Positive:

1. At least for me as a late season joiner, there was a ton to do. I'm an offline grind/collection player so I like doing stuff that works towards new cards and there was plenty of that
2. PXP seemed easier to come by than I remember from 23
3. WBC - I imagine it was even more fun earlier in the year when it was new, but I enjoyed that big program and collection
4. Collections (actually both pos/neg) - I thought they were good for the most part. But also, it's disappointing that Zobrist was a huge collection reward (and I'm a cub fan). I get that they are doing rewards that are good for the way the game plays, but Zobrist just isn't a big enough name for a huge collection reward imo.

Negatives

1. Offline modes - Yeah, I still don't care for mini season or showdown. I know there's only so many ways to play offline but I'd like to see some new modes that are actually fun. Showdown does seem a bit better, but I still don't like it. Those two modes are like my two children, I dislike them both equally. Diamond Quest was new to me and it's...fine. I have nothing against it but don't' love it. I do like conquest, so I like that there's plenty of that.
2. Offline hitting - plenty of threads on this but it sure seems like it has been severely nerfed this year. I play this game to chill and unlock cards and enjoy a "mindless" grind and the number of 1-0 games I had against the cpu on lower difficulties really sucked the fun out of that at times.
3. Team Affinity/Exchanges - I really missed those things. I'd like to see a return to bigger TAs and have more to do with duplicate cards than quick sell them.
4. Legends compared to flashbacks - there continues to be way too much emphasis on flashbacks for my taste. But maybe most players love it so whatever

Overall, for a free game, I got plenty of enjoyment out of it for the last couple of months. But, unless I see some changes I can't see spending money to buy the game and playing a full season again.

@w1ck3dx24_PSN said:

2026 and still no new online modes

I would argue that Weekend Classic is a new mode. Sure, it piggybacks off your Ranked levels, but the structure and rewards are different.

If you say that it is not a new mode then you also have to say that DQ is not a new mode since it is just Moments, Showdowns and 3 Inning Conquest games all smashed together.

I also wonder if their reluctance to add more online modes and their decision to make Events short term while Ranked and WC modes are ran separately is because they are trying to keep online players from being spread too thinly. You still want to be matched up quickly against equally skilled opponents but how much harder is that when you have players spread out among 3 or 4 online modes, and many of those players have cross platform matchmaking turned off. That is just speculation on my part though.

@w1ck3dx24_PSN said:

Negatives

1. Cheating at the higher levels (Makes people question the entire system)
2. Stub Farming by Bots/Programs
3. Chase Packs have the best cards AKA Pay Wall
   4. Mini Seasons stats have been broken all year (Unfortunate, because this would be really cool)
4. BR Rewards have been butchered and No point to Play
5. Events are now limited and has just turned into a stat grind
   7. Pack odds are ridiculous this year. Even Headliners have maintained their value
6. Too many of the same card released, especially level 99 cards
   9. Legends are an afterthought. They seem to only be released in bunches
   10. Way too much focus on Switch Hitters!
7. 2026 and still no new online modes
8. Foul tips might need to be revisited
9. Dread Lag still appears to be a thing
10. Stadium lag in most MLB parks
11. Stealing is this game is a little too easy
12. Team Affinities have truly been gutted
13. Captains have been left out

This is an awesome list, dude, thank you.

I've highlighted the ones most egregious to me.

On top of that, one that concerns me is ongoing issues with gameplay, difficulties and outcomes.
I can often tell after two swings if i am going to have an good or difficult game, and at that point you're either smashing the cover off everything or incapable of a hit whilst i can destroy the CPU on HoF, then struggle to get a hit on veteran.

I get baseball can be like that, but i've never played a game with more russian roulette RNG, whilst at the same time having a lot of very predictable mini outcomes in game (like sudden surges of home runs by the CPU in the 8th or 9th innings to break up perfect games, starters getting hit if they pitch more than one innings in conquest games etc.)

Make stadium selection random, so you're not playing in Coors Field for the thousandth time. Or just give every stadium the same elevation, maybe 3,500 feet.

Stop making every card have 125 and 99 everything, and stop recycling the same [censored] cards 500 times.

I mean, how many players do they have in MLB and the minor leagues that they can use?

And stop making every card have Gold Glove defense. Just because a player has a good month or wins Player of the Month doesn't mean his defense goes up with it. His hitting attributes, yes. Everything else, no.

Give players their actual defensive numbers, even if they are 99-rated cards.

Because if you give everyone almost the same attribute ratings, the cards feel the [censored] same.

They need to figure out the 99-rating system. Either speed it up so we get 99-rated cards by the All-Star break, because that's when the best players from every team are getting picked, or slow it way down and let us work our way up to them, so we don't get 99-rated cards until the postseason. Something like that.

@Dolenz_PSN said:

Let me throw in something I see as a positive that others do not.

I much prefer the Spotlight programs this year. Not the split between Programs and Packs but the fact that I have finished programs simply by playing with my Cardinals Theme team. Sometimes I may have to do a few moments to complete them, but normal play gets me most of the way there.

I hated past years where you had to work to earn the first card. Then you had to play with that card to earn the second card, then you had to play with that card to earn the 3rd, etc.

I wish they did more with the optional objectives. I liked the final program each month giving you the extra pack for using the card.

@Dolenz_PSN said:

Let me throw in something I see as a positive that others do not.

I much prefer the Spotlight programs this year. Not the split between Programs and Packs but the fact that I have finished programs simply by playing with my Cardinals Theme team. Sometimes I may have to do a few moments to complete them, but normal play gets me most of the way there.

I hated past years where you had to work to earn the first card. Then you had to play with that card to earn the second card, then you had to play with that card to earn the 3rd, etc.

Yes great call, this has been a solid change.

I much prefer the Spotlight programs this year. Not the split between Programs and Packs but the fact that I have finished programs simply by playing with my Cardinals Theme team. Sometimes I may have to do a few moments to complete them, but normal play gets me most of the way there.

I hated past years where you had to work to earn the first card. Then you had to play with that card to earn the second card, then you had to play with that card to earn the 3rd, etc.

@x-814-x-MAFIA-x_PSN said:

Theres a Nationals Harper in the game.

I see:
Live Series
WBC
2nd Half Heroes
HRD
Milestone
Finest

all Phillies

I think a lot of people on here have some great ideas and know what makes this game great and what doesn’t.

It will never be perfect but taking some accountability, catering to the masses with flexible programs instead of forcing play towards the vocal minority, cracking down hard on cheaters, and backing off a touch on the aggressive monetization would be a solid start.

@Teak2112_MLBTS said:

The good:
-WBC content was fantastic
-Card art is mostly excellent
-Conquest is in a good place: decent sized maps with good consistency in release
-Milestone cards

The bad:
-WBC exploiters not punished, even after saying they would be
-Inning format is a complete failure
Very little offline content on inning drops
The rewards are terrible, outside of the boss drops. An average conquest map is far better than the entire xp path
Xp was badly tuned early in the year
-Removal of TA
-Too many cards that need to bought vs earned
-Too many mode specific cards. Stop expecting online players to play offline and vice versa. Having the cards sellable worked better when there werent as many pack cards and chase cards in play.
-Terrible use of legends, and also poor use of flashbacks (example: why are all 6 Bryce Harpers Phillies?)
-CPU pitching is too tedious, so many 3 balls 2 dots starts. Common/Bronze pitchers are able to throw on the black or just off while leaving very few balls over the plate. On the lower difficulties.
-CPU hitting remains too weak, and when they do score it seems random and not based on your inputs
-Mini season stats not fixed, even though it was advertised they were fixed pre release
-Content pacing inconsistent
-Miniseasons changes would have made positives, but no reason to play the older style miniseasons was given and pre release hinted at more special miniseasons like WBC that never came

Theres a Nationals Harper in the game.

If we are going on straight glitches this could be a very long list. But in accordance with Onix I don’t want to just rail on everything.

Bottom line, the game has been in a steady decline for years and this year it regressed to a full blown free fall. I still play because despite it’s numerous flaws it helps me unwind and share baseball with my son.

Just wish it was way better than it was. Sadly, I think most of us on here care more about and know more about how to make the game great than the devs or Sony.

Mini seasons getting stuck on a game and having you replay it over and over.

Luckily it still accumulates stats but the only way to finish is a reset and start over

1. The inevitable march towards more egregious monetization (See 5 Cardinal Chase Cards).

2. The WBC Exploiters not getting punished as far as I can tell.

3. Nitpicky bugs that have been around years. Missing Logos. Laggy or Framey gameplay, even in offline modes.

4. Complete imbalance of cards among teams, even if my team had probably the best year ever for card releases. (83 for Yankees - 29 for Rangers)

5. Several Teams (Brewers, Rockies and now Rangers) having stretches of 40 plus days with no cards released.

6. 16 current players with 5 or more cards (Harper has 6) while legends get ignored. There are 71 legends with only a single card. Half of those with their only card < 90 OVR

7. Not one that really concerns me much but one I feel is important for them to tackle. The vaults need to be redesigned from scratch so that there are not thousands of duplicates and so that they easier to police.

8. Although I only play offline and don't play the market. You have to keep finding ways to detect and punish cheaters and bots.

9. I feel like the content team was forced to come up with content for two games and while I don't follow the mobile game I feel like this game suffered for it.

10. Non-Sellable offline rewards force online players to play offline modes and hinders the offline players ability to make stubs. I understand non-sellable program rewards, but other rewards (Conquest) should be sellable.

11. Make selling duplicates easier on the console. Either group sell duplicates by team or even by rarity.

I am sure that I am forgetting some.

The bad:
-WBC exploiters not punished, even after saying they would be
-Inning format is a complete failure
Very little offline content on inning drops
The rewards are terrible, outside of the boss drops. An average conquest map is far better than the entire xp path
Xp was badly tuned early in the year
-Removal of TA
-Too many cards that need to bought vs earned
-Too many mode specific cards. Stop expecting online players to play offline and vice versa. Having the cards sellable worked better when there werent as many pack cards and chase cards in play.
-Terrible use of legends, and also poor use of flashbacks (example: why are all 6 Bryce Harpers Phillies?)
-CPU pitching is too tedious, so many 3 balls 2 dots starts. Common/Bronze pitchers are able to throw on the black or just off while leaving very few balls over the plate. On the lower difficulties.
-CPU hitting remains too weak, and when they do score it seems random and not based on your inputs
-Mini season stats not fixed, even though it was advertised they were fixed pre release
-Content pacing inconsistent
-Miniseasons changes would have made positives, but no reason to play the older style miniseasons was given and pre release hinted at more special miniseasons like WBC that never came