Reasons Why I Won'T Be Purchasing Mlb 2K11.

[mantis3]

As per the topic description, this is largely to release steam. A lot of these issues have been addressed in other topics, but for my own selfish sake, I will be repeating them.

Gameplay:

1) Where to start? Oh I know, how about the terribly inaccurate pitch selections of AI pitchers. Sliders consistently thrown up and over the plate, by quality pitchers? Sliders on 3-0 and 3-1 counts? Fastballs down the plate on 0-2 counts? It's laughable.

2) Inaccurate break of a lot of pitches, e.g. the slider having barely a recognizable break. Not all sliders break just opposite the throwing arm, many have more of a downward action. Baseball mechanics clearly confuse the dev team at 2K, however. Perhaps more annoying is the circle-change -- not only does 2K have guys like C.C. Sabathia and Johan Santana throwing a straight changeup as opposed to the circle-change they live off of, the break on the circle-change has almost no screwball action. The high fastball, when viewed with the strike zone up on instant replay has sink to it. Are they joking?

3) Don't even think about pitching to contact. If sabremetrics were compiled for 2K, the league average of BABIP would be over .500, I'm guessing.

My Player:

1) Minor-league games grow old by the 2nd inning of the first game. What were they thinking, no commentating? Not to mention the ridiculous names and even more ridiculous skillsets for pitchers. 98 mph sinker coupled with a 78 mph fastball? Did they test anything before they released the game? This carries over to the majors (see point 5, Franchise).

2) Again, touching on baseball mechanics. If my pitcher throws a 100 mph fastball, he is not going to throw a 78 MPH changeup. What's worse, I can't speed the pitch up by spending attributes, only slow it down even further.

3) Why did they include a closing pitcher role, when they clearly have absolutely no clue when real-life managers insert this position? Contrary to 2K's opinion, they do not insert their closer with a man on 2nd and no outs in a 1-run game. They insert them at the start of the 9th inning. You'd be hard-pressed to find a closing pitcher on 2K's simulation engine who pitches more than 40 innings. Additionally (and possibly more frustrating) is the fact that while simulating to my next appearance, I see several games each month that we win by less than 3 runs. This would be understandable had I pitched two or even one game(s) before that, but when I'm on a week break and it's a 1 run game in the 9th, the manager will insert his most reliable relief pitcher. Not to mention all the 1-2 run games my team lost that are attributable to a blown save in the 9th by someone other than the closer.

4) According to the patch notes (you know, that elusive thing we waited 3 months for?), they fixed the option to enable/disable the spotlight option. This is the oh-so-annoying "clutch moment" zoom-in that is full of bugs and makes me want my player to never find himself in such a situation.

Franchise:

1) Contracts: yes, 2K sports, they do in fact exist in the realm of baseball. And no, players like Cliff Lee and Prince Fielder are not going to sign 5 yr., $14 million contracts in the year 2011. Maybe 2K is expecting a massive deflation period, a la the 1930's?

2) Juan Pierre will never hit 3 HR in a season. Juan Pierre will never hit 10 HR in a season. And yes, Juan Pierre will never hit 15+ HR in a season.

3) Cy Young winners consistently having under 210 IP, and an ERA over 3.00. This leaves me wondering if they even tested the simulation engine? I'd wager a "no" there, considering it's the same as 2K9.

4) I have a sneaking suspicion that when they try to lower a pitcher's overall rating (i.e. B.J. Ryan's decreased overall from 2009 to 2010), they only raise their "BB allowed" stat under player tendencies. Without testing, I'll once again wager a guess that this has absolutely no relevance to their year-end statistics.

5) Spring Training and mid-season draft and September callups. Great, 2K adding more cosmetic features that only serves to decrease playability. How is that possible? Easy, 40-man roster automation. We've all seen how terrible 2K is at generating lineups (Mark Reynolds batting lead-off for the D-Backs in 2011? hahahaha), but it's even worse when they have 55 overall starting pitchers who can't throw a strike in the rotation or the bullpen in the year 2010.

I'm sure I missed another 2,010 glitches/bugs/inconsistencies that make this game near-awful, but 2K's track record shows that constructive criticism falls on deaf ears. The only thing that keeps me playing this game through this year's baseball season is the amazing modding group we have here and at other modding sites.

[MarkB]

I think I can safely say 2K11 will be 2K's last chance for me, unless there is a significant improvement - not in the game, but in them listening to the customers. If every single one of the bugs I mentioned to Ron prior to patch 1, as well as the ones after it, aren't fixed, it'll most likely be a failure, IMO.

I couldn't be happier to say that I've never purchased a 2K game.

[RoSmecher]

i didn't read your whole rant, because i don't like reading novels.

anyway from the point that people always complain about AI pitchers.. try setting the difficulty higher, then you won't complain about winning all the time or the pitches being too easy. difficulty does change gameplay or at least where pitches are thrown for sure.

[Yankee4Life]

i didn't read your whole rant, because i don't like reading novels.

In one post mantis3 has made more sense and has contributed more to this website than you ever will.

Please do not be afraid to express your thoughts in the future mantis3. I am sure that there are a lot of people here like me that did not mind reading your post that do not have attention deficit disorder that are able to read and follow a post that has more than 35 words in it.

You made a lot of good points in it. Thank you!

[maxbjr]

Thanks for your concise and intelligent review mantis3. I bought 2K9 and found it unplayable, and with reviews similar to yours, I didn't bother wasting money on 2K10. Sad to think that a 5, nearly 6 year old half-way patched to 2010 version of MVP2005 still blows away a new, patched 2K10 game. Maybe the people of 2K Games will wake up and see whats going on one day, but I think it will be too late by then.

[laroquece]

In one post mantis3 has made more sense and has contributed more to this website than you ever will.

BULLS EYE Y4L :clapping:

[Mike Z]

2K Sports sucks. There's nothing much else to say. They don't care about their games like they used to and they have the means to make a great baseball game, but they continue to fail.

I still firmly believe they have to scrap the current graphics and physics engine for a newer one. It doesn't appropriately fit a baseball video game for this era.. and.. they need to pay more attention to detail because there are some things in MLB 2K10 that make absolutely no sense at all. Take the home run derby for example. Why would the developers have the camera snap back to the batter just as the ball you hit is about to land ? They didn't think we wanna see our HRs land ? That makes no sense. How about how there's 3 mini rounds in one round ? 3 outs, 3 outs, then a 4 out mini round ? Why !?!? Just make it standard 10 out rounds for Christ's sake. That's just the home run derby part of the game, so imagine the rest of it.

[Williamsburg]

Thanks for your concise and intelligent review mantis3. I bought 2K9 and found it unplayable, and with reviews similar to yours, I didn't bother wasting money on 2K10. Sad to think that a 5, nearly 6 year old half-way patched to 2010 version of MVP2005 still blows away a new, patched 2K10 game. Maybe the people of 2K Games will wake up and see whats going on one day, but I think it will be too late by then.

Greetings my fellow MLBers This is my first post on this site as I've been a lurker for years quietly playing and enjoying the wonderful contribution of our modders and the candid exchanges between those who dwell here. Mantis3 does make some excellent points and I find myself torn as to whether I should play on with 2K10 or walk over to my slow computer where High Heat 2K4 lives and just crank it up. I'm four games away from the All Star break only to find that I may have another collision with 2k10 and the potential All Star game issue. When our (PC) patch came out, I felt like we had once again been beguiled by the folks at 2k. For all the information that was forwarded and the time people tested and re-tested and exposed flaw after flaw which amounted to many pages of concerns...we received crumbs yet again. I sometimes wonder if the development team at 2K glances at the empire many of you have created with MVP2005 with your endless contributions of unis, teams and stadiums and are reluctant to make things "EASIER," because if they did that, the potential for modders to "not really need them," would be greatly increased with the modded 2KMLB taking on a life of its own like MVP or Nascar 2k3.

Just some thoughts...I want to believe that next year 2K will deliver a superior game for all genres including PC wonderland. Perhaps we should all become avatar free agents and hold out until the game is right. Then again many of us have played baseball and its hard to ignore the smell of leather in the spring. Remember to run out your ground balls! ;)

[MarkB]

Greetings my fellow MLBers This is my first post on this site as I've been a lurker for years quietly playing and enjoying the wonderful contribution of our modders and the candid exchanges between those who dwell here. Mantis3 does make some excellent points and I find myself torn as to whether I should play on with 2K10 or walk over to my slow computer where High Heat 2K4 lives and just crank it up. I'm four games away from the All Star break only to find that I may have another collision with 2k10 and the potential All Star game issue. When our (PC) patch came out, I felt like we had once again been beguiled by the folks at 2k. For all the information that was forwarded and the time people tested and re-tested and exposed flaw after flaw which amounted to many pages of concerns...we received crumbs yet again. I sometimes wonder if the development team at 2K glances at the empire many of you have created with MVP2005 with your endless contributions of unis, teams and stadiums and are reluctant to make things "EASIER," because if they did that, the potential for modders to "not really need them," would be greatly increased with the modded 2KMLB taking on a life of its own like MVP or Nascar 2k3.

Just some thoughts...I want to believe that next year 2K will deliver a superior game for all genres including PC wonderland. Perhaps we should all become avatar free agents and hold out until the game is right. Then again many of us have played baseball and its hard to ignore the smell of leather in the spring. Remember to run out your ground balls!

And with posts like that, I wholeheartedly hope you decide to post more. Very nice job! :good:

[Williamsburg]

And with posts like that, I wholeheartedly hope you decide to post more. Very nice job!

Thanks MarkB ! I actually enjoyed peeking out from behind my attic door... that first step is always the most difficult! I appreciate the time you and the rest of the staff put in to make this site user friendly. :D

[MilkmanAnt]

I really hope they don't make it for PC, so the people that are on the fence on buying it won't be disappointed when the game turns out to be a disappointment.

[tks]

I really hope they don't make it for PC, so the people that are on the fence on buying it won't be disappointed when the game turns out to be a disappointment.

To each his own but I respectfully disagree with this big time!

The more baseball games for PC users the better....One day, there won't be any PC baseball and then we'll all be complaining how manufacturers have forgotten the PC gamers.

Hope there is a 2k11 game for PC as well as any other PC baseball that MLB might allow. I know we all bow down to MVP because of all the great mods that are available but it is old....2k10 has its flaws for sure but if future productions are made so they are more mod friendly, then we'll have something to look forward to.

I say......More baseball games for the PC and if 2kSports is the sole producer approved by MLB, fine...Bring it on!

[DonSPa]

the big problem is theres not enough competition to strive to make games better than the other company.When theres 1 or 2 companies making them then they can have a flawed game and know that people will buy each year in hopes that it gets better.Dont get me wrong but i like 2k10 but it still makes me want more in the game.And as one who has modded ,theres areas i wish we could control and do even better.

[MarkB]

Thanks MarkB ! I actually enjoyed peeking out from behind my attic door... that first step is always the most difficult! I appreciate the time you and the rest of the staff put in to make this site user friendly.

Users like yourself are the ones we do it for. :)

[kenrohoro]

MLB2k10 is my first game into the 2k franchise and on one side I'm happy that there's ways to mod and edit the game with the help of all of you here on this forum, but as Mantis3 pointed out in his OP, it's very frustrating to play the game. My main gripes are the overcomplexity of the controls and bad AI (Manager and player).

I have a feeling 2k10 will sit on my HDD for the occasional fun mod + exhibition game and I'll be going back to the Powerful Pro Baseball series for the PS3... although it is primarily NPB and the MLB incarnations are a niche.

[RoSmecher]

So all you haters are not buying MLB 2k11.. that's fine, but let's remember what happened other sports franchises on PC.

Madden 08, fans complained a lot, EA said you know what we don't even make lots of money off Madden 08 for PC, not making it anymore.

NHL 08, not making it anymore.

so what i'm just saying is, it's cool that all you hate MLB 2k10 for not listening to your little lives and ideas, but who will pick up the slack??

no one will and we will end up modding MLB 2k10 in 2015 meanwhile Yankee4Life will continue to be a fan boy of MVP 05 and still accuse everyone of piracy.

mad weak

[angryrat]

...Please do not be afraid to express your thoughts.....

You lost me.... too long of a reply.

[Kayxero]

Dang guys....I was just about to buy 2k10 this week and try out some mods. I figured I couldnt judge it simply on the demo or console versions and a few games. I thought maybe sitting with it for a few weeks may win me over.

However, as some of you may know from my previous posts regarding the next gen baseball games, I have griped about fielding (total user control) and bat to ball timing physics.

I mean do any of the mods for 2k10 fix this or all these glitches you all speak of?

Because Ive heard plenty talk about how limited modding is compared to MVP. Seems to me that all it is are rosters and Uni's. No true gameplay mods.

So should I take the plunge? is the gameplay better than MVP? or should I wait for 2k11 with you guys?

[Yankee4Life]

You lost me.... too long of a reply.

Hahahahaahaha. You make me laugh man!

[mantis3]

i didn't read your whole rant, because i don't like reading novels.

anyway from the point that people always complain about AI pitchers.. try setting the difficulty higher, then you won't complain about winning all the time or the pitches being too easy. difficulty does change gameplay or at least where pitches are thrown for sure.

Have you even played the game? It doesn't matter what difficulty you have it on, they still have terrible terrible pitch selection. And on top of that, aside from editing minor league rosters, you'll never get around the 98 MPH sinker coupled with a 78 MPH fastball. That's just ****-poor we-don't-care game design.

And to the person who brought up 2K scrapping the game for PC: that's fine, maybe we'll get a real developer to claim the rights. Besides, all of these problems exist on the console in my limited experience there (friend has it), so it's not like we're strictly referring to the PC here.

I feel like most of the fixes are easy things to do, it just comes down to 2K not caring (or not knowing?) about realism.

[RAstley]

My first post, been lurking around as well, just found this site actually, first time playing an MLB game on PC. Using the Windows 360 controller.

I think you bring up good points OP.

For me, there's no choice, since I only have an Xbox 360 or PC, so I'll probably get 2k11.

Bugs I've encountered and still encounter even after the fix:

- AI still sometimes don't tag up

- AI will try to steal a base with a runner already on base in front of them (maybe some sort of goal for a double steal? Though I never had the goal appear)

- Super lightning tags. I'll be within a few inches of the bag and the fielder will have barely received the ball and he tags me in fractions of a second... I am sorry, but I've never seen a real person do this.

- Clunky fielding

- Clunky batting

- Commentary lags behind the action of the game

- A lot of wrong commentary, I get a base hit with a man on second, but the runner stops at third but commentators say I got an RBI basehit

- Goals achieved when I really didn't get them, hit into a FC and get the goal to get hit...

- Still after patch, pitcher is pulled in 6 innings while throwing a no-hitter? LOL

And many bugs that you mentioned as well.

BUT THE BIGGEST GRIPE I HAVE... WHERE THE HELL DID THE OPTION TO PLAY ON THE SAME TEAM GO? Me and my friend used to since who god knows how long ago always played a franchise on the same team and would divvy up the positions and players... but that's gone now too. Sigh.

MLB 2k has been a disaster. I rented MLB 2k7 which wasn't bad, I bought MLB 2k8 (and I traded in some game to get it, Grand Theft Auto IV which I didn't like that much, but probably would have played it more, 2k8 was a complete joke), and again rented MLB 2k9 (LOLLOLOL, now that was a horrible game)... MLB 2k10 I bought as well because it actually was decent, but just so many nagging bugs and of course the biggest missing pieces, no injuries or errors... like really, if you buy exclusive rights to something, please try harder.

/rant

Though one cool feature I'd like to see, but I doubt they'd have to time, to incorporate a way with Xbox 360 and Kinect to make my own batting stances for myself or even import my own face into the game! and somehow make it possible for pc as well lol...

[Yankee4Life]

Welcome to the website RAstley and I would also like to say that was a great first post. I don't play 2k10 and I didn't play or buy 2k9 but I have read in here all about the problems that people have had with these games and that was enough for me to avoid them.

What amazes me is that even after the failures of 2k9 and 2k10 that there still will be a lot of people ready to buy 2k11 the first day it is for sale next year despite of all the problems that have never been fixed. It's obvious to me that 2k does not pay attention to the baseball gamers and are comfortable with just releasing whatever they want to and if game play quality suffers, so be it.

This is why I stick with Mvp.

[RAstley]

Well, so many people will buy 2k11 is they don't have an option other than to play a soon to be 6 year old game or drop almost $400 for a PS3 and a copy of the show. Even though the game play of MVP might be amazing, not perfect, but good, some people like myself have been spoiled with updated graphics wanted updated stuff just can't do it nor want to have to rely on tons of mods to outfit it with current stuff.

MLB 2k10 has a lot of flaws, stuff that could have been fixed, but I understand the time frame they are forced to make a game in, granted, they can't just throw that excuse around for everything, since if they really, really cared they could iron out most of the bugs and have things in like injuries and errors. I still can't understand or fathom how something as significant as those 2 things were completely missed, and hopefully its fixed next year.

I am being overly optimistic though because to my knowledge the exclusivity deal ends in 2012 unless a new contract is inked or I missed something somewhere else, so the next two MLB series need to hit the mark or no one will buy a 2k baseball game ever again, and a lot have already, and if other game makers can go back to making baseball games, like EA's MVP then they'll have a large base already to those who have given up with 2k.

On a side note:

I played ASB 2005 to death and that game had many flaws, I got so good, that I was able to play on the hardest difficulty with no indicators, strike zone and other handicaps, and still dominated. Many bugs included bunts to home runs - hitting a ball and fielder would never field it (lol bunt in the park homeruns), fielders using the force - literally a ball 20 feet away from them would instantly warp into their glove, WAAAAAY too many All-Star type plays - you have nobodies making the most amazing plays and robbing home runs, but other than that, it was a great game imo. I miss Acclaim =(

[Vizion24]

2k9 was terrible. I bought it, and played it a total of 2 times (I played it with friends playing retarded, since the game requires no skill at all to win).

2k10 was decent, but nowhere close to real. If you want real baseball, stick to MLB The Show or go watch it on live TV.

[Yankee4Life]

2k9 was terrible. I bought it, and played it a total of 2 times (I played it with friends playing retarded, since the game requires no skill at all to win).

2k10 was decent, but nowhere close to real. If you want real baseball, stick to MLB The Show or go watch it on live TV.

Have you ever heard of Mvp baseball or were you brought up in a sheltered environment? I mean this is a Mvp site. Ever hear of that?

My God.

I am not saying anymore. :mad: