@phong said in Smol ACU Adjustment:
Generally I think a turtle style feels way more comfortable for new players, and this is reinforced by a bias towards safer maps like gap or astro when it comes to the games they play.
For them to become ladder players, if they ever do, they have to go through a phase where they unlearn some bad turtle habits, and try out and succeed at being aggressive. They tend to do this by playing more open maps in custom lobbies, the lower the skill and confidence, the more players.
There's already a big cost in attention needed to use the ACU offensively, as compared to just making some obscene firebase with a t2 com, a very, very common noob trap. And attention, specifically, is a beginner's most scarce resource. They often forget radar, tmd, scouting in general, they may idle their first high tech engies for minutes if they get distracted, or attack then look away from the fight, because doing these things right is not yet second nature to them. They spend more time doing any one thing and often get tunnel-vision on some random task because they have to think about it and it's not just busywork as it is to a veteran. This makes multi-taksing harder.
I'm worried about the nerfs you suggested because they make the climb from astro noob to ladder player steeper. I'm sure, FTX, you're very familiar with all the things I described, with all your mentoring experience on discord, and with that in mind, maybe I shouldn't be worried, but I'm still hoping you can think of another way of solving the problem.
I think the recent speed boost to t2 is a welcome change, and in general, I think I'd prefer some solution (which i don't claim to have) that emphasizes decision-making. The same way an air player rushing t3 air might conclude he has a window of opportunity and a need to do damage with a very early strat if he sees his counterpart making t2 bombers, and the same way a less skilled air player like myself decides to pay a mass tax and always shield their t2 pgens, even as i know some better players skip this sometimes, by scouting better and being able to determine if they're far enough behind that a shield is needed.
My problem is the dynamic you’re talking about with regards to OC doesn’t really exist. I don’t even have an OC hotkey bound anymore because I just abuse auto-OC and I don’t find it as bad as thomas makes it seem. This is amplified by the fact auto-OC actually gives you advantages that manual OC doesn’t in terms of continuous movement.
The fact I can get away with playing so utterly lazy to abuse an insanely OP (not that I want it nerfed, I find it fun) mechanic frustrates me. I shouldn’t be allowed to drag some arbitrary e storage value for the tech stage I’m at, hit a button, and afk my ACU at front with small glances at mini maps while I zoom around upgrading mexes or engies reclaiming.
All it takes to counter t1 in teamgames is paying for 1 e storage, really. Maybe a t1 PD behind if you’re really scared of a guy going all in on you. For t2, just add an 800 mass gun upgrade. For t2 to do anything noteworthy, you need 10k+ mass in it to breach an ACU and any emergency meatshield measures that took 60 seconds to create.
With regards to new players, teamgame ones suffer from the exact opposite problem of the ones trying out ladder. They build too much useless stuff, precisely because of this dynamic I’m talking about. They make 4k mass in tanks, it dies, they donate mass, game is over unless enemy does it with 10k mass 6 minutes later. I would like it to be more intuitive for units to actually be useful, and that requires a general ACU nerf, for teamgames.