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Rookie
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Re: MLB 17 Feature Wishes?
I'm all for expanding on the franchise experience by adding all the customization seen in DD to move, expand, rebrand, etc teams in the mode. There is so much available to draw from in this game as well as looking to other games to see what they do well.
The minor-league stadiums are an issue. If we're not getting accurate stadiums in the minors (at least the AAA level), then there should be some way to create custom stadiums for the minors. There can be simple pre-fab designs (like use the wall and field dimensions currently in the game) but we can adjust the background, park elevation, name, and field characteristics (like grass pattern, dirt strip from the mound to the plate, etc). It's somewhat off-putting to play a game on the west coast but the backdrop is the Capitol, the New England area with the desert backdrop, or in Colorado Springs and the stadium elevation is <200ft.
We should be able to have some editing open in RTTS for other players. It's nothing too deep, just the ability to change numbers or import a real player over the generic replacement in a Y2Y save. Changing numbers should be available so long-tenured players don't change numbers because they are declining and a new player with a higher overall wears the same number. As far as importing players, it can be a done before advancing the day and it can be tied to live rosters so there's no MLBPA flak.
Retirements are also an issue. Players are retiring at unorthodox times, especially when there's no reason for them to retire. I brought over a Y2Y save where I was still in 2014 ('15's save corrupted so I went and grabbed the '14 save, which I only lost the last week of the regular season and playoffs, and brought it to '15 and then into '16) and six top-level players retired between 2014 and 2015 due to "age" but all six are still playing at a high level in 2016 and potentially beyond. We should have an override for situations like that where a player retires who would still be playing. It can be tied to live rosters or MLB news or whatever to keep players who wouldn't retire at 34-36 from retiring.
Ratings need an overhaul. There's so much more that these can do to create some individuality to different players as well as individual pitches.
- Devs have said that velocity is fairly static until pitchers hit the age of regression. Why should that be a 0-99 rating that takes XP to improve when it's fairly static?? Just give us the mph range for it. Let us list our 4FB as 93-95, CH as (-7)-(-9) for a 85-87 range, etc. where the fastball speeds set every other speed and the drop-off ranges can fall under a natural progression (ie: pitch f/x lists the greatest differential between the FB and CH is ~12mph and the average is ~7mph with a 2mph deviation). Break is another rating in dire need of changing.
- Currently break gets both the sharpness of the break and the amount of movement. These should be separate ratings. Just look at curves on youtube to see that Kershaw's curve is a slow-looping curve with a huge movement whereas Gio Gonzales' has a sharper, later break with less movement. Also, allow us to adjust how the pitch will break to an extent. Currently, nearly every LHP with a slider in the game has a 10-to-4 break. Based on arm angle, some sliders can be flatter (get closer to 9-to-3) or have a bit more drop (closing on 11-to-5). Just add some bit of variance to separate the breaks of each pitch.
- At least the per/9 ratings should be split between RHB and LHB. As it is right now, there's no way to differentiate between a lefty-reliever and a lefty-specialist. By giving splits for that, we can have someone who is really dominant in a same-side matchup or a cross-matchup.
Something beneficial to add would be tendencies. This will help set up more individuality in players and pitchers as well as coaches and staff. It can start off fairly basic at first and then expand as more are needed. Some of these may even help out with various modes within the game.
- For pitchers, there can be a tendency slider for groundball vs fly ball, strikeout vs contact, efficiency vs effort (think Greg Maddux and getting a CG on <100 pitches vs someone who just tries to blow away batter after batter like a young Randy Johnson). Another set of tendencies for pitchers is how often they tend to use each pitch. Have a tendency line for each pitch but the total of each line equals 100. So it could be 4FB - 60, CV - 24, SL - 10, CH - 6 and those could have a +/- of 2. This is something pitch f/x tracks as well. The tendency for each pitch will definitely cut down on continually seeing a problem pitch (constantly chasing a low changeup) dominate every at-bat.
- For batters, there can be tendencies ranging from groundball vs fly ball hitter, patient or swings often, aggressive vs passive in chasing pitches, pull vs push vs middle vs balanced, contact swing vs power swing, etc. All of this help in establishing unique hitter profiles as well as eliminate that dead-pull hitter going opposite field. This could help make for some interesting matchups as an efficient, contact pitcher can windup facing a power-swinging, aggressive, dead-pull hitter or even a patient, passive, balanced hitter may face a strikeout, effort pitcher.
- For coaches and staff, you can have tendencies for managers to go starter vs bullpen, play small-ball vs long-ball, aggressive vs passive on the basepaths, strict vs lenient, etc. Staff can swing from build from within vs build via free agency, build veteran vs young, plug-and-play vs build around a core group, shrewd budgeter vs big spender, make roster moves based on performance stats vs advanced sabermetrics, etc. Adding all these in will differentiate every owner and manager. You could see more realistic offers from trades and free agency. For a RTTS example, you may get flipped for a few prospects if you are being successful early in Atlanta, or you're in a contract year for free agency and you might become a playoff rental, or you might see an offer sheet like 4-yr/$32M from KC but the Yankees may offer 2yr/$32M.
Dynamic commentary from someone other than the current team. If you're adding random player stories, make sure some of that actually applies within the scope of someone's season. I'm playing one save file imported from '15 that is still in '15 and they are talking about the Royals winning the World Series in 2015, yet I'm not there in the that file's timeline. Also, same factoid was again said in another save file, but this file was the middle of April 2016, coming off a 2015 World Series win by the Red Sox. Also, various lines are so overused and stale that I hear the same one multiple times in a game. Basic ones are "That's three straight pitches over 100mph; if he throws a changeup in the zone, this guy's got no chance" and "That's his one-two punch; he has the cutter and the two-seamer; one breaks in and the other breaks out so when he throws them off of each other, the batter doesn't know which way it's coming" and all the perfect-game, no-hitter crap from 4.2 on.
Essentially, just add customization that is prevalent; redo ratings; add tendencies; fix the boring, slate, lame commentary that everyone has been quoting since 2008.
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06-10-2016, 04:59 PM
