I was afraid this would be another "Archer doesn't get it" article, but it isn't.
While there was quite a lot of illumination of the problem, there weren't proposed solutions to the problems. Ah well. Blizzard is probably spending weeks of brainstorming sessions trying to fix this.
I have to argue a bit with one of the earlier points. According to the article, players need high APM to use macro effectively. I disagree. I think it took high APM to macro and micro properly
simultaneously. Progamers often caution new StarCraft I players "not to watch their battles" (in other words, spend their time macro-ing) because that's more effective in the long run. In other words, StarCraft I was not balanced between micro and macro (and to further the point, "only" progamers should bother with micro). This ran into a serious problem that new players generally seem to prefer micro, a weaker strategy that is only exacerbated because there's no AMM, so you end up with low-skilled players trying to use micro against moderately-skilled players using macro or higher-skilled players who have enough APM to do both.
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Should macro require the player to complete tasks at a frequent and regular interval?
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IMO, the answer is no. I think macro-style players should be rewarded for spending time completing tasks at frequent and regular intervals (eg the point of the macro mechanics) but this shouldn't give them a
greater reward than someone who spends that time micro-ing their units instead. This is something StarCraft I failed at, and one fear for StarCraft II is that macro-style players who spend a lot of time on the new macro mechanics will get a disproportionate (or simply unbalanced) reward.
This is especially important for new gamers who are unlikely to enjoy what amounts to spamming uses of macro mechanics.
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Should macro require the player to camera shift away from his army and back to his base?
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No. There should be rewards, not punishments; options, not restrictions. You should be able to macro without screen-switching (and you can do this in StarCraft II).
Lots of players see screen-switching as punishment (especially newer players or those who like micro-style), while
lots of players (especially those who watch competitive StarCraft) see screen-switching as fast and exciting. Since a considerable portion of the community sees this as negative, their views must also be taken into account. The game won't do as well if a big chunk of the community is expected to be bored just playing the game.
Rather, screen-switching should give a reward to make up for taking the player's attention away from battles. (And note that if said reward is too large, then players who aren't using screen-switching are getting punished.)
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Should macro require decision making and if so what types?
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Automining doesn't require any more decision making than manual mining, except you don't have the "choice" of wasting time on telling a worker to harvest three times a minute. (Given the way StarCraft works, that's not really a choice; you
have to do that if you want any change of winning.) You should be rewarded for making proper or correct decisions, but if you want to play the old-style "send workers to harvest, then let them be" that's fine too. You should be able to get an equivalent reward for spending that time on something else. (Obviously if you're
not spending that time on anything, then you deserve to not do as well; in other words, play at a lower AMM bracket.)
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