Canada
+1 to CieZ points.
+1 to the rest of your very nice post that is also fueling theses discussions but I think more emphasis and importance needs to be added to some items. I will not go into as much detail as you as I have not been playing enough recently to do so but here it goes:
In my opinion, these elements are crucial for a successful competitive RTS. I will not even say esport for the time being.
1. CRUCIAL / NON-NEGOTIONABLE:
1.1 NO DLC COMMANDERS.
1.2 NO DLC COMMANDERS.
1.3 If Relic and Sega wants micro-transactions to help with funding, cosmetic only and there is so much opportunity here with skins. People love their COH tank skins. More banners and victory strikes. I mean it is not complicated, look at all esport model, none of them has DLC that affects gameplay, purely cosmetic.
2. Important
2.1 Faction design:
2.1.1 I think the vCOH American/Wehrmacht match-up was beautifully designed and this was probably one of their main focus at the time for a new game to be successful. That being said, I think that much effort needs to be applied to any faction, after the game mechanics which I think only needs some adjustment at this point, this is probably the most important aspect.
2.1.2 I would personally limit the number of factions to 4, I would even say 3 but that would make it weird. I personally would even accept 2 or limit which factions can play each other to facilitate balancing (e.g. Wehrmacht vs. Soviet only and OKW vs. Americans only, no mixing) but this I think would only be accepted by a small percentage of the community but the point here is that faction design and balancing is so important that it makes me want to limit the number of factions. Maybe the solution here is 2 factions but with a better commander system as suggested by WhiteFlash, a mix of COH and COH2 meaning, more commanders like in COH2 (but not as many) but different tech-trees like in COH.
2.2 Statistics and replays:
2.2.1 I think you put enough important to statistics and I totally agree with what you said regarding this but I think a revamp replay system is as important. See Rocket League replay system and options.
2.2.2 Proper Leaderboards day 1.
2.2.3 Make sure to keep observer mode and expand on this and more twitch integration and competitive/tournament functionalities.
2.3 RNG:
2.3.1 Totally agree with terrain elevation but this is very important, not only some side note in my opinion.
2.3.2 Some RNG needs to be totally eliminated in my opinion. e.g. Panzerfaust: I think it should be a clear hit or miss depending on the direction of the shot when it was used/called by the player. If my grenadiers are facing the rear or side of a vehicle, it should penetrate and disable the engine 100% of the time. This is just an example and details are up for debate but I would want a clear hit/miss system for these type of abilities.
2.3.3 Again, as in 2.3.2, I think tank battles should have a more hit or miss system. Although I love the current RNG for the sense of realism, I think there should be a better system here. Maybe eliminating terrain elevation is enough ? Or maybe have different armor quality via munition upgrades. I want to avoid details here and give more of a general idea.
2.3.4 Button to manually spread out bunched up squad. This was in C&C Generals and it was brilliant!!! Not only does it remove the potential of squad wipes because of bunched up squads but also demonstrates a player's skill and reaction time. WIN WIN!
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ful4n0
Zero
MadeInKorea
Zero
Relic Entertainment
