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MLB the Show (Home Run Derby) 20.

Seriously, though: think of how arcade-like the game has become. They add sinkers to pitchers just to make them usable. They make stats for player cards that are average in real life just to throw a bunch of players into the game.

This year's game, for me, is almost as bad as MLB the Show 18. The content, although arcade-like, was new and different. But there is no incentive to play right now. Why would I spend all this time grinding for WS, or completing the Extreme series, for example, when I could spend 45 minutes grinding easy moments to get absolutely over powered cards like Arozerana (probably misspelled) and Seager?

In the long run, the content has proven to make the game less exciting.

The game play is just a disaster, as well. With all the overpowered cards, every game has become home run or bust.

Maybe my expectations are too high--maybe I expect more of a simulation; but I really do think they need to make it VERY difficult to obtain high-level cards. They need to make pitching more dominant, and more realistic--stop giving sinkers to guys who threw maybe 2 of them in a season just to accommodate the meta of the broken game. Make the game more about baseball--the actual game of baseball--and not about seeing who can hit the most home runs with a god-squad of guys in Shippett stadium.

Mantle has a very slow swing, so you need to cheat on high heat. Sit high and react to low offspeed. He crushes the low offspead stuff.

I switched from Strike Zone to Zoom and found that it's easier to get harder hits. I had a 26 hit game on all-star, before jumping back into hall of fame games this ranked season.

With the extended view and ability to see the batter, it's easier to swing at the ball in accordance with the batter's stance. This creates more swings that are on the early side of good, which seems to be the meta this year.

The game play this year was bad. The only thing that matters is power and hitting home runs. Pitching it totally irrelevant, especially at the higher levels.

I've completely left the game over the last month to play COD. I know it's COVID, but the content has been incredibly boring. Every DD team is the same -- every game is being home hunted to Shippett, and everyone just plays for home runs to win the game.

The new minor league cards were boring and unrealistic. The way content should work is that there should be clear differences between truly great players. There should be multiple card levels for the great players (with real card art, if you ask me). For example, Griffey should have veteran, rookie, and hardware series. You should have to grind with the lower level cards in online games to unlock the higher level cards. The higher level cards should be very difficult to get, so, if you want them, you have to expend a lot of time working for them. This structure would promote lineup diversity, as players would have to pick and choose cards they want to work to develop.

Live series cards of current players should be more competitive with the old school players, and should also have a program in place where you can unlock higher level flashbacks. Want the 2020 Finest Mookie Betts? Grind with live series Mookie and his 2020 stats in online DD games. This gives incentive to actually use live series players in DD, rather than having them become collections pieces one week after release because of juiced flashback cards and fake minor league players. All cards, in my view, should multiple levels of prestige, too, which means if you constantly use a live series player (or flashback, you can prestige them through multiple levels).

99 overall ratings should be RARE. Only a handful of truly great players should be that highly rated. That means stats for the flashback cards should actually be lowered to make the rare players standout. This means Griffey might not have maxed out power in comparison to Babe Ruth, and that's ok. Too many cards have fantasy stats that just aren't that exciting.

Gameplay needs to reward pitching and contact hittting, as well. Team construction should not be based on cutters, sinkers, and power.

End rant.

I completed the LS collection thanks to a small investment and a 12-0 run that netted me my second Mike Trout and those rewards. At this stage, I like having the LS collection done because I can just grind for fun cards that I enjoy playing with without having to worry about creating a competitive team for ranked seasons. My primary goal is to always have a competitive team for ranked. Having that, I can focus on just playing, getting better, and enjoying the game. This is the first time I've ever completed the LS collection in the first month and it was honestly worth the grind and the investment I put into it.

Also, I have a full time job as an attorney, so I don't have time to grind out programs. It's easier for me to sink a bit of money in for certain cards than to just grind for hours like I used to when I was a student.

Not sure if this has been said, but I think the issue with overly fast heaters and bad timing windows has to do with the opponent, not with the individual playing their opponent. If you opponent has poor internet connection, get ready for terrible timing windows.

Not a chance for any player. Cards in the game have no real value. Just play and grind.

Just got an “invalid node state” message in Showdown and got a loss without even entering the game. Stupid.

Started a BR run today with a routine fly ball to Mike Trout that he completely whiffed on thanks to crappy animations.

Also, why do high fastballs seem like they’re coming in at 110 mph, while low changes and sliders appear to be 75 mph? The timing windows are completely erratic.

Double plays are fun to hit into every time someone is on first.

I love good/okay hits when the ball is pretty much dead center in the PCI.

Two outs? How about you allow an extra 4 runs before the game is over?

Ugh. Just needed to vent. This game is extremely disappointing.

Locked in a freeze off in a BR run. I’m in the lead and I’m one win away from nabbing Acuna. Looked through the opponent’s profile and game history and there seems to be a trend of winning games when down or losing. Looks like the opponent uses freeze glitches to get wins.

One of the opponent’s recent freeze offs against a top player went overnight.

Is there a way to report this?

@ElAltoProfesor said in Best CAP Names you've come across (or your own):

I’m rolling with ol reliable “Pablo Sanchez”

I too am using Pablo Sanchez, "the secret weapon."

I thought 19 was better than 20. Just my take. 20 is messy, in my view, because of the variations in gameplay based on the capacity for players to adjust their visual settings in the "faster," "balanced," and "sharper" settings.

@a_perfectgame said in At least it’s not possible for 21 to be worst than 20:

@boomy_91_psn said in At least it’s not possible for 21 to be worst than 20:

@aaronjw76_psn said in At least it’s not possible for 21 to be worst than 20:

@boomy_91_psn said in At least it’s not possible for 21 to be worst than 20:

I thought 19 was better than 20. Just my take. 20 is messy, in my view, because of the variations in gameplay based on the capacity for players to adjust their visual settings in the "faster," "balanced," and "sharper" settings.

I agree. I enjoyed 19 more than 20 just on the pure fact that you could spray the ball around and/or hit bombs. I am more of a spray hitter so I would rather that type of game over bomb or bust.

20 seems more like 18 -- home run or nothing.

The amount of ridiculous outs I’ve seen in 20 I don’t understand if they do that because they pay attention to the stats too much so they nerf the reward on input? It’s gotta be that.

It's because of the variety of setups you're playing against. I played MLB the Show 20 on a first gen PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5. First gen doesn't have the option to change video output like the Pro and the PS5. Plus, the first gen doesn't have the online speeds to keep up with the newer systems.

Once you get to Pro and PS5, you can change video output settings. Each setting impacts game play in a major way.

What happens is you're matched up with a variety of different setups. It's incredibly inconsistent to get online timing down. That's also why hit outcomes are so random as well.

I suspect it's only going to get worse for MLB the Show 21, unfortunately. Especially with cross platform game play. I imagine the game will perform better and favor those with next gen systems. The game runs at 4k 60 fps, meaning you will need at least a PS4 Pro and a capable TV to even have a shot at competing. But PS4 Pro just doesn't have the capability or power to run as fast as the PS5--I know this from running diagnostics on both systems. I suspect the Xbox Series X will be the same as the PS5.

Long story short: next gen users will have an advantage. Game play will be inconsistent throughout, in my view.

This game and MLB the Show 18 ARE NOT THE SAME.

Agreed. over 300 GP in ranked as well. I only played this weekend to grind out stats in the BR Program. I also made WS last week. But once I made WS and completed the BR Program, I felt no reason to play the game. It's not fun. Hitting is completely ridiculous. Pitchers can go WAY too deep into game with no impact. Timing windows are abhorrent and gameplay is different game-to-game based on internet connection.

This year's game is at 2018's level. The only reason it's slightly better is because of content. But you can't enjoy the content with all the BS happening right now.

Brock is a stud. I have him at Parallel V with a BA over .390.

Setting aside all the issues at release in the past, there is something exciting about the new season--setting up a new team, going over new content, etc. Playing people with golds and low level diamonds is also a nice break from playing god squads. Overall, the pre-order, for me, is more so an experience than anything else.

I'm going to avoid playing moments out the gate. I wasted a lot of time early in 2019 trying to grind those broken moments.

The other thing to avoid is buying cards and packs out the gate. Most cards are heavily inflated early. I'm just going to grind with whatever pre-order cards I obtain. I might just put together a competitive silver / gold squad and see how far it takes me.

I'm thinking of using the initial stockpile of stubs to put together a good BR team, but we'll see. The other option would be grinding to world series right out the gate, but I don't plan on buying stubs or cards, so that might be hard. Nevertheless, that component of strategy is what makes early MLB the Show so much fun.

The worst is when someone accepts defeat in Battle Royal, but just goofs around, intentionally misses catches, and lets you score 35 runs. There's no ten-run rule in that mode, so you could literally make the game go on as long as you want.

Free packs have better odds. Don’t waste your stubs.

I also am having issues with timing. I find myself late in changeups at times. Fastballs seem incredibly OP since the last patch.