• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 23:53
CEST 05:53
KST 12:53
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview0herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview5[ASL21] Ro4 Preview: On Course12Code S Season 1 - RO8 Preview7
Community News
Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2Weekly Cups (May 4-10): Clem, MaxPax, herO win1Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !18Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple0
StarCraft 2
General
Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! $1,400 SEL Season 3 Ladder Invitational $5,000 WardiTV Spring Championship 2026
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue Mutation # 525 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 524 Death and Taxes
Brood War
General
Lights Ro.8 Review (asl s21) 25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08 vespene.gg — BW replays in browser BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Semifinals B [BSL22] RO8 Bracket Stage + Another TieBreaker [ASL21] Ro8 Day 4
Strategy
Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne ZeroSpace Megathread War of Dots, 2026 minimalst RTS Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread YouTube Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software)
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
How EEG Data Can Predict Gam…
TrAiDoS
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1555 users

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne - Page 239

Forum Index > General Games
Post a Reply
Prev 1 237 238 239 240 241 245 Next
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 20 2024 18:57 GMT
#4761
On November 21 2024 03:40 zhrtehgdf wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 03:31 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 03:29 zhrtehgdf wrote:
On November 21 2024 00:50 WombaT wrote:
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here

Way I justified it is I held off for years not being able to play my all-time favourite game, and I somewhat considered this as giving Microsoft my money given the recent impetus and it being consistent with what they’ve done with AoE games in recent years.


What? Microsoft released Windows ME, Windows Vista. How could you ever support a company like that? What about Age of Empires 4?

I dont think you are trolling. You are actually serious

You never get bored of this eh?

Are you any reasonable? Be honest

Blizzard released a fucking shitshow of a remaster, so bad that I didn’t buy it despite WC3 being my favourite game ever.

Microsoft’s gaming division has done a good job with their RTS properties in recent years, Game Pass is a great product that’s given me and kiddo many a fun gaming memory at a good price.

Since the acquisition Reforged got a decent overhaul, it got another hot fix literally just today that’s decent. Stuff Blizzard didn’t get done in years previously.

Reforged launched without a ladder! For fuck’s sake get off Blizzard’s dick already

It’s still not 100% what I’d see in an ideal world, it’s a good enough product I’ll buy it.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1937 Posts
November 20 2024 19:04 GMT
#4762
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.
Buff the siegetank
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-20 19:22:49
November 20 2024 19:20 GMT
#4763
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Show nested quote +
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12248 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-20 23:33:09
November 20 2024 23:20 GMT
#4764
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.
Moderator
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 21 2024 01:11 GMT
#4765
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.

Interesting, I’d never heard that it was partly for performance reasons before.

Like Brood War before I’m unsure how much of WC3 was absolute intentional genius and how much was just very good + lightning in a bottle and they got a bit lucky too.

Brood War could have turned out to be completely broken when folks really pushed what was possible and created 300+ APM monsters that the game was never remotely designed for, but it still worked out OK.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1913 Posts
November 21 2024 03:18 GMT
#4766
New player questions:

Regarding the complexities of the Human Faction-

Why is it that you want spell breakers targeting Heroes during fights? Are there situations where u would want to target something else instead? Do you need upgrades for spellbreakers, if so which ones?
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12248 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-21 04:11:10
November 21 2024 04:06 GMT
#4767
On November 21 2024 10:11 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.

Interesting, I’d never heard that it was partly for performance reasons before.

Like Brood War before I’m unsure how much of WC3 was absolute intentional genius and how much was just very good + lightning in a bottle and they got a bit lucky too.

Brood War could have turned out to be completely broken when folks really pushed what was possible and created 300+ APM monsters that the game was never remotely designed for, but it still worked out OK.


In my opinion what's really notable about both Starcraft and Warcraft 3 is that the base games were considered good but a bit unpolished and imbalanced, and were really defined by their expansions. Brood War and Frozen Throne really crystalized that the designers knew they had tapped into something where the core concept had promise but certain details needed refinement. In Brood War this was mostly "make every new unit counter Mutalisks" lmao, but in TFT it was racial shops, new heroes and units per race, neutral heroes, more item types, more creeps and mercenaries to really add massive depth and more permutations to a game that embraced the concept of mastering chaos.

On November 21 2024 12:18 CicadaSC wrote:
New player questions:

Regarding the complexities of the Human Faction-

Why is it that you want spell breakers targeting Heroes during fights? Are there situations where u would want to target something else instead? Do you need upgrades for spellbreakers, if so which ones?


Spellbreakers have the Feedback passive that burns 4 mana per hit against heroes. Mana is a precious resource that does not regenerate quickly, so this can delay enemy heroes from casting spells for potentially a significant amount of time. I can't speculate whether they should always target heroes or not, but the mana burn passive alone would put them to better use than against most normal, non-caster units.
Moderator
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1913 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-21 05:06:35
November 21 2024 05:06 GMT
#4768
thanks for the helpful response! didnt know that. and do i need upgrades for the spell breakers? if so which ones?
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1913 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-21 05:39:27
November 21 2024 05:39 GMT
#4769
question: what are the signs an orc is going Taurens without actually seeing the taurens on the field. Like what is the tech or building? I keep going gryphons to counter it too late and getting rolled over lol
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12248 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-11-21 05:50:02
November 21 2024 05:39 GMT
#4770
On November 21 2024 14:06 CicadaSC wrote:
thanks for the helpful response! didnt know that. and do i need upgrades for the spell breakers? if so which ones?


I think the Control Magic upgrade at Tier 3 is pretty situational. I've seen it mostly used against Orc when they get rank 3 Feral Spirits (because the damage is significant and it's an invisible scout) as well as versus Witch Doctors (especially for stealing Healing Wards for minimal mana cost at a significant range). Damage upgrades for Spellbreakers are not very important because their value isn't in their damage, it's in their ability to drain mana and prevent the enemy from winning the buff/debuff war, and armor upgrades they'll probably get incidentally if you're going for Knights.

On November 21 2024 14:39 CicadaSC wrote:
question: what are the signs an orc is going Taurens without actually seeing the taurens on the field. Like what is the tech or building? I keep going gryphons to counter it too late and getting rolled over lol


Tauren require a Fortress and a Tauren Totem. The Totem is often okay to get on its own at Tier 2 if there's a need for Spirit Link and AoE dispel from Spirit Walkers, so that alone may not indicate Tauren. And a Fortress alone could just mean higher upgrades, Kodo Drums,.or Berserkers. But Tauren are quite expensive and often you'll want a number of them (and likely Spirit Walker Master training to resurrect them) to surprise the enemy, so you'll want to keep an eye on how many expansions the Orc has to see if they can support mass Tauren, and potentially confirm either with Mechanical Critters, Invis scouts, Goblin Laboratory Reveal, or just base pressure.
Moderator
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1937 Posts
November 21 2024 13:31 GMT
#4771
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.


The original question was why not more RTS games have experimented with upkeep mechanics, and I think the answer is pretty obvious.

This is a WC3 thread for people who do like the game, so I don't expect too much support, but for me, it is a frustrating complication of the "army-economy-tech" triangle. The risk/rewards of expanding and teching up are pretty similar.

I thought the upkeep in WC3 was necessary to avoid big armies in a game built around heroes.
Buff the siegetank
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 21 2024 14:16 GMT
#4772
On November 21 2024 13:06 Excalibur_Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 10:11 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.

Interesting, I’d never heard that it was partly for performance reasons before.

Like Brood War before I’m unsure how much of WC3 was absolute intentional genius and how much was just very good + lightning in a bottle and they got a bit lucky too.

Brood War could have turned out to be completely broken when folks really pushed what was possible and created 300+ APM monsters that the game was never remotely designed for, but it still worked out OK.


In my opinion what's really notable about both Starcraft and Warcraft 3 is that the base games were considered good but a bit unpolished and imbalanced, and were really defined by their expansions. Brood War and Frozen Throne really crystalized that the designers knew they had tapped into something where the core concept had promise but certain details needed refinement. In Brood War this was mostly "make every new unit counter Mutalisks" lmao, but in TFT it was racial shops, new heroes and units per race, neutral heroes, more item types, more creeps and mercenaries to really add massive depth and more permutations to a game that embraced the concept of mastering chaos.

Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 12:18 CicadaSC wrote:
New player questions:

Regarding the complexities of the Human Faction-

Why is it that you want spell breakers targeting Heroes during fights? Are there situations where u would want to target something else instead? Do you need upgrades for spellbreakers, if so which ones?


Spellbreakers have the Feedback passive that burns 4 mana per hit against heroes. Mana is a precious resource that does not regenerate quickly, so this can delay enemy heroes from casting spells for potentially a significant amount of time. I can't speculate whether they should always target heroes or not, but the mana burn passive alone would put them to better use than against most normal, non-caster units.

Yeah versus the base game I think Frozen Throne is the better expansion, probably the best expansion pack I can think of ever.

Changing it so you couldn’t creep heroes past level 5 made the game a lot more dynamic too.

Most else they added either solved problems, or gave interesting options without inadvertently creating new ones.

Changing some damage types and interactions was huge as well. Hunts became way less massable when they became more vulnerable to piercing, outright mass caster stopped being viable when they lost a lot of combat effectiveness etc
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 21 2024 15:40 GMT
#4773
On November 21 2024 22:31 Slydie wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.


The original question was why not more RTS games have experimented with upkeep mechanics, and I think the answer is pretty obvious.

This is a WC3 thread for people who do like the game, so I don't expect too much support, but for me, it is a frustrating complication of the "army-economy-tech" triangle. The risk/rewards of expanding and teching up are pretty similar.

I thought the upkeep in WC3 was necessary to avoid big armies in a game built around heroes.

Nah I think they’re fair points. I don’t think it would port well to say, SC2 but then that game is built in a different way.

WC3 suits it partly for smaller armies to begin with, so less mental calculus. Also it’s not hard eco focused either. 1 base is pretty damn viable, even if many metas do revolve around 2 base fast expo. 3 base is just worse in general, you lose too much standing army for the income to really compensate, indeed some maps don’t even have a third for each player. Plus heroes are a thing, they’re incredibly supply efficient even at level 1 and they scale up too.

I do like it as an anti-snowball mechanic though, something I think many RTS games do struggle with. Strong defender’s advantage of various kinds is one that can help, but equally it’s just something you have innately in some implementations. You don’t really have to think about it much, whereas how you approach upkeep is more conscious.

Equally it does add some complexity and isn’t always the most intuitive either. You’ve really got to memorise supply counts so your comp is right on an upkeep threshold, otherwise you’ve supply you’re not using, or you accidentally jump up to the next tier.

So definitely there are negatives as well, but I still think it’s an interesting and underused mechanic more generally.

Some more general questions for thread:
- Can you remap idle worker button, or heroes? Or anything on the F keys indeed?
- Can you remap your item hotkeys?
- Is there a way to reverse mouse scroll direction?
- Can you remap control groups?

These are quite minor things for me, somehow most of the muscle memory is still there after 15 years, I would like to fully replicate my SC setup for ease of switching though.

I got quite used to mouse scrolling, I think it’s outright better when you’re used to it, but screen scrolling works ok too. I have to screen scroll anytime I load Brood War because mouse scroll seems completely broken sensitivity wise, whereas in WC3 the sensitivity is good but it’s in the wrong direction.

- How do you guys hotkey things? I know this is somewhat personal but I might pick up some good tips!

Watching Grubby and a few others it seems they group everything together and only split them into rough roles once armies get a bit bigger. I was trying to split by role immediately but it seems to make it a little harder to micro? Like 1a2a3a4a is something I can do but introduces more chance of a misclick.

Cheers!
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Excalibur_Z
Profile Joined October 2002
United States12248 Posts
November 21 2024 16:18 GMT
#4774
On November 22 2024 00:40 WombaT wrote:
Some more general questions for thread:
- Can you remap idle worker button, or heroes? Or anything on the F keys indeed?
- Can you remap your item hotkeys?
- Is there a way to reverse mouse scroll direction?
- Can you remap control groups?


Remapping item hotkeys and the idle worker button is not possible in-game, which means you have to use an Autohotkey-based solution (there are a couple of these, and one is bundled inside the W3Champions client). That said, if you use Grid hotkeys, items are automatically remapped to TYGHBN, and that's what I'm trying to adjust to now. It's very convenient, but it's weird hitting V instead of Escape to cancel something, and R-clicking to attack-move.

By "mouse scroll" I assume you're referring to the "world grip" style map movement where you hold middle mouse and drag? I don't think there's a way to change that either.

Remapping control groups... to keys besides the numbers? No. Control group management is the same as BW, where Ctrl defines a group, Shift adds to it, and if you want to remove something from a group you Shift-deselect it and Ctrl to redefine the remaining units.
Moderator
Moonerz
Profile Joined March 2014
United States461 Posts
November 21 2024 16:58 GMT
#4775
I was thinking about giving the remaster a chance now that it seems to be in a better place. Just annoyed since I can't find my roc cd key my tft key is just worthless lol and ofc thats the one I was able to locate.
WGT-Baal
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
France3484 Posts
November 21 2024 17:10 GMT
#4776
On November 21 2024 08:20 Excalibur_Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 20 2024 17:56 Harris1st wrote:
Man you all talking about Warcraft makes me really want to play it again but I also really don't want to give Blizzard money. Stuck between a rock and a hard place here


Then don't. Register your old RoC CD-Key on https://account.battle.net/games#classic-game-accounts and download the client at https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/256212 so you can play for free. You'll still have to update to the 30gb Reforged client, and of course you won't have access to the HD stuff, but it costs nothing.

Show nested quote +
On November 21 2024 04:20 WombaT wrote:
On November 21 2024 04:04 Slydie wrote:
Upkeep is a really, really interesting mechanic too. An anti-snowball that I’m generally surprised more games haven’t experimented with


Really? Getting taxed for good macro is not the definition of "fun" for most RTS fans.

‘Good macro’ is often just mashing buttons through some familiar builds and learned patterns of production. WC3 is just generally less macro heavy anyway.

A supply cap also penalises people with good macro, just to point that out.

Upkeep creates some interesting problems, and some risk and rewards, and is something of an anti-snowball mechanic.

- Can I skimp and stay no upkeep, bank money and stick that surplus in items and upgrades?
- Do I hit a low upkeep timing if I sense my opponent is deliberately keeping their supply in low upkeep?
- Do I go 2 base and in low upkeep, where the second base income bonus outweighs the tax versus 1 base no upkeep?
- Do I try to build a super army and turtle, which potentially allows my opponent to bank a big eco advantage, but I may end up with an unkillable army?

Amongst other calculations.

Call me crazy but in a strategy game I think upkeep really does introduce some interesting questions and there isn’t always an optimal one size fits all solution either. In most other RTS games I’ve played more = better and that’s also fine, but I think it’s a genuinely strategically and tactically interesting idea


Yeah this is well said. I also used to think, coming from BW, that upkeep was a stupid mechanic, particularly because I was aware that it was designed around limiting army size for PC performance reasons. But after learning more about high level War3, I discovered the (perhaps unintentional?) genius nuance behind it. In BW, your economy is based around how many workers you build, so the differentiator is a combination of greed, optimal node assignment, and multitasking. In War3, everyone's income is identical, which means the differentiator comes in the form of a mechanic called upkeep. Going into a new upkeep tier puts pressure on you to act: whether that means winning outright or capturing an expansion, because otherwise you're sacrificing 30% or 60% of your total gold income for nothing, which puts your opponent in an economically advantageous situation. So it really comes down to optimizing your decisions and pushing your limits. Very unique and fascinating aspect of the game.


I didn't know you could register the old key! I still have the cd and boxes somewhere at my parents'. Thanks for posting that!
Horang2 fan
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 21 2024 17:27 GMT
#4777
On November 22 2024 01:58 Moonerz wrote:
I was thinking about giving the remaster a chance now that it seems to be in a better place. Just annoyed since I can't find my roc cd key my tft key is just worthless lol and ofc thats the one I was able to locate.

I had my key on my alt SC2 acc (from the days before F2P so I wanted an off race one) and that got hacked

From a browse it seems plenty are selling unsealed RoC copied for sub 15 dollars on EBay so it shouldn’t be too hard to go that route if you fancy it
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1913 Posts
November 22 2024 02:19 GMT
#4778
On November 22 2024 01:58 Moonerz wrote:
I was thinking about giving the remaster a chance now that it seems to be in a better place. Just annoyed since I can't find my roc cd key my tft key is just worthless lol and ofc thats the one I was able to locate.

i like it a lot, there are many people critical, and some are even delusional making bold claims the promotional artwork was made by AI, then someone who actually works with ai comes out and says it is 100% not ai and everyones just like... whoops. people invent narratives it seems like at this point the wc3 community cant celebrate the good things, they have their pitchforks out. Grubby i will say however, seems to have a somewhat positive outlook on the 2.0 update which makes me feel like i'm not crazy.
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26815 Posts
November 22 2024 02:42 GMT
#4779
On November 22 2024 11:19 CicadaSC wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 22 2024 01:58 Moonerz wrote:
I was thinking about giving the remaster a chance now that it seems to be in a better place. Just annoyed since I can't find my roc cd key my tft key is just worthless lol and ofc thats the one I was able to locate.

i like it a lot, there are many people critical, and some are even delusional making bold claims the promotional artwork was made by AI, then someone who actually works with ai comes out and says it is 100% not ai and everyones just like... whoops. people invent narratives it seems like at this point the wc3 community cant celebrate the good things, they have their pitchforks out. Grubby i will say however, seems to have a somewhat positive outlook on the 2.0 update which makes me feel like i'm not crazy.

Grubby’s take was more ‘it might be AI upscaling for all the icons possibly, but who cares?’ and I’m somewhat inclined to agree. I’m absolute not a fan of the plagiarism machine that is generative AI, but this seems to be a legit use case

Granted I’m talking in-game stuff versus promo material

lol look I think in an ideal world it looks like some of the promo material don’t get me wrong.

But I think we’re long past the point it was a genuinely shit remaster, into acceptable territory with recent work. I still don’t think it fully does justice to the masterpiece that is WC3, but it’s pretty solid at this point
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
CicadaSC
Profile Joined January 2018
United States1913 Posts
November 22 2024 04:01 GMT
#4780
does anything beat pala + bloodmage + rifle + priest in the midgame? wow!
Remember that we all come from a place of passion!!
Prev 1 237 238 239 240 241 245 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PiGosaur Cup
00:00
#82
PiGStarcraft663
EnkiAlexander 59
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft663
RuFF_SC2 167
Nina 100
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 5951
NaDa 29
Noble 27
Bale 11
Icarus 5
Counter-Strike
FalleN 2216
Coldzera 1670
m0e_tv379
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox1640
C9.Mang0696
ChuDatz21
Other Games
summit1g13520
WinterStarcraft299
ViBE199
Maynarde114
Trikslyr30
CosmosSc2 14
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL10780
Other Games
gamesdonequick1023
BasetradeTV52
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 65
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki120
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Rush912
• Lourlo759
Other Games
• Scarra1068
Upcoming Events
GSL
5h 37m
Cure vs sOs
SHIN vs ByuN
Replay Cast
20h 7m
GSL
1d 5h
Classic vs Solar
GuMiho vs Zoun
WardiTV Spring Champion…
1d 7h
Replay Cast
1d 20h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Classic vs SHIN
Rogue vs Bunny
BSL
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Flash vs Soma
RSL Revival
4 days
BSL
4 days
Patches Events
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Universe Titan Cup
5 days
Rogue vs Percival
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-05-19
2026 GSL S1
Nations Cup 2026

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
KK 2v2 League Season 1
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
YSL S3
SCTL 2026 Spring
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
Heroes Pulsing #1
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W8
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.