I am curious to hear opinions on this. I mostly play 40 minute treaty games and prefer ranked when I can find one. I am in the top 200 on treaty rank and have spent a large portion of my life on this game
I prefer team game play because I think itās more fun to play with three or four players on the same team. One thing I have noticed, especially in ranked games is there will almost always be a French AND/or a Portugal player. Obviously they are great civs to play with a great variety of units and strong eco but they both also posses some very powerful Team bonus cards.
Ports:
Team Walls +200%
Team Gunpowder HP +15%
French:
Team Hand Calvary Attack +15%
Team Ranged Infantry Attack +15%
Team Native Attack +10%
Team Early Skirmisher Train time -20%
If the teams are evenly matched in skill and one side has French & Ports and the other does not, itās pretty much a forgone conclusion from the start. All units on one team are going to be significantly stronger than the other side. I get that we could stack our team with a French and Port civ, but everyone has their preference and enjoyment playing and its boring to always āneedā a French and Portugal civ on your team.
I know several team cards were nerfed in DE (Russia Dueling school, Port Team Engineering, etc). IMO these two, French especially have way to strong of team bonuses, to the point that itās almost a disincentive to play other civs and you will certainly be punished if going up against them and they are not on your team also.
I actually agree with you. I would love for each civ to bring a unique buff to teamsā¦ But in its current state it definitely favors a few that have very strong buffs.
If I recall correctly, all of the team cards did get a nerf in DE, where only part of the total % applies to the team and the rest applies to the player who sent the card. This reduces the team effect while still having the whole effect intact for the civ to keep individual civ balance the same.
I wouldnāt be against exploring the idea of expanding team bonuses for common treaty cards in other civs (especially lower tier civs), but I also know this has a way of muddling balance very quickly. It should be done with care.
Some of the team cards you listed for France and Port are not really part of the meta (optimal) treaty decks. If they arenāt good enough to even include in a meta deck, they definitely should not be considered OP, regardless of the team bonus. A good example of this is Franceās Team Skirmisher Train Time - thereās never really a scenario where this should make it into the deck of a France treaty player. If your opponent has it, count it as a win because it means he left a better card out.
Also of note: France and Port are inherently going to be a tough combo to fight against. France is still the strongest 1v1 civ, and Port is top 3 or 4. It may not be just the team cards you struggle against - theyāre just really good civs in general! People like to play top flight civs because they win more, plain and simple.
The best way to tackle this is to continue the methodical process the devs have already been doing: balance - one patch at a time. Itās been getting better, gradually. Continued feedback and suggestion in this area is a good way to make sure the outcome 6 months from now is as balanced as possible.
One suggestion regarding the OP remarks: Perhaps since France has multiple team cards in its meta deck, those cards should have a smaller team effect than normal (e.g. instead of +10 out of 15% for the team, make it +5 out of 15%). Just an idea (one of many ideas out there to take France down a peg).
