Community Forum

This thread is mostly directed to the moderators of this forum, @Collin_SDS_PSN @SDS_Jax_PSN @Victor_SDS_PSN and maybe other mods that I'm not aware of.

I've been around these forums for a few years now and I can't help but notice the lack of communication, help and/or explanations behind certain gameplay elements. All you guys seem to do is police this forum (inconsistently as well I may say), and even though I understand and agree that policing these forums is neccessary, I feel like you guys could (maybe even should) take on a larger role than just slamming the ban hammer around. This thread is not meant as a way of giving you guys a hard time, but this is genuinely how I feel and I'm fairly certain more people around here would agree with this sentiment.

So I have written down a number of questions that I have had for years surrounding DD and gameplay mechanics in general. It would be awesome if you guys took some time to answer them, as they are pretty straight forward questions in my opinion.

Note that I'm looking for numbers and metrics that we can apply, not for explanations about a mechanic or how it works/what it does. For example, in FPS games like COD they communicate the exact "time to kill" per weapon/attachment/perk and so on. They give you the exact numbers they work with. I'm looking for the same type of information here.

1. How does pitcher stamina regeneration work in DD (how much % regains per X games rested)?
2. Is there a difference in stamina regeneration between RP/CP and SP, and if so, how does it differ?
3. Does the vision attribute only affect the size of the area of being able to foul off pitches, or does it also narrow/widen the timing windows, and if so, how is this calculated (For example having a vision attribute of 80+ gives you 5ms extra on the "good timing" window, or widen the green area on the swing feedback)?
4. How exactly does the clutch attribute translate in Diamond Dynasty gameplay? I have heard it gives a "small boost" with RISP when the clutch rating is high, but exactly how large and what kind of a boost is given at exactly what rating threshold?
5. Same goes for pitching clutch, how exactly does this translate for pitchers in DD gameplay? How much and what kind of a boost (or penalty) is given if the PCLT rating is at a certain threshold?
6. How does HR/9 affect the hitting outcome and generated exit velocity?
7. What exactly are the thresholds for pitcher confidence and what exact boosts/penalties are integrated with these thresholds?
8. How exactly does yellow/red pitcher energy affect the outcome of the at bat? Does it only mean locating pitches becomes harder, or does it also mean that hitting input from your opponent is more forgiving, and if so, what are the numbers behind this?
9. Does the baserunning aggressiveness attribute in DD affect how fast a player runs the bases, or is just a simulation attribute like some users have implied?
10. How exactly is a PVP match set up from a networking perspective and what would be ideal to keep the latency as low as possible?
11. How does a batter's tendency influence an at bat precisely? Are the timing windows for example larger on inside pitches, when the batter's tendency is extreme pull?

If anyone else comes up with additional questions that I might have forgotten, please add them in this thread so we can hopefully get some clarification on these topics. I think many, if not all of them, are very easy to answer if you have those numbers and if you're willing to share them (I wouldn't see why not?).

Thank you in advance for your efforts and I'm looking forward to your replies.

Added questions from other users:

• does warming up a pitcher make any difference? @lewisnadasurf1_PSN
• Does confidence effect pinpoint input and if so how? @Kovz88_PSN
• Why don’t you respond to your community? @Bounceman75_PSN
• Do hot and cold zones affect gameplay at all? @nash_524_PSN
• Why is the feedback broken? I.E. the no PCI Homeruns @Chrono_Omega_PSN
• What gives a larger boosts to pitcher confidence...throwing strikes in the zone or throwing out of zone pitches for missed swings? Do they differ at all in terms of confidence boost @EarvGotti_XBL
• Does h/9 only impact how large an opponent’s pci is or also their exit velocity on squared up pitches? @jacksonvance35

I've been keeping my opinion to myself ever since the game launched, because I didn't dive into the online game modes right away. I usually grind some of the offline stuff first to build a somewhat decent team and that's exactly what I did. That meant I couldn't really give an objective opinion on the game since I didn't play online enough yet and for most of us this game centers around the online game modes.

Let me start of by saying that even though I consider myself an upper tier/elite player, this opinion is mine and mine alone. My opinion is not weighing heavier than any offline player or the more casual type of player whatsoever. You do not have to agree with anything I say, but I do ask you to respect my opinion as I will respect yours.

I can describe this game in an online environment in its current state as following:
I can not pitch.
I can not field.
I can not hit.
And yet somehow I can still win.

I throw so many meatballs and I can't control a single pitcher. Good releases sometimes lead to hangers down the middle. Horrible releases sometimes result in absolute dots on the black. Every pitch feels like spinning the wheel of fortune, I'm just lost when it comes to pitching, honestly.

When it comes to fielding, the obvious issue of outfielders not locking onto flyballs is a problem. I'm sure that will be fixed at some point. What annoys me way more is when the ball gets down and bounces off the wall, your outfielder is literally lost. There is no urgency to pick it up or throw it away quickly, you actually run past it often. Singles turn into doubles and doubles turn into triples because of this.

And the hitting.. I don't even know where to start. I struggle hitting fastballs, while I've always been a really good fastball hitter. Now I have to gamble and as a result that gets me out in front of almost every offspeed pitch. It only takes 1 inning for my opponent to figure this out. The funny thing is that an inning later I can be out in front on fastballs while I'm pretty certain that my reaction time is the same as before. It just feels off and inconsistent, I don't understand it.
I also tend to get under the ball a whole lot, while I'm not even slamming the PCI down. In my screen I align the ball in the middle of the PCI, yet the feedback says I got under it too much resulting in a good/okay flyout. This happens to me way too often.
The perfect/perfect idea is great. In reality only the perfect/perfect flyballs with power guys do real damage. I've lined out on perfect/perfect liners more often than not and perfect/perfect grounders are usually just groundouts or even double plays. You'd expect the perfect input would make you find the infield hole, which sometimes happens but not nearly enough.

All and all I'm just really disappointed more than anything. I was really hoping that we could leave 18 and 19 behind us and start moving in the right direction again, like a tweaked hybrid of 16+17 where the flaws of those games were fixed. But that's clearly not their vision for this franchise moving forward unfortunately.

For now I'll keep playing casually instead of competitively, hoping that future patches will resolve some of the stuff I mentioned, but I'm kinda pessimistic about it. Sorry. I usually quit playing ranked around Christmas, this year that might be a lot sooner.

Pitchers do tend to get upset if you watch your homerun from the batter's box. I think that's a better analogy than the one you used. But more on topic, I don't get upset at all when people want to watch their homerun. But better believe it motivates me and I will replay each and every one from that moment forward.

@backerrrr44 said in Up and in Fastball:

If you result to the high and in fastball everytime you get into a jam.... I have no respect for you, that’s not how baseball is meant to be played

Sorry dude. If I notice you can't hit it, I'm gonna spam it until you show me you can. I couldn't care less about you respecting me or not, go practice on it and get better instead of crying about it here lol.

Apart from the server shenanigans, I'm enjoying the game. Pitching improved, check swings are pretty much nonexistent, animations improved and hitting feels balanced. Still a bit cautious because it's only been a week, but I'm already enjoying it more than I ever enjoyed 20 at any point.

Decided to jump in some ranked today and 2 games in a row I play the most salty, toxic and miserable people in the community it seems.
Yes, I declined your friendly quit offer. You're looking for a game to play, so play.

Both these guys made it their mission to make my life miserable for declining the friendly quit. Taking minutes to wind up between pitches, pausing for a minute and a half every inning, stepping off, throwing over to first base 5 times in a row while I don't even take a lead. I don't know if these shenanigans ever work out for anyone, but if anything it only gets me juiced up to absolutely obliterate you. I honestly don't understand why people are so toxic, salty and miserable. Just play the darn game man. Such a turn off to play like this every single game.

With the recent release of Madden 21 I once again came to the sad realization of how the sports gaming industry developed over the last 10 years or so. I haven't touched Madden (or any other EA Sports game) in years, nor will I ever again and it blows my mind that their business model is still sustainable because people just keep handing over their money like zombies.

MLB The Show is not as bad, for one reason and one reason only; you can earn the virtual currency by playing the game or working the market and therefore much of the content is not stacked behind a giant pay wall. Although it is for some people, like most of the casual players who have no time to grind the market. That isn't even my biggest gripe about these developments, it's the fact that developers have gotten lazy and the quality degrades every single year.

Make no mistake; MLB The Show has already cut online franchise because it wants to focus on Diamond Dynasty exclusively since that's where the money is made. And the quality of the game suffers because of it. Just look back at the last 5 editions of the game and ask yourself honestly how much of a (positive) change have been made. Almost everything is still the same, with minor tweaks and visual upgrades. Those are not significant improvements, even though they want you to believe they are. You could even make the argument it has gotten worse. And that goes against nature in a way; shouldn't a new game build on the good things of its predecessors and learn from the mistakes? The game looks and feels exactly the same since MLBTS 18. It plays different, due to minor tweaks and adjusted sliders, but are you telling me this is the best they could do in 3 years when 18 is generally regarded as the worst MLBTS game ever made?

Hell no. But as long as you keep playing DD/Ultimate Team and give them your money. This game could have been so much better by now, with all the technology and resources that are available. It's mind blowing and yet we keep accepting mediocrity and even pay a premium for a lazy unfinished product every single year.

I wish I had resources like Elon Musk and take the industry head on. I would outbid EA Sports, 2K Sports and Sony for the licenses and create a whole new line of sports simulation games where game quality and realism would be the top and only priorities with content available to all, instead of milking its player base for every hard earned dollar they have. Developed and funded (!) by people who are passionate about sports and the gaming industry, not by suits who only care about quarterly sales and their fat bonuses at the end of the year.

These companies can make tons of money by just selling the base games. The exclusive single player story games have proven that, like God of War and The Last of Us. I wish the sport games industry did a 180 and went back to that formula where passion and quality overshadow greed, not the other way around.

If you have some extra time on your hands (it's a lengthy video), I highly recommend you watch our brother Angry Joe in his Madden rant and reconsider your own perspective on the industry as it is right now and actively keep in mind that every dollar you spend in this industry is a dollar spent towards keeping things as they are.
https://youtu.be/UX5_6M5LLwA

Making a player program with wonderful moments where you have to hit multiple homeruns with a 60s power guy. That's exactly what everyone was waiting for, and we absolutely love spending time on these fantastic grinds. Especially having to hit a bomb off of Andrew Miller with 61 power is such a delight. Kudos.

Everyone who's hating on the guy here knows very well themselves that sometimes you can sit on something, know it's coming and you still can't hit it. Give him a break, he makes a valid point.

Wouldn't that be my problem and not yours?

I hope so, that would save me a couple of million stubs.

I agree it's not really that special, I've been doing it for many years. But who cares if people want to mention this. I also don't care if people spend $5K on this game. Bottom line is I don't care either way and I prefer minding my own business without judging others ‍️.

Because they're feeling brave.

I'll see myself out.

So because you can't hit it, you want the game to bail you out? Do the work for you? I've seen some hilarious stuff around here, but you sir take the prize.

Pinpoint pitching actually saved this game.

Derek Jeter was good but kind of overrated

From now on whenever you suspect a guy of bunting, do this:

1. Press down on the D-pad to bring up the defensive alignment menu;
2. Set the duration to "batter" (or you'll play like this for the entire game which you obviously don't want);
3. Scroll to position and manually select the 2B;
4. Scroll down and play him "In";
5. Go back to position and now select the 3B;
6. Scroll back down and play him on either "drag bunt", or "bunt defense" or "halfway". It doesn't really matter, as long as he's somewhere in between home plate and 3B.

Rinse and repeat every time a guy is up who might bunt.

The only way they can now bunt to get on base is by dropping a perfect bunt just in front of the catcher, where he'll need too much time to pick it up and throw it over. But this is a rarity.

@kingss35 said in BRO!!! I Only have to Pee!!!:

The timer is definitely something they need to fix for next year. That’s all I really pause for is to run to the bathroom too. Yet I get guys who run the clock down to 30 secs and then a few innings later they’re have a full clock again because every inning gets them 30 secs back or whatever it is

Relax buddy we got it

Sometimes you square up balls perfectly and you swing a noodle for an 85mph exit velo and the next game you can miss the ball completely and send it to Jupiter with a 110mph exit velo. I don't get it, I really don't. Some games my opponent scorches every single ball they touch, they hit out 10, 11 and 12 PCI placements while I get <90 mph exit velocities on 13/14 for swinging on the later side of good. Next game, I hit tank after tank after tank and I barely have to even place the PCI it feels like.

They should call it MLB The Inconsistency moving forward, the differences are literally huge from game to game and it's nearly impossible to develop muscle memory this way.

I get that it's hard to properly synchronize the server and both clients, but the differences are just too much to overcome and adapt to at times, this year more so than ever before it feels like. Sometimes a 98mph fastball looks like a changeup, next game a 95mph fastball looks like a 200mph rocket. Can't wait for Cyberpunk.