Suggestions from an irregular player

[locjaw]

I just started playing BA (and spring entirely for that matter) again recently after taking a break for about 6 months. Just like every other time I take a break from BA, I return to a new version that completely does my head in for at least a game or so, while I figure out what the changes were.

When I started playing again this week, I couldn't Z-X space my buildings any more, so I couldn't make mine grids or space my wind out. I also couldn't figure out why my units wouldn't stop shooting the ground. The loading screen on one of the levels (but not all!) told me how to disable the building hotkey widget, so it's no longer an issue.

The point I'm trying to raise is that these changes can be pretty frustrating for someone who doesn't play as regularly as most of the vets here. Everyone is talking about why new players aren't staying and why BA is losing players and a factor could be because every time a new widget is made, it's enabled by default. I think they should leave the interface alone as much a possible and inform the player of the new widgets so they can decide to use them if they want, rather than being forced to use something they don't want or understand!

Also, I think it would be really helpful if the changelogs had reasons and justifications for the changes. The last one consisted of so many changes that it appears as if the entire game was in dire need of a complete overhaul! Were all of these balance changes really needed? If so, I'd really like to know why! Otherwise, surely the time and effort spent on potentially unnecessary changes could be spent on things aiming at getting new players. (aesthetics, BA installer ect)

[Beherith]

The last update had the following balance changes:

Code: Select all

Guardian and punisher 15% less metal costs 
Arm cloakable fus cloak cost reduced to 100 (from 200) auto cloaks when built 
Merl AOE increased (100->150) Diplomat AOE increased (90->150)
Decreased HP of t1 metal storages by 30%
reduced morty speed by 20% 
Nano towers are now transportable, in t1 transports too. 
Vanguard nerf: hp 15k->12k, weaponvelocity 610->500, predicboost 0.75->0.25 

So 6 changes is too much?

Guardian was a bit too expensive, especially for what it provided, and compared to how good a t2 plasma cannon is in comparison.

Merl and diplomat were useless, so they got a bit of a buff, The AOE buff was chosen because when their rockets collide with tall buildings, most of the AOE is lost.

T1 metal storages were used too often for nanoblocking.

Morties were nearly impossible to kite with raider type units (which should be the counter to their long range and low hp)

Transportable nanos were added to encourage novel strategies, like stealthy back bases, and labs on front.

Vanguards were one of the best t3 units for cost, and raiders couldnt touch them cause of the high HP and insanely good accuracy.

every time a new widget is made, it's enabled by default

Not many widgets are added, I am very strict about what gets into BA. We try to level the playing field by only adding widgets that a lot of people use, and are reliable.

Otherwise, surely the time and effort spent on potentially unnecessary changes could be spent on things aiming at getting new players.

Be careful when allocating the free time spent by others.

[locjaw]

Thanks for the info. I apologise on both accounts, I didn't want to imply there were too many changes and that people were wasting time, I just didn't know what the purpose to most of the changes were. The people who put their time and money into this game are gods amongst men and should be rewarded with copious quantities of cyber virgins.

Those six changes make sense, I was looking at the 7.67->7.70 changes and got overwhelmed because there was almost 30 of them. I thought they were all from the same patch.

But I still stand by my comment on the widgets, I like to have a consistent UI. And I doubt I'm alone. But, that being said, it is super easy to change it, it just took me awhile because for some reason the loading screen didn't decide to tell me what the widget was called for quite a few games. Many of which involved chain exploding wind and nanos :'(

Are you going to explain the changes like you just did there in future patch announcements? Because that'd be super awesome.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

You made a wrong connection there...
First you mentioned you are frustrated by new features in the interface, and new widgets that you were not familiar with when you played in the past, and than you went on saying that that somehow prevents NEW players from enjoying spring..

The problem is that assigning shortcut keys has always been a problem and to fix this someone would have to really want to do it, cause its not simple.
As evidenced by 7 years of development, nobody does.

Personally, I think that hold position for factories should be the default.
Newbies do not care or even understand this option while for those who need to micro units and keep them in check It's really annoying to have them move on their own.

[Johannes]

I think maneuver is an ok default for newbies, who wouldn't realize to move their units as readily. But it'd be good to have it so that if a builder is hold position, then any factory it makes will be too. It's easy enough for anyone to switch their first lab and/or commander to whatever they want, but with any further labs it's easy to forget.

[Silentwings]

You can use the factory hold position widget, although its not default with BA atm.

[locjaw]

Yeah I understand how the link between new widgets and new players is a tad dubious. The point I'm trying to make is that when a change is made it should be in the best interest of the lowest denominator (if you're aiming for new players). [Of course there are limits to this; this is a game for fairly competent RTS players, it's not going to be appealing for an audience as wide a WoW, for example. And you don't WANT to cater for 100% of the spam out there, anyways ]
But I find that changing widgets and having to play with settings can be a impassable hurdle for gamers who are not very technically able (someone used to playing a game like Starcraft 2, for example, which requires you to click "find game" and that's it). If you want new peeps, you have to make everything as easy as possible.
A "new" player doesn't always make up his mind on the first game (though they often do). I can imagine a case where a new player who maybe either plays irregularly or only for a short amount of time each day, could be frustrated by a new change in UI they don't understand how to revert.
All I'm trying to say is that a mod that changes the interface shouldn't be on by default because it could frustrate noobs.

With the factory thing;I can imagine a case where you have a line of 10 A.K.s and every one of them dies to a single Hammer that outranges them but you didn't notice it happening.
I could also image a case where all your A.K.s charge the Hammer into range of a HLT or whatever and all die, too.
Simply in terms of accessibility, I think maneuver should be the default because it's the default for most other RTS, so most people (I would guess) would prefer it. If you're a noob who has trouble controlling all your stuff, you'd probably prefer it to attack stuff automatically.