOF isn't an option as it is too easy). I want AS to feel rewarding by itself; which would then make AS+ a meatier challenge.

[Doyoueven85]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

OK guys. So, I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent but it will directly tie back into the sliders so bear with me.

I truly loathe the brand of baseball being played in real life right now. The major league batting average is .237! At the risk of sounding old, but back in my day, hitting .237 got you sent down to the minors (and THIS is the freakin' league average). K/9 continue trending upwards, HR/9 are now declining, and league-wide BABIP is down about .010 (even OBP is down). To me, rallies are far more exhilerating than just watching guys swing for the fences every AB. Don't get me wrong; there are still some fantastic hitters (like Jesse Winker), but the 'floor' feels so much lower. That said, I do feel like the pendulum is going to swing back in the next year or two towards more quality contact hitting as players begin to level out their swing planes a bit (we've already seen what it has done for Buxton this year).

Here's the thing. Think about the complaints many are having about MLBTS21 right now. HRs are down, Ks are up, base runners are down...sound familiar? I'll say this, this year's game (on default) is absolutely NAILING today's current environment, for better or worse, and it's doing so in a relatively balanced fashion. I strongly believe that if you want to play baseball most reflective of today's environment, keep on rolling with default at a difficulty appropriate for you and carry on.

This is the realization I finally came to admit to myself; nothing is 'wrong' with how the game is tuned out of the box (which, let's take a moment to acknowledge how utterly amazing that is for a sports game). That's not the 'brand' of baseball I enjoy though. So here is my gameplan:

1. I will retain the current setup as a "modern day" slider setup. It absolutely does reflect ratings and today's environment (at a high level). I just don't particularly enjoy it (and from the feedback, I think some of you would agree). If you're happy with default; PLEASE continue running with it.

2. I'm going to create a second setup. I will be looking for a game environment that is more in-line with what I like to see (i.e. better quality hitting and more varied outcomes). More about it below...

This goes a little against the grain for me; if default works, I'm usually the first one to embrace that. This is going to take some very careful massaging but I've dabbled enough over the last couple of years with this game to have a pretty good idea of where I want to begin. We're very much going to stick with a 'ratings-based' approach, no worries there, but I want to shift the overall balance.

I feel like we were close in my "original" setup and I have a sneaky hunch I know now where we went wrong. I'm also going to attempt to build the set using AS as a 'base'. The flaw with merely mandating AS+ from the outset is that it gives you nowhere to grow (obviously HOF isn't an option as it is too easy). I want AS to feel rewarding by itself; which would then make AS+ a meatier challenge.

What do you mean by HOF is to easy?

[JoshC1977]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

What do you mean by HOF is to easy?

I mean...it's too easy....not sure how else one would say it - it's an input-oriented difficulty. While ratings do matter, somewhat, for HOF; it's nowhere near enough.

[Doyoueven85]

Re: JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

I mean...it's too easy....not sure how else one would say it - it's an input-oriented difficulty. While ratings do matter, somewhat, for HOF; it's nowhere near enough.

It’s a harder level? lol I mean it’s literally harder to perform on. Just like all star is easier or legend is harder. But if you say so man.