Long-time player here; since '06. And yes, I play in game mode.
From the very day I used zone hitting, I hated it. Still do. I've tried every PCI configuration, I've tried having no PCI at all, I've gone through the motions of all the "tips and tricks" from YouTubers, but at the end of the day, what makes it unbearable is something that I can't change: poor hand-eye. It has doomed me since birth. I'm bad enough that I'm pretty sure anyone within the purview of this post could easily no-hit me competitively. There's no other explanation for why after this many attempts at using zone, and hours of practice, I still can't pass programs I really, really want, on Veteran difficulty, within about 50 attempts. I usually acquiesce and return to directional to help me pass these programs, albeit a LOT more slowly than if I could zone hit worth a toss. In this respect, I do not blame the mechanics of zone hitting for my abject failures.
So, I use directional, and generally speaking, I've been satisfied. To have been a customer since effectively 2005 (pre-SDS) should attest to that. I have even had some success in DD with directional hitting, and pinpoint pitching is something I've become good at. But the very enjoyment I receive from being the pitcher using pinpoint is immediately sucked from my existence when I have to face a pitcher using it, because painting the black has turned directional hitting into more of a mess than I can ever remember it being.
I have seen the writing on the wall for many years: more zone emphasis, more emphasis on DD and online play; less respect given to franchise and RTTS. Seeing RTTS this year was a major disappointment, and the message was clear: "RTTS doesn't sell copies, so we'll work on it 0.001 percent as much as we work on DD and getting all these diamonds out to people." Same bugs and presentation glitches that I've seen as far back as five years ago, sometimes.
The main reason I love RTTS is that there's very little pressure. I can forge my "career" at my own pace, there's no FOMO with daily missions and programs -- it's just me and my character, enjoying some casual ball. No toxic or bigoted team names or logos that somehow endure far into the game's life cycle (and yet, words like "blood" are censored from the ever-weakening soundtrack). But if the trend of ditching directional hitting and single-player modes continues to worsen into 2022, there's no way that I can keep supporting this game.
I'm not trying to grandstand. I'm painfully aware of how little weight my voice carries against a corporation obsessed with money. But I felt I'd be remiss if I didn't at least try: SDS, rebalance directional hitting for 2022. If you're going to hand all the power to the pitcher, you have to give a little to the batter as well. I've never been in so many 15-20 inning online games because we both are horrid hitters, but pinpoint pitch like Glavine.
And I'll give you a more practical reason: directional hitting is a much better choice for people with disability or chronic hand injuries. You simply can't appreciate not having to use a thumbstick to control a PCI until you've experienced chronic hand injuries, and REALLY wanted to play your favorite game anyway. I'm lucky enough to not be in this category, but it is something I've heard from the community elsewhere. So, by nerfing, and eventually, removing directional hitting, you're leaving those people behind.
If any of this has been read by anyone who works on this game, I truly hope you took the time to consider my positions. This is a wonderful game being made unbearable by an unbalanced experience.