Whose decision was it to have racially unique macro mechanics?

[sandwich_bird]

No. How you can be so wrong at this point is astounding.

lol

I think the problem with the game development is that instead of thinking about map balance from the start when making units, they just go around and think about what's cool like "Oh yeah man big robots are cool I want a Thor lawl". This is a fact that Browder admitted. Imo what they should have done is start by making standards and category for maps and then decide how each matchup should play on each category of maps. For example lets say we have maps with ramps + island maps + maps w/o ramps. Then they decide how each match ups should go on each maps and then make the units and abilities accordingly. That's how imo you solve map balance. It's probably unsolvable at this point when you have so many units that weren't designed from the start for specific maps.

[deadlock]

maps are really important to balance, in wc maps are usually the deciding balance factor. the good thing is maps change so things are at least fluid

[Pandonetho]

Wow this thread has garnered a lot of posts since I last looked.

Well I guess I can just step out then. Anyway, I'd like to post the kespa july rankings.

http://www.wcg.com/6th/fun/News/news...o=C09070210006

I wouldn't say dominating, but there are definitely more Terran players in the top 24 than there are Protoss or Zerg. Not that this says anything about my opinion on balance... just pointing this out for anyone to use as reference.

[n00bonicPlague]

Holy shit there's so much crap in here that I forgot what the topic was.

Anyway, there isn't any way to separate map balance from unit balance. The mere fact that you have ground units gets the map balance involved. Now add air units and cliff-walkers and boom it's even more important than before. We may be able to lessen map balance dependency, but there is no way to even come close to eliminating it.

[Nicol Bolas]

Imo what they should have done is start by making standards and category for maps and then decide how each matchup should play on each category of maps.

That is exactly the wrong way to design units. Maps and map should features bend to what the unit capabilities are, not the other way around. If you design your units based on what you think things will be like, what you will find is that what you think will happen will have no relation to what actually happens.

Now, it's always a good idea to make sure that you aren't creating balance problems that have to be solved with maps having certain features. But you're never really going to know about those kinds of problems until the game has been released for a good year or so. To know whether you need to tweak maps or add in certain terran tropes, you really need to have lots of playtime.

[sandwich_bird]

That is exactly the wrong way to design units. Maps and map should features bend to what the unit capabilities are, not the other way around. If you design your units based on what you think things will be like, what you will find is that what you think will happen will have no relation to what actually happens.

Now, it's always a good idea to make sure that you aren't creating balance problems that have to be solved with maps having certain features. But you're never really going to know about those kinds of problems until the game has been released for a good year or so. To know whether you need to tweak maps or add in certain terran tropes, you really need to have lots of playtime.

That's true, no one could have guessed from the start that in Starcraft 1 dropships could be microed so much for example. Even then though, you still have to start somewhere. Once they see what happens they can always patch up the game so that what they originally intended stays true while still allowing creativity to a certain extent. Sometimes it’s better that the developers decide how a game should be played instead of the players.