Hope? Yes
Yes, COH2 have more potential than COH1. Maybe not so much in RTS multiplayer but as a hybrid game. Theatre of War (or something similar) can be used as a platform to expand and/or mix other game genres that appeal to a much larger player base. COH2 have a promising casting/steaming community which are doing good promoting COH2 as a fun game to play or watch.
Also the eSport community is going to grow much larger maybe not in RTS but in general. Online video streaming have become more accessible and this is also why COH2 has to become a hybrid game to attract more viewers which equal more potential sponsors.
My biggest concern are not with Relic but rather what type of players the game will attract in the future. No community, no future if you ask me. If the community show enough passion for the game that will eventual shine through to the devs.
On the other hand if COH2 attract to many emo kiddos like League of Legends then COH2 will likely be hijacked by trolls and become pure buisness for Relic. It's also a sad fact that internet trolls has directly lead to real life suicides, both in the gaming community as well social media. Imagine if a COH2 player killed himself because of trolling and the bad press it would create for the whole community? This is a serious issue that Relic soon or later might has to deal with (proactive). But the best thing would be if the COH community would police itself.
As players it's always easier to deflect blame than to look into our own mirror and take responsibility for the whole community. Personal im to old a gamer now and not playing with the same passion as before. But during the past 10 years I played EvE online I did my part to help hundreds of players achieve a positive gaming experience. Not because I care about showing my Epeen. But I know from experience that its hard work building a community which is not a magical refrigerator that is filled by mom and daddy, nor relic but YOU. How strong the COH2 community will become is totally up to how much passion each player put into the game.
The "blame & shame" mentality is counter productive especially against new players that need a helping hand but are to afraid or dont have enough passion for the game to ask for help. To many dont listen nor ask for help and thats a big problem for the whole community.
If new players dont have easy access to a friendly environment in which they can grow they will never show any passion for the game and will continue to be just "useless noobs". Constructive criticism is fine but apathy and elitism are a downward spiral which always end badly. L2P noob! Get skills! none of that is hardly constructive..
Then when new players finally get the courage to ask for help and what do they get? Sure there is alot of experience players that try to help but still alot that are very short sighted and 100% ego centric.
The whole COH2 community would improve mid-long term, if more players would learn to keep cool heads during a match and stop bitching in public chat. Also players really need to learn not to feed the trolls because they just love to collect your tears and rage. Same goes for real life. Trolls is all about using social engineering and manipulation so they can take personal pleasure when people feel emotional upset. Personal, I dislike trolls with a passion because I have seen first hand how much damage they can cause both on the internet and in real life. Trolls are the biggest problem on the planet right now. In real life they have robbed billions of ppl even without them knowing. To play with big pro-trolls, it's not that hard to guess where the biggest rat nets of trolls are in real life. If any COH2 trolls want to learn from the pros, join Goldman Sachs so you can laugh at all the easy preys (or what GS call "muppets" = food for trolls).
Internet Trolls Are Actually Sadists, Study Finds:
http://time.com/8265/internet-trolls-are-actually-sadists-study-finds/
Beeing a troll is not cool! Anyone who think otherwice is either ignorant to the fact that trolling is psychological warfare or show clear sociopathic behavior themself. Sure a sociopath can cry, just not for others. Sure its just the internet but that does not change the fact that trolls are still assholes or at very least "pretending" to be assholes.
Internet trolls are a serious threat to any gaming community and saying its not is like hiding under the bed saying the big bad wolf will never get to you.
Balance? tbh I could not care less if COH2 get hijacked by trolls.
Do Relic need to improve? Ofc they do, but the playerbase should strive to be constructive and dont act like emo kiddos playing League of Legends which will only attract more trolls.