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This is the tldr of hard counter play in most RTS games. It’s fun for experienced players who understand the rules/decision tree and enjoy learning the tricks
by lumost 5y ago
This is the tldr of hard counter play in most RTS games. It’s fun for experienced players who understand the rules/decision tree and enjoy learning the tricks and edge cases - terrible for new players who just get crushed by rules they don’t know and can’t know without going online for 10 hours.
In many cases, the joy of RTS for new players is map control. Hard counters tend to break this gameplay loop for them as they don’t understand how they can lose when they had 80% of the map. Conversely pure map control games get boring for pros who get tired of “take more territory, get bigger units” play styles.
Iron harvest was a recent curious entrant to the RTS genre where the game depends heavily on positioning but doesn’t grant you large bonuses from controlling territory. They allocate just enough bonus to ensure the game ends eventually with a clear winner.
- BlueTemplar 5y ago10 hours isn't much. Also new players might still lose with 80% of the map because they might not know how to scale their economy properly, or, in RTSes, just lack the speed to execute that.
- lumost 5y agoConsidering a “long game” is in the 80 hour range of play time, 10 hours for startup can be somewhat excessive. It’s true that new players may think they are in control when they are really not - but it’s easier to understand when the other side had larger/more units. There is a reason why new players in RTS games tend to overbuild defenses - they’re default goal is to play for and secure the map.
- BlueTemplar 5y agoIf only - defenses tend to be overbuilt in the main base, and expansion forgotten until they run out of resources...