JoshC1977's "Maximize Player Ratings" MLB 21 Sliders

[rlb1976]

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

Well that is the beauty of the slider forum. You are going to have different theory’s, approaches and opinions.

And I certainly have a different approach of what I try to get out of slider adjustments and what I look for and the type of “feel” I want in the game.

But when I saw that statement.... I had to comment because I simply disagree with it 100% based on 100’s upon 100’s of games played between MLB 14 and 20.

There is a clear AI difference in how they pitch to you and how they hit against you on HOF vs All-Star and it is not stick or input related but far more “approach” related.

And by the way, input of course is going to play a role. This is not Manager Only mode. Input is a factor on AS as well as HOF and Legend.

You gotta have the right timing on hitting and also on classic pitching as far as how much effort you want, where your aiming etc. Goes for every level (Rookie, Veteran, All-Star, HOF or Legend).

Windows get tighter yes....no doubt. I will destroy the ball on veteran because the area area of contact is much more forgiving. Same for All-Star
Vs HOF. That is also why the style of play I (and Josh uses for that matter) will not translate well to Legend. The windows are far too narrow for Directional and Classic and the input then becomes even more critical. For this old man....makes for a far more frustrating experience for lack of a better term.

Makes zero sense that HOF is easier than All-Star. Its not and in my experience is just enough hot sauce to up the difficulty for a better experience over 162 games.

If I play on All-Star I won’t have the same CPU opponent in terms of better pitch sequencing and fearing the best hitters like I do on HOF.

I will leave it at that.

Enjoy Josh’s sliders. He does a great job and we have disagreed plenty of times before.

All-Star is a very viable level and I played on All-Star for a very long time before moving up to HOF.


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You and Josh are definitely the experts here and I respect both of your opinions. I wonder if the reason I’m having a similar experience with Josh’s compared to yours in previous years is strictly Dynamic Difficulty related?

[Armor and Sword]

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

You and Josh are definitely the experts here and I respect both of your opinions. I wonder if the reason I’m having a similar experience with Josh’s compared to yours in previous years is strictly Dynamic Difficulty related?

It very well may be because of that as the game will adjust to your hit streaks and slumps accordingly if you do not lock in AS Plus.

I think dynamic difficulty is a great feature and when used in the manner it can lock in the appropriate skill level for you to give you a consistent experience once you “lock in”.

[Sportsfan28]

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

It very well may be because of that as the game will adjust to your hit streaks and slumps accordingly if you do not lock in AS Plus.



I think dynamic difficulty is a great feature and when used in the manner it can lock in the appropriate skill level for you to give you a consistent experience once you “lock in”.

Yep. I’m using HOF for pitching and slight adjustments to the sliders. Allstar+ for hitting. Playing very well ATM.


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[cmoosen]

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.

So far in my nationals franchise, I’d say the HR ball has been my biggest ally and my biggest foe. However, everything in between has been solid all around. Guys like Turner are getting on base and threatening with his speed, or the Rookie Garcia who has high contact vs righties is hitting balls down the line and in the gaps. That 1-2 combo is setting up Soto in the 3 spot to drive in some runs, as he is protected by Josh Bell in the 4 spot. Soto is a rake machine for me right now. The dude is on a tear much like Stanton just went on in real life. Hitting the ball to all parts of the park, singles, doubles and homers. I’m consistently finding myself being able to manufacture at least 1 run in the first off average to above average pitching, and more runs with the top 4 later in the game as well.

All that to say that, I guess based on how I play the game, I tend to see my team falling more in line with hitting for average and allowing the power guys to hit for power. I shoot for gaps and singles. I’m in the same boat, rallies are much more fun, even though Soto hitting a clutch 3 run bomb in the 8th to give me the lead going into the 9th is also very exciting. Right now, your base set is working very well for me personally. I’m on AS+ and the difficulty for me is perfect. I’m taking advantage of missed pitches without running up the score every game, and I’m being punished for poor pitching by the opposing teams. Scores have varied greatly as I just swept the Mets while winning by 1 run each game after a series in which I demolished the Phils, completing the sweep with a 15-2 blowout. Before this 6 game win streak that propelled me to 1st in the division, the team was 4-6 in their last 10.

Just wanted to give my feedback as the game is really fun for me at the moment and the slight tweaks to injury and trade have made transactions and roster adjustments much better.

[Reed1417]

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

Hey Josh, I wanted to ask before I did anything but I know video footage/feedback is always good. Would it be ok if I posted my Oriole Franchise videos in the thread? If not that's perfectly fine but I figured I'd ask since I recorded the first game yesterday.

All I gotta say is it's gonna be a loooonh season and this first game was not good especially from a hitting perspective [emoji23]

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[JoshC1977]

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

So far in my nationals franchise, I’d say the HR ball has been my biggest ally and my biggest foe. However, everything in between has been solid all around. Guys like Turner are getting on base and threatening with his speed, or the Rookie Garcia who has high contact vs righties is hitting balls down the line and in the gaps. That 1-2 combo is setting up Soto in the 3 spot to drive in some runs, as he is protected by Josh Bell in the 4 spot. Soto is a rake machine for me right now. The dude is on a tear much like Stanton just went on in real life. Hitting the ball to all parts of the park, singles, doubles and homers. I’m consistently finding myself being able to manufacture at least 1 run in the first off average to above average pitching, and more runs with the top 4 later in the game as well.

All that to say that, I guess based on how I play the game, I tend to see my team falling more in line with hitting for average and allowing the power guys to hit for power. I shoot for gaps and singles. I’m in the same boat, rallies are much more fun, even though Soto hitting a clutch 3 run bomb in the 8th to give me the lead going into the 9th is also very exciting. Right now, your base set is working very well for me personally. I’m on AS+ and the difficulty for me is perfect. I’m taking advantage of missed pitches without running up the score every game, and I’m being punished for poor pitching by the opposing teams. Scores have varied greatly as I just swept the Mets while winning by 1 run each game after a series in which I demolished the Phils, completing the sweep with a 15-2 blowout. Before this 6 game win streak that propelled me to 1st in the division, the team was 4-6 in their last 10.

Just wanted to give my feedback as the game is really fun for me at the moment and the slight tweaks to injury and trade have made transactions and roster adjustments much better.

I appreciate the feedback and this is exactly why I want to keep the current OP as well. I totally understand that many have embraced default as a 'go to' option (and I love that). If it is working for you, STICK WITH IT!

I'm just not 'feeling it' personally; something just doesn't quite work for me.

[JoshC1977]

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

Hey Josh, I wanted to ask before I did anything but I know video footage/feedback is always good. Would it be ok if I posted my Oriole Franchise videos in the thread? If not that's perfectly fine but I figured I'd ask since I recorded the first game yesterday.

All I gotta say is it's gonna be a loooonh season and this first game was not good especially from a hitting perspective [emoji23]

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Sure, if you'd like to post links to a couple of games played using the OP; I'm down with that. If you're wanting to really chronicle your franchise in-depth, I highly recommend using the franchise thread in the main forum.

Please also add any specific context to your posts if there is something you want me to key-in on.

[Doyoueven85]

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

I'm just not 'feeling it' personally; something just doesn't quite work for me.

Not quite for a lot of us. Excited to see what you come up with

[Rmiok222]

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

IMG_2856.JPG

Hey josh I have a question for you, I appreciate your feedback on this topic so far by the way.

hypothetically say I was on veteran+ like this picture says. Does the difficulty get slightly harder as the meter goes up within the same level? So for example: is veteran+ with the meter in the middle easier than say veteran+ with the meter ALMOST to all star? Or is at all just considered one difficulty?

Hope that makes sense. Thanks!


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[JHedges2]

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

[ATTACH]192855[/ATTACH]

Hey josh I have a question for you, I appreciate your feedback on this topic so far by the way.

hypothetically say I was on veteran+ like this picture says. Does the difficulty get slightly harder as the meter goes up within the same level? So for example: is veteran+ with the meter in the middle easier than say veteran+ with the meter ALMOST to all star? Or is at all just considered one difficulty?

Hope that makes sense. Thanks!


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To my knowledge no, there is no “sub” difficulty. Otherwise there would essentially be limitless levels of difficulty. It’s just a measure of merit with regard to your performance with respect to moving up.


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[JoshC1977]

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

To my knowledge no, there is no “sub” difficulty. Otherwise there would essentially be limitless levels of difficulty. It’s just a measure of merit with regard to your performance with respect to moving up.


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Precisely. Thanks for answering!

[Rmiok222]

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

To my knowledge no, there is no “sub” difficulty. Otherwise there would essentially be limitless levels of difficulty. It’s just a measure of merit with regard to your performance with respect to moving up.


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Thanks man!


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[Jay Cee]

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

You have to remember bizarre stuff happens all the time over the course of 162.

I mean the Braves won 20-1 last night LOL. A lot of people would race to change the settings if they had a game like that.

But you get odd scores, and bad teams beat good teams all the time.

Stay the course man!


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Now I’m 1-6 and 2 of my best 3 hitters are on the shelf, oh and got beat by the Orioles again in brutal late inning fashion. Very close to chucking this...


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[Sportsfan28]

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

Now I’m 1-6 and 2 of my best 3 hitters are on the shelf, oh and got beat by the Orioles again in brutal late inning fashion. Very close to chucking this...


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Go on veteran. Seems like you’re struggling on the mid to upper difficulties.


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[mitchel55]

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

Would it seems reasonable to just put hitting on AS and pitching on AS+ in an effort to get the scoring up a little? Much less offense in this year's edition on default sliders. Most games are low scoring without the variety of 10-14 shootouts which happen far more often in real life.