A Major League Baseball general manager can pool the best talent for that particular team and still see the franchise go under due to a bad mix of personalities and player morale in the clubhouse.
Aiming for authenticity one step closer to the game and baseball's front office, MLB The Show 16 is putting gamers to the test, making them consider player morale, personalities and contract terms (with preferences and expectations) when building a team in the impending title's new, revamped Franchise Mode.
A player's morale is based on seven factors that are combined to produce either a positive or negative effect on a player's attributes. Those seven factors include team role, contract, coaching, region, team performance, individual performance and injury.
Obviously, a shift in how a player feels about any of those seven factors can affect his game, subsequently affecting the overall team. It's true to life, too, considering how many times the media reports or fans hear about players being unhappy with their contracts or displeased with their roles on a ball club.
And some of those seven factors weigh on players more heavily than others. For example, PlayStation specifically cites the situation in which a player is happy with his coaching and health, but unhappy about his individual performance, and that could pave the way for an overall negative effect on his morale.
GMs in the game's Franchise Mode will also have to use a similar kind of mentality when surveying free agents during the offseason. Contract terms work similarly to player morale, in the sense that players in MLB The Show 16 will tout built-in preferences and expectations, whether it's wanting to play close to home, individual role, team quality and coaching staff.
Tech Times particularly likes the real-time player-interest gauge that changes as gamers adjust the player's anticipated role on that team.
Adding to the authenticity of the game, the title boasts a real-time notification system, alerting GMs in Franchise Mode about free agents signing with teams, so gamers can better keep track of all the movement, just as they would online with ESPN.com or a sports website as a fan.
MLB The Show 16 hits stores March 29.
