MLB 15 The Show News Post

MLB 15 The Show: Diamond Dynasty Hits and Whiffs

11:20 AM - April 10, 2015 by RaychelSnr

Though its opening week has been beleaguered by technical difficulties, Diamond Dynasty's redesign for MLB 15: The Show has transformed the mode from being a total afterthought in MLB 14: The Show to being something that I somehow want to keep playing, despite all of its mechanical kinks. If Sony San Diego's quality assurance department can squash some of these bugs over the next week or two, then Diamond Dynasty could become one of the better fantasy team modes in sports gaming.

Read More - MLB 15 The Show: Diamond Dynasty Hits and Whiffs

Game: MLB 15 The ShowReader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS Vita / PS3 / PS4Votes for game: 31 - View All

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# 1 aparks87 @ 04/10/15 11:40 AM

Good article highlighting the Hi's and Low's of this game mode. It definitely has great potential.

Two things id add are giving offline gamers the option not to be forced to use fast play. I understand its preferred for online H2H matches, but id like the see the cut-scenes and replays when i play the cpu and extra innings matches.

Secondly, id like to have the DH back or at least an option to use or not use one. I dont really like to be forced to play National league baseball. It makes cards like Ortiz worthless when i already have a good fielding 1B i use...

# 2 Dolenz @ 04/10/15 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterkrabz


	Not sure if "pay to win" applies to this game. I say that because I have a starting rotation of all sub 80 pitchers and have run up against many line ups that were chalk full of "pay to win" players and I can stay in (and win) those games simply by pitching well and hitting my spots (current record is something like 28-17 and haven't spent a dime on players or packs). I haven't gotten blown out once with my worse loss being 9-3. Unlike Madden where if you didn't have a roster full studs you might as well forget it. I got burned by the nit-by-pitch freeze. After hitting a two run homer in the top of the 11th the guy drilled my next batter, game froze, and I got the loss. A very disappointing and cheesy end to what was a greatly played game by both of us. I wasn't aware of the bug at the time but fortunately it has only happened to me once.

I am impressed that you have gotten in 45 games since launch.

# 3 Shakedowncapo @ 04/10/15 02:50 PM

"This is the most blatantly "pay to win" mode in sports gaming"

This is straight BS. Like the poster said above, I've come across a couple of teams absolutely stacked and held them to one or two runs due to having a decent pitching staff and knowing how to setup pitches. NBA2k is the most blatant pay to win model due to the nature of the sport and being able to manipulate CPU teammates with some made up Ruby Kobe, etc.

# 4 Dolenz @ 04/10/15 02:56 PM

It's only pay to win if player skill is removed from the equation.

I am absolutely atrocious at fielding and base running so while I could easily go buy a lineup of legend, diamond and gold players, a skilled player could probably beat me with bronze and common.

# 5 Armor and Sword @ 04/10/15 03:56 PM

Awesome article on a truly fun mode. I am playing this a lot. And having a total blast. But you point out some serious flaws that I am sure will evolve the mode as the team will look at the community feedback here and consider many of these issues.

Not being able to have season statistics for my created player is a huge huge eye sore. It's baseball!!! You gotta have stat's. Always.

Not being able to play a friends team is a huge bummer. Lineup cards need to be in as well for R/L match-ups. Games being counted offline and against the CPU need to be fixed and i am sure they will be patched (right?).

But overall the mode took a huge leap as last year was non existent. The card collecting and marketplace is a blast.

Great stuff.

# 6 gsize19 @ 04/10/15 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo


	"This is the most blatantly "pay to win" mode in sports gaming" This is straight BS. Like the poster said above, I've come across a couple of teams absolutely stacked and held them to one or two runs due to having a decent pitching staff and knowing how to setup pitches. NBA2k is the most blatant pay to win model due to the nature of the sport and being able to manipulate CPU teammates with some made up Ruby Kobe, etc.

Agreed, I have came across teams that had almost every player a legend and did not lose to them... If you pitch well, you can get them way off their game... I don't throw down the middle cheese, I paint corners, mix up pitches, and if you throw the same pitch over and over again, I counter it with a reliever I have the entire game that is almost impossible to hit due to his delivery (not going to mention his name so everyone starts using him)... It is all a matter of how you pitch the game that dictates the outcome...

# 7 Spokker @ 04/10/15 04:10 PM

"But for the users who refuse to pay more than MSRP for their sports games, Diamond Dynasty puts its $60-per-year customers at a greater competitive disadvantage than any other Ultimate Team-type mode."

I believe this is true in theory but it is not true in this game if you play the community market. I did not spend any real money past the initial $59.99 cost of entry for the standard edition of the game, and within I week I acquired Mike Trout (via market) and Rod Carew (by completing the Angels collection). It doesn't take that much time. Before you play a game, set up your buy orders and/or sell orders and check them out once the game is over.

# 8 Armor and Sword @ 04/10/15 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsize19


	Agreed, I have came across teams that had almost every player a legend and did not lose to them... If you pitch well, you can get them way off their game... I don't throw down the middle cheese, I paint corners, mix up pitches, and if you throw the same pitch over and over again, I counter it with a reliever I have the entire game that is almost impossible to hit due to his delivery (not going to mention his name so everyone starts using him)... It is all a matter of how you pitch the game that dictates the outcome...

Agreed on stacked teams being beatable.

I feasted on one with sick paint the black pitching and patient hitting.

# 9 SDwinder @ 04/10/15 04:40 PM

Definitely need 4 lineup options. DH/no DH and RH/LH pitcher. At the very least the RH/LH pitcher lineup.

Didn't know we had a web powered marketplace. Very cool

Definitely need to adjust online pause timer max for extra innings.

I bought 2 of the most recent 7500 stub packs of cards. BIG waste of value. I got 3 borderline Silver players each time, the highest being 83 rated Matt Shoemaker. Would have been much cheaper to just go buy the player cards individually. This latest pack pricing is designed to just take your money faster, while fooling you into thinking you are going to get a Gold or Diamond card. Stick with the 1K stub packs. Much better bang for your buck. If you are going to spend 7500 stubs, there should be one Gold in there at least.

Very happy to see Player ratings will be dynamic through season. The buy low mentality for some cards makes it more interesting.

I was playing DD yesterday, and on each player card when looking at player abilities, I was seeing 2014 player season stats, and at bottom of that was career stats! Then later they were not there anymore. Anyone else notice that?

# 10 SDwinder @ 04/10/15 04:56 PM

Also, I have a PS4. I don't want PS3 stadium cards in my packs!!! That's just laziness on Sonys part. I have a bunch of them. They are not worth anything on market. They should not be there for PS4 players. At the very least, if they cannot fix this up front, there should be a trade-in feature for another stadium or item.

# 11 Millennium @ 04/10/15 05:04 PM

I'm pretty sure "Pay to win" means you can buy the best players in the game. You can't do that in other Ultimate Team modes.

On that point, the author is spot on.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

# 12 reignjah11 @ 04/10/15 05:50 PM

Just a couple days ago i played against a guy who definitely had a "pay to win" team with his entire lineup consisting of legends and diamond players. Thought i was screwed especially since i had Adam Warren starting but turned out i ended up throwing a perfect game! Mind you all my players and stubs were earned in game.

# 13 Shakedowncapo @ 04/10/15 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millennium


	I'm pretty sure "Pay to win" means you can buy the best players in the game. You can't do that in other Ultimate Team modes. On that point, the author is spot on. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Him putting "win" in there like its a given is click-bait material.

# 14 Millennium @ 04/10/15 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo


	Its not spot on. You can do that in any of the UT modes in other sports games.

No, you can't.

In Madden, you can't buy players directly. You can buy packs with random players in it , but if I want the Michael Vick 24 hour boss, I can't buy coins to get it on the auction house.

You can purchase the in game currency in this game. As far as I know, you can't (legally) do that in any other UT mode. That makes this "Pay actual for the best players".

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

# 15 Shakedowncapo @ 04/10/15 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millennium


	No, you can't. In Madden, you can't buy players directly. You can buy packs with random players in it , but if I want the Michael Vick 24 hour boss, I can't buy coins to get it on the auction house. You can purchase the in game currency in this game. As far as I know, you can't (legally) do that in any other UT mode. That makes this "Pay actual for the best players". Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

I edited my response while you were making this post. I had read it wrong at first.

Baseball is nothing like the other sports where you have to rely on your CPU teammates as heavily and so the "pay to win" is unnecessary. If it had said, "pay to have stacked lineup" there would have been no issue.

# 16 Millennium @ 04/10/15 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo


	Him putting "win" in there like its a given is click-bait material.

Click-bait? You're using a buzz word and trying to make it relevant - If he put "Pay To Win" in the title of the article, or the short blurb describing it on the forums, it would be click bait. It's buried in the article.

And like I said - Stick Skills are need in EVERY online game. This game is no different than any other UT game for stick skills. So that is no longer a variable.

If I out two people with the same skill level, I give on $100 and one nothing, the one with $100 wins 99% of the time because he can directly buy players. In other UT modes, that percentage lowers because the player is at the mercy of the luck of the packs he purchases with said $100. He still has an advantage, but not as blatant as he has in Diamond Dynasty.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

# 17 Shakedowncapo @ 04/10/15 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millennium


	Click-bait? You're using a buzz word and trying to make it relevant - If he put "Pay To Win" in the title of the article, or the short blurb describing it on the forums, it would be click bait. It's buried in the article. And like I said - Stick Skills are need in EVERY online game. This game is no different than any other UT game for stick skills. So that is no longer a variable. If I out two people with the same skill level, I give on $100 and one nothing, the one with $100 wins 99% of the time because he can directly buy players. In other UT modes, that percentage lowers because the player is at the mercy of the luck of the packs he purchases with said $100. He still has an advantage, but not as blatant as he has in Diamond Dynasty. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Your point is just not relevant when it comes to the pitcher vs batter aspect of baseball. You saying stick skills are just like any other UT, where one has the CPU controlling 4 other players(NBA) and the other controlling 10 other players(NFL and FIFA) is ridiculous. Your ability to rely on the CPU is not even in the same ballpark when comparing MLB to the others.

Also, saying the guy with $100 wins 99% of the time is you spitting out arbitrary numbers...With nothing in between to back up that claim.

# 18 ggsimmonds @ 04/10/15 06:52 PM

Didn't read the article (don't care about these types of game modes) but whoever is responsible for that jersey needs to be banned

# 19 Millennium @ 04/10/15 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo


	Your point is just not relevant when it comes to the pitcher vs batter aspect of baseball. You saying stick skills are just like any other UT, where one has the CPU controlling 4 other players(NBA) and the other controlling 10 other players(NFL and FIFA) is ridiculous. Your ability to rely on the CPU is not even in the same ballpark when comparing MLB to the others. Also, saying the guy with $100 wins 99% of the time is you spitting out arbitrary numbers...With nothing in between to back up that claim.

The pitcher vs batter aspect still everything to do with ratings. Clayton Kershaw will perform better for you than Ubaldo Jimenez. And I can go buy Clayton Kershaw on the Community Market right now if I just installed the game for the first time.

I never have to even buy a pack of cards to build my team. That simply is not true of any other Ultimate Team game mode.

How much tournament MUT or FUT have you seen? They are hardly "relying on the CPU". They've all taken steps to make sure the CPU doesn't affect their game.

If you can buy your team directly with cash, then the author's comment rings true. Just because it's "baseball" doesn't change that fact.

If they had in game currency that wasn't purchased with cash (using MUT for an example, where the purchasable currency can only be used for packs, not on the Auction House) don't you think that would fix this issue? That is what the author is talking about.

# 20 Shakedowncapo @ 04/10/15 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millennium


	The pitcher vs batter aspect still everything to do with ratings. Clayton Kershaw will perform better for you than Ubaldo Jimenez. And I can go buy Clayton Kershaw on the Community Market right now if I just installed the game for the first time. I never have to even buy a pack of cards to build my team. That simply is not true of any other Ultimate Team game mode. How much tournament MUT or FUT have you seen? They are hardly "relying on the CPU". They've all taken steps to make sure the CPU doesn't affect their game. If you can buy your team directly with cash, then the author's comment rings true. Just because it's "baseball" doesn't change that fact. If they had in game currency that wasn't purchased with cash (using MUT for an example, where the purchasable currency can only be used for packs, not on the Auction House) don't you think that would fix this issue? That is what the author is talking about.

Like the author also talked about...There is a black market for this type of activity in those games, illegal or not, its still there being done!

As far as your comparison goes with ratings being the deciding factor, I'll never buy into that when it comes to baseball. Ubaldo in the hands of one gamer can be completely different in the hands of another. When Moyer was still around I would throw gems in my online leagues because I knew how to pitch with him and use deception when working outside and inside of the plate, no. Yet, when putting Halladay on the mound I struggled all year...Why?! Ratings sure didn't help me when pitching as the best pitcher in the game!

All of us have that with certain players whether its batting or pitching, so for you to say that ultimately the ratings matter the most...especially in the most important aspect (pitcher vs batter) is just not right to me.

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