Quote (Pk_Dibbun @ Oct 5 2013 08:31pm)
That was a really good read. Makes a lot of sense, and matches up with the points perfection was making.
At this stage in SC2, what can really be done to change or fix things? If Blizzard were to 'dumb down' the game and make SC2 only be able to Select 16 units at a time, or modified things to be more like SC1. I don't think people would accept it very well.
I do agree however that it always seems to just be about a big huge army clash that decides the game it seems.
HotS is fucked. The only chance at a comeback is LotV, and honestly I think it's too late. But the only way for this game to draw crowds is for some sort of balance to occur at high levels of play, where multiple styles of play for each race are viable again. WoL had some success because Terran players could go bio, mech, marine tank against Zerg, or any of the 3 against Terran. TvP was somewhat static, but on that end Protoss had some variability of whether they would go storm or colossi first, etc. The game really started to tube in WoL with the addition of widow mines and how much they simplified the game for Terran. Also, the infestor nerf wrecked Zerg's ability to go for infestors in the mid game, making it mutas or roach/hydra (which is basically all-in).
I think for LotV, a few things have to happen, one of which is Protoss getting a complete makeover. As it stands, Protoss rely too much on colossi, HTs/archons, and voids, none of which have terribly exciting mechanics. Remove colossi, nerf voids, and bring back the arbiter or something with a d-web like ability. Rework the gateway options to provide more choices of build--maybe add another gateway unit and nerf the zealot's late game somehow (less scaling with attack upgrades?) to encourage variety in the army comps. IMHO the core problem with the TvP and PvZ MUs is colossi, they're just too fucking good to pass up.
Terran requires the widow mine to be reworked fundamentally. These should not be available as a primary army unit. They are a great concept for defense and I even like them on drops, but when a Terran player can build 40 of them, burrow them and bait an army into them and easily clean up? That's a concern for me. Make them slower, make them cost more supply, I don't know. But something's gotta give, these things are too potent. One more point--Terran doesn't *really* have a tier 3. They have two capital ships (BC and thor) but neither provides much game-control (BCs can but they have to be en masse). Zerg and Protoss tier 3 units have excellent splash, so why not give BCs their early-beta missile attack (cost energy to fire a barrage of missiles at ground-based targets) and give thors something more effective against ground troops than their current attack/ability. Then nerf tanks or hellions slightly to compensate for how much better the mech play will be (to encourage some bio style as well) so we still have some variety of build choices.
Finally, Zerg needs ultras to be good. Give them the burrow charge ability so their massive unit size doesn't get derpily stuck on things. Let them walk over allied zerglings and banelings (not roach/hydra, they're larger model sizes). Give them those abilities and I think ultras will become an interesting late game choice for Zergs. Find a way to integrate the brood lord again as well--I think vipers having a blinding cloud range buff would help with this. Think about adding a completely new Zerg caster as well--something innovative, not just dark swarm and consume ported on a flying unit. Have this new unit replace the infestor as Zerg's tier 2 caster. That should give Zerg some options--ling/bling vs roach/hydra, tier 2 choice between muta and this new caster, and finally going into ultras or broods, with vipers as a critical support unit (cloud is really fucking good).
The last thing that I'd like to mention is that the community needs to change their attitude about rushes/"cheeses"/"all-ins" (which nobody seems to have any concept of anymore, and anything that is truly a timing attack is now termed an all-in). These are valid strategies that should be exercised more to punish greedy players for playing stupidly greedy. But there's this stigma against using all-ins in tournament play which needs to end. Balance isn't just something Blizzard controls--it's up to the community to find a way to beat some of these strategies, and we have the tools to do so right here. We just have to be more inventive about killing people before they can complete their build. It will bring more early-game excitement and more intense micro, which I think everyone is yearning for in Starcraft.