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Heads Up on Unlockable Units Change

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Post  rut Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:57 am

I've decided to remove the rank restrictions for playing difficult units. Instead of being locked, harder units will come with a warning for those who are under-experienced, and I think more importantly, they won't be randomned (ie choosing random will only choose between the units that are "recommended" for your rank).

I think this change will still help beginners not be overwhelmed with difficult units like the Muta or Thor, but I think it will be better overall. I didn't take the decision to make harder units locked lightly, and there's been a decent amount of criticism for it.

On the other hand, I am planning on releasing competitive perks, unless there's widespread opposition to that, so hopefully there will be even more incentive to gain those ranks!

Anyway, this unlockable units change will come with the next patch, along with 4 new units and some other minor fixes. Please share your thoughts if you have any strong opinions!

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Post  Chickenman Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:19 pm

If competitive perks means you get advantageous things as you rank up, I have to say it's a bad idea. Usually such things end up turning off new players because the experienced players tend to whoop their ass, whether they use skill or not. I DO agree with making all units available to everyone, however.
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Post  RuffRidah Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:37 pm

Chickenman wrote:If competitive perks means you get advantageous things as you rank up, I have to say it's a bad idea. Usually such things end up turning off new players because the experienced players tend to whoop their ass, whether they use skill or not. I DO agree with making all units available to everyone, however.

Wouldn't you already assume rut thought of that?

***Note from rut***
Please be nice, Ruff, I want to make sure everyone feels comfortable sharing their opinions and concerns!

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Post  DrPwnji Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:37 pm

What sort of unlockables are you talking about?

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Post  rut Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:53 pm

That's an excellent point, Chicken. It's something that I've been struggling with--trying to create incentive to grow ranks without putting beginners further behind. I think having the units be unlockable kind of presented that issue, which is why I'm getting rid of that. My thought with competitive perks would be that they are very minor things (you could only have 1 active at a time) that would be more along the lines of "customization" rather than a legitimate competitive edge. Here are some of the ideas I'm thinking about:

+3 minerals at the start of the game (Default)
Idle Cloaking
+5 Health after each kill
Slightly increased lobbed projectile speed
Start each round with a 5 second shield

These are just a few ideas that come to me off the top of my head, but the idea is that they're not game-breaking, but more of a style thing. And if any of them are too powerful, they'd certainly be nerfed ASAP, because again I agree that they shouldn't give an experienced player too much of an edge.

"Competitive Unlockables" is one of the most difficult design decisions I've had to face, so I appreciate all feedback/comments/criticism on these ideas!

rut


Last edited by rut on Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:08 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Post  PierceSc2 Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:07 pm

The thing about perks is yes you gain an advantage the longer you play. That is why it is important to make them subtle and not to powerful.

Example: if your perk turned everything into master balls people would just be pissed and leave the game.

Gaining 5 health after each kill isn't too noticable to anyone but yourself, and you feel rewarded for earning that perk

Having a 2 second faster respawn is almost unoticable (just a random perk idea)

If other people want that perk they can just keep playing, its not like its a pay to win game.

They can get other perks that you earn early on that can even have their own advantages based on different strategies

To sum this all up its a tradeoff. You have to play more to get more things (which is a fun and exciting journey) but you have to start out with less and work up your basic skills.

Because of this it is really important for the progression system to be very smooth. Higher perks shouldn't be more powerful per se, but be more unique. For example the cloaking in place only has subtle advantages, but its really cool to have and to want to earn.

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Post  rut Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:09 pm

Pierce, I fully agree with the concept of the higher up ones not necessarily being stronger, but being more unique. I think another question is whether or not you can have more than 1 active at a given moment.
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Post  PierceSc2 Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:13 pm

I definitely think there should be 2 active perks you can have. One should be offensive and defensive. Simply because it fits in with the style of the game how yo have offensive and defensive abilities. I'm not saying its necessary, I'm just saying its a hell of a lot cooler!

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Post  Chickenman Thu Jan 24, 2013 7:31 pm

Here are some perk ideas:

Offensive:
Slightly more likely to get higher end balls from the ball giver attribute.
2+ wall bounce range.
3 range aura that attracts balls toward you.

Defensive:
1+ heal per hit (doesn't apply to multiple balls shot at once).
2- cooldown on defensive abilities (might work with offensive abilities too, but I'm a bit hesitant with that).

Overall:
1- upgrade prices.
Free unit changes between rounds.
I'm not sure entirely if it exists, but no more friendly fire.

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Post  RuffRidah Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:21 pm

rut wrote:Please be nice, Ruff, I want to make sure everyone feels comfortable sharing their opinions and concerns!

You're right. I was running out of time to write longer reply. I shouldn't've replied.

Anyhoo, having advantages with more experience/plays is without a doubt, could be unfair in any game we play. However, I do recommend, as an example, fancier graphics for tournament winners. (I wanted to say) I'm interested on rut's current thoughts on this.

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