Ranked is repetitive.

But it's still fun.

I'm making this thread just to share my opinion based on the "new" ranked 1v1 matchmaking.

Straight to the point:

• The maps need to have a much bigger size range. 400 radius is OK imo, although FFS it's SO repetitive!
  • Every small map is repetitive. It's based around build order memorization and leaves no room for different strategies. 1v1 on small maps is like Starcraft without multiple factions. Linear Limited.
• Air is seriously OP. It's very evident on big maps simply because air is too ******* mobile/versatile.
• T2 is mostly fine, except the actual factories really need a cost decrease to make it ubiquitous (still, not on small maps though!). This will not cause a T2 rush meta, as some people assert and firmly stand behind. Why not? Because map control. You sacrifice map control while rushing t2. That's very hard to regain, even with t2.

Honestly, there is just not enough diversity. It's mostly because of map size though.

Some examples of map diversity include, but are not limited to:

• HUGE planets. I'd rather spam air than spam clicks. Air needs tweaks.
• HUGE metal ranges. Some maps could have close to zero metal, others can have tons of metal. Frankly, maps with tons of metal bring out the best of PA. Huge armies and huge bases (if you know how to play like that )
• Just CSG diversity in general. This is pretty good atm, however. So nothing too important.

@tvinita ranked has so much potential. It's already almost full, just needs some tweaks!

The games all being the same is down to the game being designed so that all games on a given map with the same settings will all play mostly the same. This isn't anything maps can fix, although they can mitigate it somewhat. The issues of PA are however down to the design of it. If you want different design so that games don't feel the same then wait for GAT or Titanic Annihilation.

Maps play a huge role. Large maps have more room for error and simply more room to experiment. A 1v1 on a radius 1100 map (without air) would be amazing.

It.
Would.
Be.
Amazing.

It would be nothing but tank spam and T2 bot rushing.

Simple put. this would help you big time.

Actually the air needs to be changed first in some way to make big maps more fun.

Avid Planetary Annihilation player fixes air with one neat trick.

I think you're missing the bigger picture here mang.\


y u hev to b adamant Kappa

You stated that a huge map without air would be awesome, I stated what it would be in actuality with current balance. Problem boi?

I wasn't trying to emphasize the units that would be built on a huge map without air. I'm suggesting that you would see proxy bases, long lines of factories (depends on metal count), a lot of T2, and essentially a better experience altogether.

It's a massive scale RTS, after all.

But you'd still be using the same units every single game on that map, so each game would still feel the same.

You might use the same units, but I can promise that you would see all units (not sure about orbital). That's a 100% unit usage per game, compared to the stale t1 bots vs vehicles seen in most Uber/plat ranked small planet 1v1 games today.

Then, balance air.

You wouldn't see T1 bots. By the time they reached your opponent's base they'd already have enough ants/defenses up to nullify them.

T2 vehicles would be too slow to be practical. The game would be about proxies everywhere, and oodles of locusts.

Have you even played team games?

Team games involve two to five times as much starting eco as a 1v1, and, depending on the map, that scales throughout the game. Not really comparable.

Oh how useless dox are late game...

That's so untrue.

1v1 me.

Agree with OP, bigger maps would be a good thing.
Rofl at stuart pushing his balance mod stuff onto everyone like this.

I don't make balance mods. I made one back in February in BettahBalance, but no one played that because the way this community works is you either play nothing but vanilla or you strongly dislike vanilla and play the total redesign mod. No one plays any mods that take a middle ground.

GAT is a gameplay redesign mod, not a balance mod. PA is fairly balanced; I'd make a quick and dirty mod to solve the few remaining issues such as the Icarus, but that's not what people want because when I did that 7 months ago, no one played it.

I am not pushing my mod on everyone. I am stating the problems with PA as I see them, and saying that my mod solves the problems with PA as I see them. If you see the problems with PA as being different then you won't really see my mods as fixing anything, which is perfectly fine. But don't characterize that as "pushing my mods on everyone", because that's not what's going on.

Now, let's stop hijacking Kiwi's thread on large maps with discussions about my mods.

Classy. Blatantly ppush your mods, then claim we brought it up. STUART. Think this through bro.

• Having a greater range of size maps in 1v1 ranked? Yes please.
• Air OP? Yes, but not quite as much as Kiwi implies. Galata turrets and Storms shred air. Personally would like to see Stingers back (as everyone knows by now...), and a VERY small tweak to Spinners like a HP buff, and a VERY small tweak to mex so they get killed 5% slower by air. The fabricators right now are really good in terms of dying vs air, with bots being more rewarding with micro, and a vehicle fabber not dying to a single bombing run (well... this could be more reliable. If a bomber is micro'd, it CAN take out a vehicle fabber in one run).
• T2 Factories too expensive? Erm, they got a massive cost reduction in Titans, and I think it's actually really good right now. If there are larger maps with more metal, I can easily see them being built more.

Something extra that I'd like to see would be 1v1 ranked maps with multiple start locations. This way, ranked battles on the same map would be different depending on start location, and scouting would be more important. Thinking of it in flat-map terms to simplify things, if two players started diagonally apart, there would be more space in between them and T2 would be more viable. If they started to each others left and right, comm rushing and stuff could be more viable. I understand that it's crazy hard to balance "organic" maps like this, but even if they had 2 way symmetry (like an orange but with only 4 segments), so were completely identical spawns, and therefore balanced, I think it could add a lot to the maps replayability.

Also a comm boxing ranked 1v1 map.

Also a way to veto one or two maps in case Uber add a pure naval map (yuck) or a user doesn't have enough RAM to play on the big one(s) that get added.