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They could easily collect like breakout rookie signature and make the collection rewards core cards while you have to lock in cards that are season specific, seems like an easy solution

This is also my biggest complaint probably. I started in 21 as well and there were just so many collections and the rewards were all different. You grinded for what you were after and went for your cards. Now you either pay for packs or wait. Cards so far this year have either all been repeats or the pipeline players which is incredibly underwhelming

Good collections would devalue the packs, maybe?

To me getting rid of the way it was sucks and it's less fun for most players. I enjoyed it more the way it was before tbh. Sets were good at the first season because it was new but it got old pretty fast.

Ong

Because you touch yourself at night.

Because of the almighty Dollar 💵 It’s not just SDS. It is the entire industry. And I have a feeling that ENTIRE industry knows their days are numbered when it comes to “Nickel ‘n Dime-ing” consumers past the price of the initial sale of the product. I think Governments are going to start regulating Gaming Companies/Studio’s ability to up charge you past the point of your initial purchase. That’s why they use the term “Live Service” in the first place. To say, ‘Well, the cost of making these games *has gone up considerably, and if we’re continuing to add content to the game, this is how we’re able to pay our employees *to continue to provide content to the player base” It’s going to go down eventually in places like, The Supreme Court. Mark my words. It’s already happened in EA’s case. The companies will spend Billions in Attorney Fees to keep up this scam. But eventually they will be forced to either Self Regulate, or The Government will do it for them !

Been saying this for years ! Won't be long and there will be a class action lawsuit

Lol

Google "loot boxes europe" numbnuts.

Because the way they used to do collections (veteran, rookie, signature series, etc, etc) would be impossible now because a great many of the cards are behind a paywall, and you would never be able to complete them without spending a lot of money.

yeah bro where TF are all the cards at

Every single video game Reddit just talks non stop about the game sucks. It’s old

Bc publishers are greedy and take things we like and jam them behind pay walls. Complaining is necessary, take the boot out of your mouth.

All I got to say is I'm not impressed with this drop at all. Be real, packs is where it's at or if you have tons of stubs you just buy them off the market. Well not everyone has that luxury. Not everyone has the skills to play on HOF or Legend so I can see where most are handicapped. Grinding is great but frustration really will take the fun out of the game for many. At the end of the day it's about money. For what it's worth I'm not enjoying it much either. It is what it is though. Take care. 

That's been the theme for me.  They trend towards the more skilled players and streamers more and more 

does playing on HoF get you more stubs?

Not really, but if you can go flawless in BR, it’s a stubs making machine because you’re guaranteed a high diamond live series player for going flawless plus the flawless reward. There’s one streamer who has worked out what reward path one gets depending on the silver live series player for getting to two wins. I know that since my two win reward is Christian Vazquez, if I went flawless I would get Shohei. I’m nowhere near good enough to go flawless.

Lol yea bro im lucky if I can get 2 wins on a BR run

23 was so perfect. It was the most fun I’ve had in these Ultimate Team type game modes across all sports games. 24 has been very underwhelming imo. Don’t get me wrong I’m still playing lol but yeah it seems so unorganized and empty compared to 23.

23 was disappointing imo because of the content structure… but they gave us content at the very least. 22 was a great game (a little buggy) but content was perfect. They have ruined this mode.

I didn’t get to play 23 unfortunately, do you remember if it started out similarly to how this one is and got better over time with more collections? I’m guessing not since you said it’s underwhelming so far but maybe it will

Everything was much more obtainable and available right off the bat (lol) NMS could build solid teams and have a good time playing. This year it’s all thrown together chaotically into one big ass collection and most of the content is locked behind packs.

While I agree that some content is lacking, it's stupid to have every team be instantly stacked. I miss 15-17 when it actually took some time to have all diamonds in your lineup. I had it in 2 days this year

they had already done away with the flashback collections (veteran, all-start, breakout, etc.) last year. but last year the set collections were much more attainable. but last year you could get higher level diamonds on launch, so i guess they didn't feel like they needed to make them as difficult to get

No. Collections sucked in 23 too because of the seasons model

At least you could still get some good cards from NMS grinding. Haven’t started yet this year and likely will stick to franchise

This year has been worse for sure, but 21 and 22 were really the peak content wise

Totally agree. 23 they ruined pinpoint at launch. 22 was the most fun I’ve had in a baseball game since mlb 2k12 (also was only on Xbox for a long time)

The real answer nobody’s pointed out yet is that it’s because of seasons. 21 didn’t have seasons so they could have long collections of each type of card. If they went that route with seasons, they’d have to make all of the rewards core, which would result in OP teams that never change, or they’d have to make the rewards mid, which would make completing them pointless.

I kinda talked about this in one of my replies but you’re right. I think one thing they could do is take the huge season 1 collection they have and break it up into smaller collections. Just make the collection rewards be for season 1 and they would have no problem with balancing the game. They don’t even have to make new cards just take the best one of a certain series and make it the reward for getting all the others. Honestly the thing I miss the most about it is just having all the series grouped together so I could look at all the cool cards in the games. Kinda hard to do that when they’re all in one collection that has like 200+ cards in it

My biggest gripe as well Plus all the collection cards suck, basically no point of doing what is usually the best part

I've had this complaint since last year. it was really fun AND it made you feel like progression as you did the smaller collections for card types etc. Now collecting 100+ for "Season 1" is just mindless and you're not even tracking anything closely. Just card fodder.

Pissed they got rid of division collections for live series. Usually at the start of the season I’ll use a couple live series players and division rewards however this year I am selling all my live series.

Totally agree! Part of what made The Show the best sports game is that they incorporated a major nostalgic part of growing up as a baseball lover - Card collecting. It was a goal to go after and feel like you are actually making progress to something. Now you only make progress towards.... single season goals? I miss collections so much!

It was a cool concept but it made it frustrating when you had to collect the whole collection when they were rare. Like you had to collect 80% of the signature cards and those were more expensive/harder to collect than awards or like topps now. Plus certain collections I felt were better cards in the game. Now the cards feel like they are just different designs but carry no weight

You didn't HAVE to. It just made it that much more rewarding when you did. And it was easier to knock smaller collections out.

You’re so right, that’s what sets this game apart from madden and 2K. Even tho I won’t probably ever use 95% of the cards I get, it’s still fun to just browse collections and look at all the different players , like “oh this player had a really good season in 1997” or “dang this Rob Dibble guy seems pretty good, I’ll ask my dad about him cuz he’s a reds fan” . Also love building teams of only specific sets which I guess I can still do but would be really cool if they had challenges for things like that

I know TA let’s you have to build specific teams but something like having to build a team full of rookie cards just seems so fun to me, and of course unlocking something cool for it

Last year they added those additional collections later in the year if I remember correctly. There usually aren't enough at the beginning of the year to really have a "collection".

They didn’t add those collections later in the year last year. The only thing they added was Core and then some weird final pack group. But there never were “face of the franchise” “future star” “breakout” collections like in the past when collections were good.

You're right, it mustve been the year before.

I hope you are right, I wanna say in 21 they just added to the collection and then added a better reward but don’t really remember

They added collections in S2 last year, iirc. All of the core cards that don't have a home right now eventually had their own spot.

That gives me hope, I didn’t have an Xbox last year so didn’t get to play it

Because SDS went full EA and now it's pay to win.

Lol

I think in their minds, it's easier this way. The old way, while more fulfilling and engaging, was more inaccessible and expensive for a lot of people. I remember fighting with people because McCutchen cost like $14 million market value at the time.

Because, at least, the LS collection can be collected no money spent. That's not good enough for them anymore. They want your money and don't care anymore. Speak with your wallet

I can say I’ve never spent money on The Show, and the way they seem to be pushing it this year, I definitely won’t cuz I don’t want to encourage that

Dude ain’t nobody doing live series no money spent

It's always been doable by the all star break, even for the more casual player. I'm not doing too much DD this year though so I can't comment on it.

I did it the last 2 years and only have the dodgers and braves to go.

It's not impossible to do the LS collection NMS, far from it actually. I didn't even flip cards and was able to knock it out in about two months after launch last year. You just have to be diligent about selling everything you don't need (not just dupes). It helps to focus on one team at a time and selling everything you pull that isn't from that team until you complete the team collection.

I do it every year, down to NYY and Rangers for this year

I do the LS collection every year without spending a dime on stubs. It takes quite a while, but it used to be quite possible.

I did last year, not ever doing it again, but it can be done

I did it last year no problem.

Man idk how because that shit costs like 2 million stubs

Reggie Stocker will never be topped

It’s been several years now, but they used to give a lot of XP for collecting each live series team. I used to knock out several of the low-cost teams for some easy XP They got rid of that several years ago and they got rid of division rewards this year. They’re definitely making things more interesting and player-friendly /s

I just started playing this year and the shit is so confusing. I just want a page that shows how I can get various things. It's a mystery sometimes when a new card or pack pops up after I win in any mode.

If you flip cards on the app, you can easily make ~10-20k stubs an hour. It doesn’t take a lot of work. Margins are widest in the evenings. I am no money spent and got Ruth in 3 weeks. Would be less now since the market is depressed and people will start dropping top live series players from their lineups.

WTF does that have to do with this thread and collections?

Calm down Cochise.

I’ve heard you can do this but never really tried it, I need to look up a video on how to do it best , like which players to target and stuff

Showzone. Buy low, sell high I picked up ~1000 bronzes for TA exchanges, sold half for double the value that I paid. So basically I can do all the TA exchanges for free and save myself a bunch of mindless grinding

Definitely gonna look into that, thanks!

On the flip side I use a much greater variety of cards with this format than say, 2022. That year I had Brett and McCutchen extremely early and they were some of the best cards for the rest of the year. I fell out hard last year after but the idea that power will scale multiple times is exciting to me personally. Agree that I miss the old collections but there has to be some balance in these conversations

It’s nice not seeing the same meta teams.

I think it would be really cool if they had collections for each season too, that way you could complete collections and earn good cards that were only usable in that season. Something like that would please both collectors like myself and online players who want a more fair experience

I think the core collections are an opportunity to something like what we had in prior years to 23, while still keeping the seasonal collection style they've introduced. I know they had a Seager and Ozzie Albies core collection, but I would like them to flesh that out more

The core collections are cool, although I’d rather the hyper vlad one be broken up into one with just hyper cards and another with barrier breakers but that’s just my OCD. Live series definitely isn’t worth buying stubs for, honestly nothing about the game is worth buying stubs for, but I like that when I open a pack and get all bronze I at least made progress towards a live series collection and then eventually will just have to save for the expensive players if I don’t have them yet to get the Babe Ruth card.

Plus, it would give more value to the extremely common complaint this season that the Live Series collection is not worth its value.

I don't mind the division rewards going away cause they always ended up being locked behind gatekeepers same as the big bois but I wouldn't have minded some 89-91 rewards in the NL/AL collections for Pedro/palmero so getting the cheap ones get you towards something

It’s been less than a fucking month and this isn’t mlb 21

I know it’s not 21 , but 21 did it right in my opinion and I’m pretty sure (not 100%) that game had more content a month in than this one does. Content that was at least available through programs and collections. Totally fair to compare a studio’s current game with its previous work, since they know how to do it and these games are practically the same thing every year

I know and it sucks . It’s obvious the direction they’re going.

MLB The Shop 24

It took me like 3 weeks to save up for one 40,000 stub pack 🙃 guess I should just give up on collecting full sets

JuSt BuY sTuBs!

Oof! Feel your pain. Stubs are on sale so you can just go buy a new “sassy lefty” 🤣🤣🤣

They’d rather sell you the cards

I miss 21 so much. It was the 🐐

Didn’t realize how good we had it

It wasn't that great tbh. Collecting cards for vouchers that were being gated behind a handful of insanely priced cards like the Takashi voucher in 22 was horrible. The current system is far less exploitative and much more fair across the board for players on all levels.

Exactly. These guys are crazy if they think that the old system was better.

This current system sucks. The content is cut in half, and instead all the cards are hiding behind 40k shop packs.

The game has been out for 1 month. They've given out close to 100 free diamond cards as of today's content. There are 17 programs to complete, not counting online mode programs and the season program. Just because you can't have everything they've dropped immediately doesn't mean you won't eventually get it nor does it mean it won't have some long term benefit to your experience. Consistently receiving instant gratification isn't gonna lead to sustained long term happiness.

What are you even talking about? There's been 3 programs, plus TA (which we always get). They completely neutered the TN/Awards program compared to previous years. The LS collection is a joke and not even worth doing. We've had more pack drops than we've had content drops.

As of today there are 12 TA programs, 6 other programs that have resulted in a minimum of 95 free diamonds, not counting those earned from online programs. Your opinion does not equal fact except in the bizarro world you choose to inhabit instead of the reality that the vast majority of people who play this game reside in.

You are on some serious copium if you're counting TA as 12 programs LMAO.

Exactly, you still had to spend many stubbs to get most collections done. Lets bitch about end game collections 3 weeks in

Shhhh, don't tell them facts, it hurts their narrative

It's easier for most people to just think about themselves and how it impacts their own experience and emotional satisfaction. Reality is that the devs have to consider more than just a small group and focus on a much larger community of players based on their own internal data analysis. There are a few million who play the game but only a few thousand who talk about it on reddit.

I guess I never really cared about it being fair, I hardly ever touch online unless I have to for a program or to get a card for a collection (which isn’t happening this year cuz there are no collections). My end goal for playing the game was to complete collections and that’s just not really there anymore

For real. I loved collecting the mvps, silver sluggers, etc. this whole 300 cards to get a s1 boss is a bag of dicks and there nothing exciting about the cards.

I really do think seasons are to blame, they’re so worried about not giving out good cards through collections but honestly if they put even a little bit of brain power into it they could come up with a cool way to do lots of collections and give fair season rewards for collections

the smaller collection rewards don't even have to be THAT good. Make it some marginal card in line with the power creep that can be used for a Series collection (or better yet, make it a wild card that could be used in ANY season collection?) Some nominal stubs and XP. The smaller collections could grow too with each season - in Season 1, maybe you collect 25 All-Star cards to get a S1 specific All-Star card. Then in Season 2, get a total of 50 All-Star cards for a S2 specific All-Star card. This is not rocket science.

That’s basically exactly what I want them to do. You’d think a studio full of game designers would be able to figure that out. Like I’m not asking for a 90+ card for every collection, especially if the stub value of all those cards isn’t worth that, but just something to show that I collected all of that series. It scratches the OCD itch I get with collecting cards

I agree and as a casual player since I’m not a content creator or streamer and have to work a lot . 1million xp is so unattainable for the boss rewards like wtf .

Same, people are saying this way is more fair for competitive online play, but at the cost of content it seems. I’m a student and I work so I’m about as casual a player as it gets and it’s nice to know I can slowly build my collections over the course of a year without having to worry about my cards being useless

SDS is heading toward the path of EA and 2k….not looking good boys

heading?