There’s no question that this has been a particularly rough year for the MLB The Show series. The excessive server troubles even still continue to linger months later and numerous patches have been needed to put out a variety of fires. Throughout all that though most would have agreed that gameplay remained excellent which is why they kept playing despite all the problems surrounding the game.

It seems the collective feeling towards MLB The Show 17 has shifted recently however due to adjustments made to hitting in the most recent patch and as a whole since the game released. Though it hasn’t actually been noted in the details, changes have been made reducing success at the plate in both average and power. Many are observing that even perfectly lined up and timed swings are resulting in weak pop-ups or grounders.

Whether it be on forums or social media the topic has been a hot one in the last week and that frustration is understandable. The swing feedback is all the information the user has to understand why they got the result that they did. When that feedback doesn’t match with reasonable expectations it’s a problem, and taking the power out of the bats makes the game considerably less fun to play as it naturally turns games into low scoring affairs and that then online promotes cheese tactics and leads to more quitting.

It’s all but certain that hitting will once again be addressed in the next patch though it’s unclear when that will come about. There was debate over the hitting even before the latest update that has created an uproar, and it’s something that Sony San Diego will surely be analyzing their data on for making adjustments and providing better balance going forward.