First, some quick background. I've been playing the C&C series since it came out in 1995 and I've played every single C&C game since then (including Sole Survivor and C&C4). I've also got somewhere over 2000 hours throughout the series. When I first heard of Rivals I was bummed out that we weren't getting a PC game (and I still kind of am...). However, despite what others have said, this is actually a pretty good game at its core. There are some balancing issues that have to be resolved, but it's got a ton of potential.
That being said, there are plenty of issues I've had. The biggest issue I've had so far is unlocking units. Either this needs to be removed, the matchmaking needs to have a hard cap at what levels can match, or some other solution I'm not thinking of. It is extremely frustrating to be a level 10 and get matched with somebody who has a Basilisk. It'd be like playing a normal game of Tiberian Sun at tech level 5 while your opponent gets tech level 10. Pretty much impossible to win.
What makes the unit unlocking worse is the inconsitency. I've unlocked just about every unit for GDI from the crate drops, but I only just got the Rockworm and Reapers in the past 24 hours. Still need to get the artillery... What this has done is force me to play GDI constantly since they're the only faction for me with enough options to build a balanced force. Honestly, I'd rather pay $5 for the game in the app store with all the units unlocked than play it for free.
The other issues pertain to actual unit and ability balance. I do think the balance patch that just came out was a step in the right direction for vehicles, but I think abilities need to have a balance pass. If you take two equally skilled players where one builds a barracks and the other builds a war factory at the start of a match, the one who built the war factory has a much higher chance of winning. What tilts the scales here are the support abilities. If you're Lt. Strongarm you can place a turret just about anywhere to take out any infantry that might be bothering you. Liang can easily outheal any damage you deal to his vehicles and Jackson can almost double the effectiveness of any unit. If you're Oxanna it's pretty easy to buff and then micro some attack bikes to take out a harvester.
I'm not sure what the solution to this is, but it's the biggest unit/ability balance issue I've had so far. Vehicles by themselves edge out infantry, which is to be expected. However, unlike past C&C games you can easily skip right past infantry and go straight to vehicles; plus the vehicles aren't that expensive compared to infantry. Another major factor in this is the unit cap. If I purchase a missile squad it puts just as much of a delay on when I can build the next unit as building a Rhino or Pitbull while being significantly inferior to either in most aspects. You may want to think about making that impact based on cost or unit type.
All in all, at the start of a match you just can't compete with infantry against vehicles at all, and there are few drawbacks to getting vehicles in the first place.
Another issue that I briefly touched on is the support abilities. As you mentioned in a previous update, you're considering some changes to the ion cannon and catalyst missile. I think the time to react to both needs to be increased; it's pretty frustrating to get the notification that one of my expensive units is about to die with no way to possibly react to an 80 credit ability.
Finally, I think we need more info on the units to properly build our armies. Does the reaper do the same amount of damage to vehicles as infantry? How about zone troopers? What are the differences in their damage if they don't? I can kind of guess at these answers, but I don't know for certain how effective these units will be in different situations. Did my reaper win against that rifle squad because of their level or for some other reason?
For a pre-alpha, I've enjoyed this game quite a bit. It's not the C&C game I wanted, but it's still a fun game as is. If you can fix the balance issues with the game and maybe even add some new units I think it'll be a hit.
