I still don't have the game but I'm actually starting to think about buying it (I'm on Xbox, so any purchase I make won't be until these latest patches get through the Microsoft process. I have a horrible feeling that they won't, though. The patches should have been processed by now...there's been plenty of time. I suspect Microsoft have pushed back to Bigant and it's now back in Bigant's court)
Anyway, at least things do seem to be improving on other platforms. I'm actually glad to see a lack of crazy spin. In C22, I could use Dean Elgar and spin the ball from the 1st ball of the 1st over on a day one pitch and have him and Markram tear through any team. I'm guessing that the rebalancing of the spin has actually helped with the RIDICULOUS amount of bat-pads and bat-boots that C22 had.
Also, from watching Rahul Rants' youtube video, seeing the ball spin more on a day 5 pitch makes me happy too. It actually proves there's some pitch degradation.
I'm still really confused about the regional crowd sounds though. Audio is a big deal to me and from videos I've watched of people playing as West Indies in West Indies, there's no steel drums or trumpets playing...which is kind of what we hear in the WI? Same with SA. It's just a 'normal' crowd. I do like the crowd I've heard in the India games though. I'm really pleased they actually made an effort on this side of things. It's really cool.
The Academy though.....will bats of player-created teams from the likes of wasteyouryouth always have blank bats? Or will the bat sponsors from C22 teams be fixed to fit properly? Anyone know if it's even possible?
And most importantly, did they add mountains back so we can make proper Newlands like we could in C19?