Profile of Esxile

The problem with team games in RTS is the fact that they're just too difficult to watch and follow. They're fun to play, sure, but they make for crappy spectating, especially because if you're interested in team games, why wouldn't you watch one of the many popular team-based competitive games out there that were specifically designed for that sort of thing?

Team RTS games, especially 3v3/4v4, are impossible to follow from a spectating perspective because there's just too much shit happening. The unfortunate truth is RTS is a 1v1 genre in a time when people would much rather watch proper, focused team play that they can follow easily. Dota and CS are very tight, focused team games that were specifically designed for that style of play. RTS games are by their nature extremely unfocused, which makes them interesting to watch 1v1 but a complete chore to watch 4v4.

Isn't mostly because your vision of team game is clustered too much? What was DOTA at the beginning, a mod made to play teamgame in a different fashion at a time it was difficult to play 4vs4 for many reasons. It doesn't suit for Coh mechanisms and background but it doesn't mean there is no other way to play team game.

We are still playing RTS team game like Westwood studio invented it 20 years ago. maybe now the maturity and audience are there for RTS it is time to rethink how to play RTS game in team play. Blizzard innovated in SC2 and 2 players sharing bases and units. Relic should think of a way to entertain more team game, not simply having 4 players having 4 bases and 4 armies.

For instance, I liked the attrition mod but they never get farther than an initial idea, they never try to promote and improve it.

Imo, Relic should now, instead of delivering a nw DLC army, improve Mods integration in their game, promote the most intelligent/original ones and not do like Blizzard did with Dota.
I'm pretty sure if Relic promote the right mod, popular in team game, they'll find here their E-sport audience and revenues.

I also think their support weapons should be more accessible. The whole faction teching system promotes blobbing. T0 you start with rifles or REs. Teching gives you a rifle squad with bar and Thompson or zooks. If you start the with 3 rifles then once you have all support weapons unlocked you have essentially 5 baseline infantry. This bleeds mp and makes it iffy to invest more mp into support weapons as well. I think it should be easier to access support weapons as the USFs.

Agreed by if you do that, I'll have to nerf éarly RM and UP USF late game.

One sniper, maybe two with a radius of negative zeal, could have made sense in COH1. One could be used to scout, as a counter to support weapons, etc. But they became a force that was on par, or greater, than your armor, arty, etc. The problem with that isn't balance but design. A strategic war game that becomes all about microing the snipers, over and above concern for infantry, armor, AT, support weapons, etc. just doesn't feel like a WW2 based wargame.

The sniping concept introduced with JLI and Pathfinder is interesting, sniper could only kill models under % of health. It could be easily implemented with Sov/Brit/Osth with different stats and you decrease their prices. They could share Pathfinder stats if they keep their camo.

The question is serious, every time I watch on divers channels a USF/OKW balanced match-up USF player always end up to select one of the two new commander and 50/50 manage to win the game.
On the other side, I barely see any USF player winning any game vs OKW without one of those commander.

I don't own any of them, and I don't plan to buy them. And I include myself on what I describe above, I barely win any game vs OKW. I'm on constant losing streak (you can check my playercard), with some wins from time to time, sometime vs Ostheer 50/50 chance, sometime vs OKW when the skill gap is highly on my favor or the player made continuous big mistakes.
To conclude this little mylife, i was ranked around 200 with USF and now around 700. I had no intention to enter top100, clearly aware I'll never get the skill to do so, or never have the time to up skill that much (not anymore a student since long time now).

The feeling I have, on the many games I played, vs OKW:

1- Early game, You are on the backfoot, an OKW player who rush you and you'll be late in resource while he caps his side of the map without any problem.
2- Mid game, you have nothing to take the upper hand, everything you have , OKW has it better and faster and if not has easy access to counter
3- Late game, is where the pay-to-win consideration goes in: Many games, I manage to fight till late game to only be raped by tanks + final shreck blob. No pershing to sponge damage and go toes to toes with panthers/KT, no Calliope to pushing his blob = lose on the long run.

I had a game where I have been rushed early to my cutoff while he caps 1/2 of the map. I'm talking about 2 minutes not being able to cap anything and to use my entire force (1RE + 2 RM) to get his sturm in cover to retreat. He use that time to cap and occupying all the strategic houses with MGs. I came from this situation to myself overwhelming him, I had more than 3/4 of the map (3 vic points), killed 2-3 (including 1 Ober and 1 Falls) of his squad while he only killed my initial RE squad. I couldn't push farther thanks to his PanzerHQ close to his cutoff/fuel point.
And late game the super KT comes and the shreck blob take place. With the KT, he simple manage to two shots any of my squad at range, no skill just usual KT basic shot, one shot kill half of the squad, you hit retreat button, the second shot kill the other half retreating. I had 2 M36 I managed to save from the blob and kill his rushing panther but as you know, without squad screen, M36 are simply garbage. And building new rifles vet0 vs a blob of volks/Obers/Falls vet 3 minimum doesn't make any sense late game.

Here like in many games I had lately, I'm like: I needed a pershing or I needed a Calliope to fight one or the other, the KT or the blob". I have tried different vanilla commanders and there is nothing in them I find relevant to close the match mid or late game (since early game is all OKW advantage). If he doesn't do any big mistake. The game goes to late game and you are fucked up.

So to briefly put this:
-Game should be balanced from the top players
-Many factions are flawed in design (usually to cover up something that is missing another thing is buffed which may be or not be stronger for certain skill levels of players) which means that win rates between the different tiers of players are very different
-The fact that in CoH1 WM and US were well designed and balanced at a 1v1 level, meant that in all other modes (2v2,3v3,4v4) there were all the available tools to the players to survive each stage while creating dynamic gameplay around the strengths of the factions on these stages of the games.

That is my opinion so dont take it as facts.

Flawed factions are per design to create unique flavors (stupid idea imho). Now since they change so drastically OKW, we may expect something done with the USF as well. Removing free lieut/capt is an option.