Hey guys,
there are some maps in faf that are played competitively, but are far from obvious to read for new players due to the scripts changing certain dynamics, that actually might make players playing them for the first time fall behind. Sometimes the more they know about the game, the more they will get hurt.

Let me ilustrate it with an example:
Loki is a very popular , great classic map. Since I played it many times I know that buildings in the middle are basically useless- there is almost no mass to reclaim. Yet any capable player who didn't get to play it before will have a wrong image of the map(that comes from his valid game knowledge) and might consider grabbing the middle to fight for the mexes later as an actual strategical option, only to lose miserably as a consequence if he choses to do so.

Proposed solution:
Would that be viable to replace all maps with scripts for ladder with their versions that display the script specifics in text?(something like text in adaptive acid lakes, but informing that the buildings are nerfed)

Drone is fun and therefore buffing it would make the game even more fun.

hey, idea of rating AI sounds very fun but I'm not so sure about the methodology. I mean rating them on how playing them "feels". There are some ladder players around 1300 that I feel rather comfortable playing and 900 that I wouldn't feel confident playing at all just because of their unusual playstyle and although I would still reliably win with those 900s, I probably couldn't rate them properly just after one game by "how it felt". If you really want to rate those AIs, maybe it would be optimal to also get them play lots of games against each other on multiple maps and see which ones beats the rest(similar way to how we estimate real players strength).

tbh it happens quite often. Especially often when I've just won and I live the game on instead of closing immediately; I will look into it.

are they really stronger than t3?

Drone is fun and therefore buffing it would make the game even more fun.

drone flies fast and clicks rocks, especially on mapgen. Also it's so cheap you can get it in 10 sec reasonably early. If your transport gets intie rushed and you lose the payload it's bad too

how could you say drones on acu are useless without even a niche application?

I know absolver technically isn't bad. I built 2 pieces in one game 2 years ago against a shielded base together with artillery and it was kinda efficient.

Absolver is too specific of a tool to be used in many games. It can crush shields, but it's projectile can't really reach specific moving targets like commanders or harbs. It's good only for bubble shields. Also it's t3, so most games won't get to the point where you'd build it. This is fine, but it's a shame to see such an interesting unit is so rarely.
People often complain about firebeetles being gone, but rarely about absolver bcuz it was never really a thing.
Absolver isn't bad but it's super niche.

The(partial) solution:
make it t2, so that it could be used earlier- at tech when shields kick in and players could actually get more opportunities to use it throughout the game. Obv it would require to adj it's stats to be a bit more in line with t2, while kinda staying relevant later(like medusa or obsidian), or maybe just making t2 absolver from scratch just the way it was done to the antiair at t3(although I suppose adding units is a nono)

I guess they are like subs. Can get decent value in very specific scenarios but probably don't overbuild them

in my experience (1400-1600ish ladder) subs can be sometimes useful early on if you know what you are doing and don't overbuild. Not the main thing and not something you'd build every game, but especially since the opponent doesn't expect it you can get some free damage on frigs that are far from navy hq and if he can't react quickly enough for some other reason(air advantage, can't afford t2, not enough apm while u drop at his base or smth)

edit: also, it's a rare thing but as far as I remember some subs have laser whose range is greater than frigs and on certain maps that's the only way to raid certain mexes with navy early on

I don't think it will hurt their insides that much. You do you

tbh this league system is just a weird ui thing over the rating system. If your rating is lower than your league you get less league advancement and vice versa. It won't deviate much lol