Community Building in COH2?

Hey all!

I'm a longtime RTS gamer in search of a new home. I played StarCraft 2 for about 1.5-2 years after it came out, and while I had fun, the amount of daily and weekly practice I found I needed to even stay at the same relative competency level (let alone to increase skill) was exhausting. Also, as I get older (I'm only 28, but I have one kid and another on the way, so I feel like I'm justified in using the phrase "as I get older" I'm looking for something a little different than the fast-paced clickfest that is BLizzard's latest RTS. I've tried Dota 2 and League of Legends as well, but while they're enjoyable, they aren't really fulfilling in the same way as winning a 1v1 or 2v2 RTS battle of wits against an opponent. I've also tried Wargame: Airland Battle, but

I also loved the Dawn of War games. I was pretty terrible at them, but the gameplay resonated with me in a way that I'm a little too sleep deprived right now to adequately describe. When I heard about Company of Heroes 2, I was a little interested but not being a huge fan (to date) of military history games, I gave it a pass until I was let into one of the alpha stress tests. And I quickly fell in love with the game. As of right now, it's certainly my favorite RTS to play even though i'm pretty awful at it. Thanks, BtW, to ImperialDane and the guys at the Frontline Network for your excellent VODs and commentary on Youtube, without which I would not know about how good COH1 is, and would be quite ignorant of what decent play in COH2 looks like (still am largely, but at least I have your commentary to start from).

One thing, though, that StarCraft 2 has managed to do is build a really inviting, friendly and dynamic community. Many RTS titles are somewhat indifferent to newcomers, and in some cases (especially with Dota 2 and other MOBA titles) actively discourage new players from joining. I've found the COH community to be welcoming (aside from all of this stuff regarding the campaign) but wonder if there's some way to step up support of new players across social media and user forums like this one?

I really enjoy COH2 (in spite of any balance issues, which I don't feel qualified to speak about at this point) and in spite of any missing features like a leaderboard, which I do hope will make their way into the game sometime soon.

I know SC2 and COH2 are different games, wildly so, but I don't think that means that COH2 wouldn't benefit from bringing more newbies into the fold. I don't have any specific ideas in this regard, but was interested in attempting to foster a positive discussion on the topic with anyone here who is interested.

To start off, though, here's some contact info for me if anyone's interested in chatting:

twitter: bccasteel
steam: bcasteel85

Hope to see some of you out there, and have some epic Wehrmacht vs Soviet battles in the near future!

but wonder if there's some way to step up support of new players across social media and user forums like this one?

http://www.coh2.org/news/5409/2013-summer-mentoring-program

Thanks! I have already signed up and am looking forward to hopefully scoring some mentoring sessions.

It's something that needs to be worked on but I don't have any good solutions off the top of my head and it will no doubt be a slow process.

Big to the site, it's nice to see such a thoughtful introduction. Support and growth is what we're all about, so yeah, if you have good ideas don't hesitate to throw them out there. I'm like you, gave SC2 the ol' college try, but lost interest in playing (but I still follow the e-sports scene as a viewer).

Welcome aboard sailor, Im another similar aged SC2 Vetern. I think we just need Relic/Sega to throw some doh at imperial dane and TFN to host some twitch tournys and have more daily content and we will bring alot more newbies onboard. Would be cool to have a guest cast from dj wheat :-)