Team Upgrades

[TheProgramer]

While reading posts under the thread "Warp-in in teamgames not working?" I saw some interesting ideas there and would like to flush out the over-all idea. Research for Team games (2v2, 3v3, 4v4, etc.)


PROTOSS:

Intervened Psionic Energy Matrix

Effect: Protoss Allies can warp on your pylon power fields.* Also allows Protoss Allies' pylons to power your buildings.

Researched at: Twilight Council
Requires: N/A
Cost: 150 min 150 gas

Lore: Protoss are able to refine their instruments allowing friendly pylons to power their buildings. As an unforeseen side-effect, now their WarpGates are able to sync with the Psionic energy Matrices of other Protoss.


Stabilized Warp Field

Effect: Allows your units to be able to be recalled by your Protoss Allie's Mothership.

Researched at: Fleet Beacon
Requires: N/A
Cost: 100 min 100 gas

Lore: Updating the Motherhip's old machinery with the advances in Protoss technology, we may now warp in our allies’ units using a refined and more stabilized warping field.


Khala Meditation

Effect: Protoss Allied units get your upgrades (not research)*** when the player who owns them leaves. Causes previous upgrades (not research)*** done by the player who left to be removed.****

Researched at: Templar Archives
Requires: Intervened Psionic Energy Matrix and Stabilized Warp Field
Cost: 200 min 200 gas

Lore: By meditating in the Khala, when a fellow tribe of Protoss lose their Executor they may benefit from our knowledge.



ZERG:

Pheromone Sensing Antennae

Effect: Zerg Allies can use your Overlords as transports.
Researched at: Hatchery/Lair/Hive
Requires: Lair and Ventral Sacs
Cost: 150 min 150 gas

Lore: Overlords have been seen developing an advanced pair of antennae, which seem to be allowing them to detect friendly Zerg and in some instances overlords have been seen transporting Zerg from other broods!


Sensing Tendrils

Effect: Zerg Allies can use your Nydus Worms. If an allied Zerg player shares control your and their Nydus Networks become connected and you may load units into one player's network, and out your own or visa-versa.
Researched at: Nydus Network
Requires: Lair
Cost: 150 min 150 gas

Lore: An unfortunate outcome of the Nydus Worm evolution is their inability to see, this cause the worms to only be able to consume and regurgitate Zerg of their own Brood. Pushing the Nydus Worms to evolve further have caused some to develop tendrils which feel nearby Zerg and makes up for the Worm's lack of sight so they can now distinguish between their own Brood's Zerg and other friendly Brood's Zerg.


Cerebral Reconstitution

Effect: Zerg Allied units get your upgrades (not research)*** when the player who owns them leaves. Causes previous upgrades (not research)*** done by the player who left to be removed.****
Researched at: Infestation Pit
Requires: Pheromone Sensing Antennae and Sensing Tendrils
Cost: 200 min 200 gas

Lore: When a brood losses its Cerebrate it is often thrown into chaos and it becomes every Zerg for itself. By reforming the Cerebral cortex using strands of DNA that we have developed in the Infesters in some of the commanding Zerg, we are able to give the benefits of our evolution to these erratic broods.



TERRAN:

Retna Scanners

Effect: Terran allies can use your Medivacs.
Researched at: Tech Lab attached to Starport
Requires: N/A
Cost: 150 min 150 gas

Lore: With the addition of Retna Scanners on choice test medivacs we have seen a 100% increase of friendly survival rates in the battlefield, whereas before Medevacs would be wary about landing and picking up friendly marines, they now can positively identify from the air which Terrans are friendly and which wish to do them harm. More testing is still required before this can be recommended to the in-field Medivacs.


Increased Comm Channels

Effect: You may give your units to your Terran allies**
Researched at: Planetary Fortress
Requires: Appropriate Supply from the person who is receiving these units.
Cost: 100 min 100 gas

Lore: Communication has advanced leaps and bounds since the Brood war days. We are now able to communicate with Commanders in other Terran outfits and are now able to better manage our human resources. Results have been especially effective with Resoc. Marines.


Nano Refitters

Effect: Terran Allied units get your upgrades (not research)*** when the player who owns them leaves. Causes previous upgrades (not research)*** done by the player who left to be removed.****
Researched at: Fusion Core
Requires: Retna Scanners and Increased Comm Channels
Cost: 200 min 200 gas

Lore: By using both the Retna Scanners we have developed and utilizing the new abundance of Comm Channels we are able to relay our schematics quicker than ever before to our fellow Terrans. Unfortunately due to pig-headedness it is recommend that it not be attempted unless a Commanding officer is not present in the friendly's chain of command.



*Original Idea: Andrew
**This would allow the player to quickly free up supply, or if an ally has upgrades for those units you may take advantage of that, so don't say "you can just share control"
***Perhaps research should be included
****Perhaps if you research it before you leave then your allies can have their upgrades to your units when you leave instead

[SonOfChaos]

I am against any team upgrades. Teams will no longer be composed of different races because of the advantages of being the same race. Imagine the imba of same race vs different race. I would much rather prefer team melee over team upgrades.

But props for the ideas, I guess.

[Jabber Wookie]

Team upgrades is mathematically impossible to balanace unless Blizz wanted to spend the next five years working with geniouses to find a way to balance such an unecessary idea in the first place (which I wouldn't be surprised if they did... Yay HotS will be released in first quarter 2015!). It's innately broken and should never happen. As I said in the other thread... dumb idea all around.

[TheProgramer]

Team upgrades is mathematically impossible to balanace.

Bold statement. What makes you think this?

[CrowToss]

I'm not a fan of team upgrades either. the "give troops to another player" or the "here use my dropships" mechanic would only serve to give shitty players a way to pass the buck to their better, more skilled allies. "team play" would degenerate into "you do it."

[flak4321]

I'm not a fan of team upgrades either. the "give troops to another player" or the "here use my dropships" mechanic would only serve to give shitty players a way to pass the buck to their better, more skilled allies. "team play" would degenerate into "you do it."

I agree in the case of many upgrades that have been proposed, but not all. For example, warping in units on an ally's pylon power could be balanced, to an extent, by requiring the following:

Not autocast eliglible
Cast by HT
2 minute cooldown
duration equal to 1 gateway cooldown plus 10 seconds
Target pylon must be in visible range of HT or another unit of the casting player
Can be cast on own pylons for ally usage only

These enhancements would give some use to a mothership, however, a multiracial team would be at a disadvantage, albeit a much smaller one, assuming the ability would ever be used in this setup.

What this thread needs is multiracial abilities that could be balanced. Making medivacs able to heal ally bio units would be one that would, in fact, be a returning ability from SC1.

An idea:
Biometric armor
Adds a +1 armor to all biological non-massive units available to the team
Costs:
200/100
2 minute research time
Researched from PF w/ armory, Lair w/ evo and spire, Nexus w/ Temp Archives

Lore: Research on the dead hybrid samples collected by Jim Raynor has led to this ginormous breakthrough...

[Jabber Wookie]

Bold statement. What makes you think this?

It's almost exponential. It seems people are considering 2v2 team upgrades with race differences, but what about 4v4 with race differences??

A team of zerg, zerg, zerg, zerg... zerg, zerg, zerg, toss.... zerg, zerg, terran, toss.... zerg, terran, toss, toss.... it goes on and on with different racial combinations and balanceable upgrades to be required for each.

Do all 4 need to get the upgrade. Which race combination upgrades would you choose? etc. etc. etc.

[Dragoon2375]

Team upgrades wouldn't really work in league matches but if Blizzard were to make a couple of maps in the campaign where you could play with your frends and work together to finish the mission this would be great otherwise unless thres upgrades for combinations with other races this won't really work since as SonOfChaos said there woul be no longer teams compsed of differnt races since the advantages of being in the same race would be very operpowered compared to teams composed f differnt races

[TheProgramer]

Making medivacs able to heal ally bio units would be one that would, in fact, be a returning ability from SC1.

This feature already exists ^_^. Its a ton of fun to have medivacs heal your allied hydras.

[evillesh]

This feature already exists ^_^. Its a ton of fun to have medivacs heal your allied hydras.

or mutas/corruptors/blords
healing meatshield as zealots is just uber awesome