Proposed Seraphim Unit for FAF V1.2

[Azure_Spectrum]

I'm going to weigh in here, less than someone with as much experience in the game like you guys and more of a fan of the series. What Resin said holds true, GPG did sell out the core community and we likely will not be seeing a sequel anytime soon. If SC2 is an indication of how corporate entities care about the fanbase, than at this point literally a decade later after release, what harm is left to be done? The unit is balanced and I will explain from my personal experience with it in game after trying to see if I could use it in a "broken" manner.

The unit has great offensive capabilities and range, but lacks speed both on ground and in the air. When transformed, without proper air control the units lose to even t1 interceptors as the landing sequence takes about 2-3 seconds to re-deploy them as ground units. So this makes their transformation usage highly situational as any intelligent ai or player could easily counter them, making their added mass and energy loss devastating early to mid game. And while their range is good on ground, they can easily get out ranged by t2/t3 arty and defenses. It is impossible to rush this unit in with proper air cover and not get it attacked by a gunships or bombers, both cheaper and faster than this unit.

So how is this not balanced?

P.S: Mr. Frenchmen is right, Chris really should see what you done, the weapon effects and even the model are top notch!

[Resin_Smoker]

What i find Ironic, is that the Seasoned players decry mods on what was originally designed to be a moddable platform.
Sure folks come here to play FA but what does FA or FAF really mean in a world where the game is largely an unknown?

As Azure stated, what does this hurt?

By not accepting modding your missing out on things such as this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5G5Ab792fg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV8YBXVxxeI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9NGQC5rr0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFMtjSJAZB8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdbIQ4vHkMs

Granted none of this is "balanced" an any meaningful way but this was just a ruff example of whats possible.

[nine2]

all those things are cool. I like the reflecting projectiles one.

I just don't want it integrated cos I like the base game as it is.

you have the power to make amazing add on mods. people would love experimental that u can upgrade.

[____]

I understand what you are trying to achieve with these comments, though I don’t think they will change anything. People play the game how they want, and if they don’t want to play with your mod because it has several problems, you cannot blame them for opposing the idea of integrating it. Telling them that they are old-fashioned or just don’t like modders altogether, is delusional and simply a wrong accusation. In the end you complained about people bashing your design choices while you bash their respective opinions just as much and just label them as “irrational – because unprogressive”.

The first stage of doing anything really, is to think about what you can realistically achieve with your work and the underlying basic principles you want to utilize. Your goal was to integrate your unit into the game, which has a very low chance of occurring. I appreciate your work, but in this case, you are just setting yourself up for a disappointment. Not only was your goal unrealistic, but also your design principles counterintuitive regarding your goals. If my goal was to get a certain unit integrated, I would not include mechanisms which could completely break the balance or do not fit into the general theme of the game. I would “play it save” in this case.
What you did however, was making a mod which is very impressive as of itself, though sadly you seemingly did not think much about what your goal realistically could be and how to achieve it. You seem to have a good skillset and ofc you can do whatever you like, if you want to make real impact though, you should work on things that expand the game in ways other than units. Like adding better visuals or working on helpful UI mods (which might even be integrated).

Basically, it boils down to the "toy" metaphor the other guy mentioned. People like new toys. Some people however are fine with the toys they already have and don’t want other toys, since they do not like them. All this might sound hard but that is how it is.

PS: There are other options to get your mod played a lot, apart from integrating it. You can add it to a modpack or suggest making it ranked.

[Dunstklinge]

man, i wish the devs would have shown this will to conserve FA when the vet change came around.

I think this quote sums up this thread pretty well:

at this point literally a decade later after release, what harm is left to be done?

There is all the harm left to be done. FAF exists because a small but dedicated group of people loves FA, and every update that changes how FAF works removes a part of the reason why it exists in the first place. FAF is not its own unique strategy game that tries to attract new players with its unique ideas, and it would fail miserably if it tried to be; FAF only tries to keep FA alive, and it did so for many years now. An update that changes the game without an extremly urgent reason is quite literally suicide.

Engi mod and T3 AA were both designed to touch on FAFs gameplay as little as possible while solving a percieved huge issue, and still they recieved a lot of criticism from people who did not agree with the scale of the issue or that the solution was in the spirit of FA. Even the veterancy change at least declared some kind of "issue" that it was trying to "solve" (which i disagree with vehemently and that made me quit the game, but at least it was trying to act in a preserving manner).

This is just plain out declaring that it doesnt like FA and wants it to change. Adding this unit would be betraying the FA community more than GPG ever could.

[keyser]

it's when you are criticized from extremist of both opposite sides, that you know you are in the good spot.

[Resin_Smoker]

it's when you are criticized from extremist of both opposite sides, that you know you are in the good spot.

Yes! i feel the love.

[keyser]

i was talking about the balance team having to deal with people like you and guys like dunstklinge.

[Azure_Spectrum]

I'd have to stop you right there Dunstklinge. Betraying the community more than GPG ever could? Do you realize it has been over a decade after the release of the first game? So what if there's a unit with abilities that weren't in the original release? Who is going to complain at this point onwards? Oh right, the "community" of grown children with so much time on their hands that hard working individuals with goals and a focus can't make someone to satisfy their corporate bootlicking antics. And that's really what this is coming down to. The Seraphim t3 ground army is weak! Tanks that hit the ground more often than the intended targets, small AOE on arty and basically nothing special about the entire tree save t3 mobile shields. I never played the Seraphim vanilla, not because I didn't like their aesthetic, which I do. It is because almost all their units are do nothing special and have no chance against t3 of other armies. Or you could argue that was the point of the developer to stay in 2 with bots, but I would argue again of why is it important to have a useless tech?

The Flying Walker almost feels like it was an intended unit and maybe if people think it is as unbalanced as it is, putting it as a Quantum Gateway only unit might solve the problem, but as far as balance goes, it checks out. Stop crying about it, you're so sad looking at this point.

[biass]

yeah nah simmer down ol cob