MLB The Show - General Discussion

[Meacon Keaton]

5 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

What options are you referring to?

So toward the end of the offseason I’ll sign an older vet to a two year deal with that second year being a team option. But in the following offseason I never see a screen where I can go and accept or decline the option. I have my regular contracted guys I can re-sign, but anyone with a team option is nowhere to be found on those contract screens.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Ah, it's in the first free agency renewal screen. The guy will appear as a pending free agent but if you click on his profile, you can click to accept his team option. 

[Meacon Keaton]

39 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

Ah, it's in the first free agency renewal screen. The guy will appear as a pending free agent but if you click on his profile, you can click to accept his team option. 

Yeah, see, my option guys never show up on the pending free agent screen. I even started a side franchise to try it out to see if it was just my current game that was jacked up, but nope. I'll try it again tonight as I think there was a patch since the last time I played. 

[Your Mom]

3 hours ago, Gabriel said:

I would hold out unless they fixed the major issues without telling anyone.

In Franchise, pitchers are being used as DH's by the AI (they broke the game for Ohtani), arbitration isn't working properly (you can re-sign your arbitration eligible guys for less than they were making, which doesn't happen in real life) and the whole contract structure has been screwy because they made the switch, last minute, to real life contract values, but never adjusted how the in-game finances work to make sure that it wouldn't cause any problems... and it's causing problems.

I know that SCEA said they were going to fix those things, but I haven't seen any of that addressed in any of the patch notes yet, so I'm still playing 18. For me specifically, as an almost strictly franchise mode player, those are game breaking issues. The pitchers as DH thing doesn't seem too bad, until you realize that them DHing takes away from their stamina, and thus, a lot of players have experienced issues where starting pitchers can't even make it to the fifth inning because they're too drained.

I only play Franchise. My Cubs team I started on 17 is halfway though a second season with me having played all the games. That fact makes me wonder if I have a life sometimes  

[Gabriel]

12 minutes ago, The Chiksrara Special said:

I only play Franchise. My Cubs team I started on 17 is halfway though a second season with me having played all the games. That fact makes me wonder if I have a life sometimes  

I play at least one game a day on average. I do sim some, but I also play AAA and AA games... and I am far enough in my franchise on MLB 18 now that Vlad Jr is 30 years old. So, 11 or 12 years I think.

Which reminds me... one thing that I would love to see for franchise players, is the ability to sign deals with the minor league teams to be your affiliate at each level. I don't mind that I've been the Blue Jays for a dozen seasons, but it would be nice to mix up which teams are my affiliates so I'm not playing as Buffalo and New Hampshire all the way through as well.

Or, instead, maybe give us the option to create a custom jersey set or two for each team, even if it's just in franchise mode. I'd love to be able to modify the jerseys to keep things fresh.

[Lint]

So guys, how hard is this to get into?  I've only ever played a MLB game once before, one of the older versions of The Show and just couldn't get it.  I was a pitcher and couldn't figure it out.  I wound up having more HBP and wild pitches then strikes or balls thrown.  Haven't tried since, but watching a Youtuber play the new version, the career mode looks fun and I'm tempted to try it again

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

9 hours ago, Lint said:

So guys, how hard is this to get into?  I've only ever played a MLB game once before, one of the older versions of The Show and just couldn't get it.  I was a pitcher and couldn't figure it out.  I wound up having more HBP and wild pitches then strikes or balls thrown.  Haven't tried since, but watching a Youtuber play the new version, the career mode looks fun and I'm tempted to try it again

There are several different types of pitching controls you can use, so I would recommend trying them out and figuring out which one works for you. You can also set the difficulty to "Dynamic difficulty" to start off. It will start you off on the easiest difficulty and raise you up the more successful you are. Once you find a spot you're comfortable at, you can switch to that difficulty level.

[Toe]

It's hard for me to say if it's easy to get into, since I've been buying the game every year since 2010. Still, there are so many options to choose from that if you don't like the game at first, you can find a control scheme that works. My brother and I both play this every day, and we both use totally different controls for pitching and hitting. I used the pitching meter and zone hitting, while he uses pulse pitching and timing for hitting. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

4 minutes ago, Toe said:

It's hard for me to say if it's easy to get into, since I've been buying the game every year since 2010. Still, there are so many options to choose from that if you don't like the game at first, you can find a control scheme that works. My brother and I both play this every day, and we both use totally different controls for pitching and hitting. I used the pitching meter and zone hitting, while he uses pulse pitching and timing for hitting. 

Same. The most annoying thing about getting the new game each year is having my group of friends set up our controls. 

[Your Mom]

Do other teams ever initiate trades with you guys? It seems like I always have to start any kind of trade talk. It's like I will never trade you Rizzo but I'd like to see what kind of crazy offer they might give me

[Meacon Keaton]

April through June maybe every so often, but during the month of July and the Winter Meetings, I feel like I get offered trades every couple days.

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Yes, but they are like the worst trade offers.

I find I get more the later into Franchise I get. I get maybe one or two in Year 1 and then by like Year 4, I'm getting one every few days in July. 

[Meacon Keaton]

3 minutes ago, Ms. Canadian Destroyer said:

Yes, but they are like the worst trade offers.

I find I get more the later into Franchise I get. I get maybe one or two in Year 1 and then by like Year 4, I'm getting one every few days in July. 

“I’ll give you this 27-year old Double-A pitcher with C potential for your 19 year-old A potential shortstop.”

or

”Ill give you this 48 overall prospect for your elite closer.”

Yeah, the best trades only happen when you’re the initiater. 

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Just now, Meacon said:

“I’ll give you this 27-year old Double-A pitcher with C potential for your 19 year-old A potential shortstop.”

or

”Ill give you this 48 overall prospect for your elite closer.”

Yeah, the best trades only happen when you’re the initiater. 

It's weird though because I think everyone once and while the trade finder actually finds a decent deal. Normally you need to edit it a bit but occasionally it's not terrible.

I wish the game knew better than not to trade someone when they are contending. I also feel like the game holds onto elite players when the team should sell. 

[Your Mom]

I have a weird I want to call it a bug too. Once a week my team switches 2 guys between AA and AAA. Like it swaps them and then swaps them right back again. Is this going to hurt me somehow later? It's happened 4 times now

[Meacon Keaton]

I use the trade finder all the time to find pieces. I almost never accept the actual deal but it gives me a player to build the trade around. Then I find pieces that are actually worth acquiring after the foundation is set. 

And yes, the trade logic between CPU teams is whack. I tend to turn it off, especially after seeing the Dodgers, who were like 60-23 going into the All Star break trades Corey Seager (who was hitting around .290 with 20 some homers) for a cluster of prospects.

Just now, The Chiksrara Special said:

I have a weird I want to call it a bug too. Once a week my team switches 2 guys between AA and AAA. Like it swaps them and then swaps them right back again. Is this going to hurt me somehow later? It's happened 4 times now

Do you have roster management set to manual? That shouldn’t be happening unless you automated.

Also, I’ve found that your best prospects tend to progress much better if you keep them in Double A instead of Triple A. I’m assumung because they’re playing against weaker competition and put up better numbers. But it’s not unusual for me to have my three or four best prospects in Double A all season while filling my Triple A club up with minor league free agents.

[Your Mom]

I set it to Auto because I never remember to do anything with the minors otherwise

[Meacon Keaton]

That’s why. I’ve never played with it on auto so I’m not sure how that affects their development. I only make minor league moves at the beginning of the months. I’ll move guys struggling down and those exceeding expectations up, unless as previously stated, they’re my top level prospects and they stay at AA.

[Your Mom]

13 minutes ago, Meacon said:

That’s why. I’ve never played with it on auto so I’m not sure how that affects their development. I only make minor league moves at the beginning of the months. I’ll move guys struggling down and those exceeding expectations up, unless as previously stated, they’re my top level prospects and they stay at AA.

I should try it that way. Before they let you carry over data to the next game I never even cared about the minors but I'll probably play this same franchise for the rest of my life now  

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

Just now, The Chiksrara Special said:

I should try it that way. Before they let you carry over data to the next game I never even cared about the minors but I'll probably play this same franchise for the rest of my life now  

Me too. It's why I wish San Diego Studios would actually put some effort into Franchise mode. I still love it but I can only imagine how good it could be if they actually focused on it.