SDS gets dragged on here a lot. There are times it’s frustrating. There are issues that linger for far too long. And, in my eyes, the game is not fun to play online.

BUT, this is the most fun I’ve had playing The Show and the latest in the year I’ve stayed engaged. As a mostly offline player, the content has been so freaking good. I’ve got more 99s than I know what to do with. Everyone’s got different favorite cards. I’ve got more stubs than I know how to spend. And, despite not having tons of game mode variety offline, there have been enough challenges and lineup configurations to try that I’ve still had fun.

There are improvements to be made for sure, but I think this was/is a fantastic game and want to tip my cap to the content team.

I say this as someone who has quite a few TAs maxed out and finished both Stage 1 and 2 Showdowns quite a few times:

Stage 1 Showdowns need to be altered.

It's just goofy that the 2nd Boss in Stage 1 is far harder than anything in Stage 2. I have no problem grinding Showdowns like I've done for Stage 2 to get the cards I'm aiming for, but it seems so dumb that to get through Stage 1 TA we (theoretically) have to do a harder Showdown 3x vs doing an easier one 2x for Stage 2 TA.

Combine that with the fact that MTO isn't worth the time anymore and the FOTF cards being obsolete within the next month of the game, and there's just so little motivation left to go back and complete other teams' programs.

I think they need to adjust the difficulties on Stage 1, change the stat achievements to be more like Stage 2 where you often don't have to play whole games, and just make it a more feasible way to build a foundation for Affinity programs moving forward. I'd really rather grind than do countless exchanges, it's just not worth it at the moment.

What on earth have they done? I play exclusively offline and have been incredibly satisfied with the game up to this point, despite the complaints that this site is flooded with.

That is until these last few patches that hit this week. Here are some of the clear changes I've noticed in the last few days (None of the patch notes indicate differences to these things):

• Hitting feels terrible. Not rewarding at all. Hitting homers on goofy contact but not on balls I'm teeing up. Haven't been able to string together base hits like I normally would.

• CPU hitting feels entirely different. I'm playing through Conquest and would shut out my opponents on veteran probably 85% of the time. Suddenly I'm giving up 2-3 runs and multiple homers a game.

• Sliders are suddenly the worst pitch in the game. CPU hit a homer on a slider 5 games in a row - feels like more than a coincidence. Like once a game a slider suddenly hangs and gets squared up

• Fielders not locking on feels more frequent somehow

• CPU home run robs - I had 6 robbed at the track over the course of 8 conquest games last night. Why would they turn up the frequency of an animation like this?

UNDO THE CHANGES FROM THIS WEEK'S PATCHES

@raesONE said in Stage 1 Showdown Changes:

Gosh another person who wants the mode dumbed down for them. How about no? Embrace the challenge. Try, fail, try again, fail again, try harder, beat it, get better as a result, beat it consistently, become a better player. That's how it works.

Well, if you keep seeing lots of people express the same sentiment (including in this very thread), maybe you should reflect and try and see it from their perspective rather than convincing yourself that everyone except you is a big dumb idiot.

@wakefan3 @zach_b25

FOTF Gleyber...either a soul-crushing homer or a rally-crushing weak groundout. Never an in between for me

I get that he deserves 99 cards and that that card is likely endgame, but how did they possibly go 2 years in a row where a usable Pujols isn’t in the game until very near the end of the life cycle? Last year I had already stopped playing The Show by the time he was announced as a boss, and this year we’re through 6 innings and he hasn’t been a boss and there’s no sign that he will show up anytime soon. Would have loved for him to have a low to mid 90s card earlier in the game this year then a 99 towards the end like they’re doing with Chipper.

(Yes, I know there’s the diamond rookie Pujols - that’s a dramatically different card than the one I want)

Brad Miller had 7 RBI last night so I figure he’ll get one

Okay, so as someone who plays largely offline, I think the Babe program is great. This is the type of thing they haven't done a great job at in years past, so it's so fun to see a card like this available for offline grinding. That said, I think there are a couple learnings/tweaks that could easily be accounted for:

1. There should be some Team Affinity reward for these moments. If coding it so that innings count is too difficult, I don't get why they wouldn't make beating each signature team in these moments worth 5-8 TA points. Then, make beating the division/league teams worth a voucher that can be applied to a team in that division/league.

2. This game mode is all about accumulating cards and building a team. My biggest frustration last year was that the mode was so focused on moments - a mode where you usually didn't get to use your team. These Ruth program moments are great because you actually get to use your squad. Let's extrapolate that idea and create more modes where you can use your team other than just Conquest. I still think a Playoffs mode where you have to lock in a roster of your team would be so fun. Additionally, you could make a version of Showdown where you get to choose between the regular draft or using a team of your actual players (could make caps on team/player overall ratings for the earlier challenges). Plus, if your Showdown roster is picked from your own team, there could be challenges along the way where you have lineup requirements (like 5 Yankees players, use a Giants infielder, etc) that still force you to use a variety of cards.

I think this Ruth program could be a huge building block for offline play and would love to know you guys' thoughts on how to perfect more stuff like this.

i've been saying this for years and can't believe it's still not an option:

Let us lock in a roster of players and do a playoffs mode. It solves the problem of us wanting to play modes that play with players we have, and it creates stakes.

Think about how fun it was in Pokemon games back in the day to face the elite 4 over and over again with different parties.

i've been saying this for years and can't believe it's still not an option:

Let us lock in a roster of players and do a playoffs mode. It solves the problem of us wanting to play modes that play with players we have, and it creates stakes.

Think about how fun it was in Pokemon games back in the day to face the elite 4 over and over again with different parties.

SDS gets dragged on here a lot. There are times it’s frustrating. There are issues that linger for far too long. And, in my eyes, the game is not fun to play online.

BUT, this is the most fun I’ve had playing The Show and the latest in the year I’ve stayed engaged. As a mostly offline player, the content has been so freaking good. I’ve got more 99s than I know what to do with. Everyone’s got different favorite cards. I’ve got more stubs than I know how to spend. And, despite not having tons of game mode variety offline, there have been enough challenges and lineup configurations to try that I’ve still had fun.

There are improvements to be made for sure, but I think this was/is a fantastic game and want to tip my cap to the content team.

Brad Miller had 7 RBI last night so I figure he’ll get one

Okay, so as someone who plays largely offline, I think the Babe program is great. This is the type of thing they haven't done a great job at in years past, so it's so fun to see a card like this available for offline grinding. That said, I think there are a couple learnings/tweaks that could easily be accounted for:

1. There should be some Team Affinity reward for these moments. If coding it so that innings count is too difficult, I don't get why they wouldn't make beating each signature team in these moments worth 5-8 TA points. Then, make beating the division/league teams worth a voucher that can be applied to a team in that division/league.

2. This game mode is all about accumulating cards and building a team. My biggest frustration last year was that the mode was so focused on moments - a mode where you usually didn't get to use your team. These Ruth program moments are great because you actually get to use your squad. Let's extrapolate that idea and create more modes where you can use your team other than just Conquest. I still think a Playoffs mode where you have to lock in a roster of your team would be so fun. Additionally, you could make a version of Showdown where you get to choose between the regular draft or using a team of your actual players (could make caps on team/player overall ratings for the earlier challenges). Plus, if your Showdown roster is picked from your own team, there could be challenges along the way where you have lineup requirements (like 5 Yankees players, use a Giants infielder, etc) that still force you to use a variety of cards.

I think this Ruth program could be a huge building block for offline play and would love to know you guys' thoughts on how to perfect more stuff like this.

I get that he deserves 99 cards and that that card is likely endgame, but how did they possibly go 2 years in a row where a usable Pujols isn’t in the game until very near the end of the life cycle? Last year I had already stopped playing The Show by the time he was announced as a boss, and this year we’re through 6 innings and he hasn’t been a boss and there’s no sign that he will show up anytime soon. Would have loved for him to have a low to mid 90s card earlier in the game this year then a 99 towards the end like they’re doing with Chipper.

(Yes, I know there’s the diamond rookie Pujols - that’s a dramatically different card than the one I want)

I have never loathed a game mode the way I loathe playing Ranked Seasons on here. I'm winning more than 2/3 of my games right now and still just absolutely hate it. Pitching duels followed by random hitting outcomes that feel scripted that determine the outcome of the game. It's also so stupid that I need to look into a monitor to try and have a chance to hit 87 Michael Kopech when my TV works just fine for every other game I play online.

I play mostly offline and can't even fathom ever taking FOTF Soto or Tatis out of my lineups. Just fun players in real life whose cards I absolutely crush with.

@raesONE said in Stage 1 Showdown Changes:

Gosh another person who wants the mode dumbed down for them. How about no? Embrace the challenge. Try, fail, try again, fail again, try harder, beat it, get better as a result, beat it consistently, become a better player. That's how it works.

Well, if you keep seeing lots of people express the same sentiment (including in this very thread), maybe you should reflect and try and see it from their perspective rather than convincing yourself that everyone except you is a big dumb idiot.

I say this as someone who has quite a few TAs maxed out and finished both Stage 1 and 2 Showdowns quite a few times:

Stage 1 Showdowns need to be altered.

It's just goofy that the 2nd Boss in Stage 1 is far harder than anything in Stage 2. I have no problem grinding Showdowns like I've done for Stage 2 to get the cards I'm aiming for, but it seems so dumb that to get through Stage 1 TA we (theoretically) have to do a harder Showdown 3x vs doing an easier one 2x for Stage 2 TA.

Combine that with the fact that MTO isn't worth the time anymore and the FOTF cards being obsolete within the next month of the game, and there's just so little motivation left to go back and complete other teams' programs.

I think they need to adjust the difficulties on Stage 1, change the stat achievements to be more like Stage 2 where you often don't have to play whole games, and just make it a more feasible way to build a foundation for Affinity programs moving forward. I'd really rather grind than do countless exchanges, it's just not worth it at the moment.

@lucas8181 said in Team Affinity Transition:

do it and let us know. it's 3 points man, you'll be ok either way.

Was more concerned about a situation where I'm at like 68 and not close on innings and want to just do a +10 exchange instead of grinding.