8:49, 16th June 2009 by bounty hunter2:
The map is average to lacking, it requires much better terrain, hotkeys for hero choosing, better abilities, more diversity. It doesn't contain much originality to diverse it from the rest of the maps of this genre. There are only four heroes to choose from, which is a too little amount and the camera is locked to a hero, what is generally a bad thing. Approved with a 2/5 (Lacking) rating.

Played the game, terain i thought was really well done, gameplay was a bit slow but that was only because i was playing it on my own, add some ai and i think this game could do really well 4.5/5 add that ai

Thanks for the feedback!

The map is designed for at least 2vs2 matches with focus on PvP, so there are no creeps or AI enemies. Of course, it's boring when you play it by yourself (you can't do much).

We have planned a few things for version 1.1 to spice it up a little, but it will always be more fun with more players...

8:49, 16th June 2009 by bounty hunter2:
The map is average to lacking, it requires much better terrain, hotkeys for hero choosing, better abilities, more diversity. It doesn't contain much originality to diverse it from the rest of the maps of this genre. There are only four heroes to choose from, which is a too little amount and the camera is locked to a hero, what is generally a bad thing. Approved with a 2/5 (Lacking) rating.

Click to expand...

thanks for your feedback. personally, I disagree with your rating.

in which way, do you think, is the terrain bad or unbalanced? in which way specifically would you say the terrain lacks quality? which map, would you say, is actually better terrain-wise? regarding your criticism, please remember that this map is designed for TEAM vs. TEAM PvP balance and PvP battles. Meaning: if you judge this map balance and battle-wise based on 1v1 battles, then you judged the map based on an assumption this mod was not designed for!

in terms of "hotkeys for hero choosing", we prefered not to put them in so that players can have a look at the short descriptions of the different classes via the tooltips.

in which way specifically would you say this map is "unoriginal"?

did you read and try out all four classes? did you notice their individual playstyles - based on the different resource mechanics? did you notice that all their spells are very consistent with each other and fit together really well - both individually but also in terms of synergies with other classes?

you may argue that four classes are "not enough" or "too little" in terms of quantity. our approach to the map was and is always "quality > quantity". we think the classes are really well done, both in terms of class / resource mechanics (all have different ways to generate mana) and the abilities tailored to them. we prefered to NOT implement many many classes where all of them play very similar but instead create units with very individual and unique playstyles. plus, we kept sure that each hero / class contributes in its own way to the TEAM and the team's PvP battle versus another team.

regarding the camera locked to the hero: this is working as intended, due to the following reasons. one, this is hero team PvP. each player has ONE unit, all actions a player performs are centered to that specific unit and player. two, we chose the fixed camera due to balancing reasons. with a free camera, we felt ranged classes were in a very heavy advantage compared to the melee classes. in order to make things even for all game participants - which is actually very important for balanced PvP - we locked the camera to the player unit. thus, I wouldn't necessarily say locking the camera to the player unit is "generally a bad thing".

in competitive sports, e.g. soccer, there is usually little to no difference in equipment. all participating players wear the usual equipment (shoes, dresses,...). if a player scores a goal, he must not add "deadly spikes" to his shoes and he won't get a discount on fouls. he won't get a free shot, and he won't get a "sprint buff". equipment conditions stay the same. the only disadvantage the other team has is the overall pressure that they themselves have to score a goal in order to still be able to win the match.

This similarily applies to most action shooter multiplayer games: respawn, repick class, assault again, die, repeat. The only penalty is the loss of some time and the pressure to have to catch up in terms of current score.

in DotA, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, WoW PvP and many many other RPG-based PvP games, this is not the case. The decisive factor is not exclusively "skill", "effective team collaboration", and "good strategies". In most "competitive" RPG PvP games, "stats" via "items" and "levels" enter the fray. there usually IS a difference in skill, thus at some point in the game, the more skillful team can increase its domination gap even further by increasing its stats permanently. the gap between "currently better team" and "currently inferior team" grows.

it's comparable to a soccer team being allowed to have an additional player per goal scored on the field. it leads to frustration of the other team as it has to struggle significantly more to catch up.

and that's why, imho, there shouldn't be any possibility for players to get any stats at all (via items, or levels, ability levels, or whatnot) - expect those buffs temporarily granted by the use of abilities.

tzirrit and I executed exactly those conditions in both of our Warcraft III mods, "Southfury Banks" and "Capture the Egg", and we think this makes the overall gameplay fairer, more enjoyable, and more competitive (and easier to balance).