I play franchise on HOF difficulty. No problem winning games, but there's a lot of things about this that don't really seem to play true to baseball, or that detract from the gameplay - it's easily the most infuriating game I've ever played, so much so I'm unlikely to purchase in the future. Unfortunately, I expect none of this to change.
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This game is waaaaay to home run centric. I frequently can't score without a home run, but at least I have 7 players in my lineup that have 40+. That said - it pretty much takes away baserunning away as an important element of the game, which makes it a lot less fun than it should be (more plays at the plate etc, coming through in the clutch, etc). Getting a base hit with RISP shouldn't be so rare - the best indication I have that I won't score in an inning (due in part to the massive amount of solo HR) is getting runners on 1st and 2nd with 0/1 outs. And if the wind is blowing in at all you can just forget offense entirely. I have over 2x as many home runs as doubles - making the ball actually move fast relative to the outfielders when you hit a rocket would help here, outfielders cover so much ground even on 100+ exit velo that gappers practically don't exist.
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The pickoffs, holy [censored]. Stop. If I take an extended lead it's 50/50 I get picked off, but I can NEVER pick off the CPU when the CPU takes an extended lead.
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Walks shouldn't be so rare (I'm at about 1.5/game, bottom of the league by a mile). They happen in baseball quite a bit.
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It's impossible to identify certain types of pitches (changeups especially, splitters, sometimes sliders) before you hit swing and the ball magically moves to where your bat isn't. Some sliders and curves at least pop up a little bit.
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Balls that conveniently bounce right back to infield defenders over and over
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Lack of urgency from your own defenders when there's a tight play. Even with pre-loaded throws, your defenders lackadaisical pace getting the ball to whatever base you want costs me outs over and over.
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When using metered pitching - a perfect release should mean the ball goes where I aim it. Even with four seamers, if aimed in the zone and with a perfect release there's a decent chance it ends up a ball. Stupid.