What Does MLB 13 The Show Need to do Next Year to Satisfy Your Baseball Gaming Needs?

[crains13]

These are a few things that would satisfy my baseball gaming need for 2012:

1. Better playoff atmosphere; as many have already pointed out.

2. Updated Franchise; more around the league info (ex. NBA 2k series)

3. More slots for custom team chants/ yells. Maybe different situations, such as; starting pitcher warm ups, a rally, mound visit, hits (singles, doubles, and triples), double plays.

4. Different stadium shots, maybe like blimp cam, fans outside the stadium before the game, more shots of the fans.

5. Updated gear, not brands, but a wider selection of catcher gear, such as; chest protectors and shin guards, even different versions of masks. SCEA did a good job with adding different types of cleats and batting gloves this year, adding more will make each and every player different from another. Different uniforms styles, loose, tight, or very loose jersies. I think the pants styles need to be updated also.

6. Mention the starting lineup and dont just show it on the screen. It was in the older versions of the Show and I'm not sure why it was taken out. At least mention an individual player that stands out on the team.

7. Presentation in '12 definitely took a big step, but a lot more could be added. I think there should be different intros to the game like; maybe show the team during batting practice, the starting pitch warming up in the bullpen, players signing autographs, etc. This could take place in the part where is says "Cardinals vs Nats NEXT" and shows the players stretching and what not. This has been in the game since the beginning of the Show. Maybe even a little promo before the game of the two teams about to play could be added.

8. More enthusiasm from the commentators. Right now the emotions for a single and a grand slam are about the same. I want to be more 'wowed' with the enthusiasm from the booth if i hit a walk off home in the NLDS than vs. a single in the third inning of a 10-0 game in April.

9. Opening Day is a huge day for baseball, and I think there should be some sort of opening day feeling like in real life. I think it would be great if some how SCEA could implement introductions of the starting lineups for opening day.

[teddyBallgame420]

The game is great, most improvements are tweaks more than overhauls.

i agree with commentary - maybe a sounds of the show option to plug our own audio into the game commentary to cover in game events like balls and strikes, groundouts or popups. Just the routine stuff, the things harry caray could still see and make a call of.


Also, I would really really appreciate being able to move around in the batters box. As for game-play improvements, this would be the main one for me, but then I will also want to move my pitcher along the pitching rubber.



How about being able to use my own song for the highlight reel? So many other places i can add tunes, but not the song for when i can just sit back and watch the results of the game!

The crowd could be improved, i see that same guy five times per section. Also there are times the crowd seems out of proportion, and they sort of move in unison in wider crowd shots.

Uniform editor, ballpark designer, wider variety of sponsors, wider choice of throwback uniforms and historic ballparks. more options for vendors and in-game promotions. Lots of small things would add up, and really round out a great game even farther. Every year it gets better!

[speels]

I would just like a couple of things.

1) Bloopers!!! The fielder's are too fast to ever get a blooper, but in real baseball they happen all the time.
2) Hit variety needs to be improved. I am sure it will be now with the ball physics, but I can almost call every hit as to whether it will be a hit or not.
3) Pitchers need to get the hell out of the way more ofter, and if they get hit they need to be injured. I know this can be tricky because you don't want every hit up the middle to get through, but to piggy back on point 3, I have yet to see ground balls back up the middle be a foot or two on either side of the pitcher, they always tend to be right back stright up the middle.
4) Animations!! We need more so that things run smoother. More double play animations, throwing animations, base running animations, etc.
5) Base running needs an overhaul. It drives me nuts that when I am on second and I take 2 extra leads and see the second baseman running to the bag, that I can't force my guy back to the bag. Also, I think there are only 4 animation for throws to second, and again by the time the ball is at the pitcher I know whether I am safe or out.
6) Fielding absolutely needs work. Right now there is no difference between players, except, a person with lower fielding will not pickup those ground balls where they are moving left or right. I can feel the difference in arm strength most of the time, but as for jump, everybody in the outfield is like Willie Mays and everybody on the infield is like Derek Jeter, they get to everything very fast and never make ball reading mistakes. Also, I have no idea why when I am running and throwing, I seem to actually have more power on my throws.
7) My final point is the running needs to be revamped. Players are very slow at getting out of the box, and I think this leads to too many double plays and singles in the gaps. There needs to be a better physics based running model. Ichiro is basically 2 steps towards first before he even makes contact, but Adam Dunn likes to watch his hit to the outfield before he even takes a step. Also, speed and acceleration need to be changed. Someone like Vernon Wells (in his prime, that one year ) was amazing at getting a great jump on the ball and even though he wasn't the fastest, made a lot of plays because of the read he made on the balls. Someone like Anthony Gose may steal 60 bases because of his speed, but his ball off the bat reading ability is still maturing and he needs to make up for late reads with that good speed. All this is great, however, players currently seem to take 1 step and are at full speed, and that is not right. Bautista is fairly fast once he gets going, but it take him longer to get to top speed that Brett Lawrie.

Anyway, those are just a few things. I love this game and would prefer a year of fixing what you have than making any wholesale changes to gameplay.

[fanofikedavis]

The ability to change the team overview. I want to rebuild, but since my overview is "neutral," or whatever, teams still offer me their stars for my prospects.

[inkcil]

Two things I would like to see:

1.) Add ability in-game to manually argue close calls. I should be able to argue calls as the skipper. Use the exact same model from MVP 05!!! Use a meter where there more I push it the closer I come to being thrown out of the game...and then have my team react to my argument - either they get motivated, hyped, etc. Also, if I get thrown out, the CPU takes over managment decisions for the rest of the game.

2.) Plays at the plate need waaaay more excitement. Outside of the the HR, no play in baseball is more exciting than the play at the plate. In the Show, too many throws are waaay offline, sending the catcher away from the plate. Also, we should be able to control how the catcher wants to block the plate. For instance, press "X" to hard block the plate with your full body or press "O" to just try to apply a finesse tag to the runner.

[seanjeezy]

I know its been mentioned multiple times, but I am now officially fed up with the progression system in this game. Please make progression independent from a player's overall rating, or better yet, get rid of the overall bar completely. 39 year old Ichiro should not be progressing just because his overall is lower than his potential, nor should Felix Hernandez be regressing in his prime because his overall is higher than his potential (and deservedly so). Here are my suggestions for making player progression more true to life:

1. Get rid of the overall bar
IMO the overall bar is fairly useless since it varies by position and the CPU already takes individual ratings into account when deciding lineups and rotations. The two things that overall affects the most is progression and free agency, and it shouldn't be necessary for either.

2. Incorporate skill and progression curves based on age
There is statistical evidence that shows that baseball players usually reach their physical peak around the age of 26-27, maintain their ability for 4-5 years, then slowly decline until their mid-30's, where they experience a moderate to sharp decline. This article describes the process in greater detail.

Quote:

Fast players -The criteria I used were hitters with 25 or more stolen bases and at least eight triples (103 total players including Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Carl Crawford). Young players with old-player skills (high K, BB and HR) - These players exhibit power at an early age with high number of walks and strikeouts. The criteria I used were hitters who are 25 years old or younger with more than 20 HRs, a K/PA greater than 15% and a BB/PA greater than 5% (73 total players including Joey Votto, Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki). Players with no plate discipline - Walk rate less 5% and K% greater than 20% from those with more than 200 plate appearances (148 players including Carlos Gonzalez, Jeff Francoeur, Ryan Doumit).

Quote:

1. Fast and young-old players have a higher peak than the rest of the population. 2. Young-old players peak at age 25, which is one year earlier than the general population. 3. Fast players age extremely well from their peaks at 26 to 31, then they lose on average fewer then five runs over five seasons. Young-old players lose more than 10 runs in the same time span. 4. Players with no plate discipline age similarly to the overall population.

There are also separate curves for plate discipline over at Fangraphs:

Quote:

Overall, hitters generally decrease their swing rates during their careers. Younger players almost immediately increase their selectivity. In particular, hitters decrease their number of swings at pitches outside the zone. This aligns with the general idea that hitters become more selective the longer they are in the league. But the selectivity doesn’t increase forever. At about age 33, we begin to see a slight uptick in Swing%. Hitters seem to be swinging more at pitches both in and out of the zone. Also, the older the hitter, the closer the trend in swing rate and Z-Swing% becomes. That’s largely due to the fact that pitchers appear to throw more pitches in the zone to aging hitters. There is effectively a “mini curve” for Zone% from ages 21 to 28, which happens to align with a hitter’s peak years. After 28, the percent of pitches in the zone increases by 1% through age 34—and almost 3% if they last until age 39. There are probably two things going on here, and it’s hard to parse out. On the one hand, as hitters decline, pitchers might realize they can get away with attacking the zone more often. In fact, we see a negative correlation between wOBA in year one and Zone% in year two (-.39). On the other hand, hitters become more disciplined and offer less frequently at pitches outside the strike zone during the same period—at least until age 33. So part of the effect may simply be that pitchers are forced to come into the zone more often against aging hitters because they are less likely to chase bad pitches.

Here's an article over at Fangraphs explaining pitching aging curves:

Quote:

Some initial thoughts: — Velocity is a young man’s game. Rather than a parabolic curve of some sort, pitchers generally lose velocity from the beginning. Through age 28, they appear to stay within .5 mph of their peak velocity; but starting at age 29 they have lost about 1 mph with the loss accelerating every year thereafter. — The loss of velocity is important because we see that pitchers’ abilities to record strikeouts follow a curve similar to the speed of their fastballs. However, the slope of the decline is not as dramatic as the velocity decline. This is perhaps do to a couple factors. First, pitchers are likely to further develop secondary and tertiary pitches as they mature. Many of the best arms in the minors can dominate using mostly their plus-fastball and little in the way of plus- or above-average off-speed stuff. But surviving in the majors requires more than just a plus-fastball — which many pitchers quickly realize. Either they develop additional weapons, or they move on. Second, and somewhat related, pitchers might develop a fastball with additional movement — like a sinker or a cutter — to compensate for the velocity decline. This also could lead to a less steep decline in K/9 and SWG_Strike rate than a pitcher’s velocity decline alone might predict.

3. Have potential only affect baseball skills
Baseball skills are contact, vision, discipline, arm accuracy, blocking, baserunning, and the /9 ratings and command for pitchers. Physical abilities (raw power, speed, arm strength, velocity) should remain static for the most part (more on that next), then slowly regress with age. Potential would determine the likeliness/frequency of the player gaining points, coaching would determine the number of points gained.

4. Specialized exp based training and actual growth (height, weight) during the offseason
We always hear scouts talking about pitchers having "an ideal pitching frame" or hitters who eventually have to move off a position because they became "big for the position", I would love to have the ability to train physical abilities (and additional baseball skills) in the offseason using exp gained during the year similar to RTTS. The system would be give and take, so if I have a player weight train during the offseason his power would increase but some of his other skills would decrease as well. See Kyle Seager and Michael Saunders last offseason, Justin Smoak this offseason.

I would love to see my teenage prospects physically mature and gain/lose the skills to match. Incorporate storylines (or DNA, attitude, etc.) to give my prospects life and I honestly would never play another game.

[UNIT-352]

1. Plays at the plate, needs to be realistic with actual collision detection (need to be realistic and exciting)

2. Fans in the crowd occasionally catching/ picking up homerun and foul balls

[G3no_11]

I love the idea of fans being more interactive. Have the fans catch a foul ball or maybe show the fan in the stands with the homerun ball he caught.

That would be awesome, but here are 2 MUSTS for me.

1. Fix the pitch-out glitch - one of the most frustrating glitches in the game. I can't believe this was in the game at it's release and I can't believe a patch never came out for it.

2. Better/New commentary - Have more real time commentary. Talk about the all-star voting, who's been on a hot streak.... mention if this is a guys MLB debut (just a few suggestions).... and PLEASE get some new intros for the start of a game. Talk about the line-up, not just show it. Talk about impact players.
Talk about what is going on in the game or around the league instead of just a PBP and a few wise remarks from the other guys.