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Only Balance for the Highest Level? - Page 9

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Mordanis
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States893 Posts
September 28 2011 19:33 GMT
#161
The problem with lower level balance is that it is hard to differentiate between disparity in the power of the race at whatever level(plat or gold or low masters) and the disparity in skill of the players. I recently played a PvZ where Z felt that P is too strong, but when I watched through the replay, I had +3 weapons, +3 armor and even shields coming. He had +2 ranged attacks, and that's it. In my opinion, this huge upgrade advantage negated any balance issues in platinum PvZ, but I'm not sure there is any way to prove this.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning... it smells like... victory. -_^ Favorite SC2 match ->Liquid`HerO vs. SlayerS CranK g.1 @MLG Summer Championship
grs
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Germany2339 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-28 19:39:01
September 28 2011 19:38 GMT
#162
I don't think the game is unbalanced at lower level play. When I see my replays both me and my enemy have so much things to do better to win the game - which are perfectly in grasp - I can't see subtle balance differences really matter, while on pro level play they may.
Superneenja
Profile Joined December 2010
United States154 Posts
September 28 2011 19:40 GMT
#163
Personally I think in lower leagues its about race mechanics. Some races are easier to pick up than others to people without/limited RTS experience. I saw this also when I used to play random..personally I would win almost every game as zerg in lower levels and seemed to lose to the stupidest things as terran and toss. Now I won't make this into a zerg is easy post, but think about the mechanics of zerg... you build all your units in 1 building, there is very little to micro and a good (lucky) engagement can turn the whole tide of the game in your favor. Unless toss/terran really knows good timings or how to abuse theres really no way to stop a zerg in those lower levels...they can 13/14 or 15 hatch all the way to plat easy..Now it may just depend on the person as well, but this is what i see in general having played Terran for majority of my 1v1 and having a zerg practice acct. (My win ratio as zerg is way better...which is sad )
vOdToasT
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Sweden2870 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-28 19:42:51
September 28 2011 19:42 GMT
#164

Zerg strugghled with the protoss death ball since the game came out. It took a whole year for enough zerg players to learn infestor micro and NP usage well enough to be able to deal with it. And 2-3 weeks after it became clear that this is actually a viable way to deal with colossus death balls it was taken out of the game and protoss got some buffs on top of it.

Now at the top level in korea protoss struggle with zerg, mainly because they can't keep up with the economy. Well, get better at harassing then. Zerg can't keep up with your army. That isn't any better or worse of a problem, it is just a different problem.


Actually, fungal growth got buffed to be good vs armoured units. That's what happened.
If it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid* (*Or: You are stupid for losing to it, and gotta git gud)
ComaDose
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Canada10357 Posts
September 28 2011 19:42 GMT
#165
If a game is perfectly balanced then it will be balanced in all leagues and in all team sizes.
This is obviously what they are aiming for.

I believe what you are referring to is if something is powerful and easy to do then it is powerful in early leagues. This is irrelevant.
BW pros training sc2 is like kiss making a dub step album.
Paladia
Profile Joined August 2003
802 Posts
September 28 2011 19:46 GMT
#166
The reason to target the highest level of play is quite simple. At the lower level of play, it is easy to compensate for lack of balance by practicing a bit more, as your own skill has a much greater influence on the outcome than balance will ever have.

However, at the very highest level of play there is little you can do to compensate, you already practice as hard as you can and do everything in your power to become the best. Not to mention that a lot of peoples careers are on the line and a lack of balance can ruin them.
I can no longer rest under the tree of wisdom, since you have axed down the roots feeding it.
Herfelt
Profile Joined June 2011
Denmark89 Posts
September 28 2011 19:55 GMT
#167
In lower leagues its all about limiting your mistakes. Sure, the immortal range increase makes it a tougher unit even in the lower leagues, but such minor balance buffs/nerfs won't make any difference compared to the mistakes a player makes during a game.

Only at the highest level the consequences of the mistakes are overshadowed by the actual balance issues. When you play near-flawlessly, balance can be the deciding factor in some cases.

That's just my opinion. I'm in silver league, I don't whine about balance since I know that it won't really matter at my level of play.
EcterA
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States949 Posts
September 28 2011 20:00 GMT
#168
On September 29 2011 04:33 mordanis wrote:
The problem with lower level balance is that it is hard to differentiate between disparity in the power of the race at whatever level(plat or gold or low masters) and the disparity in skill of the players. I recently played a PvZ where Z felt that P is too strong, but when I watched through the replay, I had +3 weapons, +3 armor and even shields coming. He had +2 ranged attacks, and that's it. In my opinion, this huge upgrade advantage negated any balance issues in platinum PvZ, but I'm not sure there is any way to prove this.

You are absolutely 100 percent right. You don't need to prove it with any data, it's there in what you said. Your +3 weapons will shred any army with no armor upgrades, and your +3 armor negates his +2 ranged. Any number of factors can lead to an upgrade disparity like this, whether you had good harrassment and made him spend the money/time on other things or just applied constant pressure from the early game that put him behind, it doesn't matter. But most likely, he wasn't doing his job of getting his upgrades. In which case, no amount of 'balance changes' will help this player win, unless a nerf comes to Protoss that makes it a necessity for them to be +3/+3 just to survive a fight with a 0/0 zerg. And that's why you balance only for the top.
imbecile
Profile Joined October 2009
563 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-28 20:02:57
September 28 2011 20:01 GMT
#169
On September 29 2011 04:42 vOdToasT wrote:

Show nested quote +
Zerg strugghled with the protoss death ball since the game came out. It took a whole year for enough zerg players to learn infestor micro and NP usage well enough to be able to deal with it. And 2-3 weeks after it became clear that this is actually a viable way to deal with colossus death balls it was taken out of the game and protoss got some buffs on top of it.

Now at the top level in korea protoss struggle with zerg, mainly because they can't keep up with the economy. Well, get better at harassing then. Zerg can't keep up with your army. That isn't any better or worse of a problem, it is just a different problem.


Actually, fungal growth got buffed to be good vs armoured units. That's what happened.


And I think that had less of an impact on the game than the Archon range buff. Against protoss, you don't use Fungal for damage. The DPS and health is far too high to rely on fungals for damage.

You use fungals for pinning. But even that isn't enough, because that means you still need to attack with roaches and lings or hydras into a colossus/void ray/stalker/sentry ball that one shots them by the dozen before they even can get off one attack, if they are lucky enough to not run into force fields.

This is where the neurals used to come in: to reduce the DPS long enough temporarily to actually be able to engage. Not possible anymore. Which means we are back to corruptor, which is auto lose if you make just two too much or too few, or baneling drops, which is a pretty high level skill and quite volatile.
VirgilSC2
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States6151 Posts
September 28 2011 20:03 GMT
#170
On September 29 2011 05:01 imbecile wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 29 2011 04:42 vOdToasT wrote:

Zerg strugghled with the protoss death ball since the game came out. It took a whole year for enough zerg players to learn infestor micro and NP usage well enough to be able to deal with it. And 2-3 weeks after it became clear that this is actually a viable way to deal with colossus death balls it was taken out of the game and protoss got some buffs on top of it.

Now at the top level in korea protoss struggle with zerg, mainly because they can't keep up with the economy. Well, get better at harassing then. Zerg can't keep up with your army. That isn't any better or worse of a problem, it is just a different problem.


Actually, fungal growth got buffed to be good vs armoured units. That's what happened.


And I think that had less of an impact on the game as the Archon range buff. Against protoss, you don't use Fungal for damage. The DPS and health is far too high to rely on fungals for damage.

You use fungals for pinning. But even that isn't enough, because that means you still need to attack with roaches and lings or hydras into a colossus/void ray/stalker/sentry ball that one shots them by the dozen before they even can get off one attack, if they are lucky enough to not run into fore fields.

This is where the neurals used to come in: to reduce the DPS long enough temporarily to actually be able to engage. Not possible anymore. Which means we are back to corruptor, which is auto lose if you make just two too much or too few, or baneling drops, which is a pretty high level skill and quite volatile.

You know, except all those pushes I see over and over that just get chain fungaled to death, without involving any other units.
Clarity Gaming #1 Fan | Avid MTG Grinder | @VirgilSC2
Sighstorm
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands116 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-28 20:59:20
September 28 2011 20:09 GMT
#171
IMO the game should be balance for the highest level of competative play. I'm mostly a spectator and GSL code S isn't attractive to me at the moment.

That being said, i actually believe there is still room in the game to tweak it in such a way that the game will be more balanced on the highest level, while not changing too much for casual players. For instance by changing stuff like rotation speed & acceleration. Changing those kind of attributes will have a completely different impact on the A-move level then on the top3-micro-in-the-world level. After increasing/balancing the "impact of player skill" of a unit (redesign) everything should be re-balanced for the highest level of play.

Something like this (not saying it's easy):
[image loading]
* gap = cap
unicron113
Profile Joined December 2010
8 Posts
September 28 2011 20:11 GMT
#172
These are interesting arguments. In my humble opinion balance should be specified to 1v1 pro gameplay. Even at lower leagues those people are in the starcraft 2 community as well and should be aware of the pro scene and any renditions they have of what they see. When skill in the game is similar the balances do not effect only pro players.
Crying
Profile Joined February 2011
Bulgaria778 Posts
September 28 2011 20:21 GMT
#173
Ok guys FIRST DONT BANN ME FOR MY COMMENT i would like to say that blizzard Are balancing the game AT ALL LEVELS because if u balance it at TOP all brnze silver and low league players will quit and thus making blizzard poorer by not buying HoTS or LOTV..ITS A marketing trick nothing else
Determination~ Hard Work Surpass NATURAL GENIUS!
Aterons_toss
Profile Joined February 2011
Romania1275 Posts
September 28 2011 20:22 GMT
#174
The games has silly ways to balance itself at low level as far as i see
For example:
- terran are chees proof even in lower leagues and pretty easy to A-move with MM which with no micro in early game and toss can't hold it with no micro due to there units being worse dps/hp wise.
-Zerg can roll rines with bling since T have bad rine micro but it equals out since zerg will get free tank shoots on there army and won't target fire rines with banelings/ he won't be able to micro his mutas vs stimed rines
.... just examples i can think of
Im not sure if its intended but it seems to work... balance stats from blizzard says so at least.
A good strategy means leaving your opponent room to make mistakes
imbecile
Profile Joined October 2009
563 Posts
September 28 2011 20:34 GMT
#175
On September 29 2011 05:03 VirgilSC2 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 29 2011 05:01 imbecile wrote:
On September 29 2011 04:42 vOdToasT wrote:

Zerg strugghled with the protoss death ball since the game came out. It took a whole year for enough zerg players to learn infestor micro and NP usage well enough to be able to deal with it. And 2-3 weeks after it became clear that this is actually a viable way to deal with colossus death balls it was taken out of the game and protoss got some buffs on top of it.

Now at the top level in korea protoss struggle with zerg, mainly because they can't keep up with the economy. Well, get better at harassing then. Zerg can't keep up with your army. That isn't any better or worse of a problem, it is just a different problem.


Actually, fungal growth got buffed to be good vs armoured units. That's what happened.


And I think that had less of an impact on the game as the Archon range buff. Against protoss, you don't use Fungal for damage. The DPS and health is far too high to rely on fungals for damage.

You use fungals for pinning. But even that isn't enough, because that means you still need to attack with roaches and lings or hydras into a colossus/void ray/stalker/sentry ball that one shots them by the dozen before they even can get off one attack, if they are lucky enough to not run into fore fields.

This is where the neurals used to come in: to reduce the DPS long enough temporarily to actually be able to engage. Not possible anymore. Which means we are back to corruptor, which is auto lose if you make just two too much or too few, or baneling drops, which is a pretty high level skill and quite volatile.

You know, except all those pushes I see over and over that just get chain fungaled to death, without involving any other units.


Yep, not being to a-move is hard. I get it.

I manage to do that maybe once every 20 games, and only with small armies that have 2 colossus at most and he wasn't really looking and even then not without help. Killing a colossus based army with fungal takes 9 of them, 36 seconds. That is if you manage to catch the whole army with every single one of them, which is only possible with the smallest and no reinforcements come.

Basically, if you lose an army to pure fungal, you deserve to lose it. Just as a zerg that loses 10 mutas to 12 marines deserves to lose them. And that happens a lot easier.
VirgilSC2
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States6151 Posts
September 28 2011 20:48 GMT
#176
On September 29 2011 05:34 imbecile wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 29 2011 05:03 VirgilSC2 wrote:
On September 29 2011 05:01 imbecile wrote:
On September 29 2011 04:42 vOdToasT wrote:

Zerg strugghled with the protoss death ball since the game came out. It took a whole year for enough zerg players to learn infestor micro and NP usage well enough to be able to deal with it. And 2-3 weeks after it became clear that this is actually a viable way to deal with colossus death balls it was taken out of the game and protoss got some buffs on top of it.

Now at the top level in korea protoss struggle with zerg, mainly because they can't keep up with the economy. Well, get better at harassing then. Zerg can't keep up with your army. That isn't any better or worse of a problem, it is just a different problem.


Actually, fungal growth got buffed to be good vs armoured units. That's what happened.


And I think that had less of an impact on the game as the Archon range buff. Against protoss, you don't use Fungal for damage. The DPS and health is far too high to rely on fungals for damage.

You use fungals for pinning. But even that isn't enough, because that means you still need to attack with roaches and lings or hydras into a colossus/void ray/stalker/sentry ball that one shots them by the dozen before they even can get off one attack, if they are lucky enough to not run into fore fields.

This is where the neurals used to come in: to reduce the DPS long enough temporarily to actually be able to engage. Not possible anymore. Which means we are back to corruptor, which is auto lose if you make just two too much or too few, or baneling drops, which is a pretty high level skill and quite volatile.

You know, except all those pushes I see over and over that just get chain fungaled to death, without involving any other units.


Yep, not being to a-move is hard. I get it.

I manage to do that maybe once every 20 games, and only with small armies that have 2 colossus at most and he wasn't really looking and even then not without help. Killing a colossus based army with fungal takes 9 of them, 36 seconds. That is if you manage to catch the whole army with every single one of them, which is only possible with the smallest and no reinforcements come.

Basically, if you lose an army to pure fungal, you deserve to lose it. Just as a zerg that loses 10 mutas to 12 marines deserves to lose them. And that happens a lot easier.

Right, because EVERY Protoss army ever has Colossi in it. That makes total sense. It's not like Protoss uses units other than Colossi. No amount of micro can save your Zealots/Sentries/Stalkers/High Templar from chain-fungals. I'm not talking about my mid-diamond pushes here, I'm talking about at the pro level. Stop comparing your games to pro level balance, that's the whole point of this thread.
Clarity Gaming #1 Fan | Avid MTG Grinder | @VirgilSC2
Conquerer67
Profile Joined May 2011
United States605 Posts
September 28 2011 20:52 GMT
#177
Why are we starting to see so many threads like this, people saying basically that bronze league should play with rush-proof maps because they don't know how to stop a 7 pool, or people in gold should play without the fungal nerf because they have no idea how to use baneling drops.

To the OP, what I'm saying is that the people in lower leagues have to learn the same game as the people in masters and GM. Learning StarCraft is a process, and it kinda fucks with the process if Blizzard were to decide that the game is imba only on lower leagues, because that's almost inpossible. Sure, if there was something that you need 120 APM to counter an a-move, that's a problem. But otherwise, it's fine as it is.
I hate when people compare SC2 and rochambeu. One race isn't fucking supposed to counter another one. | Protoss isn't OP. Their units on the other hand....
W2
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States1177 Posts
September 28 2011 20:54 GMT
#178
I believe sc2 is nowhere near the skill ceiling, so "balancing for the pros" at the moment is not what it sounds like. For example, just look at any BW pro game from 2001, I am sure many of you are playing at that level if not better. Nowadays, it seems BW is much closer to the skill ceiling, so by balancing around flash/jaedong/bisu we can assure ourselves that they are playing their race at the highest threshold, and imbalances only correctable by patches to the game.
Hi
gfever
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States180 Posts
September 28 2011 20:57 GMT
#179
if balance only occured in the highest level then there's a problem what if you started in bronze and went to high master in a couple weeks. All of a sudden you have to relearn the game cuz the units act differently. Dumb idea is dumb.
Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/gamfvr, My Terran Guide: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=297764
2plusthree
Profile Joined February 2011
Russian Federation43 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-09-28 21:12:58
September 28 2011 21:11 GMT
#180
Practice league already does what you're suggesting. And MMR already works to pair people of equal skill.

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