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Maps in the Balance - Page 6

Forum Index > News
280 CommentsPost a Reply
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TuElite
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada2123 Posts
November 14 2011 23:48 GMT
#101
Something I don't understand is why the f do leagues such as GSL and MLG still use watch towers ???!
Always Smile - Jung Nicole - Follow Nicole on Twitter @_911007 and me @TuElite
Phelix
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
1931 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-14 23:54:13
November 14 2011 23:49 GMT
#102
Great article, expresses my sentiments exactly on why there must be a cycling of maps in order for Starcraft 2 to be successful.

I'm tired of seeing Metalopolis/XNC after ~2000 games on them because the players will use the optimal strategy on said maps as the map is figured out. The problem is that tournament organizers, especially small ones, wants to become the next big thing, and have to cater to the professional players that play in them. Thus, the organizers use the same map pool from the big tournaments to appease the players to generate content. This leads to the problem of too many small tournaments that uses the same maps over and over to generate content.

On November 15 2011 08:48 TuElite wrote:
Something I don't understand is why the f do leagues such as GSL and MLG still use watch towers ???!

My opinion on watchtowers is that they are necessary because pushes happen much quicker in Starcraft 2, and watchtowers gives the defending player an option to see if the attack is coming or not. Also, it allows the attacking player to assert more map dominance, rather than just their standing army. Also, I think it's mostly for the Zerg to use because they can place a Zergling to see, and Zerg is more susceptible to big, multiple and well-timed attacks. I agree with your sentiment though, I dislike the Watchtower mechanic as maps get bigger and mapmakers figure out whether this mechanic is necessary.
Venture Capital is better off spent on lottery tickets rather than investing in E-Sports; you'll get a far better return. The difference is simple: Koreans are tryharding at the game, foreigners are tryharding in real-life.
BradenKuntz
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada59 Posts
November 14 2011 23:51 GMT
#103
Great read! It's nice to know there's actually some people out there who don't simply complain about OP this or OP that. Starcraft 2 is such a complex game that it is impossible to narrow down any sort of imbalance to any one thing. We need to look at the whole picture instead of raging at the "imba Terrans" all the time. Your idea of having one general map pool for all major tournaments is an awesome idea. If there was some sort of committee, or at least cooperation between all major tournament organizers, I think that is not only a realistic goal, but one that is definitely worth pursuing,
Hinanawi
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States2250 Posts
November 14 2011 23:55 GMT
#104
It's pretty damn silly that Blizz has such a strangehold on maps right now.

You think Brood War would have taken off like it did if everyone was forced to play on Blood Bath?

[image loading]
Favorite progamers (in order): Flash, Stork, Violet, Sea. ||| Get better soon, Violet!
HystericaLaughter
Profile Joined September 2011
Australia720 Posts
November 14 2011 23:56 GMT
#105
Wow.... look at the difference in stats for metalopolis with and without close positions

TvZ goes from 57% to 47%

Also I never thought steppes was worse than jungle basin. I personally always felt more comfortable on jb as a Zerg
My wife for hire! - Zealot
envisioN .
Profile Joined February 2011
United States552 Posts
November 15 2011 00:00 GMT
#106
Great read and a great point. I would love to see some cycle of maps so that the game doesn't become stagnant and stale.
"Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works" -Martin Luther ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
JiYan
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
United States3668 Posts
November 15 2011 00:00 GMT
#107
blood bath is fun though, but i see your point :D
DIMAGA
Profile Joined June 2004
Ukraine38 Posts
November 15 2011 00:01 GMT
#108
blood bath = stepps of war :DDDDDDDDD
deafhobbit
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States828 Posts
November 15 2011 00:02 GMT
#109
On November 15 2011 08:55 Hinanawi wrote:
It's pretty damn silly that Blizz has such a strangehold on maps right now.

You think Brood War would have taken off like it did if everyone was forced to play on Blood Bath?

[image loading]


Admittedly, Blood Bath was not intended to be a ladder map, but there are plenty of examples of terrible maps from Blizzard in BW that were intended for ladder play.

I've never really understood why this notion has been so absent from discussions of Sc2 balance - BW was essentially balanced by professional map designers, not Blizzard.
I cheer for underdogs and Flash
imEnex
Profile Joined June 2011
Canada500 Posts
November 15 2011 00:03 GMT
#110
Good writeup I agree with you!
Program yourself to Success
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66360 Posts
November 15 2011 00:05 GMT
#111
tal'darim altar, my favourite map in SC2
POGGERS
NekoFlandre
Profile Joined March 2011
United States497 Posts
November 15 2011 00:07 GMT
#112
This is a truth that we well......have let slip out.

Destination....Python....Heartbreak Ridge...........
Blue Storm.... Ride of the Valkyrie.......
Fighting Spirit.....Katrina.....Gaia..........

Oh...
We have. Yea. Not okay maps for SC2.
If someone TRIES something new on them. The old standard most likely WILL end up winning.
Kitty Flandre....even more scary..
Kuja
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States1759 Posts
November 15 2011 00:10 GMT
#113
If you remember, sAviOr took maps that were completely OP for Terran and and ridiculous win rates with Zerg on them in Brood War. Its the player not the map.
“Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to say?”
vtbarrera
Profile Joined October 2010
United States46 Posts
November 15 2011 00:10 GMT
#114
Metal is by far and away my favorite SC2 map. More competitive map pools need it in their rotation.
SCbiff
Profile Joined May 2010
110 Posts
November 15 2011 00:15 GMT
#115
Why we, who had the long history of Brood War to refer to, decided to use the default Blizzard maps for money tournaments with talented players, is unfathomable.


It's not unfathomable at all. The game was (and still is) young, and there were (are) no other maps with the kind of wide-spread familiarity of the ladder maps. More important than the intricate balance of a map is the massive imbalance of using a map that one player knows better than another, or the lack of high level play on a map that neither player knows.

Even when a map is eventually ruled as "bad," it often takes time to get there. XNC was, for a long time, the preferred map of a lot of players (including pro), and was considered the most balanced. Now look at it.

There's a reason that it took a while to decide which BW maps were the best for tournaments, and it isn't because BW was the first time out. It's because it's an inherently hard goal which takes time to accomplish, and in the meantime, you're better sticking with the devil you know.
Skawuscha
Profile Joined January 2011
Austria110 Posts
November 15 2011 00:16 GMT
#116
Some people here haven't noticed that NASL and IPL already testing custom maps and make small tournaments with them.
ESV Korean Weekly use custom maps. So go and watch those tournaments and give feedback!!!
DanceSC
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States751 Posts
November 15 2011 00:21 GMT
#117
Lol i like how the good = bad for toss, the bad = ok for toss, the ugly = good for toss xD
Dance.943 || "I think he's just going to lose. There's only so many ways you can lose. And he's going to make some kind of units. And I'm going to attack him, and then all his stuff is going to die. That's about the best prediction that I can make" - NonY
MaV_gGSC
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada1345 Posts
November 15 2011 00:24 GMT
#118
haha great read. I never knew Metal was so Terran favored until 1.1
Life's good :D
iGrok
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States5142 Posts
November 15 2011 00:24 GMT
#119
Haha, I've been saying this for months. Good luck implementing it. Tournaments won't do it without pressure, and only the players are in position to do that, but they won't because they are too busy to care about non-tournament maps
MOTM | Stim.tv | TL Mafia | Fantasy Fighting! | SNSD
chiwawa
Profile Joined April 2011
330 Posts
November 15 2011 00:25 GMT
#120
On November 15 2011 09:16 Skawuscha wrote:
Some people here haven't noticed that NASL and IPL already testing custom maps and make small tournaments with them.
ESV Korean Weekly use custom maps. So go and watch those tournaments and give feedback!!!

Yeah, ESV deserves a lot of credit bringing in new western maps into the scene. Hopefully foreign tournaments can start to include these as well as the GSL maps one by one. As they did with Terminus and are about to do with Daybreak to name one map.

It would be interesting to see if MLG replaced a map each tournament, they had Testbug way back and it was a nice addition. Because the people that actually had played on Testbug had quite an advantage because they took time and practiced the whole map pool.
시카
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