Community Forum

Completely agree with the OP. TA is my favorite part of the game. That and the US conquest map. We lost the US conquest map last yr (although they finally added a version of it later in Nov / Dec). And now we're getting 1 two hour TA track per team for the entire yr. I hope they misspoke or we are all misunderstanding what they said yesterday. Or maybe there are new style programs that will serve as TAs, just with a different name.

I am definitely excited...which i am every year for the new game. Not sure how long the excitement will last, but this game coming out is the symbol that the real season is about to begin, the warm weather is on it's way and spring / summer is near.

I am excited about the new PXP mods and the 9 inning option in mini seasons. Although not sure i will go the 9 inning path more than once since the rewards don't justify the time / effort.

The TA news yesterday really disappointed me and put a damper on my overall excitement for the year. I have no clue why they think 1 TA for the entire yr is acceptable. The themed (all star, finest, etc) TA's they did back in 22-24 were awesome. Maybe they will have "programs" that will almost serve as TA tracks but the news yesterday definitely concerns me.

The game will be fully downloaded in the pre-download. At launch, they'll send out an update (say version 1.001) that will unlock the game for playing.

If true, that is a big bummer. I was set on playing a 9 inning season in the WBC miniseason. Was hoping for better rewards. If it's the same as 3 innings, then i'll just play the 3 inning 28 game schedule so i can complete all of the challenges along the way.

I liked the power creep last year but agree with what others have said...it basically went from 95-99 in 1 week. I was very excited for that month-long program in June for that 95 Sammy Sosa card. Got it on June 30th (earliest possible day) and within 10 days it was worthless due to all of the 99s dropping around All Star break / the MLB draft. I also understand the goal of getting 99's in by the all star break as most players leave the game by August / Sept. I generally hold out until Oct as I continue to play some (not as much) during the post season. But as with all sports games, i leave the game once the real-life season ends. But overall - starting at 90 vs 88 is probably the right call to avoid the 95 to 99 jump.

Stopped actively playing in late October. Didn't play at all in November. Played a few times per month in Dec - Feb. Have played some of the conquest maps that i didn't finish over the last couple of weeks. Finished the Now and Later program and got through the current XP path to get the rest of the N&L packs. Treating those games as spring training...trying to knock the dust off so I start '26 a little sharper.

Normally I finish it by mid / late May. For '25, i didn't complete until late January (stopped playing in late Oct and didn't start back until late January). I opened more packs than I ever have through programs, etc...just couldn't pull Ohtani, Judge, Witt, Marte or Ramirez. Hoping my pack luck is much better this year.

Hahaha. He's not wrong. I've always liked Ro Flo.

I'm excited about the WBC stuff. I really enjoy it in real life and it seems they are trying hard to give us some good content around it right off the bat.

I like mini seasons...and it sounds like they're trying to improve it. Just haven't ever had any luck with stat tracking, etc. So hopefully they actually do fix it. Will probably try a 9 inning 28 game season...that will take some time to finish and keep me busy through March.

Loving the changes to PXP for hitters. Couldn't really see how the parallel mods work...but that new feature should be fun to play around with. At least it gives different options and you can have the same card playing differently between 2 people now.

Overall - i'm excited about the game as i am this time every year. I didn't hate last years game as much as some, but there are tons of things they can improve on so hopefully they get some of it right. Like others have said...they really need to improve the Team Affinity this yr. It wasn't terrible through June / All Star break but then it was basically pointless.

As others have said, I don't think it's as much a hitting issue vs the CPU as it is pitching. There is hardly ANY difference in a common 62 OVR pitcher vs a diamond 90 OVR. They both throw 102. They both dot you. Maybe the diamond pitcher has more break on off-speed pitches...but it's hardly noticeable. It's like the OVR for pitchers doesn't matter at all in play vs CPU games. I noticed in the most recent mini seasons that I'm actually hitting the diamond pitchers better than the commons in most cases. It's crazy.

Right now, the Pipeline Past Mickey Moniak. I think I'm somewhere around 1/20 (the 1 hit being a single) with that card. It's embarrassing. I've had maybe 2 or 3 perfect perfect line drive outs. Some good / good's that barely make it out of the infield. I think I need maybe 30 more xp with that card and I will never use it again lol.

Definitely happy about this! And I think they've done a great job releasing 1-3 conquest maps weekly. However, I still don't understand them taking out the full US map. I know it was time consuming, but I'd normally complete it 2-3 times per yr...1 during opening week and then 1 or 2 more times when content got stale or I needed to level up some players or get TA progress. Again - SDS has done a great job living up to their words on adding Conquest maps weekly...just not sure of the rationale behind removing what I would consider one of the core staples of DD.

That card rakes plus it's free. There's plenty to complain about with this game...this isn't one of them. Plus it was a fun mini season with golds / lesser used cards in your collection.

Several have mentioned it, but I'm starting to slow as well and the main reason is the inconsistent hitting.

So many perfect / perfect lineouts and fly balls to the warning track only to turn around and hit a ball out of the PCI for a 480 ft HR. Doesn't make any sense. I have hit 100's of good/good balls that barely make it to the OF with hitters with near 100 Power.

And the CPU defense (on ROOKIE) is insane. It's almost impossible to get a bloop hit at Coors Field as the OF catches everything. They're not playing in either...but unless you stripe a line-drive / low fly ball, it's gonna be caught even in the gaps. The gameplay has taken a HUGE step back this year.

I've always completed the Live Series collection...normally by mid-May. No chance of that this year. Ohtani alone is worth $300 in stubs and my pack luck has been absolutely atrocious. Best pull is Lindor (88). All other live series diamonds have been 85/86 and I haven't pulled many of those either.

1. Rip all of my available packs ... saving the guaranteed low diamonds last to fill gaps
2. Set my line-up - focus on Cubs players to get a good start on TA stat missions
3. Play all starter / tutorial programs and games to get more cards
4. Play a mix of conquest and DQ games
5. Complete all 30 TA moments for the silver cards

I'm really hoping they didn't take out the USA map. As others have said - it's an opening weekend tradition for me to complete it. And then I normally play it a couple more times throughout the yr if content drops slow down.

I don't hate it as much as I thought I would from a player / card perspective only bc I completed the live series towards the end of S1. With the Castillo captain - all of my position players are 92+. However - I am disappointed that they didn't really address the XP earned during gameplay. I guess that will stay the same the entire year. Definitely not playing as much as I did in S1. But having 3 great bosses to work towards is keeping me motivated right now.

I'm kind of torn on the seasons concept. To the point that someone made above - having 99's earlier in the game is nice bc I pretty much stop playing in Aug/Sept each yr. I'll come back for a wk in Nov/Dec and again in Feb/March but don't play nearly enough to enjoy the 99's in the traditional power creep. However - the complete reset this yr is bad. It's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be with having completed the Live Series collection and using Castillo as the cornerstone captain. I think my lowest starting position player / starting pitcher is a 92 OVR. Ultimately - I think I wouldn't mind this set up if there were multiple wildcard slots available at Season 2 launch AND the wildcards counted towards TA progress.

Barry Bonds
Bo Jackson
A Rod (not a fan of his - but his cards would be awesome)

I'm at 982K XP. So I should hopefully at least get 2 of the 3 XP path bosses. Could get all 3 if there is another double XP weekend. I was hoping they would do double XP for this upcoming weekend with the extended holiday on Monday. Haven't seen that they have announced that yet (huge miss for the player base if they don't). As for collections...I finally hit 200 cards last night after getting 5 in TA3. No way I'm getting any bosses in that.

I'm really disappointed in the game this year. I've been playing DD since 2017. This yr definitely seems the most unrewarding as far as XP goes. I don't even mind the grind to 1 million XP or 1,150,000 for all 3 bosses - with the old XP rates this would've been achievable over a 12 week period. But this yr it just feels like a second job and I'm already burnt out - I normally make it to early / mid August before I stop playing (normally move to Madden). As others have said - I'll be lucky to make it to mid July this yr...but NCAA will get all of my time starting July 16th.

TAs done
All programs but Egg Hunt done
All conquest and mini seasons done
Collection - somewhere around 150 (i think)
Live series (need Betts, Freeman, Seager, Alvarez and Cole)
Season 1 Program - right at 750K XP