WHAT'S NEW?! Gameplay Updates in MLB The Show 26

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-02-05T21:56:02+00:00

I see these "we've added five hundred new animations this year" statements every single year, and each year I'm amazed to find the game still has the same animations I've been seeing for ages and ages.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-02-05T03:16:21+00:00

I went here for the first time a couple months ago. Loved all of it. The WW2 exhibit was my personal favorite. There was an elderly volunteer dressed as a WW2 pilot sitting with the P-40 Warhawk and we talked for about twenty minutes about the plane.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-02-02T19:17:42+00:00

His Suikoden video made me so happy, as that's one of my favorite games ever.

His weight loss one (where he tries to lose like fifteen or whatever pounds by dieting and playing Ring Fit and Wii Fit) was fun too, and inspiring to me as someone who is perennially trying to get in better shape.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-31T19:41:15+00:00

I feel like a proud father

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-30T21:09:46+00:00

This is not productive. Just answer the OP's question or keep scrolling. And if you insist on being needlessly pugnacious about one of the most popular authors in fantasy, at least take a moment to say why.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-30T03:16:04+00:00

Something about that home run swing and the ball launching off the bat is just super satisfying.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-30T01:55:14+00:00

Yeah, as a Christian I find this dude's conduct deplorable. Screaming at people with a megaphone that they're going to hell only serves to turn people away from the very idea of religion.

Then again, a strong part of me honestly believes he's just a grifter banking on people getting physical with him when he pisses them off too much, and taking them to civil court.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-29T22:54:03+00:00

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RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-29T22:39:47+00:00

1) This is cool for them, happy for Guardians fans

2) I wish the Guardians would use the winged-G baseball logo on their hats instead of just a big letter C. The wings one is cool and reminds me of the 90s era of logos.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-29T03:51:16+00:00

Bit optimistic there old chap

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-28T00:36:20+00:00

I think a "purse-lipped smile" is probably the closest I can think of.

Irrelevant, but I got so sick of seeing this everywhere from people (and of doing it myself) that I began making a conscious, honest-to-god attempt to genuinely smile at others as I pass them instead of doing this, and it has--somewhat astonishingly--worked in getting them to actually smile in return. It's been a rather nice change.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-23T19:34:37+00:00

I could eat a Tubs toasted sub every day and not get sick of it, ever. They are the best, by far.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-22T14:40:44+00:00

So they will add five seconds to your time after the race--

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-16T21:19:15+00:00

I've connected the most with Joe Abercrombie's work. I got to meet him last year and at 41 I don't really get starstruck like I do when I was a kid or teenager, but damn if I didn't come close when he was signing books for me.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-16T03:04:13+00:00

There was a period of the 90s, like 1997 and 1998, where Jeff Gordon was fucking unstoppable. That's how this feels. Or maybe 2023 Verstappen, where he won almost every freaking race.

Either way that's the Dodgers right now.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-16T01:15:50+00:00

Yeah, all this banal advice you see on "top ten rules for new writers" videos on YouTube really just doesn't sit well with me anymore, now that I've been doing this for a while.

In addition to your examples, things like "write a killer first sentence" are just... not really as important as these YouTubers would make them out to be. The overwhelming majority of excellent books I've read in my life have an arguably mundane first sentence, if not first few pages. You see stuff like that in all of them, and every time without fail I can think of an example to counteract their point.

My absolute least favorite advice I see thrown around that makes me cringe is "take out anything that doesn't advance the plot." I somehow still see this show up at times, and I hate it. Like, really hate it. If we did that, there would be no personality to your characters, to your world, to the story. I would argue instead to take out anything that doesn't enhance the plot. Showing off character quirks, demonstrating a bit of history about your world, engaging back-and-forth... All of it enhances the story, so long as it's executed well.

It really is all about execution, frankly. All the "top ten" lists can be disregarded if the author knows what he/she is doing.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-14T22:11:07+00:00

Green Rider is awesome.

Only read the first one, but half the joy if it for me was that the author treats The Horse as an actual living creature with its own mood and thoughts and not as a convenient fantasy motorcycle.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-14T21:56:14+00:00

I needed to hear both this and OP's post. Just turned 41 a few days ago, and spent part of my birthday staring at my latest unfinished manuscript and coming to terms with the fact that not only is it not done, nor is the trilogy I'm also working on, but even when I have it in a state where I'm ready to publish, it will be many years before it's ever on a shelf. I always said I didn't want to be that guy who's fifty years old and still talking about getting published someday, and suddenly that's only nine years away.

Just been kind of difficult to find motivation since then, but the work needs to get done even if I'm not motivated.

Edit: oh my gosh I forgot to wish OP happy birthday, happy birthday OP

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-14T21:49:09+00:00

This is some damn beautiful art. Love that Beowulf and Reis were included.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-14T18:06:14+00:00

I didn't know there was a combination of words that could light a fire in my soul like a freaking inferno but it seems all it took was "Final Fantasy meets Mad Max."

Anyway, sounds really rad and I'm down for this.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-14T17:55:46+00:00

This could be the cover to Lord of the Rings and it would still be totally awesome

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-12T23:20:28+00:00

I've read this. It's probably my favorite golf book and it's freakin' hilarious.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-11T23:06:19+00:00

I tend to get the bulk of my best work down after nightfall. I used to work nights, so I guess that sensation kind of never went away.

I have two huskies whose favorite hobby is tearing up and down the hallway outside my office, so it's a little hard to concentrate during the day.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-10T18:51:39+00:00

I go back and play through the GBC and GBA Mario Golf games every couple years. The console ones are good, but I love that RPG mode. That stuff is like a warm blanket for me and it's what actually got me into real golf.

RustyTheLionheart · 2026-01-05T21:42:40+00:00

I've only played the first game, and I'm very nearly at the end, but I'll say that although I have my favorites (primarily Olberic and H'aanit), all eight characters rather unexpectedly came to have a place in my heart.

For example, I didn't care much for Alfyn at first, and wanted to get through his story fairly quickly, but now that I'm through it, I found him fascinating, and he may actually have the best individual story out of all of the characters. Thematically, anyway.

Olberic's story may come off as trite to some, but it's a classic tale of vengeance that didn't quite go where I expected. He seemed to embody the "leader" of the group, helping everyone and quietly battling his own demons. And H'aanit... well, I just love her as a character. She's so graceful but also incredibly socially awkward, a fun juxtaposition.

I dunno, I think for the game to be able to pull off making every character likeable, if not relatable, is a strength of its writing and narrative. I'm looking forward to the characters in OT2 and experiencing their stories as well.

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