Some politicians will scream for all sports to be shut down again, They don't want anyone to enjoy life so that we can blame all our misery on Trump resulting in his defeat in November. However, mass protests and rioting are encouraged.

Come on MLB players and owners - show as much courage as your local barber or grocery store employee. Military personnel, law enforcement, doctors, nurses, bankers and most of the people on this forum are working or soon returning.

MLB players are already covered from head to toe in protective gear - would adding a face mask really diminish the sport? Stadiums could be allowed to fill to a quarter capacity and the fans would face less risk than buying a gallon of milk.

At a time that the nation could really use the diversion of sports, the guys are acting like a league of Pelosi's - isolating in their mansions, hording gourmet ice cream.

Perhaps the games will resume in July but that is probably too late - June 1st should be the target for opening day and is easily done with some improvisation. MLB players will face less risk than the kids and their families already returning to the ball fields for friendly games and practices.

SDS should let us pay stubs to reenter with the progress where we failed rather than repeating the entire grind. When we lose a Conquest game, we don't have to restart the entire map - just replay that game.

Here are a few suggestions for SDS going forward.

Starting on the positive, the content is outstanding and for the most part the regular game engine (vs CPU) works well. The main fix should be to baserunning - often the baserunning logic is illogical (e.g. runners freezing on hit balls where there are two outs).

I would like the game options made more concise.

1. Scrap Moments.

2. Showdown is a great concept but poorly executed - mainly due to being based in the Moments game engine rather than the regular engine that we play against in Conquest.

Make Showdown a solo effort similar to online BR. Draft a team and play a 3 inning game vs various opponents using the same game engine as Conquest. The opponents can increase in quality allowing for drafts after wins. Play until finished or 2 losses.

Other player teams (streamers and MLB players) can be included in the rotation that the user must beat.

3. Have more programs like the one used to obtain Ruth.

4. Do more with Extra Innings. For example, incorporate Extra Innings games into obtaining and improving cards. The user can pick his or her difficulty vs the CPU and advancement is tied to the difficulty chosen (e.g. Veteran vs Legend). Player prestige stats can be obtained when playing on Legend for offline games.

5. Give a quick count option in games vs CPU.

6. Include the ability to conquer multiple blocks at one time in Conquest vs taking each one individually.

muthead.com - madden

2kgamer.com

The OP makes an excellent suggestion. All professional sports create tiered leagues to keep things competitive. You don't see NBA teams playing G-league teams as part of the season schedule. Or MLB team playing minor league teams during the season.

SDS should consider a English soccer structure - Premier league for the best, and a lower level or two for the rest. Promotions can be made from lower levels to higher. SDS could also add open tournaments for anyone to qualify similar to the FA Cup.

Nice work and thanks for posting this. I hope to start looking for the initial break to improve timing between fastball and off speed. Just wondering if you are reading 2-seam the same as 4-seam?

I am stuck on the same two Kaline moments. Have tried the 2 XBH many times and lucky to see even one. I was able to glide through Granderson, but the Kaline reward is probably not worth the continued effort given the way he hits.

It is called "Impossible" and only applies to the Final Showdown. I understand that the majority of you have no issues here. In my case, I cruise into Final Showdown with 10-12 runs and the perfect perks (e.g. diamond heart attack and the 2-strike focus).

I am patient, working the count only to see pitches that dot the lower corners with a sliver of the strike zone for a strike call. Diving catches are the norm and perfect-perfect contact turns into routine line outs and solidly hit double plays.

I do really like the Showdown concept but we need an option to replay the final with our current progress intact. Oh well, SDS does have a sense of humor.

No one is answering the basic point of the OP - developers promised everything would be available through offline play but obviously that is not the case. It would be interesting to hear the reasoning from SDS.

I agree, mini seasons is a great addition. SDS needs to include pitcher fatigue for the CPU teams as well since the same fresh relievers roll out game after game.

Mini Seasons is the icing on the offline cake - SDS hit it out of the park with that addition to the game! Online is fun but somewhat goofy - such as a HR when the pitch is well off the strike zone. Online is for the highly skilled full-time player and some who enjoy cheesing their opponent but I still play some of the events for a change of scenery.

to improve offline play, SDS needs to put a cap on foul balls. It seems more problematic this year than ever. The 4th foul ball hit by the CPU in a 2 strike count becomes strike 3.

Good questions - can't provide an answer. Possible one MTO season correlates to a monthly FOF. I'm hoping if we continue an existing MTO with a new monthly FOF in May the XP counts towards that program. Perhaps someone from SDS can confirm.

Overall, mini-seasons is a great addition (minus occasional game freezes) but one improvement is to have the CPU teams face the same pitcher fatigue constraints as the user's team. I can work a pitcher into the red and he shows up fully charged the next game.

If you are playing offline, do Parallel XP and total XP increase with the difficulty setting - e.g. All-Star vs Rookie? Also does this apply to all offline modes including games against the CPU in Extra Innings mode?

Does XP rank up with difficulty - that is more XP per run and K on All-Star vs Rookie?

How many XP does it take to unlock the premium player choice?

I'm mostly a solo player who is on the fence about this year's game. Based on last year's game, I am pretty much done with Moments and Showdown.

But adding Extra Innings for XP is a big plus. My question is for anyone who has tried Extra Innings - do you earn enough XP from a game to make significant progress towards monthly rewards or is Showdown still important for attaining the monthly player choice? I'm referring to the choice player from earning 300 XP in 20.

Now that Extra Innings games count towards progress, I am wondering:

Can we choose difficulty (e.g. All Star) and does xp scale with difficulty?

Are all games full 9 innings or are there shorter options?

Is quick count an option?

Thanks - I thought I saw that in the stream but it would be good to have someone from SDS confirm before I order a PS4 copy. I wonder how long it will take to find the new X Box?

I'm looking to buy a X Box new edition when I can find one. If I start the new Show 21 on my usual PS4 account can I move all my progress over to my X Box account assuming I pick one up this summer? Or will I have to start over from the beginning on the X Box?