MLB 2K11 News and Info

[BDSooner72]

Ahh good to hear. I like the fast pace w/o all the cut-scenes so I am going to do some tinkering there.

[Ted]

Well this is the first time I have ever started the game with a 400+ ft HR with my leadoff batter.  Then my cleanup hitter yanked one out even farther.  I will either need to play with the Pirates (was using the Rangers) or bump up a difficulty level from pro.  The jaggies are really annoying on the players shadows, even in the cut scenes they are there.  One annoyance I had was a player stole a base and it went into this matrix style slowdown as the runner slid into second base.  I do really enjoy that camera view when you hit the ball. Not really into the default camera on defense.  Will need to lower it a bit. 


Oh and I did end up with two copies of the game.  Will wait and see if Amazon says something, if not I will gladly send the other copy to someone (all I ask is you pay the shipping).

Brent, I'll probably buy that extra copy off of you if Amazon doesn't say anything.  I'll give you more than just shipping though.  One caveat....I bought a reciprocating saw from Amazon during the summer and they sent me two by mistake.  Didn't charge me for one and I put it on the shelf not knowing what to do with it.  3 months later Porter Cable calls me and asks me about it I say its still in the box.  They say we'll pay for you to ship it back or you can have it at cost.  I say how much is cost they say 28 or something like that so I paid the 28.  So......maybe in a few months you might get a call?

[Brad Company]

Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

[Jason]

If Amazon doesn't catch it immediately, you'll probably be fine. They double shipped my Xbox Live card but caught the mistake today. I've had several other occasions where things were double-shipped and they never caught it. Ted, was your order through Amazon directly or a third-party seller on their site?

Brad, I've heard a few people complain about the AI issues but I almost expect some of that in any game. In the games I've played, the CPU has pinch hit, pinch run and made pitching changes at the proper times. I haven't touched Franchise Mode yet, so I couldn't tell you about roster management.

[BDSooner72]

It is yours. Just let me know where/how you want it sent. No need to pay extra, I can always BS Amazon on what I did with the extra copy (gave it to the local kids hospital, which I actually have done in the past). Since it was bought through Amazon and not a third party selling on Amazon, it should not be an issue.

[Jason]

Brad, I've heard a few people complain about the AI issues but I almost expect some of that in any game. In the games I've played, the CPU has pinch hit, pinch run and made pitching changes at the proper times. I haven't touched Franchise Mode yet, so I couldn't tell you about roster management.

Having said that, I believe the game will need a good, second patch to make it a great game. The good news is that all the complaints "should" be fixable in a patch. Hopefully 2K takes their time and delivers a solid second patch to fix all the issues cropping up.

[Jason]

MLB 2k11 Patch Notes

GENERAL
-  Fix a crash that sometimes occurred when players were waiting at home plate to celebrate with other teammates that are about to cross home plate.

-  Fix a crash that would occur if there was an empty slot on the pitching rotation screen and the user was changing through players on the playercard.

-  Fix a soft hang when the user disconnects the controller during the coach’s clipboard.

-  Fix crash caused by players assigning or trading players on the DL.

-  Fix a crash during the Postseason caused by the user adjusting lineups for teams that were no longer playing.

-  Fix problem where players signature batting or pitching animations were not always being loaded.

-  Fix problem where a hit ball would go through the pitching screen in Home Run Derby.

-  Fix a problem that was preventing the adjusted ratings from being shown on the pitcher’s pitch breakdown dialog accessed off the player card.

ONLINE & MLB Today
-  Fix a crash when the host views a 2K Sports Profile and the client accepts a game invite for a postseason match up.

-  Fix a divergence when user play against each other twice with a user entering then exiting another league between the 1st and 2nd match for any online league.

-  Fix problem caused by having created teams and downloading multiple living season rosters and editing players on your team multiple times.

-  Fix so the adjusted player ratings show on the player card within MLB Today games.

-  Fix uncommon problem where the Dynamic Player Rating System could be deactivated incorrectly on some days during the Minor League Postseason games.

-  Fix bug where the user is unable to upload snapshots or video (they get an "upload aborted" prompt when done uploading) when using the upload features from the replay menu in any game mode.

FRANCHISE
-  Fix a rare crash at the end of the draft when teams were signing players.

-  Fix a bug on the trade notification dialog where the level of the organization instead of the player was being displayed for each team. Everyone was shown as being in the MLB instead of MLB, AAA, AA, or A.

-  Fix problem where the AI was signing free agents to multi-year contracts when they were only intended to cover a shortage due to a serious DL injury.

-  Additional pages of information to the 2K Franchise Handbook to help players understand the new features and functionality in Franchise Mode.

-  Adjust text on the informational dialog that is shown the first time go to the Schedule screen to also explains the Hot/Cold icons and point the player to the new pages of information in the 2K GM Handbook.

-  Fix problem with new pitcher draftee’s being given in appropriate potential ratings based on their pitch arsenal.

-  Improve the distribution of the player potential within the new draftee class to ensure that years in the future the league has the correct balance of player skill.

-  Adjusted the decrease for a pitcher’s fastball when they are declining in their career.  Greatly improves player regression for older pitchers.

-  Fix problem where the player potential was not properly updating as player’s declined near the end of the careers.

-  Fix uncommon problem on the Postseason task list where the AI was not properly automating the tasks when requested.

-  Fix problem with contract amounts that was causing some low budget teams to occasionally run out of money 10+ years into the franchise.

-  Fix bug that was causing the AI to incorrectly resign position players that had expired contracts even if the team had enough players at the position.

-  Fix problem that caused left handed throwing players that were substituted into the catcher role would catch the ball with their bare hand.

GAMEPLAY
-  Improve the transitions between animations when running on the base path.

-  Fix uncommon problem that caused the base runner to run out of the base path.

-  Fix a rare problem that had the pitcher come to bat with his fielding glove still on his hand.

-  Fix so catchers are now playing the proper cut/change direction animations.

-  Fix problem where player would start to throw the ball but would not release the ball.

-  Fix problem where AI backup players would sometimes run into the player catching a fly ball.

-  Fix to the AI throw intensity calculation so they chose an appropriate throw based on the situation.

-  Fix problems where the player would go part way through a wall while making a catch or throw.

-  Fix problem where the player was playing the incorrect wall climb for the height of the wall.

-  Improve the wall climb detection so wall climbs are more likely to play if the ball is possibly playable.

-  Fix problem that would sometimes cause the catcher to stand up to move location between pitches.

-  Fix uncommon problem where the catcher would not catch a pitchout from the pitcher.

-  Improve the cutoff man location and appearance. Sometimes the cutoff man would twitch in location.

-  Fix problems with diving tags not transitioning properly.

-  Fix problem with the wrong player (Pitcher vs Catcher) was being selected on bunts causing frequently missed plays.

-  Fix for uncommon situations where the first baseman would not perform a basestomp when they should.

-  Fix problem where the Human Pitch Control Slider was incorrectly adjusting the pitch accuracy calculation.

-  Fix rare problem where a base runner would be moved to the next base when the play ended.

-  Fix problem where sometimes the substitution commentary would not play.

-  Fixed an uncommon problem where the player would slide without playing an animation to a location to make a catch.

-  Fix a rare bug where the same batter comes to bat after the pitcher was injured while on offense.

-  Fix problem where are few pitcher’s gesture for the Splitter did not match the art gesture shown.

-  Fix problem where high stamina pitchers energy was not being calculated properly.

-  Fix problem where fastballs were incorrectly being limited to 99 MPH

MY PLAYER
-  Fix an uncommon problem where the AI would attempt to steal to the base the My Player was occupying.

Hi MLB 2K fans,
As is the standard policy, when we release a patch, we  release notes for you guys to see the tweaks that have been made. We had  a Day One Patch release yesterday in time for MLB 2K11 Launch Day. Hope  you are enjoying the game and the patch only further enhances your  gameplay. The dev team and I are continuing to monitor feedback for a  future patch in the coming weeks. Thank you!

- Ronnie2K

[BDSooner72]

Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

I doubt I would even notice half of the things he sees.  I am not a big baseball guy and will spend more time playing the game than watching the real thing. Most people spend the first few days picking a game apart and forget to actually have some fun.

[Brad Company]

Cool;I'll end up with it via Gamefly at some point after the patch,mainly to play you guys.

[BDSooner72]

Cool;I'll end up with it via Gamefly at some point after the patch,mainly to play you guys.

Well that is where there might be a slight problem.  Baseball games, since the inception of online gaming, have been pretty unplayable. Every year we try it and after one game go back to playing offline.

I am always game to give it a try but I would not keep my hopes up for an enjoyable experience.  The slightest lag makes hitting a guessing game. It is like trying to kick or punt in NCAA Football 07 online, you just guessed and hoped for the best.

[Jason]

The online play in 2K10 was much better than the previous games. Everything but batting worked well, but unfortunately, batting is a pretty big part of baseball.

[Jason]

I actually stole a base which is something I never did once with 2K10  .

[BDSooner72]

Call me crazy but "My Player" is pretty darn fun.  I never played it last year so it is all fresh.  Playing as a CF and the only thing that takes getting used to is the reverse throwing buttons.  I may not even play a franchise, just exhibitions and stick with this.

[Ted]

Oh geez;http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/08/mlb-2k11-quick-first-day-impressions#more-37518

Is the AI really as bad as he says?

I'm don't want to discount what he says because I haven't played it yet, but I will say that 2k series does have some issues with how it uses its pitchers in the national league.  I use Seattle and I think everyone here uses an AL team so it probably doesn't get noticed much, but when I play interleague I notice that the game doesn't always pinch hit for the pitcher when you expect it to.

His comment about a reliever being in for four innings might not be a big deal.  It really depends on pitch count and if he is a typical free swinging video game player four innings might mean 25 to 30 pitches.  2k series has done a great job of incorporating pitch count and the play by play guys comment constantly about where we are in the pitch count, starters reaching 80, middle relievers hitting 45, closers hitting 30, any pitch count of over 20 in a single inning.

If you look at his scoreboard it's all goose eggs it's not like that reliever faced a lot of batters.  Now if that pitch count was over 45 AND they didn't pinch hit, yeah its a problem.

The comment about the position player being on the mound after a pinch hit?  Previous versions prompt you to sub in your pitcher.  It might look funny, but it's not a bug..just how they implement the substitution.  2k's problem there is they don't allow you to sub a pitcher during your batting half of the inning.  You must wait until you are in the field to make a pitcher for pitcher substitution which has always bugged me because it forces you to micromanage your bullpen even more closely than real life.  It's not like a real player has to be told when he is warmed up and to quit throwing.

[Jason]

The most important thing I can say is that the game is simply fun. I find myself wanting to play it throughout the day and unfortunately I can't.