The Meta Game Has Changed

[FunkOff]

In the beginning, 2007, Supreme Commander was popular. People used to come from far and wide to try the next big thing the AMAZING new RTS with strategic zoom. Wow! Pros had only played the game for a short time and many people who played were playing sucpom online for the very first time.

Supreme Commander Used to be Full of Noobs

No flash forward 8 years. We are well into 2015. FAF has allowed Supreme Commander to last longer than most games ever do. We've had pros leave and come back (eg, yours truly), numerous patches, evolutions, etc etc etc. Eight years have passed. EIGHT YEARS. Everyone who plays this game has done so for a very long time.

Today, EVERYBODY knows what they are doing.

This is god-damned unheard of, and quite frankly a little irritating. It used to be that I could roll into any team game and kicked the other team up and down the street. Rush the guy in front of me to kill him, snipe his neighbor with some cheese, and the other two would quit out of fear alone from facing the Magnificent, The Wonderful, the One and Only FunkOff.

But that's not the case anymore. I joined a 4v4 game just now against four Polish dudes + 3 random PUG allies. In my first attack (ACU + tanks + air), not only did the guy I was facing have decent defense (I was going to maim, but not kill him) But his neighbor was there too with his entire army + the third guy contributed air. I died. Quickly.

Playing without the protection of a coordinated team is dangerous.

Supreme Commander isn't a friendly, permissive playground where I can jump in and kill (nearly) anyone on my own skills, anymore. I remember back in the early days of FAF, I killed a PUG team in a 1v3 (I had no allies to start that game... it was hosted on a bet I couldn't do it). Nowadays, that's utter suicide. And here's the crazy part, I haven't gotten much worse, rather

...the Supreme Commander community has gotten much better.


I played a 3v3 earlier today with a PUG. Two islands separated by an ocean. I did well, defeated the navy of the player facing me, and then started a T3 missile ship siege to break the base. Then their team fires a nuke at 30 min and kills two on my team, myself included. I remember nuke rushing used to be a surprise/cheese strategy that only the pros can do. Today is different;

You can expect high-level strategies from every player you meet.

It's pretty intense...

[Mr-Smith]

ya its really awesoem here. the best comunity ever, maybe not perfectly friendly to noobs (the political correct term is newbs, or beginners )
but overall if you manage to become a part its pretty epic here .

[Mephi]

You can expect high-level strategies from every player you meet.

haha good joke

I am happy if all my mates survive the first 10min

[ZLO_RD]

In gpg samurai96 was in top 100 or even top 50...
Ofc alot of things has changed, like overall skill feels to be higher cause people know about dodging, reclaim, air micro ect.

But i thought meta game is more about what you build in game, and it is different for every map, and this changed too with changing balance

[Plasma_Wolf]

You can expect high-level strategies from every player you meet.

Not true. I've only been watching replays since a very looooong time. If you meet me, I'd be dead within 10 minutes. Or hours, in case of Betrayal Ocean.

[dstojkov]

Well let's resume your point here:

The feeling that something changed without to understand exactly why ... The feeling that even newbies can compete with experimented player


Well... was it not the aim of the balance change ?

All was about to begin with a standard BO and deny all type of rush snipe, all tricks that experimented player could use to short cut the standard way of playing

All unit that were considered "OP" in 3599 are now almost useless, with the main goal : NO shortcut but go through all the long way down to victory .... which is all about standard RTS game you will say



but ... FA is no standard RTS ... in the process faf balance turned fa's gameplay to a tasteless one even replays are boring to watch in comparison with 3599 ... at every moment the game could turn completely and a apparently lost game into a win. Man 3599's gameplay was EPIC

The sadness part in this actual mess is that every balance change at the very end comes from pro's one

Now a question rose in the mind of lot of player :

Can really good player balance a game ?

Obviously .... no

[zeroAPM]

So what you're saying is that the best way to balance a game is doing it the "Brawl-" way?

[Col_Walter_Kurtz]

Supcom as a game has gotten better, overall, and that is mostly because people know wtf they are doing. However, that is only true when they are not in my team.

[Mephi]

Now a question rose in the mind of lot of player :

Can really good player balance a game ?

Obviously .... no

who should balance it then, if not the players with deepest understandment and best execution? You?

[Valki]

Well let's resume your point here:
[...]
but ... FA is no standard RTS ... in the process faf balance turned fa's gameplay to a tasteless one even replays are boring to watch in comparison with 3599 ... at every moment the game could turn completely and a apparently lost game into a win. Man 3599's gameplay was EPIC

The sadness part in this actual mess is that every balance change at the very end comes from pro's one
[...]

Interesting observation.

Many people say the same happened to World of Warcraft. In the beginning PvP was a tough exercise, with stun-locks, chain-fears, with some classes being the paper to another classes scissors.

PvP was much more fun then.


Many people say the same about Starcraft 1 (Broodwar) to Starcraft 2. There is a boring aspect to perfectly polished balance...

...but on the other hand, it does allow the individual playing much more freedom in deciding how to handle the game. In these days, people find freedom of self-expression very important, and I think thats why we see more 'perfect balance' nowadays. Around 2000, I think we were a bit more accepting of things being as they are, and adapting ourselves to that.

Still, I think most people are very happy with this new 'polished' balance, and many can't wait for the next rough spot to be smoothed out. Times have changed.