MLB The Show 23 Update 7 will be hitting consoles overnight. Unlike some of the previous updates, this one includes some big changes that players may want to be aware of. It also divulges some developer insight into the recent changes made to Ranked Seasons and Battle Royale in Diamond Dynasty. With how important those modes are for players looking to build a great team, it’s definitely worth taking a look. Plus, Baltimore Orioles fans will be very excited to see that their team is finally getting its City Connect uniform into the game.
As mentioned above, these changes are heavily focused on Diamond Dynasty. Two weeks ago we saw the introduction of Incognito player cards. These cards put player nicknames front-and-center, but that’s introduced some issues because San Diego Studios wanted you to actually see the nicknames in your lineup. This update fixes the visual bugs that kept popping up as part of that, as well as ironing out a few specific crash errors that were happening in Mini Seasons and Conquests.
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The biggest change is that the Charisma Series Program has been made much easier. Players will now have access to repeatable Parallel XP, which means they won’t have to complete the Charisma Showdown. Even if they do decide to take it on, that Showdown has been made easier by tuning some of the early bosses down to Rookie difficulty. On top of all this, the devs have explained that they’ve made the choice to make some rewards in Ranked Seasons and Battle Royale non-sellable to make sure that players are actually using the rewards and not just selling them on for Stubs.
You can find the full patch notes for today’s new MLB The Show 23 update attached below.
GENERAL
- Baltimore Orioles City Connect uniforms have been added.
DIAMOND DYNASTY
- Earlier this week, we fixed an issue where a user would not see additional cards of a player with the same name when attempting to make a change in the manage squad screen.
- Various fixes to visual issues related to the Unlimited Rewards section of the XP Reward Path.
- Fixed an issue where duplicate text would show in the background of program missions when scrolling up and down through the program.
- Fixed a specific crash when exiting a Mini Seasons or Conquest game.
- In a content update later this week, all Incognito series player items will now be referenced by their nicknames in various screens such as Player Card, Marketplace, Box Score and more.
ONLINE HEAD-TO-HEAD
- Fixed an issue where auto pitch could be intentionally disabled in any online mode.
- Fixed a freeze that could occur when a controller was disconnected as the ball was put into play.
STADIUM CREATOR
- Fixed an issue where fans would initially appear covered in shadows.
- Various bug fixes.
DEVELOPER NOTES
Gameplay Balance Changes
- There are no gameplay balance changes at this time.
Live Content Balance Changes
We’ve made the following adjustments to the Charisma Series Other Program in Diamond Dynasty, which went live earlier this week:
- Added a Repeatable Mission:
- 1,500 Parallel XP with Charisma Series players will grant 10 program points.
- Showdown:
- The difficulty for the first four mini bosses is now set to Rookie (previously Veteran).
- An additional two outs are given when playing the final three mini bosses.
- An additional run has been given when entering the final boss battle.
Developer Insight – Explanation of Changes to Ranked Seasons & Battle Royale Program Rewards
We’ve seen a lot of discussion regarding the implementation of non-sellable program rewards in the Ranked Seasons and Battle Royale reward paths, and wanted to take the opportunity to provide some clarity and insight into our decisions. This area has been a topic of internal discussion for a long time, and was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
When the Battle Royale program was first implemented, the goal of the program was to ensure that no matter your skill level, you would not be gated from flawless rewards. Our design intent was to provide an avenue for the player who could not go 12-0 to still be able to enjoy some of the rewards in the program, and we feel we’ve been successful in that regard.
Over time, these programs have become less about having access to program rewards, and more about selling the program rewards for stubs to use in other areas of the game. From our perspective, it was never our intent for the program reward to be immediately discarded, and we feel it goes against our original goals stated above. Players are no longer using the program paths as a means of acquiring the program players, and in that regard, the programs are not serving the purpose we strived for.
After these changes, players of any skill level are still able to grind the programs and receive rewards from that program, even if they aren’t able to go 12-0 in Battle Royale or make World Series in Ranked Seasons. Battle Royale and Ranked Seasons also still have sellable rewards that you can earn for win streaks, win thresholds, or by climbing the ratings leaderboard, including a new Co-op Ranked leaderboard which allows players to earn additional Ranked Seasons rewards.
We feel that by making the reward path players non-sellable, we are able to reach a middle ground between allowing our players to always have access to the rewards in a meaningful way, while also balancing the modes. By introducing non-sellable program rewards, we are aligning with our original goals for the programs in a much stronger way than the previous structure.
We will strive to communicate in a similar fashion when changes are made in the future.
