Today's Update
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Probably unpopular as this is ALL OVER Twitter, but I think two things are getting mixed together here.
The strike zone update seems pretty simple: it’s visual. The logic didn’t change. If the ball clips the zone, it’s a strike, and that’s how it was already working - we just didn't see the "correct" box. Now, the box is smaller / more accurate. Annoying to adjust to? Maybe. But I don’t think that’s some huge gameplay change as the box disappears as you're swinging anyway.
The PCI shrinkage thing is different. The communication around it was bad, and I get why people are pissed. But the actual logic makes sense to me. A hanging curve should be easier to square up than a dotted slider down and away. I know it’s a video game, but by that same logic, every perfect-perfect should be a hit and every bad swing should be an out. There still has to be some balance between input, ratings, pitch quality, and baseball randomness.
I’m not saying the game is perfect. There are definitely things that drive me nuts. I just still like playing it, and I think some of this is getting taken to the worst possible interpretation.
For me, the strike zone thing is basically nothing. The PCI thing makes sense in theory, even if it sucks. The biggest issue is the communication around it.
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Are you sure -- in a conquest game the ump called a strike with a pitch 3 or so plus inches off the zone
I could be wrong but I think they MIGHT have screwed something up.
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Probably unpopular as this is ALL OVER Twitter, but I think two things are getting mixed together here.
The strike zone update seems pretty simple: it’s visual. The logic didn’t change. If the ball clips the zone, it’s a strike, and that’s how it was already working - we just didn't see the "correct" box. Now, the box is smaller / more accurate. Annoying to adjust to? Maybe. But I don’t think that’s some huge gameplay change as the box disappears as you're swinging anyway.
The PCI shrinkage thing is different. The communication around it was bad, and I get why people are pissed. But the actual logic makes sense to me. A hanging curve should be easier to square up than a dotted slider down and away. I know it’s a video game, but by that same logic, every perfect-perfect should be a hit and every bad swing should be an out. There still has to be some balance between input, ratings, pitch quality, and baseball randomness.
I’m not saying the game is perfect. There are definitely things that drive me nuts. I just still like playing it, and I think some of this is getting taken to the worst possible interpretation.
For me, the strike zone thing is basically nothing. The PCI thing makes sense in theory, even if it sucks. The biggest issue is the communication around it.
The strike zone is a good change because it is accurate now, where as the bigger visual strike zone did make 50/50 balls be a coin flip.
Now the PCI shrinkage is a completely BS back track. When your lead gameplay guy comes on a live stream to straight up say "PCI shrinkage has been removed from all DD modes" but now a month later after everyone has called them out on how it never was. Absolutely no explanation on why it is in the game is acceptable. Not to mention the whole "well you see your PCI gets bigger when your oppent hangs a curve ball giving up a better chance of hitting it, so obviously a low and away slider should make it shrink" is simply a way for them to try and make an excuse for either NOT being able to rewrite the code to remove it or just straight up try and make the community seems dumb. The reason I say this is because your bat doesn't get bigger or smaller depending on what pitch is thrown. This explanation was simply a copout and if SDS really wanted to make the community not be upset they could have just seriously came out and said "hey we think removing it will cause serious problems to existing code."
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in a conquest game the ump called a strike with a pitch 3 or so plus inches off the zone
I could be wrong but I think they MIGHT have screwed something up.
That's still subject to the perfect/imperfect umpires I believe. Played a couple ranked games last night and didn't see anything that far off called a strike.
and that’s how it was already working
No it wasn't, there were pitches 50% to 75% in the zone that were constantly balls. All they've done is add the ABS logic to the game...which is how it should have been
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in a conquest game the ump called a strike with a pitch 3 or so plus inches off the zone
I could be wrong but I think they MIGHT have screwed something up.
That's still subject to the perfect/imperfect umpires I believe. Played a couple ranked games last night and didn't see anything that far off called a strike.
and that’s how it was already working
No it wasn't, there were pitches 50% to 75% in the zone that were constantly balls. All they've done is add the ABS logic to the game...which is how it should have been
Yes, those pitches that were 50 to 75% in the zone are now either hitting or not hitting the line with the new strike zone. I don't think they actually changed anything other than the visual box. In fact, that's essentially what their note said.
Either way, I like it more.
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I hate it… when it goes against me… lol
I have found myself not saying “oh come on, that was a ball/strike” since the update. I also like it. A lot.
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The strike zone is exactly the same. The only difference is the box is smaller. What was a strike or ball before has not changed. It's actually a great addition in that it mimics the reality of what a strike or ball is.
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Probably unpopular as this is ALL OVER Twitter, but I think two things are getting mixed together here.
The strike zone update seems pretty simple: it’s visual. The logic didn’t change. If the ball clips the zone, it’s a strike, and that’s how it was already working - we just didn't see the "correct" box. Now, the box is smaller / more accurate. Annoying to adjust to? Maybe. But I don’t think that’s some huge gameplay change as the box disappears as you're swinging anyway.
The PCI shrinkage thing is different. The communication around it was bad, and I get why people are pissed. But the actual logic makes sense to me. A hanging curve should be easier to square up than a dotted slider down and away. I know it’s a video game, but by that same logic, every perfect-perfect should be a hit and every bad swing should be an out. There still has to be some balance between input, ratings, pitch quality, and baseball randomness.
I’m not saying the game is perfect. There are definitely things that drive me nuts. I just still like playing it, and I think some of this is getting taken to the worst possible interpretation.
For me, the strike zone thing is basically nothing. The PCI thing makes sense in theory, even if it sucks. The biggest issue is the communication around it.
I agree with your overall take. That said, I don't think the PCI should shrink on a down and away pitch like a slider or curveball. The reason they should be hard to hit is because it should be hard to square up the bat on a ball that far away from the natural swing plane of the hitter. If that isn't harder in the game, then there are better ways to make it harder without shrinking the PCI. For example, the further away from plumb the control stick is moved, then the more uncertainty in the location. This would replicate the effect of human strain.
