Showdown
-
I don't like Diamond Quest but I essentially just traded Jason Varitek for Randy Johnson
Also the Yankee team in that one is hilarious. Got the 90s guys like Posada, Bernie, Jeter...the legends like Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle...oh and Ryan McMahon.
Those 3 inning 2 XBH moments are a double edge sword. Less RNG reliant than short moments but the showdowns are absolutely faster than a lot of the moments
-
I’ll add to what others have said: I hate Showdown, and, if up to me, it would be removed.
Having said that, if SDS wants to have it in the game, make it optional. And do not ever put cards in it that you can’t get any other way.
-
@capardo_XBL I’m onboard with making them optional and not having no sell cards as rewards, but I’ll never understand people wanting modes removed simply because they don’t like them or more likely aren’t good enough to beat them.
-
@GoozeFn_PSN I'm fine with it being on the game, but it just doesn't belong in DD.
-
@capardo_XBL I’m onboard with making them optional and not having no sell cards as rewards, but I’ll never understand people wanting modes removed simply because they don’t like them or more likely aren’t good enough to beat them.
Sometimes a mode is detrimental to a person's preferred DD experience.
For example, Weekend Classic existing likely made The Show worse for me in 2025. I really enjoyed the huge content drops that typically came in 23 and 24 with the start of seasons, but innings generally released with a bare minimum of content in 2025. Never a mini season, at best maybe a short conquest and the spotlight program. I suspect this was because of Weekend Classic being on the first weekend of each inning, and they didn't want to make those people grind out new cards.
However, my call has been to not remove weekend classic, but make it the last week of an inning instead of the first. Which has always made more sense to me anyway, why not make it the culmination of the inning?
-
I don't necessarily want it removed but as someone who plays at lower difficulties I am not going to spend my playing time in a mode that will essentially boil down to a coin flip on whether I get the reward or not.
If most players found the Diamond Quest fun and worth their time then there is no way that a 93 overall Sonny Gray released in June should be selling for 200K or an 86 Jason Heyward would still be selling for 50K
That tells me that there are not a lot of people engaging with the mode.
-
@Jay_Kimber_PSN It’s always been integral to DD. That makes no sense.
-
@Teak2112_MLBTS Sometimes peoples preferred experiences differ. The solution people consistently have on this board for everything is basically get rid of the things I don’t like because my opinions are better than yours. How about a solution that works for both sides? Make showdowns optional for program progress like they used to be and make any unique rewards sellable, or don’t put unique rewards in showdowns. Removing things from the game because some people aren’t good enough is incredibly shortsighted.
-
I can't stand showdown and avoid it unless absolutely necessary but there are people who apparently enjoy it so it really doesn't hurt to have it in the game as it is almost always something that can be skipped if you don't like it.
-
@Teak2112_MLBTS Sometimes peoples preferred experiences differ. The solution people consistently have on this board for everything is basically get rid of the things I don’t like because my opinions are better than yours. How about a solution that works for both sides? Make showdowns optional for program progress like they used to be and make any unique rewards sellable, or don’t put unique rewards in showdowns. Removing things from the game because some people aren’t good enough is incredibly shortsighted.
Why do you assume its about difficulty? With some people it may be, but a lot of people simply dont like the mode (I am in this camp personally, most of the showdowns just have too many stages and I cant wait for them to end). While I agree thats not a justification for its removal by itself, I'm not sure how many people actually enjoy engaging with it. SDS probably has a better idea of this though, and given its still in the game its likely more than some of us assume.
There is also an assumption people make that more content x means less content y. But then I point to last year and we had a lot more conquest maps than prior years and it wasnt harming the other modes.
While I think extreme last year went a bit too far (if it was released around the all star break I would have thought otherwise...the pxp repeatable was just a bit too high for that late in the lifecycle), in general SDS does difficulty pretty well and one underrated aspect of 25 is the frequency of extreme moments. These were optional but some people really enjoy them. In general I can play at the level thats fun for me, and I really like the 2026 pxp changes to better reward higher difficulties.
-
@Teak2112_MLBTS It really doesn’t matter whether it’s preference or skill.
For me it’s about variety. More ways to play the game is better.
The numbers don’t matter to me either. Maybe people don’t play as much showdown because it’s not as rewarding as it needs to be. I remember when showdowns were the go to way to complete TA the fastest. Look at what they did to March to October. Another mode I enjoyed. They nuked the rewards, so no one played it and now they’re removing it. Rewards should scale with the skill and time each mode takes.
I didn’t even touch extreme because it released so late in the game cycle. It should be the first 99 content in the game besides collections.
-
I love showdown. Seriously love it. Sorry fellas its one of my favorite things.
-
I like showdown but in small doses, primarily cause the CPU is cheap and sometimes cheats
-
Not a fan of showdown, but I agree with GoozeFn (for once
). No reason to take it out just because some don't like it. Just please don't make it mandatory. -
I like showdown, much more enjoyable and shorter than conquest and mini seasons
-
I like beating Showdown....
It's the diving plays against and RNG elements that make it awful. -
again I'm fine with it being in the game, but it has literally nothing to do with DD apart from once or twice a year being forced into a program. No exp, no PXP, and you can't use you own players.
All I'm saying is move it out of DD and into a separate section like March To October was.
-
If people hate the current iteration of Showdown, they would have LOATHED how it used to be when first put in the game in 2020. Each division had one initially and they were just incredibly tough with the RNG cheapness ramped all the way up it felt.
However, it absolutely was an integral part of DD especially the first few years because you could earn TA vouchers and exchange those for progress which was a great method to earn some of those early FOTF cards. There was also always a Showdown when a new Inning program dropped that gave you a pretty solid headstart in the program path if you beat it. Yes, it was always challenging, but OPTIONAL which is the perfect way to implement Showdown into the game and they nailed that execution in its debut season. The only example of where you had to beat Showdown to complete something was the Extreme program.
They need to go back to this model though. Do not make it mandatory, but make it valuable enough where players are enticed to give it a shot. Whether that's through program points, XP or a voucher is debatable.
Removing a mode entirely because some people simply don't like it is wrong. I think Conquest is one of the most monotonous and unavoidable things in DD, but understand that there are some who probably wouldn't buy the game if it was no longer available. It's just not for me the same way that Showdown and Diamond Quest aren't for others. I wouldn't want it taken out of the game though just because I don't personally enjoy it. That's silly.
-
@Jay_Kimber_PSN Then no one will play it and it will be removed just like March to October. Terrible idea.
-
Outside of extreme showdown, these showdowns the past few years are so easy that you could do them with your eyes closed.
I'm almost 50, play at an AS level and have no problems with them. Stop whining about everything or just dont play them. They are not required.
