MLB 2K11 Dynamic Ratings Feature Explained

2K Sports has released the first substantive developer diary for MLB 2K11 which goes into detail on the Dynamic Ratings feature. The system dynamically updates player ratings based on real world performance in MLB Today, My Player, and Franchise modes. You can check out the full dev diary which was posted on Facebook here. Also in the gallery find the new set of 10 screenshots relating to the Dynamic Ratings feature.

The first step is to determine how well a player is currently performing.  Obviously, you can’t get a reliable gauge of player performance if you look at just the last few games. So we look back across the last four weeks of performance, putting more emphasis on the most recent weeks and less on the oldest. This rolling four week view of performance ensures that a few bad games don’t impact their ratings; players need to consistently perform below or above expectations before their ratings are adjusted. We also verify that the player has a minimum number of at bats or innings pitched to ensure that there is enough data to make a good determination of their performance.

While I like what the feature is attempting to do, particular for MLB Today mode, I’m not so sure its a great fit for Franchise and My Player. In those modes the results within them determine streaks that affect the ratings. That could mean people who are really good at the game will generally have a large number of guys on hot streaks making things even easier, and those who struggle at the game will end up with numerous players on cold streaks making things even tougher. Essentially the feature is basing streaks on the performance of the user with particular players so there will be influence there, potentially being more on the skill of the user rather than those individual players getting on a roll or slumping.