What do you think should be done to reduce the imbalance between players?
Some adjustments need to be made to the game to reduce the imbalance between noob players and good players. Thanks to these settings, the noob player can express himself/herself better in the game. These settings are:
Wall pull setting: Most noob players don’t know how to wall pull. Or even if he/she knows, he/she doesn’t put up walls. That’s why there needs to be a setting option that will ban walls in the game.
Setting which unit is better against which unit: This is one of the biggest problems of noob players. Due to the complex structure of the game, it would be good to introduce this adjustment. This setting should automatically be available as an option in the unit. For example, skirmishers are better against heavy infantry. Skirmishers should have the option to counter attack heavy infantry in their command shortcuts. When the player exercises that option, the skirmisher will only attack heavy infantry. It will not attack any other units. Option settings should be added to units like this.
Settings to ban hotkeys: The most important reason for the extreme imbalance between noob players and good players is hotkeys. These hotkeys are the cheat of the game. That’s why playing with hotkeys should definitely be banned. It should be presented to the player or the host setting up the game as an option.
Negative features of civilizations should be mentioned: Where the bonus features of civilizations are explained, their negative features should also be explained. In this way, noob players can more easily develop the civilization they choose in the game.
Elo scores reset setting: Noob players’ low elo scores are their curse. It is one of the biggest obstacles to becoming good players. Because most good players don’t want to play with a low elo score player. Because this is a waste of time for a good player. But this also limits noobs’ development in the game. A noob who can’t play with better players has difficulty improving himself/herself. Therefore, there must be an option setting that can reset the elo score. In this way, the noob player will not carry his/her past negative traits into the future. The likelihood of being excluded by good players is reduced.
This leads to elo inflation. Idk know the exact numbers, but elo is calculated like this:
Player A and player B start with 1000 elo and play against each other.
A wins the game → 1000+8 elo
B lost the game → 1000-8 elo
(1008 elo + 992 elo)/2 = 1000
1000 remains the average
Now player B decides to delete his past and has 1000 elo again
(1008 elo + 1000 elo)/2 = 1004
The average has risen by 4 points
Etc etc
Elo inflation is a problem in rts, because there is a steady stream of new players that get frustrated after losing their first few games. Aoe2 had to adjust its elo system a while back because of this. There is a great video on the topic by spirit of the law https://youtu.be/uLrfT8l1SYQ?si=L9piZrDUzX3TZuOG
So we dont need to accelerate this problem further
I think the main problem for balance in casual games is that the lobby ui is misleading
The vast majority of beginners doesnt understand, that elo is the indicator for skill… instead they look at homecity level or the arbitrary casual rank when ‘balancing’ their lobbys.
I see stuff like “ah, the lvl 10 players should split teams”, when one of them has 1600 elo and the other 1100
Or getting kicked for having 3 stripes of casual rank and “being too good”, when another person remains with only 1 stripe, but 400 elo more
So people try to balance, but the game gives them constantly wrong impressions and i can not blame them…
Has to be
Setting units to only attack what they counter would be pretty nice tho(insace it would be added properly and not just #### ## pathing even more)
Home city level should not even be visible in multiplayer. It is not an indicator of skill and no longer tied to unlocking cards so all it does is confuse inexperienced players.
The stripes and bars are also a dumb system that no one understands.
In my opinion, the best system would have 2 elo, casual and competitive. Competitive would be like it is now, but casual would include all balanced games against other players. The initial competitive elo could even be affected by the casual elo so that new players enter into competitive at the right level instead of starting at 1000 and being demoralized by many losses before they hit equilibrium.
banning walls with a setting might be a bit extreme. Walls are a core part of strategy, and taking that away might remove some of the learning curve that makes the game interesting. Instead, maybe a tutorial or in-game tips that guide newer players on how to use walls effectively would be better. That way, they can learn the mechanics rather than avoiding them.For unit counters, having an automatic option sounds convenient, but it could make the game too automated, ######### away some of the depth and strategy that makes it fun for both new and experienced players. Maybe instead, there could be an in-game overlay or tooltip that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of units during battle. That way, noobs can make better decisions without taking away the need to think on their feet.
Banning hotkeys is another one that might actually do more harm than good. Hotkeys are part of what makes RTS games fast-paced and skill-based, so removing them would make things slower and less exciting. Instead, new players could have a training mode where they gradually get introduced to hotkeys, so they can work them into their gameplay naturally.
I have an issue with the underlying goal here. I think the majority of RTS gamers play RTSs because of the competitiveness of the genre. Doing something strictly with the intention of balancing a game for players of different skill levels is about a 180° degree turn from what I think the majority of players want.
Obviously there are mechanics that primarily exist to be fun, but those usually need to be kept within the frame of a ~balanced game.
I’m not great with hotkeys. I use enough of them to be decent, but I’m by no means a great player (my 1v1 elo usually bounces around the 1300-1400s, in team I’m usually around 1600s atm). That might seem high, idk the elo of most players on here, but I can look up and see SO much more skill in the players above me. A lot of people helped me so much on RE, and I think “hey, I could be as good as him/her someday” would be a great mindset to have. Asking better players for advice can certainly help.
I can speak from experience that losing your hotkeys sucks all the fun out of it. My old laptop would sometimes disconnect internally from its keyboard, and due to its great design, the only fix was basically pulling the battery out to force a shutdown (power button was on the same thing as the rest of the keyboard lol). Being forced into playing poorly isn’t fun.
If the problem is actually “me and my friend want to play against each other and have a balanced game”, I’d suggest you play primarily with each other. You all can make whatever rules you want, and there’s always the handicap.
Then there’s the painful option, but pain can lead towards growth: start playing 1v1 ranked. The first 10 games or so will probably suck as the algorithm tries to learn who you can get a 50-50 win rate with, but eventually the majority of players you fight will be at about your skill level.