Fixing frustrating RNG wipes is trivial to implement. Just set "Maximum models hit" to 2-3 depending on the weapon, this means a mortar or tank shell will never one-shot instagib an entire squad because they clump around something.
This is exactly what mines do, remember how mine RNG wipes were a problem until they implemented that?
Either way the big changes that need to happen are squad spacing. Indirect shouldn't need as adjusted as it is. The easiest and best change, imo, is that indirect fire should only be able to kill 2 models MAXIMUM of a full health squad, much like the change that happened to mines some time ago, I still really don't get why this hasn't been changed as I feel its a pretty safe and straight forward fix.
Preach. I did this is in my mods and such a simple change makes an incredible difference, so much less frustrating RNG and more room for actual calculation of engagements. In particular, it's a huge buff to 4 man survivability who otherwise can easily get one shot. (where as 5 & 6 man squads rarely get 1 shot.)
Cool changes! Nice to see it still being patched. One concern though.
"Panzergrenadiers are being given increased versatility; cheaper and more accurate panzerschreck will allow an alternative to the Pak40 that can support assaults with smoke grenades.
• Now have access to the Model 24 Smoke Grenade"
Please tell me the the Bundle Grenade and Smoke grenades share a cooldown so they can't smoke off and instawipe a HMG with the nades.
This legal talk is ridiculous lol, please stop pretending this is a bigger deal than it is. This is a conversation about etiquette that should have been resolved privately.
I certainly think it's disrespectful to be shoutcasting live alongside the main event, and it's annoyed me when it's happened to me in the past. It's a bit different if someone was streaming their first person perspective of them competing in the tournament or just laddering as opposed to casting the event, because that's not really "Competing" in the same sense and there's no reason why they can't just shoutcast the replays later.
If people want to cast it live, well, you can't stop them and it's in there right to do so given the observer mode functionality, but it's important to support event organisers because they help keep the community alive which leads to more people watching streams. (Don't bite the hand that feeds you, as it were)
The real issue here is Coh2's lack of custom game tools that prevents people you don't want observing from observing. You can create a 15 minute delay with password bypass, but to spectate live in practically every RTS game you have to be in the lobby, so the official casters naturally are the only ones doing it. It's still worth doing the password though, having a 15 minute delay would discourage people from watching alternative streams compared to the official stream which is live.
I would also say there needs to be more emphasis on making sure all these replays actually get posted, most of the replays from events such as King of the Hill never get posted (and I'm guessing many of these replays from the weekend weren't posted), so if I wanted to cast those replays I would have to do so live for myself. You can't really say "Oh can you just cast the replays later on so you don't compete with our stream" but then the replays don't actually get posted.
The difficulty for the balance team is that it is impossible to properly balance and fix the various issues because the faction design is so flawed. (A lot of it stemming from non-linear teching)
A good example is the recent changes to timing of OKW vehicles. Previously the Panzer 2 and Flak Half Track arrived too early, so in order to balance them, they now have a huge build time. The Panzer 2 takes 75 seconds to build, which is 20 seconds longer than a Panzer 4. It is such a contrived change to have light vehicles with a significantly longer build time than a Medium Tank. Having such a weird change being neccesary to balance the timing of it shows just how flawed OKW's design is, but short of fully reworking OKW teching, simple & intuitive balance changes are not enough.
The same issues with Penals, where they have to basically be OP in order for them to ever be useful over Conscripts because then the player is denying themselves of HMG's, Mortars and AT guns. The only way Penals could have worked is removing non linear teching and shifting around tier 1 & Tier 2 units, or if Penals were made into Elite Infantry from the Tier 3, which makes no sense given the nature of the squad, so instead Penals could be exchanged for Shocks or Guards which are then Tier 3 elite infantry.
These are huge changes that would never get approved, how else is it possible to properly balance Penals without making them gimicky/cheesy or never used? It's basically impossible to balance Company of Heroes 2 without fully reworking stuff, which will be very divisive and too much for the Relic Scope Police. In a sense, balance patches are destined to fall short given the limitations of what they can do and the extent of which Coh2's poor faction design ruins the ability for minor balance changes to be a viable fix to things.
As Shadowlink pointed out, the biggest problems with Coh2 are so underlying and not merely balance, such as cover clumping frequently resulting in RNG wipes, Abandon/Main gun Crits, vet5 being a mess, some factions lacking access to core tools and mechanics such as flamers, mortars, some factions having forward bases etc.
However, it's certainly the case that Company of Heroes 2 continues to get better, more balanced and enjoyable every patch, so I certainly appreciate all the time and effort that has gone into it and it is giving the game more and more longevity.
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Kpen97 The Meme Bearer™
GGTheMachine
GGTheMachine
OrangePest
Relic Entertainment
