Community Forum

I really think this could be the make or break for me this year. BR had always been my favorite mode and I have no problem with the entry fee. I was like you and have pulled off some 9 win runs, but it was more the format and program that caused me to play it. This year, the lack of a BR program has been a huge let down. I was even fine with the system where when you got the flawless reward through the program even though it was a "no sell". I haven't thought of playing online and I don't see it changing. If anything, I am more likely to play ranked now since it is nine inning games and progress will work towards the same program. It also goes towards the weekend classic that looks like it could be fun. Would love to see the old days of BR return, but I don't see it happening.

@X-FREEZE-OFF-X said in SDS=Clueless:

@Honor_The_Game44 said in SDS=Clueless:

@sbchamps17 said in SDS=Clueless:

No you don't you can still wild card them

There are only four wild cards and you have to unlock all of them. You don't even get to keep a single Season 1 card without jumping through hoops.

Everybody always finds something to complain about. They didn't have to release this program; but people were complaining that they couldn't get enough cards, without buying them off the market, so they release packs into this program. Yes, they're no sellable. But they weren't released to be sold. They were released to get people closer to one, if not two or all three, of the S1 Collection 99s.

If you already had these cards locked in; then that's why you were able to get one of the 99s faster than others.

I did not say a single thing about packs, people unlocking cards faster than others, or anything remotely along those lines. I made a factual statement about the way Wild Cards work. You can take it as a complaint if you want (because I have no problem with that), but my comment was nothing more than stating how Wild Cards work.

@sbchamps17 said in SDS=Clueless:

No you don't you can still wild card them

There are only four wild cards and you have to unlock all of them. You don't even get to keep a single Season 1 card without jumping through hoops.

I think a lot of it depends on what the definition of "saving" is. They might be able to "save" some, but I think there are some they are not getting back this year. I feel like a lot of damage has been done. Foul balls is the number one issue on my end, closely followed by the XP path, and then there are many other issues that follow. I just haven't even thought about playing and am just saving stubs in case I give it a chance in Season 2. My 19 year old son has tried to stay motivated, but even he is choosing to play Fortnite with his little brother instead of the show. A lot of people around here will think I am being dramatic, but SDS refusing to made adjustments to this point makes it much harder to get people back if they ever do correct the path. I never play Madden and I am not someone who is constantly saying "NCAA is coming", but I am definitely more excited about giving NCAA a try than I am season 2 or even MLBTS '25. This game has just felt like a lost cause for a few months now.

@PAinPA said in Theory:

every year has had packs release like this,it's not new. it's the content that's lacking,were used to the content being a lot more and comparable rewards to the packs not lesser

I don’t have the numbers but there has not always been packs to this degree. Last year was significantly more than years before and I would bet so far this year has been at least triple as last year. TN/POTM is a perfect example of a weekly pack that has not existed in the past. But you are right the rate of programs to packs is the biggest issue.

My first year to play DD was '21 and that is by far my favorite content-wise. I know people say programs were "too easy' and they gave everything out for free, but I don't care. It was fun and it made me want to play the game. I thought it had gameplay issues, but looking back it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

During these four years, I have played DD, '24 is the worst and it isn't even close. The content is terrible and the foul ball issues mixed with "pitcher confidence" make gameplay unbearable. For me, this is the complete opposite of '21 in that basically nothing makes me want to play DD.

I took a break hoping it would seem better, but I started playing again yesterday and it feels even worse. The foul ball situation is beyond terrible, and momentum/pitcher confidence is about 90% of the game. I applaud those who think gameplay is fine. I truly wish I felt that way.

@SaveFarris said in 5 Reasons Why I Am Quitting The Show (Or Why SDS has Failed a Franchise):

3. is a Google problem, not an SDS problem.

How is it a Google problem? Isn’t SDS who increased the number of captchas a year or so ago?

I appreciate every time someone brings this topic up. It is a major issue that should have been addressed a long time ago. The only hope is for people to continue to bring it up. It may annoy some people that it gets brought up, but nothing is going to change if people continue to accept it. The foul ball issue creates a terrible experience that does not resemble the real game in any form.

The structure is so different now than back in ‘21 that you can’t compare those cards that easily. When the Buxton lightning was released, the only comparable cards were 90+ LS…maybe a few BR/RS rewards, but I still think they were low 90s at that point. The issue with Witt is there is absolutely nothing special compared to all the other available cards. Even if you had every card in the game in ‘21, there was a great chance Buxton was going in your lineup.

I remember in ‘21 wanting to complete POTM as fast as I could because that card provided value. I have yet to find anything this year that is really motivation to play. All the cards are nothing special compared to anything else available in packs, market, TA, Rewars, etc.

For the most part "new content" means new packs. Not a lot to talk about with that. They probably could have done one last week with TA, but the entire community was pretty grumpy, so they may not have wanted to deal with it.

They had player programs and evolution programs in '21. One of the biggest things I miss. I am afraid if they brought them back it just wouldn't work in the design they have gone to. Those programs were one of the key elements that caused me to enjoy DD.

I'm at 405k. I am mixed on this long drawn out XP path. It is so different from previous years that it really isn't very motivating. It doesn't encourage me to play. It more is that I play and if I make progress, I make progress. In the end, I may not even make it to a boss, but it has caused me not to care, which is a good thing.

@BigBadBosc44 https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-measure-of-a-fastball-has-changed-over-the-years/

I really disagree that it means you are playing a better player. Most often I feel that is a worse player and sometimes that worse player is me. Balls put in play means better PCI placement and timing, the foul-offs that happen so often are a result of poor timing/bad PCI placement or the ball would be put in play. To me, it seems to happen way more with two strikes and it has made me wonder if a lot of people are switching to a contact swing once they have two strikes. It is already easy enough to foul off pitches with a normal swing, but I think on All Star and below a contact swing makes it where you can swing at just about anything and foul it off.

Baserunning is beyond dumb this year, but I don't think I understand what you are saying. If you "go back", how is that a free bag?

@DeleteyourTTVBTW said in Do any regular players play Events?:

It’s the only way to make quick and easy stubs. It will be sweaty all year.

I have played events this year just because of being done with BR and RS, but haven't noticed it great for earning stubs. What makes it a quick/easy way to make stubs?

BR gets a bad rap because of the 1500 entry fee but it is easily made back. If you are good enough to go 10-0 it pays off big time, but even the regular person can do well in the program. Just completing the program will get you 4 silvers, 4 gold, 4 diamond, 1 Flawless Diamond (all that work towards Season 1 collections)...plus XP, some stubs, etc. You get a pack for every entry. It took me five entries this season and I am an average player at best.

I like BR because of the team-building aspect. You can maybe draft in a manner where bronze do not matter, but no matter what you do, the golds and silvers come into play. There are a lot of guys that I like but they don't get the greatest cards. However, they can still be very useful in BR. If you haven't tried it, I would give it a try. Back in '21 I tried events first and had no interest in BR. Once I played a full season, it became my favorite mode.

@JDHalfrack said in Do something SDS:

Again, I loved last year’s version. I never did, and never will understand the hate towards it.

Thinking of last year's game still just frustrates the heck out of me. I gave up and got a second job. I am not even joking one bit. The programs in '23 were so time-consuming that you had to devote countless hours to the game and it was not designed like this year's game where you could make progress in multiple ways. Most programs were very specific and 99% of the program needed to be completed offline. Not to mention the 99s from day one just made everything seem pointless after just a few weeks. I accidentally logged on to '23 the other day and had $2.5 million stubs I never used. I stopped playing in May and never looked back. As frustrating as this game is, I would still prefer it over '23.

The biggest problem with this year is max overcorrection. Yes, the pack thing is an issue and glitches are an issue, but they went from having the most time-consuming programs possible to almost taking them out of the game entirely. It is no wonder people get frustrated every year when they just overcorrect one year to the next. That behavior is going to bring out the most emotional feelings.

@SaveFarris said in Just a heads up SDS.:

You do know that have back end metrics, right? And they can measure customer engagement more accurately than a random message boarder?

This is the problem with focusing completely on data/metrics. There is a story in there that the data alone does not tell. I am a huge fan of data-based decisions, but SDS takes the data and says, "oh, this isn't working." Then they just throw stuff at the wall to try and get what they want, spinning it by saying "we listen to you guys". If they took the data and then did a deep analysis of what is causing those outcomes, they could find something better to throw out there that would benefit everyone.

Everyone is focused on money, money, money, packs, packs, packs, but the problem is not completely the abundance of packs, but the lack of value. There is nothing in the game this year that provides value. There is no value in the cards that come in packs, there is no value in the cards that come from completing programs (online or offline), and there is no value in spending time in the game. They have created a game without value and data alone is not going to help them fix that.