I think there needs to be a ‘ban VPS’ option in ranked. VPS is basically taking one of the major aspects of the game and automating it. I don’t see why it is “always” allowed in ‘competitive’ game modes when things like auto mil or auto vil (for pc) aren’t even allowed. Controller players aren’t handicapped to the point where they need all the macro done for them (we see this with players in AoM and AoE). I know there are disadvantages to the system that people will point out, but there are controller players who are extremely high on the ladder, among PC players, which begs the question.
Macro is such a significant part of the game and strategy; having it automated in ranked is crazy to me. You could say, ‘well, you could just use it to,’ but that’s missing the point. I don’t want to use it, but I also don’t want to play against people not actually playing the game. If I wanted to play against VPS, I’d play 1 vs. AI skirmish.
In AoM ranked, there is no allowance for the VPS system, and there’s an option to ban the military auto queue. I suggest an option to ban VPS (like map bans).
The ban option makes users and non-users happy, more so than an outright disallowance of the system, but I think the latter would be entirely fair for modes like ranked.