EPThttp://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/20419654373
Quote:
Before we go into it, we would like to point out that the main reason for having this two way communication, and why we’ve had so much success for the better of the game in the past year compared to previous years is due to all of us working together as 1 team with the focus on making the game better. We have to remember to stay focused on our main goal, and let’s continue to work together. This is critical to the success of the game.
Maps
We probably don't need to get into too much detail in regards with the importance of map diversity, so let’s just talk a bit about specifically how we should get there. Ideally, every map in the map pool should have a unique, cool factor about it that makes it so that players can explore new strategies/timings/build orders/units/etc. What we mean by this in detail on a per map bases currently is this:
Dusk Towers
Defend 1 choke point to gain access to 4 bases is something unique to this map, and it’s already looking like it creates very different games compared to other map types.
Orbital Shipyard
Aside from TvZ playing slightly differently, this map is a very standard map. Standard maps aren’t necessarily a bad thing to the game, and we can definitely have a couple of these in the map pool.
Prion Terraces
Due to the layout of the gold bases, games can play out very differently. Armies are more mineral heavy, and there are many counters and counters to counters to players taking gold expansions in different ways and different timings.
Ulrena
Stand out rush distance plus the option to not always have to play the rush game depending on how the key choke points are utilized.
Central Protocol
Really difficult 3rd, and layout of natural/main favoring mobility based compositions. Obviously, we are seeing some balance issues on this map, so this is a map where we definitely want to focus on making some balance tuning passes. Let’s discuss what specific changes we could make to this map.
Lerilak Crest
Each starting location plays out so differently, and the general feel of the map playing a bit more rush heavy. The fact that each start location plays out differently means players who are more reactive depending on what they scout can perform better on a map like this, which we think is a cool factor.
Ruins of Seras
Similar idea as Lerilak, but macro instead of rush.
So as you can see, each map is unique and contributes to the map pool as a whole being an extremely diverse play experience. Map balance, however, is a different thing. Obviously if a map balance has clear problems we should work towards fixing that like we’ve already mentioned in the weekly update. We would like to thank and do a major shoutout to the people out there that are sharing specific solutions that we might be able to implement to make specific maps better. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of “Map X just sucks and there’s nothing anyone can ever do about it to make it any better.” There are two major problems with this mindset: It’s just unproductive, and the statement is just not true. We should know better than this especially since we’ve been iterating on and polishing various design problems together as a whole.
Map Balance
Granted it’s still a bit too early to have heard everyone’s thoughts on the specific balance tweaks we should be doing in the near future but let’s still talk a bit about some of the suggestions we saw today.
Lerilak Crest – changing out Rock Towers at the 3rd to Rocks
We believe this suggestion is solid, because it’s a good balance change to the map without taking away from the cool factor of the map. The map’s core difference compared to other maps in the pool will remain intact, but being able to only focus defenses on 1 choke point will be a big help in various situations.
Orbital Shipyard – Blocking some of the jumpable area around the main/3rd location, to reduce the effectiveness of mass reaper openings a little bit.
Again, something like this is solid, especially if Reapers are too strong vs. Zerg on this map, since Reapers will still be stronger in this map than other maps, but we’re just reducing their effectiveness slightly.
Prion Terraces – changing golds to normal expansions
While this is an interesting idea on paper, it proves to be bad in practice. Changing this will take away the main reason that makes this map unique, and different from standard maps that don’t have any stand out feature about them. Keep in mind, we’re not saying the map is perfect, we’re just saying let’s try to look for another area that can be tweaked that still keeps this unique factor.
Obviously, it’s only been 1 day since we’ve been discussing the specific changes so it’s difficult to say right at this moment what the best specific changes are, but let’s try to revolve discussions around this sort of thing, so that we can move quickly to put out some balance changes to the current map pool.
Online Systems
It’s encouraging to see that the community is eager for new content and features. However, we recognize that there is a temptation once we’ve talked about something new to want to see it in the game quickly. The reality is that feature and content development often takes more time than even we expect internally – and as a result, we ask for your patience and temperance in your responses each week.
When the net outcome of sharing plans early is to produce incorrect expectations, it incentivizes less transparency – instead, we want to continue to foster open communication, and we hope that you will support this approach. We are committed to quality, and we are determined to take whatever time is necessary to deliver polished work.
There have been some aspersions cast in various threads, alleging that our team is small, that our team is allocated to other projects, or that we delivered an incomplete product. None of these have merit, and frankly this kind of commentary is demotivating to the team. The entire development team from Legacy of the Void is continuing to work hard on StarCraft II – we believe we delivered a compelling scope in Legacy of the Void, and we are excited to have the opportunity to add even more content and features in the months ahead.
Although we were disappointed to see so many unconstructive comments this week, we did appreciate that some constructive feedback is still occurring. Given the passion we see exhibited on both sides of the fence, we believe that the future holds great potential. Whether you are a supporter or a critic of our approach, we are grateful to you all for playing and watching StarCraft II!
Maps
We probably don't need to get into too much detail in regards with the importance of map diversity, so let’s just talk a bit about specifically how we should get there. Ideally, every map in the map pool should have a unique, cool factor about it that makes it so that players can explore new strategies/timings/build orders/units/etc. What we mean by this in detail on a per map bases currently is this:
Dusk Towers
Defend 1 choke point to gain access to 4 bases is something unique to this map, and it’s already looking like it creates very different games compared to other map types.
Orbital Shipyard
Aside from TvZ playing slightly differently, this map is a very standard map. Standard maps aren’t necessarily a bad thing to the game, and we can definitely have a couple of these in the map pool.
Prion Terraces
Due to the layout of the gold bases, games can play out very differently. Armies are more mineral heavy, and there are many counters and counters to counters to players taking gold expansions in different ways and different timings.
Ulrena
Stand out rush distance plus the option to not always have to play the rush game depending on how the key choke points are utilized.
Central Protocol
Really difficult 3rd, and layout of natural/main favoring mobility based compositions. Obviously, we are seeing some balance issues on this map, so this is a map where we definitely want to focus on making some balance tuning passes. Let’s discuss what specific changes we could make to this map.
Lerilak Crest
Each starting location plays out so differently, and the general feel of the map playing a bit more rush heavy. The fact that each start location plays out differently means players who are more reactive depending on what they scout can perform better on a map like this, which we think is a cool factor.
Ruins of Seras
Similar idea as Lerilak, but macro instead of rush.
So as you can see, each map is unique and contributes to the map pool as a whole being an extremely diverse play experience. Map balance, however, is a different thing. Obviously if a map balance has clear problems we should work towards fixing that like we’ve already mentioned in the weekly update. We would like to thank and do a major shoutout to the people out there that are sharing specific solutions that we might be able to implement to make specific maps better. It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of “Map X just sucks and there’s nothing anyone can ever do about it to make it any better.” There are two major problems with this mindset: It’s just unproductive, and the statement is just not true. We should know better than this especially since we’ve been iterating on and polishing various design problems together as a whole.
Map Balance
Granted it’s still a bit too early to have heard everyone’s thoughts on the specific balance tweaks we should be doing in the near future but let’s still talk a bit about some of the suggestions we saw today.
Lerilak Crest – changing out Rock Towers at the 3rd to Rocks
We believe this suggestion is solid, because it’s a good balance change to the map without taking away from the cool factor of the map. The map’s core difference compared to other maps in the pool will remain intact, but being able to only focus defenses on 1 choke point will be a big help in various situations.
Orbital Shipyard – Blocking some of the jumpable area around the main/3rd location, to reduce the effectiveness of mass reaper openings a little bit.
Again, something like this is solid, especially if Reapers are too strong vs. Zerg on this map, since Reapers will still be stronger in this map than other maps, but we’re just reducing their effectiveness slightly.
Prion Terraces – changing golds to normal expansions
While this is an interesting idea on paper, it proves to be bad in practice. Changing this will take away the main reason that makes this map unique, and different from standard maps that don’t have any stand out feature about them. Keep in mind, we’re not saying the map is perfect, we’re just saying let’s try to look for another area that can be tweaked that still keeps this unique factor.
Obviously, it’s only been 1 day since we’ve been discussing the specific changes so it’s difficult to say right at this moment what the best specific changes are, but let’s try to revolve discussions around this sort of thing, so that we can move quickly to put out some balance changes to the current map pool.
Online Systems
It’s encouraging to see that the community is eager for new content and features. However, we recognize that there is a temptation once we’ve talked about something new to want to see it in the game quickly. The reality is that feature and content development often takes more time than even we expect internally – and as a result, we ask for your patience and temperance in your responses each week.
When the net outcome of sharing plans early is to produce incorrect expectations, it incentivizes less transparency – instead, we want to continue to foster open communication, and we hope that you will support this approach. We are committed to quality, and we are determined to take whatever time is necessary to deliver polished work.
There have been some aspersions cast in various threads, alleging that our team is small, that our team is allocated to other projects, or that we delivered an incomplete product. None of these have merit, and frankly this kind of commentary is demotivating to the team. The entire development team from Legacy of the Void is continuing to work hard on StarCraft II – we believe we delivered a compelling scope in Legacy of the Void, and we are excited to have the opportunity to add even more content and features in the months ahead.
Although we were disappointed to see so many unconstructive comments this week, we did appreciate that some constructive feedback is still occurring. Given the passion we see exhibited on both sides of the fence, we believe that the future holds great potential. Whether you are a supporter or a critic of our approach, we are grateful to you all for playing and watching StarCraft II!
