Should FAF have another game type with alternate balance?

Game types currently include things like FAF, FAF Beta, FAF Develop, Nomads, etc. A lot of people like the current balance of the main FAF game type. A lot of people don't. Why not appease more people by keeping the current FAF game type and adding another game type or two with different balance?

So, to clarify: the current regular FAF game type would not be changed by this, and people would continue to be able to play as they can now.

However, an additional balance team, with a different vision for what FAF's balance could be, could be in charge of a new additional FAF game type, which would still be FAF, just with different balance and maybe some new units. It could be called something like FAF Rebalanced (or another new name if someone has a better suggestion). The point is that it would be an alternate balance set that people could play, and it could start with the current FAF balance as a base and be improved and adjusted over time to become another version of how FAF can be balanced and played.

pfp credit to gieb

Best case: splits already small community into 2 divergent ecosystems
Worst case: tons of effort for nothing

Just make a mod and if it has decent effort and reliable support it can get rated/featured.

Equilibrium throwback
Diamond mega throwback

bhedit throwback

bring back "fixed in equilibrium"

From a technical perspective, if you include:

  • A 2nd game team that has the required Lua / Git knowledge (on average, the balance team doesn't have this)
  • Convince someone to make the required client integrations and Github CI/Cd pipelines
  • A better distribution system: another game mode means everyone has to download roughly the same files all over again, long live the download times

And then still I'd be against. As Ftx points out - the best approach is with a mod. And if enough effort is put into it, then we can make it ranked too. No need for a separate game type.

(and what you're describing already exists: LOUD! They did exactly as you described, and it is ready to go too)

A work of art is never finished, merely abandoned

Kinda sounds like taf, the problem there is the few games are always different game modes o don't want to play. I just want to play taf

The current featured mods are already mostly abandoned, no need to bring in more.
Also the underlying mechanics to distribute them is horrible, that I wouldn't accept any new.

Go for regular mods. They will break as well as featured mods do. All needs to stay compatible with FAF feature mod anyway.

"Nerds have a really complicated relationship with change: Change is awesome when WE'RE the ones doing it. As soon as change is coming from outside of us it becomes untrustworthy and it threatens what we think of is the familiar."
ā€“ Benno Rice