Hitting needs work.

[gambler1180]

First of all let me say I do love this game and am happy to see the franchise improve as much as it has. With that being said I still think that too much control is given to the sliders. Case in point the PITCHER DIFFICULTY slider. What is the point in it? If a pitcher is good then his fastballs should be faster, his curve balls curve more and his change ups be more deceptive, their for making him harder to hit. Also why is there a FOUL BALL FREQUENCY slider shouldn’t that be decided by your timing and the location of the pitch. I wish 2k would use something similar to what was used in college baseball where if it is inside you have to pull it if it outside take it the other way. If you tried to pull an outside pitch you hit a little grounder to short. All in all 2k has this game moving in the right direction I just hope that work on the hitting interface a little more.

[sleepytercel]

Compared to 2K7's completely random hitting calculations, this years revised system is a huge step in the right direction. Also, in my opinion, these sliders still exist for those who feel that they could still use tweaking. I understand what you are saying, but each user has a different way that they play and also carry different skill levels. These sliders make it possible to adjust the game to their game style so they can set the game to their perception of what "realistic" is.

[QuietStud25]

I agree on a couple of things here. There does need to be more deception on pitches, and a lot more speed change. Because hitting is all about timing in this game, if the pitches are all thrown close to the same speed then its easy to hit ANYBODY. Fastballs should be harder and changeups should be slower... I've played minor league baseball for 7 years. I've faced Ubaldo Jiminez, Felix Rodriguez when they were 19 throwing 98/99 and theres NO way if you were looking curveball could you hit the fastball or vice versa.. you don't have time to make up your mind to swing. you're swinging until you realize its not your pitch. Those guys are FREAK NASTY!!! a lot more so than this game portrays!!
they need to add a hard hit percentage... hitters should hit based on this. not "if its in the stike zone and you time it out then its gone." Hitting is HARD. Hitting homeruns is even harder. just because its thrown over the middle of the plate doesnt' mean its hit hard somewhere!! unless your dealing with pujols, bonds or some freaks like that.

[soldaderyan]

o_O good post quiet

[Bobby Smithy]

Off topic, but in the same direction QuietStud is going. Just because a pitch is over the plate doesn't mean it is hit hard AND just because a pitcher has bad control doesn't mean a mistake pitch is DEAD CENTER over the plate. How come a mistake pitch "meatball" can't be a ball? Even a wild pitch?

[QuietStud25]

You're right...Usually if a ball gets away from a pitcher it DRILLS the hitter or goes to the backstop. I guess they want to make the pitcher pay for mistakes which is ok I guess in a video game. it would be little better if sometimes it just Crushed the hitter though. Pay for it by putting runners on base.

[soldaderyan]

i have like 7-8 strikeouts, when i pitch a meatball :D

[QuietStud25]

Whatever happened to that idea they used a few years ago when you had to move the sweetspot curser to the ball and swing to hit. was it All-star baseball? I kind of liked that. it was more challenging. the tougher the difficulty, the smaller the sweet spot. Or maybe give players the option to do THAT AND how it is now. I just think its too easy to hit PERIOD.

[QuietStud25]

you ought to be able to saw more hitters off than you do as well

[reyes the roof]

I just wish they would fix the strike zone. I have to swing at just about every pitch because unless it bounces in the dirt it will probably be called a strike

[QuietStud25]

I like how the umpires will call it on the black every once in a while. makes it realistic

[jeffy777]

First of all let me say I do love this game and am happy to see the franchise improve as much as it has. With that being said I still think that too much control is given to the sliders. Case in point the PITCHER DIFFICULTY slider. What is the point in it? If a pitcher is good then his fastballs should be faster, his curve balls curve more and his change ups be more deceptive, their for making him harder to hit. Also why is there a FOUL BALL FREQUENCY slider shouldn’t that be decided by your timing and the location of the pitch. I wish 2k would use something similar to what was used in college baseball where if it is inside you have to pull it if it outside take it the other way. If you tried to pull an outside pitch you hit a little grounder to short. All in all 2k has this game moving in the right direction I just hope that work on the hitting interface a little more.

Totally agree. I am a big fan of using sliders, but those two sliders (PITCHER DIFFICULTY and FOUL BALL FREQUENCY) shouldn't be in the game. The ability to hit off of good pitchers should just be deided by how well you swing (and your batter's abilities to some extent) and then foul balls should be all about timing and pitch location.

[EddieVt]

I just wish they would fix the strike zone. I have to swing at just about every pitch because unless it bounces in the dirt it will probably be called a strike

I have played about 60 games in my franchise on all-star without touching the sliders. When I started the computer threw all strikes. I started swinging at everything, now that I am pretty far along it is very common for the computer to start off throwing two balls. I think that it is the A.I. picking up on my tendencies. I could be wrong but I am drawing a cuople walks a game now.

[QuietStud25]

I think having a good eye is a fun part about playing the computer. I don't want somebody to just lay it in there for me. challenge me.

[jeffy777]

I just wish they would fix the strike zone. I have to swing at just about every pitch because unless it bounces in the dirt it will probably be called a strike

Yes, the strike zone seems a bit too big. If you watch real MLB games, the umps are usually more strict on how big the zone is and they have a tighter zone in real life. It seems too tall in 2K8, and then if the pitch just barely nips the edge, they always call it a strike in 2K8, but in real baseball, it would probably be called a ball atleast some of the time.

[reyes the roof]

Yes, the strike zone seems a bit too big. If you watch real MLB games, the umps are usually more strict on how big the zone is and they have a tighter zone in real life. It seems too tall in 2K8, and then if the pitch just barely nips the edge, they always call it a strike in 2K8, but in real baseball, it would probably be called a ball atleast some of the time.
I remember the strike zone being a lot more variable last year

[reyes the roof]

I think having a good eye is a fun part about playing the computer. I don't want somebody to just lay it in there for me. challenge me.
I don't want pitches right down the middle every time, but when I have the strike zone turned on I shouldn't see pitches that clearly miss the zone consistently called as strikes. Once in a while is fine, but the way it currently is makes me too defensive

[gambler1180]

Compared to 2K7's completely random hitting calculations, this years revised system is a huge step in the right direction. Also, in my opinion, these sliders still exist for those who feel that they could still use tweaking. I understand what you are saying, but each user has a different way that they play and also carry different skill levels. These sliders make it possible to adjust the game to their game style so they can set the game to their perception of what "realistic" is.

I agree that some sliders are needed but in the case of the two that I stated I see no real need for them. If a pitcher throws a curve call on the outside corner and I wait on it time it right and take it the other way then I should be rewarded for it. But with these two sliders it makes me feel that sometimes even if I do everything right I won’t get rewarded for it. Also what is considered a GOOD PITCHER is an 80 a good pitcher or is a 90, and if that pitcher with a 90 overall rating has a pitch that’s rated a 50 does that still make that pitch harder to hit?

[UTDevilDog]

Yes, the strike zone seems a bit too big. If you watch real MLB games, the umps are usually more strict on how big the zone is and they have a tighter zone in real life. It seems too tall in 2K8, and then if the pitch just barely nips the edge, they always call it a strike in 2K8, but in real baseball, it would probably be called a ball atleast some of the time.

I find myself getting pinched with the strike zone when pitching. I get a handful of high pitches called as strikes each game, but I get way more pitches on the corners called for balls. And I rarely ever get anything low called a strike, even if it's right at the knees.

I find the strike zone pretty good though. I've seen umps in the MLB call strikes on anything close and I've seen some that leave the strike zone about as big as a Hallmark card, lol.