Difficulty

[DJ]

I'm in a bit of bind when it comes to difficulty.

I play on All-Star across the board. Directional hitting (only press the swing button), Classic pitching and Auto fielding with Manual throwing.

On the surface, when I say that I finished an entire season in Franchise Mode (Mets) and won 116 games, you'd say 'buddy, you need to bump that difficulty up'. I led the league in HR's by a wide margin, was No. 2 in runs scored and team batting average was just under .260. Pitching-wise, led MLB in nearly every measurable category. But, I didn't make it out of the NLDS, so now I'm in a bit of a bind.

-Do I bump up the difficulty across the board to HOF?

-Do I raise the pitching difficulty to HOF and stick on AS for hitting, while increasing the pitch speed?

-Do I set Franchise Mode aside for a bit and work on setting my Dynamic Difficulty at AS+?

Open to any suggestions you guys may have.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Difficulty

I wouldn't worry about it to much. I'm constantly getting 120+ win seasons, and I'm constantly thinking to myself "I really need to up the difficulty". Then I go and play a minor league game and I get crushed. Then I go play a game when drunk and I get crushed. Then I go play a game when I'm in a bad mood and I get crushed.

As long as most of your games are a challenge to win you're playing at, or at the very least near your right difficulty level.

[KnightTemplar]

Re: Difficulty

I'm in a bit of bind when it comes to difficulty.

I play on All-Star across the board. Directional hitting (only press the swing button), Classic pitching and Auto fielding with Manual throwing.

On the surface, when I say that I finished an entire season in Franchise Mode (Mets) and won 116 games, you'd say 'buddy, you need to bump that difficulty up'. I led the league in HR's by a wide margin, was No. 2 in runs scored and team batting average was just under .260. Pitching-wise, led MLB in nearly every measurable category. But, I didn't make it out of the NLDS, so now I'm in a bit of a bind.

-Do I bump up the difficulty across the board to HOF?

-Do I raise the pitching difficulty to HOF and stick on AS for hitting, while increasing the pitch speed?

-Do I set Franchise Mode aside for a bit and work on setting my Dynamic Difficulty at AS+?

Open to any suggestions you guys may have.

Your gameplay is identical to me. Seriously, I really wouldn’t take too much advice on this from other gamers. I jump back and forth w/HOF pitching, that’s about it, but you’re gonna get all messed up if you start slider experimenting, etc., especially if you’re a center swing guy like we are (hit variety is phenomenal this way).

[DJ]

Re: Difficulty

I wouldn't worry about it to much. I'm constantly getting 120+ win seasons, and I'm constantly thinking to myself "I really need to up the difficulty". Then I go and play a minor league game and I get crushed. Then I go play a game when drunk and I get crushed. Then I go play a game when I'm in a bad mood and I get crushed.

As long as most of your games are a challenge to win you're playing at, or at the very least near your right difficulty level.

A lot of my games last season were close (3 runs and under).

[countryboy]

Re: Difficulty

Are you having fun?

If so then leave it be and enjoy. I wouldn’t start tinkering around with anything just enjoy it.

It’s not like you went 162-0 and swept your way to a World Series Championship.

I’d stay where you are. If it stops being fun then I up the difficulty. Until then though I stay put


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Sumodeads]

Re: Difficulty

I'd say you got some sound advice here and in the end it's really only you who can decide what will make the game most enjoyable for yourself. After a few months of playing this years version I made a change myself that made the game MUCH more enjoyable for me.


I was playing on HOF zone hitting and Legend pitching with every slider at default. Games started becoming a little too easy for my liking, I won't say boring because I love baseball and the Show, but I was scoring a lot of runs and giving up very few way too often.

Using DD, I bumped my hitting up to HOF+ and locked that setting in. Then I adjusted the CPU Power and Solid hits by +1 each.

These 2 adjustments were a game changer for me(pun intended). All the sudden my games became way more competitive. I was going through full weeks of my pitching just getting absolutely rocked whereas before sometimes we'd go weeks without getting rocked once. Offensively I still bang HR at a ridiculous pace, but overall team average and runs scored dropped and ABs just seemed a bit more challenging.

Playing this way I have seen way more games decided by 1-3 runs with the occasional blowout in either direction. I'm very glad I made these changes as I have had much more fun playing since.

[Caulfield]

Re: Difficulty

-Do I set Franchise Mode aside for a bit and work on setting my Dynamic Difficulty at AS+?


Open to any suggestions you guys may have.

I use dynamic and wouldnt consider anything else. I like that it pushes me up a level when I'm overachieving and drops me down when I'm in a slump. Really captures the ebb & flow of baseball IMO. Though I suppose it might be viewed by some as a comeback code enabler.

[Sumodeads]

Re: Difficulty

I use dynamic and wouldnt consider anything else. I like that it pushes me up a level when I'm overachieving and drops me down when I'm in a slump. Really captures the ebb & flow of baseball IMO. Though I suppose it might be viewed by some as a comeback code enabler.

How much do you fluctuate between levels? Would you say you play a high % of your games at a certain difficulty and then a few here and there at a higher or lower or is it all over the place? I've only really used Dynamic to get an "inbetween" difficulty and lock it in.

[COMMISSIONERHBK9]

Re: Difficulty

maybe its because I suck but I been doing dynamic difficulty on both hitting and pitching and I still lose games u ever try that

[Caulfield]

Re: Difficulty

How much do you fluctuate between levels? Would you say you play a high % of your games at a certain difficulty and then a few here and there at a higher or lower or is it all over the place? I've only really used Dynamic to get an "inbetween" difficulty and lock it in.

I constantly move back & forth but thats also because I set the sensitivity slider at 10, so I'm definitely all over the place. I dont want to be locked in because once I get good at that ''locked'' in spot, I'm afraid I'll dominate and I'd rather not.

[LowerWolf]

Re: Difficulty

DJ,

I sometimes think we were separated at birth. Our experiences are so similar. Your setup is exactly the same as mine on MLB 18. And I tinker with the idea of moving up to HOF from time to time for the same reasons you are.

I'm with CB in that if you're having fun, just stick with it. It's not really unrealistic for that Mets staff to dominate.

If some of the fun factor is gone, the two suggestions I would make are maybe going to AS+ or try to pitch without the cursor (assuming you're not already doing that already).

[DJ]

Re: Difficulty

DJ,

I sometimes think we were separated at birth. Our experiences are so similar. Your setup is exactly the same as mine on MLB 18. And I tinker with the idea of moving up to HOF from time to time for the same reasons you are.

I'm with CB in that if you're having fun, just stick with it. It's not really unrealistic for that Mets staff to dominate.

If some of the fun factor is gone, the two suggestions I would make are maybe going to AS+ or try to pitch without the cursor (assuming you're not already doing that already).

When you factor in our professional similarities, it is pretty crazy how alike we are. Just need you to stay strong and not pick up Madden 19, lol.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Think I'll keep rolling with my current setup and will only look at making a change if I'm not enjoying the game.

[millertime98]

Re: Difficulty

Are you having fun?

If so then leave it be and enjoy. I wouldn’t start tinkering around with anything just enjoy it.

It’s not like you went 162-0 and swept your way to a World Series Championship.

I’d stay where you are. If it stops being fun then I up the difficulty. Until then though I stay put


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

I once went 162-0 in Sports Talk Baseball. I turned the game off once because I was about to lose the last game of the season. Since then I've tried to play realistically. But it was fun

[millertime98]

Re: Difficulty

When you factor in our professional similarities, it is pretty crazy how alike we are. Just need you to stay strong and not pick up Madden 19, lol.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Think I'll keep rolling with my current setup and will only look at making a change if I'm not enjoying the game.

My question would be: How many games are you playing?
I play franchise and exclusively rebuild so the first few seasons I'll only play a hand full of games with a young stud pitcher or something. Then, as I progress in the rebuild I'll play a few more and if I eventually make the playoffs I'll play each game.

[boxboy99]

Re: Difficulty

This is a struggle for me on most games. Messing with sliders becomes a chicken and egg paradox for me. MLB 15 was my first 162 game full played season for me. I wasn't very good and determined I would play on All-Star if over .500 and Vet if under .500. The second year I went full All-Star. Third year I believe I hit All-Star and Pitched HOF.

This year was odd. I bounced around difficult all year based on stats. Eventually, I just set it to all-star and started changing slider based on stats. In a nut shell, if I'm hitting .310 and the top team in the league is hitting .270, something needs to be changed to reduce my BA. Pretty much all of my stats are on point this year except my walks issued. Oddly, walks were not an issue at all until mid-season. I recently turned of vibration which has help increased my walks issued. I've still issued more walks than any other year, none of my starters are in the top ten.

Anyway, it's all about how your enjoy the game. If you enjoy winning 120 games a year, keep doing what you do. If you're bored, maybe find ways to increase the challenge through difficulty and sliders. Look at teams stats, you might find one or two outliers you could fix through sliders that are giving you and extra 20-30 wins a season.

Right now, I think my personal sliders are tuned pretty good but not perfect. I'm almost tempted to start a second season on 18 when I finish this season to see how well they perform with a fresh slate.