Levelling the Playing Field - Page 2

Preferably by reintroducing worker wandering as in the SC2BW mod as opposed to fewer resource bases. I honestly think a lot of the gameplay problems simply lie in how fast your economy grows in SC2. Cute and tricksy play (colossus warp prism harass, templar drops, baneling drops, any type of micro/tech intensive low econ choices) doesn't exist because either it gets overrun so easily by all-ins, or the opponents economy grows at a rate where the harass won't pay for itself in time.

I just don't think Protoss units can be balanced the way they're supposed to, with the values they deserve to have, as long as this mechanic exists. It also serves to exhasperate the problem above. Or perhaps that should be the other way around? Extreme economy exhasperates the problem of warp-in? Dunno.

The analogue to the warp-in mechanic here: larva inject. It too has a great impact on how zerg units can and cannot be designed. Chrono boost is lesser of a problem if warpin is out of the way. MULEs included here too. My proposition is to have all macro mechanics be tiered by tech levels. 2 larva per inject on hatchery tech. 3 on Lair. 4 on Hive. Perhaps something similar with regards to the mule. Just the chrono boost that I'm unsure of. It seems like a weaker ability than the others. But with the economy fixed and the warp-in removed, my theory is that you can safely reintroduce "overpowered" units into the game without breaking gameplay. Spell casters and siege units in BW are crazily overpowered if you think about it. But they work because:

#1 the less cost effective race is able to outexpand and keep outmining the opponent past 3 mining bases (think PvT and ZvP in Broodwar. TvZ was a special case -- while zerg might've been 1 base ahead of terran, they were so subdued when it came to being able to mine minerals that I think Terran should be considered the cost inefficient race in that matchup. Zerg's saturation was always weak until they held off the onslaught and stabilized in the late game. Lurkers + defilers being balanced owed a lot the dynamic of one race being allowed to be cost inefficient in a matchup). In SC2, you may have lots of games where a Protoss outplays a zerg, takes 6 bases versus 3, and by all rights should win the game. But all those 3 extra bases buy is the potential for a higher ratio of shiny high tech units to normal units. If the toss loses the big engagement resoundingly against infestor/BL, he generally won't have sufficient minerals for a second attempt despite being on "6 bases". Rewarding extra expansions provides an extra safeguard against "imbalanced" compositions being abused.

#2 The game is slower paced. No macro mechanics and a different economic system from Starcraft 2 simply makes for a slower game. More space for cutesy plays and moves, more space for variation in build orders, strategies and styles.

These two benefitted ranged units, while screwing over melee units' viability without spell caster backup. Only explanation needed.

Goes without saying. A higher degree of control benefits the better player. I don't think it impacts gameplay more than the economic system though. My philosophy about this has always been:

If you take away control and maneuverability from units, you have to add some form of gimmick to compensate for it.

Do vikings need 8 range? Not if they're able to dart in and out like wraiths. But in their current state: yes. They could need a small speed boost though.

Do banshees need to be able to 2 shot workers? No. They're just slow and hard to maneuver, so they gotta have some feature to make them useful. Meanwhile in BW it takes 6 (if i recall correctly) wraiths to one shot a worker. Increased mobility and maneuverability over increased damage gives you more stable gameplay. A noob won't be able to kill you based on a coin flip move, because it takes hard microing and a skilled player to inflict damage with those puny wraith lasers. It differentiates the pros from the really really good but not pro players. It leaves crowds in awe.

Does the hellion need a blue flame upgrade? I personally don't think it does if it were to be redesigned. I much prefer the Brood War dynamic of speed/range upgrades on basic units dictating the flow of the game over damage upgrades and range upgrades on high tech units:

Zergling < Vulture < Speedling < Speed Vulture

Zergling < Zealot < Speedling < Speed Zealot

Hydralisk < Zealot < Speed hydralisk < Speed zealot < Range/Speed Hydra with lurkers < Zlot templar arch etc...

Zergling < Marine < Speedling < Marine /w Stim (Same in SC2, but if we continue

Marine /w Stim < Mutalisk < Marine /w stim and range < Stacked mutalisks microed by Jaedong

Dragoon < Marines proxy rax cheeses < Range Dragoon

Even the smallest dragoon vs dragoon battles in the very early game would hinge on the completion timing of dragoon range.

As for high ground advantage. I don't have a motivation why I included it on 6th place. Just seemed more relevant than other items. I fondly remember making a stand with my dragoons on the ridges of Heartbreak Ridge against oncoming vulture/tank timing pushes in order to slow them down. High ground advantage has a place in the game when it comes to controlling space.

While I see your point with cliff walking. I don't think it would be too difficult to solve through normal balancing. In a slower game, I'd very much like to see the movement speed of colossi reduced drastically. Making warp prisms more of a prerequisite for transporting them around for timing attacks. I honestly could see colossi working like reavers in PvP if they were to move a lot slower than they did now (with warpin and economy also being changed of course).

I think you'd see some really elegant prism/colossi micro both in battles and in harassing. I envision them in more of a defensive and/or siege unit role in a slower paced Starcraft 2. In that capacity, I wouldn't mind if Protoss armies were to be "imbalanced" PvZ. Because they'd also be slow moving without warp prisms. I wouldn't mind if assaulting protoss bases/expos would be harder, since the economic system would encourage a wasteful and super active style of play as opposed to a camping, hoarding, PREPARE FOR 1 BIG BATTLE WITH THE SHINIEST UNITS YOU CAN MUSTER AND THEN GG style of gameplay.

As for map designs. They adapt to the conditions of the game. Without warp gates, I might actually think forcefields are an OK restriction. Or rather I mean to say, they wouldn't be as much of a restriction for map makers. They'd be an acceptable restriction.