A good and easy way to address the upkeep subject might be (as suggested in other threads) to bring back sector based manpower income (+3 manpower per territory held in coh1). This will reward good play and unit preservation, since it will result in more capping power and therefore map dominance. It also alleviates the manpower income loss resulting from a higher population count due to unit preservation.
However, it might be too early to completely dismiss the new upkeep system. In 1v1 games if you are preserving your units and manage to inflict squad losses for the other team you'll still come out ahead if you balance your investment and don't over invest in lower tiers. I see it as a new strategical challenge to find the right balance between early game investment and being able to counter late tier units if my opponent, despite having lost most of the map, manages to field one. It adds another layer of strategy, which I welcome to some extend.
After playing a game today, I kind of take back what I said earlier in the thread about how you are penalized and can't react to new tech because of upkeep. After watching the replay, I realized that I need to reevaluate my play which I will do when exams are over .
Despite that, I still agree that upkeep right now is too steep and discourages T1 play too much. Like the quote says, the penalty for heavy T1 is that your opponent will tech up but having 150 mp/min income is overkill right now. I think Relic should try small tweaks to the upkeep system during the beta.
Basically what I'm saying is that I agree with what I quoted. I've already brought up the sectors not giving mp anymore and it could be a soft fix to the steep upkeep but it may be too early to judge.