Game Balance and Matchmaking - We want your feedback!

[jmarsicola]

Currently faster units can block other units from getting on missile platforms by clicking back and forth and essentially taking up two spaces with a single unit

[RedAshphoenix]

(Disclaimer, i have not read all 28 pages of feedback)

My Background

I've started this game, possibly a week back and I'm enjoying it a lot. I played Clash Royale and Boom Beach prior to this and can see a bit of similarities with some of the game mechanics. I've also played R.A when it was out back in the day. 

I'm a mostly F2P player and am by no means anywhere close to the hardcore spenders. 

My Experience with Rivals

One of the things I enjoyed about CR and BB from Supercell is that they've catered to players of most gaming demographic. There's a part of the game suited for the heavy cashers, then there's the balanced tournament/ events where players are level capped. 

Rivals does try to do that with its leagues as well as its events but it still feels slightly off. I'm currently a L9 player and just started being able to play as Nod. On GDI, I'm no where close to my units level cap for my league. 

Someone on the forum has mentioned that i'm clearly a casual gamer that's taken the game too seriously. Yes and no. I spend possibly an hour, maybe 2 / day playing it. Clearing my dailies and i find myself too high in the league (if unit capped is any indicator). i watch videos to learn more about the game and I don't always speed up my crates so growth has been slowish.

At this point, bitter players may complain of an attempt by EA to force players to pay. I stand neutral on that mostly because i'm in no rush to progress that quick and would much rather enjoy the game. I do however think that there may need to be a lowering of the capped units for each league or something to that effect as (like mentioned before), i'm no where close to my unit cap in my league. 

Once in a while, i meet a player who meets the level cap but those are also rare. 

I don't have the exact solution but currently, the level cap doesn't seem to affect me until i hit the events where i REALLY meet players with levels that are 2-3 levels higher than my units :S

Hope the above helps. 

[csjm88]

Flame Tank + Obelisk combo technically should be countered by air units but Talons have low damage and Orcas have low health and slow reload. Impossible to defeat that Nod combo.

[XRPhodler]

I find it weird that I'll go on a major win streak and then a losing streak right afterwords. I dont need 10 wins in a row followed by 8 losses. If you guys could figure this out Id appreciate it. 

[BattaIia]

@XRPhodler

Odds are you are winning players at your level, then getting put into the next tier of matchmaking, and then losing medals back to the point you belong. Not really a fault of the game. If it was perfectly made you should win 1, lose 1. And winning 10 and losing 8 sounds pretty close to balance to me.

[Druid50cal]

I've been playing a short time but have packed in a lot of hours already to catch up with my friend an it's really slow to level but I was enjoying the game lot's to the point of spending money because it seems pretty far on some things but since the new update I feel that all my units have become weak it can take 3 sometimes 4 rifle men units to just kill one unit of 4 guys with that shockwaves and then I send in my 2 man unit of power armour in. An there level 6 against one shockwaves guys at level 6 and my power armour guys die most of the time or bearly win and get shot once by another unit and It's not fun I spend 120 points on one unit only so I can barely live to a 40 gem unit I don't know if it's a glitch or but or just player feed back saying this is to strong so you guys have changed it but at the moment I'm really not enjoying the game so I can't justify putting money into this atm because I won't ever buy in-game stuff just to try have a fair chance of winning 

[BattaIia]

hey there @Druid50cal!

So in the game there is three different unit types. Infantry - Vehicles - Air. Some units generalize and are good against multiple types, some units specialize and are only good against one unit type. Your riflemen just got a buff on the last update, so they should put a few more holes in shockwave infantry. However, your zone troopers are only good against air targets and vehicle targets. They CAN shoot at infantry, but they aren't very good at it. Their shockwave infantry however can't attack air targets, aren't very good at attacking vehicles, but are VERY strong against infantry. So for that matchup where your zone troopers are poor against infantry, and their infantry are great against infantry, you are at a massive disadvantage. So when using zone troopers, you have to back them up with some anti-infantry units such as shockwave troopers, rhino's, talons, or wolverines. 

The game revolves heavily around counters. If you have the proper counter, even if it costs less tiberium (rocket troopers beat predator tanks. Rocket troopers are 20 tiberium while a predator tank is 60 tiberium) as long as your unit is the proper counter it stands a strong chance of winning. If your friend is farther along the game than you, perhaps ask him to give you some pointers in what units counter what. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to make another thread, or private message me and I'll do my best to help!

[wwfyin]

MLRS loading time is too fast

[Gamer_Squiggle]

I really enjoy the actual RTS elements of this game, but the forced ladders and P2W aspect kills the fun for me. I understand that you need to make money off the game but this game cannot honestly be considered for any eSports event while the RPG elements for leveling that tips the balance. There is no fair play here, just who can spend the most money. I've convinced 6 other friends to play because we like RTS games and are quite competitive with each other but the only fun we seem to have is when we pvp via a friendly match. I want to keep playing and I want to love this game as I think the eSports potential for it is on par with Hearthstone. Sadly I feel at the rate this game is going with the massive P2W imbalance, I don't see this game keeping relevancy past a few months. In the past week I've put in several hours into this game these are the main points I feel could make this a game that would hold my attention longer than a month:

1) Add a PVP game mode where we can tinker with our decks without fear of losing rank and make it level locked so its a fair mode for testing/fighting

2) Unlock all units from the start, I'm in the Gold League with my GDI and majority of time I'm just fighting mirror matches and its getting BORING.

3) Change up your Loot Box model, maybe make it skins, maybe take out the leveling system and in place make it more like hearthstone where you just unlock new units from buying booster boxes (not to level them up but just to play them).

There is so much potential here for a great eSports mobile competitor but your nickle and dime-ing of the fans will lead to its eventual downfall as game companies with similar ideas start to release competing titles focusing on longevity and not a quick buck. I'm looking at Activision Blizzard here, with their recent push towards mobile development and IP's that'll draw in a bigger crowd than C&C (Think Starcraft: Rivals and Warcraft: Rivals). You have an opportunity to come ahead of those potential titles and become a leader in this eSport... don't mess it up.

[BattaIia]

@Gamer_Squiggle

Thanks for the well though out post!

Couple of thoughts for you to consider however:

1) There have already been cash tournaments for the game. They were done with equal levels. Just because the ladder has levels doesn't mean tournaments must use them. 

2) Just because you are not in tib league doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game. Levels are relative, and even at tib league, they will continue to be there. So enjoy the game where you are, and stop sweating getting to the top!

3) Lots of games with equality mechanics often feature special events where players can play / pay for an edge. Take destiny's iron banner or trails of osiris as an example. Players often complain they don't get enough of a level advantage in these modes. 

4) Just because the other guy has higher levels than you, doesn't mean he paid for them. Look at the store. Crates are EXPENSIVE. The dime you have to drop to even get a SMALL advantage is massive! The odds that every player that has higher levels than you paid is slim indeed. Dev's won't give a number on that of course, but I have a feeling that people who pay are a very small minority of the game. And the people who HAVE paid have risen through the ladder quickly, which is the feature of the win streak system. Gets players who don't belong out of that league quickly. 

So to sum up, try to relax and enjoy the game for what it is. Yea, it's not flawless. But in my opinion they did and are doing a great job with it. More features are on the way, more units are on the way. This is launch! Not starcraft 2 with 3 expansions. =)