I list these complaints simply to get them off my chest. I think other single-player DD grinders probably agree with most of it. I've defended SDS in many threads for making so much content free to NMS players, but this year's game's design decisions have made grinding an unpleasant chore. I'm close to calling it quits.

1. CPU pitchers on rookie this year throw far fewer middle-middle pitches than in past years. It's not even close. This makes grinding much more frustrating. In MS and Conquest, many players play on rookie and have other things on in the background. We don't want to "focus" and "work counts." There's a psychology behind this, and SDS has ignored that. So many at-bats on rookie have 70-rated pitchers throwing balls feet off the plate followed by painting the black. They jam you inside then spam sliders. It's not hard; it's just not fun. This is made worse by #2 and #3...

2. Perfect-perfect nukes with power hitters routinely fail to go out. Routinely. This is a baffling design decision that makes "grind 99" even more frustrating. Add to that...

3. The game is often a line-out simulator. Far too often the ball beams straight to a fielder who barely has to move. Several streamers have observed this.

4. TA2 is absurd. The grind is ridiculous. The number of raw hours you have to put in to complete it means it's meant to dominate your time with the game, especially now that the clock is running on those cards due to seasons.

5. Kaiju and other programs are pure filler. Why do we care about 90 OVR cards when our teams are stacked with 99's already? Answer: because the game is now all about preparing for some collection down the line. BUT we're forced to use the cards to complete the programs. Ugh.

Ultimately, my displeasure comes down to single-player grinding on rookie. I've played hundreds of games this year and lost maybe 3. There have been games where I've put up 30, but many more where I've hit well but won 3-0 because of #2 and #3.

Rookie grind is meant to be candy. Pure fun. Domination.

Mindless.

It's not now, and it's not fun.

Just sharing my thoughts on a message board, hoping that SDS sees it perhaps. There have to be thousands of grinders out there who are feel similarly.

Off to play Fallout...peace.

SDS,

DON'T hurry to fix mini seasons or the myriad of bugs/crashes/glitches in the game.

DON'T communicate with us in any meaningful way about what's wrong with the game.

DON'T apologize to those who paid a premium for 4 days' early access to a broken game.

But RUN to fix "the market" to ensure that persistent monetization is not threatened.

Shout out, SDS!

Exchanges, seriously? They completely nerfed them this year. You need something like 400 million exchange points to get 5K xp.

You forgot to attach your resume.

Content this year is underwhelming. It's quantity and quirkiness over quality and planning. Programs that throw 90's at you when there are already dozens of 99's...ridiculous. The mind-numbing grind of TA2...ridiculous. The continued dependence on moments and showdowns...[censored] that.

DD has become a season of Lost. What's around the corner? What plot-twist lurks ahead??? In DD, it's all about collecting [censored] cards so you can be prepared for the collection down the line. Ooooh, the suspense.

I'm done with it. Perhaps literally.

@SuntLacrimae50_MLBTS said in Major Misses by SDS in 23: A Show Lover's Take:

@genopolanco_PSN said in Major Misses by SDS in 23: A Show Lover's Take:

I have to try to get out playing the CPU on Veteran so I’m not sure what the gripe is about Rookie not being easy enough. Maybe just don’t even play on Rookie at all. Try grinding on Veteran.

I do agree that the content schedule has been a massive L though. I remember when they first announced this sets/day 1 99s idea and I came on here and bashed it. People responded with saying, “it’s SDS, they clearly had to put some thought into this and plan it.”

Well guess what? They didn’t. They just drop whatever cards they want with very little planning at all. I think if anything good comes from this year, it’s that this community becomes more critical of SDS and gives them less benefit of the doubt because they are clearly taking advantage of it.

Veteran is often weirdly less frustrating than rookie, true. But it misses the point. That's just a design quirk that SDS surely didn't intend.

And to be clear: it's not difficult, just made more frustrating for no reason.

Also...

What I should have incluced in my OP is that they ramped up the grind massively this year, made CPU rookie pitchers more frustrating, and made it harder to make stubs to buy cards. Making BR and RS rewards unsellable goes into that as well.
Honestly, unless you live this game you're not unlocking the best collections. The time buy-in has become too much.

It's really based on a junkie drip algorithm meant to keep you coming back for a fix. And the drug ain't that good any more, sorry.

I actually kind of enjoy this troll. Harmless, tongue-in-cheek stuff. Well done.

@schnauzerface said in Trout, its been real bruh!:

3-year average my buttocks.

THIS. What the actual [censored].

In the meantime, Taylor Trammel shoots up seven points.

WITH 38 AT BATS.

SDS is on crack this year with these updates, period.

SDS can't win. If they drip out the grind, people complain. If they do a massive content dump that's meant to take weeks for the average gamer, people complain.

Do it at your own pace! The cards you unlock are good through Season 2, which goes into July.

Relax.

The first QOL enhancement should be an filter to see duplicate cards.

I'll probably pass. I literally cannot bring myself to fire the game up again. DD is SO played out for me. I went hard for 2 years -- really hard. Then I bailed hard at the start of Season 3 this year.

DD is a CHORE if you don't love online h2h. You can love the chore, but it's still a chore.

Content drip disgusts me at this point. Persistent monetization. I think I'll stick with Zelda, RDR2, Mass Effect, games that are complete and don't seek to string you along. Semi-excited about the Cyberpunk reboot. Wish I had an xbox for Starfield.

Yes. If a prospect is tanking and young, send down a level.

@jonblaze2424_PSN said in Who was in the meeting when season 4 was discussed.:

It’s the same exact (literally) longgggggg, painful grind using trash cards you really don’t want to. They could’ve mixed it up a little. It just feels like rinse and repeat. I hope it changes come playoff time

This EXACTLY. I have zero motivation to play DD anymore. I was using Murakami and Trout and great 99's, but then have to grind for 95's that nobody wants.

DD has become, literally, a CHORE. I bailed on last season early and won't even start this one...!

@arvcpa_MLBTS said in Season 4 prediction thread:

@Ericulous1_PSN said in Season 4 prediction thread:

my guess

Lol, it's been pain all year. Feels good to be off the hamster wheel. DD is so stale.

Sports games have become "free to play" mobile games, basically. Dripping you "content" that you "need" to keep you grinding, knowing that even if you don't give in and get out the credit card, enough people in the base will. They can all suck it.

Somebody out there needs to remaster the old, pre-card collecting titles like NCAA, MVP, Madden, from when they had excellent dynasty/franchise modes.

It's just franchise for me from now on. Maybe off to SMBB 4...

QoL in this game??!!

Lol.

Nope.

Instead, you get a huge dumpster collection screen that won't even bring you back to the card you're on if you return to the main screen.

FFS, NCAA had a trophy case and binders back in the day. On ps2.

SDS has dumpsters. Big, user-unfriendly dumpsters so you can scroll and scroll and try to avoid epileptic seizures...

Yep. I did a little grinding when Season 3 dropped, but have been in franchise since then. I deplore DD this year. Season 1 was great, but only because it was launch.

This year's change is the perfect example of trying to please everybody and it backfiring. It is SO fricking stupid to drop 99's like candy on day one and then have "other programs" that "reward" you with 90-95 OVR versions of players who already have 97-99 cards. Then when Season 3 drops you have to retire 99 Trout and get the 97 version? Mmmmmm, okay.

When you have multiple versions of guys with attributes all over the place, it just highlights that they're making [censored] up as they go along. And then you have clutch as a real attribute that enables them to inflate or deflate OVR's artificially...again, no thanks.

No desire to get back on the DD hamster wheel until launch next year, but maybe not even then, and if so probably not for long. I think going forward DD for me will probably be completing the LS collection, then I'm out.

I've seen two in dozens of franchises. I usually sim a year or two just to see how things shake out and have 1-2 long-term franchises.

In my current Rangers chise I got a 2B who was 19 years old, 81 overall, and dropped to me at 9 (or wherever Texas picks that first year). Contact in the 70's, power in the 60's, everything else average.

There was another who was also a 2B who was an 84 overall, but I deleted that franchise.

Just curious about what others have seen.

Actually enjoying franchise this year, playing with quick counts on (helps with walks), catcher far camera for batting, and quick simming pitching most of the time.

I make a lineup for TA3 with all valid players, then poof! random ineligible players are on my team. I correct it again, then more of the same.

SDS, my god, fix your [censored]. It should work where the pool you get to choose from contains ONLY eligible players.

What a cluster [censored]. Pathetic.

This game is a lineout simulator with frequent home runs and occasional bloop hits.

I wouldn't trust "stick skills reign supreme" for a second, unless you're someone like LittleMan who can slow down time...