Why don't you take part in tournaments?

This year we're looking at how we're handling tournaments going forward and want to know how to get more of you to take part in them. So I'd like to know, why don't you participate in Company of Heroes 2 tournaments?

This is about competing, not watching. Also if you do take part in tournaments we don't need to hear from you saying that you do unless there has in the past been something that prevented you from taking part that you can talk about.

Ideally keep your answer simple. Short answers.

Examples:
- Busy on the weekends
- Don't want to lose in the first round
- Don't like CoH2's balance
- School
- Don't play multiplayer
- I only play 4v4

Also what would get you to take part in a future tournament? What could we (at Relic) do?

Same thing, keep your answers as brief and to the point as possible.

Examples:
- Have a 4v4 tournament.
- Improve balance
- Have the tournament during a weekday
- Help me get better at the game


Thanks to everyone who takes part. Finding out how to maximize the community's engagement with CoH2 tournaments is a big goal for us.

My main issue is i dont feel im good enough to win(half joke, half true). But since im in the top 100 with germans now and getting near that with soviets i will probably tryout some tourneys in the future.

Also one of the problems for me:
Take SNF for example. Its frustrating facing a seeded player in the 1st or 2nd round, when you know you dont have a chance. And none of the rounds should be Bo1. It doesnt get you in the tourney feeling. Playing bo3 gives you that feeling.

Oh boy

-Too much downtime; wait past time for person to show up and/or wait up to an hour to begin your next round after that (rinse and repeat 4-5 times).

-No 2v2 tournaments

-Payouts are bad. You must play for 1000+ hours just to be at a level where you could possibly win and make $200-1000 which is an absolutely terrible hourly rate. CoH1 tourneys were interesting for the sense of accomplishment, but...

-Skill ceiling is much lower than coh1, partly because the strategic depth is really shallow and most choices are locked behind a pay wall. Playing for the pride is not worthwhile imo.

-Too much RNG, far more prevalent than coh1.

-Game performs like ass on my $900 gaming rig.

-Lack of competition. There aren't any remarkably good or innovative players that can even compare to Sepha, Golradaer, Nystrom, 12azor, etc...instead the top players are for the most part, the people that have played the most games.

TL;DR better things to do than spend an entire weekend at the computer when the only motivation to participate is a low chance at winning enough money to fill my gas tank once or twice

If there was divisions, within a tournament, based on win percentage on ladder etc etc, A Grade, B Grade C Grade, so people can feel comfortable knowing the Person/s they are versing are around a similar skill cap to progress further.
But the further they progress, They vs higher divisions more further into the tournament itself.

I feel the experience and skill gap is holding a lot of people back.

Also the times the tournaments are on, EST for instance, aka I'm from Australia, Check in's are at Approximately 1AM, and the round itself doesn't start to 2:30am - 3am.

If Relic/SEGA was to host there own tournaments for games, and instead of leaving it with the community i feel alot more people would play.

EA hosts there own tournaments, Blizzard host there own tournaments etc etc...

but i guess that's because it's easier for them, considering they have OBSERVER mode, meaning it's its live... LIVE!

It just seems the tournaments are alot dull and dumbed down compared to any other competitive online game.

-not "e-sports" enough, that means:
-RNG plays to big of a role if you play to the best of your abilities
-Wonky vehicle and infantry pathfinding (on retreat) can cost you a game
-Input lag

-Bo1 (not a good idea in an asymmetric game where you never practice mirror matches)

-Generally time- and energy consuming (but that's not CoH specific)

Otherwise the overall balance of the game is fine in my opinion. I only took part in one tournament - at that time the balance was very lopsided.

AND THAT IS WHY! that is why...

Get onto it relic, fix optimization, fix overlapping commanders, even if there is less commanders to choose from.
The games just not competitive at all.

Yeah the balance is fine, but lets be honest, more factors play into the game then balance,
Balance is not the issue here, far from the issue actually.

Ps - dont get me wrong, I love the game but.. while your at not doing the above listed, maybe a ladder reset and seasons? So the game is always competitive.

volo cmon combine into one post

I'd like to see a round robin format.

Sorry man, edit it for me? Lol
Its gets me to emotional yahh know

we're looking at how we're handling tournaments going forward

What tournaments?

don't like coh2's balence and in australia you have to wake up at 2 AM to do SFN, and most euro/american tournies

I haven't been able to participate in as many tournaments as I've wanted, generally the issue is simply time/timing.

1 - It is very hard to dedicate an entire day (even a Saturday) to playing 3-5 rounds, each a best of 3. I really like what this Reddit tournament is doing with giving players a 1 week window to schedule/complete their Bo3s.

2 - The CoH2 playerbase is very spread out in terms of time zones. It is literally impossible for me to participate in ESL because of being so far behind their home time-zones.

If Relic wants to run tournaments or get more involved I'd suggest the following:

A) Give people a deadline approximately 1 week in advance for completing their games, or only run 1-2 rounds per weekend. It really is fine if tournaments take more than a single day to complete. I, as a player, actually prefer this because it gives me more time to prepare for my opponent and I think at the upper levels this ultimately leads to closer, more intense and more entertaining games.

B) Make every round a best of 3 & fix map spawn imbalances. For a quick example - I think SNF (and this Reddit) tournament would be a bit better if Soviets were given the south spawn on Langres and the west spawn on Kholodny - it is simply too easy to camp the cutoffs on the north/east of these maps, respectively. This would be quite simple, just reach out to a few top players/frequent tournament players and take a quick poll as to which spawn each faction should get.

C) More advertising/exposure. I don't necessarily mean that the game itself needs more exposure but each tournament does. Heck I've come into contact with players that didn't even know what SNF was, and that probably had the most exposure of any tournament so far. This might not be a perfect idea but off the top of my head it'd be pretty great to have a CM responsible for finding/posting links to tournaments on the official CoH2 site. I think this would also increase the desirability of checking the official site for competitive players because, quite frankly, the official forums are overrun with casual players. (I'm not saying that anything is wrong with casual players just that their interests are different from a competitive player, so the things they discuss is different)

D) Finally, and I know this is probably a very distant feature, but an observer mode would simply be amazing for players and casters. I'm sure having to constantly sync up/load replays/fiddle with overlays is not only frustrating but time consuming. And at times it has interfered with the quality of the broadcast. Being able to jump right into a game (Even if it is ~5 minutes delayed a la DoTA2 observer style) would be so freaking sweet.

I don't have a computer

I didnt play because I dont enjoy the game in its current state.

Excessive RNG, Balance, Input Lag, and the largest being Pay2Win Commanders. The game itself doesnt reward better micro or macro.

-It is possible to win game in which most previous engagements were lost with single call-inn unit/ability

-A player can defeat well planned and executed assault action that took 5-10 min of preparation and execution with simple click of a button. For example strafing run that pins units across half map for long duration, against which there is no micro or skill defense. Only option is retreat.

-some maps / environments (starting location, blizzard, snow) offer great advantage to one opponent

-RNG, especially in starting engagements, can give player great advantage or debilitating punishment. Regardless of their mistake or well executed move

-9/10 1v1 games end up as repetitive, boring carbon copy of previous game. Due to lack of strategy and versatility of units and strategic ways to use them.

Basically I find the game boring affair that is full of element of luck and way to much paper/rock/scissor 'strategy' to be remotely interested in playing competitive tournament.
Unless you plan to win tournament or play game for pure stat/rank ambitions, its not much fun. For me anyway

Time zone is rubbish for me in Australia, balance remains questionable and the knowledge that people like the pros in SNF are just going to squash me in the first round.

A non-pro tournament would be an interesting idea but how to tell who is non-pro and who ain't?

Team-games seem to be the best way to get some interesting results, but I can't really say...

Reasons why I don't join:
1. Input lag - Nothing is more frustrating than being able to see that molotov/rifle nade animation and still get hit just because of that darn delay.

2. Timezone - the previous tourney's are always in the early morning for me.

3. Lack of team games - 1v1 is fine and all but i prefer 2v2 matches.