MLB 07 The Show (PS3)

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Icy

Yes that is the key, TroyF, set API to Off and you will stop to see all those fastballs thrown to the strike zone. I'm also using nemesis sliders with API off and i'm seeing lots of variety.

Using nemesis' sliders I have of course read about turning off the api to cut down on the number of fastballs the cpu throws. Personally, I have played games both ways (probably 5 games with it off and 20 games with it on) and, while I haven't kept track, I don't think I saw any difference in the way the cpu pitches. I am playing with it on now as I like having the C call the game, adds some immersion at least to me. Of course I do shake him off and throw what I want at times.

The questions that come to my mind are..

Why would the cpu's pitching be different with api off?

This would mean the cpu has two entirely different pitch selection methods, wouldn't it?

Would they really spend the time coding the cpu to call pitches differently with api on or off?

As I said, I see a variety of pitches from the cpu with it on. Good pitchers are better at nibbling at edges of the zone, poor pitchers leave more balls out over the plate.

I'm not sure why the cpu would have one system, api, throwing lot's of fastballs and another with api off that throws less. Maybe I'm just missing something? Have you, or have you seen, where anybody charted the pitches to show there is a difference?

Again, I'm not saying you are wrong about api. Maybe your feelings or study of "in game" pitches proves there is a difference. I certainly haven't taken the time to look that closely at it.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Agree with you about it being a flaw, i was not defending it but explaining how i think it works. It should have in account both stats, performances and ratings but it seems it's not.

But in theory, ratings shouldn't be taken into account at all.

Let's take a potential real life scenario. You draft an outfielder out of college in the 22nd round. He wasn't scouted to be much, and didn't even do much in the lower levels of the minors, but somewhere along in his 3rd year he starts hitting the crap out of the ball and gets promoted to the bigs. All of this despite his "talents" not appearing to change. Maybe something just clicked in practice and he's seeing the ball better. Whatever...but find me a manager who is going to all of a sudden decide that this OF's production will surely stop eventually, so he demotes him before it can happen.

Now, if you want to tell me that a manager/GM wouldn't declare a formerly unknown SP who put up ace-like numbers last season as his #1 starter heading into the next season, that I could understand. But demoting an MVP like Troy because his "ratings" aren't high enough? Please. We have to remember that the manager and GM shouldn't be able to see these ratings.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Logan

But in theory, ratings shouldn't be taken into account at all.

Let's take a potential real life scenario. You draft an outfielder out of college in the 22nd round. He wasn't scouted to be much, and didn't even do much in the lower levels of the minors, but somewhere along in his 3rd year he starts hitting the crap out of the ball and gets promoted to the bigs. All of this despite his "talents" not appearing to change. Maybe something just clicked in practice and he's seeing the ball better. Whatever...but find me a manager who is going to all of a sudden decide that this OF's production will surely stop eventually, so he demotes him before it can happen.

Now, if you want to tell me that a manager/GM wouldn't declare a formerly unknown SP who put up ace-like numbers last season as his #1 starter heading into the next season, that I could understand. But demoting an MVP like Troy because his "ratings" aren't high enough? Please. We have to remember that the manager and GM shouldn't be able to see these ratings.

While i keep agreeing it's a flaw, i don't agree that ratings shouldn't matter at all. What about if Troy is having contact with the ball but every time a ball is trown his way on defense is dropped by him? Defense matters too. But again, i agree that stats should be the most important factor.

Sweed, i haven't make an study, it's just what i'm seing but of course i can be wrong without making real numbers. I have also read others saying the same. does it make sense? umm probably not as you said, but for any reason, it seems that the Catchers are calling most of the time the 1st pitch from each pitcher, somebody said at OPS that if you put every pitcher first pitch a curve, the catchers will call it more than any other pitch. I have not tested it myself, but maybe, and just maybe, with API on, the catchers are asking mainly for the pitcher's best pitch, while with it Off, the pitchers are mixing more their pitches.

Anyway this is only apreciation, somebody could do a real test writting all the numbers and making stats, but that won't be me, i prefer to keep playing the game

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Icy

Sweed, i haven't make an study, it's just what i'm seing but of course i can be wrong without making real numbers. I have also read others saying the same. does it make sense? umm probably not as you said, but for any reason, it seems that the Catchers are calling most of the time the 1st pitch from each pitcher, somebody said at OPS that if you put every pitcher first pitch a curve, the catchers will call it more than any other pitch. I have not tested it myself, but maybe, and just maybe, with API on, the catchers are asking mainly for the pitcher's best pitch, while with it Off, the pitchers are mixing more their pitches.

Anyway this is only apreciation, somebody could do a real test writting all the numbers and making stats, but that won't be me, i prefer to keep playing the game

Yeah, I won't be the guy doing the study either, it's all about playing the game and having a good time. I was just curious if you had more accurate information on this then what I had read at OS. It appears we're in the same boat

[BrianD]

One of the problems with a game like this is that while it is unrealistic for an MVP to start the next season in AAA, it is also unrealistic for a 19-year old with mid-level abilities to be the MVP. I can understand the design decision that leads to making a player earn his big league spot ratings-wise to keep the statistics in line when a gamer is playing below the proper difficulty, but I'm not sure I agree with it.

I also understand the arguments about people being penalized for being too good since they spend too many games on the bench and not gaining ratings points, but I haven't seen that yet in my own game so I can't really comment on it.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Icy

While i keep agreeing it's a flaw, i don't agree that ratings shouldn't matter at all. What about if Troy is having contact with the ball but every time a ball is trown his way on defense is dropped by him? Defense matters too.

Then that should be taken care of when the manager looks at all of his error stats, or when he watches him play . Not when he sees his magic rating.

Originally Posted by BrianD

One of the problems with a game like this is that while it is unrealistic for an MVP to start the next season in AAA, it is also unrealistic for a 19-year old with mid-level abilities to be the MVP.

Completely agree. But let's not forget, not only is this a game...but it's MY game. Why should I have to deal with sitting in AA 3 months after being named an All Star, while my performance has improved? Why should Troy be hitting .650 against subpar pitching because the game is correcting itself since his prior production was too great? As long as I don't literally break the game by doing too well, why can't they just let me keep doing it so I enjoy myself?

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Logan

But in theory, ratings shouldn't be taken into account at all.

We have to remember that the manager and GM shouldn't be able to see these ratings.

I understand the point of this, but disagree completely. Albert Pujols hit .250 in April, Orlando Hudson hit .352. Yet every GM in the game can look at the two and say which they would rather have. It's not just stats, it's scouting.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Logan

Completely agree. But let's not forget, not only is this a game...but it's MY game. Why should I have to deal with sitting in AA 3 months after being named an All Star, while my performance has improved? Why should Troy be hitting .650 against subpar pitching because the game is correcting itself since his prior production was too great? As long as I don't literally break the game by doing too well, why can't they just let me keep doing it so I enjoy myself?

Yeah, that is why I said that while I understand the design decision, I don't necessarily agree with it. If you want to play at a level where you can be an MVP at 19 and break every major league record by the time you retire, you should be able to. I'll probably adjust my own difficulty to make sure my production is consistent with my ratings, but people should be able to play how they like.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Celeval

I understand the point of this, but disagree completely. Albert Pujols hit .250 in April, Orlando Hudson hit .352. Yet every GM in the game can look at the two and say which they would rather have. It's not just stats, it's scouting.

Come on...that's not scouting, it's common sense.

A scouting report could be developed on a batter over a decent amount of games that says "has trouble hitting lefties" (i.e. a low LHP contact rating in this game).

But if the guy ends up hitting .315 against lefties over the course of his first 100 major league games, are you going to all of a sudden stop playing him against lefties? Or are you going to ride him out until he does it long enough to either a) show the report to be inaccurate or b) prove that the first 100 games was a fluke?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Yeah, that is why I said that while I understand the design decision, I don't necessarily agree with it. If you want to play at a level where you can be an MVP at 19 and break every major league record by the time you retire, you should be able to. I'll probably adjust my own difficulty to make sure my production is consistent with my ratings, but people should be able to play how they like.

Agree as well. And I wouldn't end up playing at that difficulty level if I kept destroying competition, but now I'm being forced to work my way back up from AA...and my motivation just isn't there right now. I'd rather just start over at a higher difficulty level.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Logan

Agree as well. And I wouldn't end up playing at that difficulty level if I kept destroying competition, but now I'm being forced to work my way back up from AA...and my motivation just isn't there right now. I'd rather just start over at a higher difficulty level.

I can understand that. Changing difficulties mid-career would probably seem a little off. I know I have battled from a .240 average most of my first season (AAA) up to .310 by the end of the season, followed by a .380 start to the second season. If I have to change the difficulty and watch my average steadily drop, it will feel like I am going backwards.

[TroyF]

Hey, I was 21 when I won the MVP. Cmon, cut me some slack here.

I can see both sides of this, bu tat the end of the day, there has to be some realism. Yes, every manager can see the difference between a 5 time all star and a rookie having a hot hitting month. But NO team is going to take an MVP and demote him to AAA at the start of the next season either.
I'm sorry, it's 2007 boys. I'm not asking for perfection and I fully understand a game isn't going to get "everything" right. But when you do something as unrealistic as this, it's disturbing to me.

I would never have continued to play the game like that anyway. The problem is now if I start another career, I have to worry about making sure my stats align with the way the game wants them to.


Getting called up in May and getting 3 at bats in 3 months because the game thinks I'm to good for AAA but that I really shouldn't be in the majors is insanity. A bug like that shouldn't slip, especially when the RTTS mode is a very big part of this game.

I'll get over it, but I think my RTTS mode is done for this year.

[BrianD]

I can understand all of those complaints. I think sitting on the bench might be less intolerable if it didn't cause a decrease in player abilities, but nothing makes up for an MVP sitting on the bench.

And again, I'm not far enough into the game to have experienced any of these issues so I can't say how I'll react when I get there. I'm sure I'll be pretty unhappy.

[Celeval]

Out of curiosity - I've not been in that situation yet, in my RTTS I've just gotten a cup of coffee for about a week - can you go into the Interactions screen and demand more ABs / to play every day? I know the option is there for me to request a callup when I've been playing well in AAA.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Celeval

Out of curiosity - I've not been in that situation yet, in my RTTS I've just gotten a cup of coffee for about a week - can you go into the Interactions screen and demand more ABs / to play every day? I know the option is there for me to request a callup when I've been playing well in AAA.

Yes, if you are an utillity player, you can ask to be a starter.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Celeval

Out of curiosity - I've not been in that situation yet, in my RTTS I've just gotten a cup of coffee for about a week - can you go into the Interactions screen and demand more ABs / to play every day? I know the option is there for me to request a callup when I've been playing well in AAA.

Yup, but guess what happens if the team doesn't like you? You don't get any at bats for a decade.

Ok, not a decade, but you are benched for a long period of time. I did try this and it made no difference.

The only way I was able to get out of the loop was to go back to a previous save and pray I didn't get called up again. I did get called up, but was sent back down in two weeks and only lost two weeks worth of games.

I started out at 18. During my 18, 19 and 20 year old seasons I had a combined 675 at bats.

[BrianD]

I thought I rembered reading that the CPU doesn't make trades in the PS2 version. My RTTS player just got traded from St. Louis to Milwaukee.

[BrianD]

And then about 15 days later I was traded to the Twins...

[Sweed]

Anybody else still playing this? I'm still going strong, best console baseball game I've ever played.

Playing in season mode and after 65 games have my Cubs at 34-31, 2 1\2 back in the wild card race and 7 1\2 behind the Astros in the Central. For the first time ever in all my gaming years I can see myself actually completing all 162 games.

As I posted earlier I d'loaded "nemesis" sliders and haven't had to make any changes to them. I had only played about 5 games before d'loading the nemisis sliders, so I have approx 60 games played using them. The game is still giving as realistic an experience as I've ever had from a button mashing baseball game and of course is simply fun to play.

Had a cool moment the other day when Izturus hit a HR. The announcer commented on how he was the last guy on the field that day that you'd expect to see hit a HR. Izturus proceeds to the dugout after circling the bases looking for some love and gets totally ignored by everyone on the team. Pretty soon the players on the bench end the "cold shoulder" routine and start congratulating him. Actually got a chuckle out of me

The only bug that's really had any impact in my game is when you go to your bullpen to get someone up and the game says you need to replace the other teams pitcher. This only seems to occur when you are starting your at bats in the inning but haven't yet had a pitch thrown to your hitter. If you go to the pen to get someone up anticipating using a ph for your current P the game wants you to replace the opponents P and there is no way out other than to quit the game and lose your progress (happened to me twice, and yes I was pissed). However to work around this, at least it's worked for me so far, you wait until one pitch has been thrown in the inning and the bug will not occur.

There is one other bug I've noticed that can also be easily worked around. When you go to your bullpen all the pitchers appear to have full energy (green bar full) but when they get into the game the bar could be less than full. To work around you need to look at your pitchers energy before the game on the same screen where you select your starter and then remember who you might not want to use that day. Love to see these two bugs fixed in a patch but neither one has been a game-breaker as long as I'm careful.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Anybody else still playing this? I'm still going strong, best console baseball game I've ever played.

Playing in season mode and after 65 games have my Cubs at 34-31, 2 1\2 back in the wild card race and 7 1\2 behind the Astros in the Central. For the first time ever in all my gaming years I can see myself actually completing all 162 games.

Yep, just played a couple months worth of games yesterday afternoon. I'm playing the RTTS career. Got a LF/CF in the Royals' minor leagues. Hitting .340 two months into the season with 17 stolen bases. I find that I've really enjoyed playing with a player with some speed. Makes it a lot of fun to run the bases. I actually managed a huge lead when the pitcher fell asleep and swiped 3rd base one time. Still love playing the game.

[BrianD]

I've been playing a fair amount as well...all in RTTS mode. I've been switching off between my CF (also a speed guy) in his 4th year, and my Closer in his second year. Seems like playing as a relief pitcher is way easier than playing as a position player.

[Mike Lowe]

I'm going to go back and read this entire thread for good info on this game as I attempt to start a franchise.

One question I have is whether or not you can allow the CPU/AI to handle your lineups? I want to simply be a GM. Is this what "MANAGEMENT" would be considered? Do I just put it to AI?

[Mike Lowe]

Pause your NCAA football games and throw me a bone here guys!

I'm also very curious as to how you guys handle the AI (PS3) not bringing players up from AAA. I have the latest rosters and I see the Dodgers, for example, have SP Jason Schmidt in AAA without an injury. I sim a month of the season and in AAA he still sits.

I can manually adjust this BEFORE I start a franchise but wont I run into this problem later on or no?

Also, if I turn on roster management (or whatever it's called) I loose the ability to have the AI teams trade.

HELP! Thank you.

[BrianD]

I'd like to help you, but I've only been playing RttS mode...

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Mike Lowe

Pause your NCAA football games and throw me a bone here guys!

I'm also very curious as to how you guys handle the AI (PS3) not bringing players up from AAA. I have the latest rosters and I see the Dodgers, for example, have SP Jason Schmidt in AAA without an injury. I sim a month of the season and in AAA he still sits.

I can manually adjust this BEFORE I start a franchise but wont I run into this problem later on or no?

Also, if I turn on roster management (or whatever it's called) I loose the ability to have the AI teams trade.

HELP! Thank you.

It happens from time to time and the only way to avoid it is to control all the rosters yourself or to disable injuries, there is a switch for that somewhere, but you need to set human roster control before starting your franchise. I just ignore it when i see it, and pretend it's to recover from an injury or something like that, anyway i play RTTS mode more than anything and i love it.

I enjoy a lot playing with speedy players too, it's so fun to steal bases with them.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Icy

I enjoy a lot playing with speedy players too, it's so fun to steal bases with them.

I found stealing bases very easy in AAA, but much harder in the majors. Now I have to wait for a pitcher with a slow delivery or a poor catcher to steal on. I guess that is how it should be though. I wouldn't want to be able to steal at will. Do you ever take an extra lead off of first? Every time I try, I get picked off...even if I head back as soon as the pick off move starts.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I found stealing bases very easy in AAA, but much harder in the majors. Now I have to wait for a pitcher with a slow delivery or a poor catcher to steal on. I guess that is how it should be though. I wouldn't want to be able to steal at will. Do you ever take an extra lead off of first? Every time I try, I get picked off...even if I head back as soon as the pick off move starts.

Yep, taking that extra step off the bag on a lead-off is death. Increasing your baserunning ability and aggression helps steal bases in that it allows your player to take off earlier in the delivery (the assumption being that your player can 'read' the pitcher more quickly). Helps a lot in stealing bases if you have a speedster. Speed is not the only attribute needed to do that.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yep, taking that extra step off the bag on a lead-off is death. Increasing your baserunning ability and aggression helps steal bases in that it allows your player to take off earlier in the delivery (the assumption being that your player can 'read' the pitcher more quickly). Helps a lot in stealing bases if you have a speedster. Speed is not the only attribute needed to do that.

I can generally tell by the jump I get whether or not I should let the runner contine to second or pull him back. Sometimes on base I can never get the decent jump I need to avoid being thrown out. I was really hoping that better baserunning ability would allow me to dive back to first base better, but I still get thrown out every time. Good thing stealing is possible without the extra lead.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I found stealing bases very easy in AAA, but much harder in the majors. Now I have to wait for a pitcher with a slow delivery or a poor catcher to steal on. I guess that is how it should be though. I wouldn't want to be able to steal at will. Do you ever take an extra lead off of first? Every time I try, I get picked off...even if I head back as soon as the pick off move starts.

I use nemesis sliders from OPS and he tunned down a bit the pitcher pick off slider, else it was impossible to try to take even 1 leadoff step.

Btw, some days ago a patch was released and fixed some things (mainly online problems).

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Icy

I use nemesis sliders from OPS and he tunned down a bit the pitcher pick off slider, else it was impossible to try to take even 1 leadoff step.

Btw, some days ago a patch was released and fixed some things (mainly online problems).

I'm playing on the PS2, so I'm assuming I don't get the patch.