Profile of Hirmetrium

I've got to agree with this.

Instead of a bang, NDA lifting, final day of streams and excitement before launch, its ended with a whimper, everyone silenced, almost uncomfortably. Look at the BF hardline beta - people are talking, and while its negative, there is TALK - COH2 is generating nothing, no headlines, no news. The unit profiles are great if you want to see screenshots, and hear some high level design vision. Why not show them off as part of the army? Make people start think about their "favourite commander" or "favourite build order".

But this silence... we're a week from Release. If the beta isn't here today, it will just be the classic glorified demo for a weekend before release, no build up, no anticipation. Feedback will fall to the wayside because "there's no way this can make it in for the final version". The timing on this is off so badly.

This news about a secret, secret alpha forum also has me worried. Do we pander to the egotistical "pros" that much now? Sure some of them are nice, but they put themselves before the greater good - that's why they are top of the ladder. That said, the stuff said on forums is enough face palm material for life.

I don't want to tell Relic how to run a PR machine, but I can at least say I don't feel it much at the moment.

Community engagement is at an all time low, with no talk about the expansion or its changes and improvements. The NDA, and the leaks, are because its such an awful way to run things nowadays. Big games have their beta's/alphas streamed. Look at Destiny - so much noise about it this last week.

I don't understand what Relic are afraid of - people who don't want to buy have already made their mind up, and everyone else wants to see the game before they want to buy. Show us that the F2P aspect is dead - show the world how great the game is going to be...

My personal opinion is to kill the wait and launch Friday. What are they waiting for? Things must already be ready and in place, most teams would be gold by this stage. Give us all a nice surprise and make the weekend glorious is what I say.

Imagine the level of hype and confidence it would show to launch this Friday... It would be fantastic.

Brody Tank War?

Is fantastic. Without a doubt. But its one map, and it isn't decided by tanks - its decided by VP's. And where is the German equivalent?

I personally feel this is the best designed and balanced commander yet. I'd love to see them overhaul the other commanders to be just as useful, then maybe look at nerfing radio.

I feel if radio did get a nerf, the mine notifications and pushing it back to 1CP would be enough. At least you wouldn't immediately know your opponents build order. Alternatively, a warning to the German player when its active would be great. If you see G43's, at least you know interrogation is likely from the German player.

Also don't forget how crippling it is to choose your commander from the get go - the Russians lose all flexiblity (not that they have a lot in the first place). If you know radio is active, you know to expect mass conscript spam or heavy armour down the line.

wongtp, you CANNOT leave politics out of war. War is caused by politics - bad politics in particular. Very, very rarely is there a war that is just or has proper meaning (not to say they have no meaning - they mean different things to different sides).

I'd like to point out that COH2 is based on a diary of a Russian dissident, heavily anti-communist, so its likely to have a massive slant on its story, one which Relic neither disagrees or agrees with, and was simply portraying.

The only memorable scene was the Polish rebels being killed, which just reminds me of the horrible things the Russians did to the Poles. I don't see how that makes COH2 anti-russian, just realistic.

I will say, COH as a series has made me respect the plight of other nations. I always feel sorry for the germans, many of whom were brainwashed little boys who were forced by propaganda and radical leaders to fight. I feel exactly the game for the Russians.

One must, however, acknowledge that Relic may not have done a perfect job portraying the Russians. All criticism isn't without merit.

I'll be honest, I'd rather see the older commanders get updated with new units and abilities. Some of them are really dull, samey and outright boring. The panzer command tank is in everything it seems, and isn't really a great unit like the field officer is. A lot of abilities are recycled and they tend to just make the game boring.