Profile of SturmtigerCobra

Jump back to quoted post7 Mar 2022, 08:17 AMApplejack

My form of protest: Don't support any 1v1 content. Don't watch it on Youtube, don't talk about it, don't share it, don't sub to those Youtubers. That's what I do to protest. 1v1s balancing ruined team games. This game doesn't need an esports scene, just balance it to keep it fresh instead of boring as it is now.

The accepted wisdom is that MOBAs badly hurt the RTS competitive scene with their accessibility, team-based play, etc. Was there anything StarCraft 2 could have done to retain its initial momentum?

Ryan Schutter, Designer: Let me preface my answer to this by saying I was not a developer on StarCraft 2 at the time. I was just a player, modder, and fan in a totally different career so this is from my perspective outside of Blizzard and the StarCraft 2 team.

Besides the popularity of MOBAs, the rise of the free-to-play model came about at the same time. I think both had an impact on the perception of StarCraft 2 and its success at the time. But I think that was where the real harm was done, the perception, not the reality. I think StarCraft 2 remained fairly consistent overall, and that MOBAs actually really did a lot not just attracting RTS players, or existing players in general, but also bringing in new players who had not played too many competitive video games at all.

StarCraft 2 continued to chug along with a huge playerbase, and tons of support from Blizzard. As you mentioned, perhaps momentum was impacted, but I think StarCraft 2, and in particular the feeling of mechanical skill requirement hanging over its competitive multiplayer, and the mentality that hardcore 1v1 ladder was the "correct" way to play the game, was always going to have less broad appeal than something like a MOBA. The "ladder anxiety" people feel playing the game is very real as well, and I think playing a team game relieves a lot of that pressure regardless of whether it is a MOBA or something else.

I think if back then StarCraft 2 had something like its Co-op Missions mode that it has now, or perhaps something even more robust, it would have gone a long way to feel like a more welcoming and accessible game. I believe that could have had a real impact, but we'll never know for sure. At the end of the day I think if StarCraft 2 was not the game that it is, there would be a huge hole in competitive games in general. I think a competitive 1v1 game like StarCraft 2 has its own kind of players and following, and I am so proud of what the game is for that community.

Jump back to quoted post6 May 2022, 17:58 PMApplejack

Huge influx of new players incoming. These couple weeks are going to be great for playing coh2

Jump back to quoted post27 May 2022, 20:16 PMSturmtigerCobra

Steam chart comparison AoE4 vs AoE2;
From AoE4 launch to now;

Recent 6 month comparison;

https://steamcharts.com/cmp/1466860,813780#6m
Even CoH2 will soon beat AoE4;

Jump back to quoted post1 Jun 2022, 09:16 AMBasedSecretary

You are late to the party friend. I called this out years ago: here citing the same proof as you since i am a genius.

but i agree aoe4 sucks little balls with potential to not suck at all

Jump back to quoted post1 Jun 2022, 18:57 PMSturmtigerCobra

Based on previous Relic interviews they want to improve player retention with future games.
This is a big deal regarding the success criteria of AoE4 and CoH3.

Remember, this was one of the primary reasons Relic/Sega gave up on DoW3. This is using their own words.

When asked about what measurements Relic was looking at regarding Dawn of War III's success, Boudreau stated "Retention and sentiment were the two biggest measures we were watching most closely."

https://www.gamewatcher.com/news/2018-08-02-why-dawn-of-war-iii-failed-according-to-relic

Relic AoE4 expectations vs reality;

Jump back to quoted post29 May 2022, 02:13 AMKurobane

They need a new engine badly. Using the Same Engine for COH1 + COH2 + COH3 + Dawn of War 2/3 and AOE 4 is stretching it.

Only so much you can do with 1 CPU core and 3 gigs of Ram.

Speaking with German publication Golem in a recent interview, game director Quinn Duffy was asked if he and his team of developers are prepared for crunch to ensure Age of Empires 4 releases on schedule.

He revealed that crunch has never been an issue at Relic Entertainment. In fact, the only time Duffy could remember having to endure crunch was with Company of Heroes 2 nearly a decade ago and even there, staffers had to only put in a couple of weeks at most of overtime.

Jump back to quoted post17 Oct 2021, 19:41 PMTobis

I thought the beta was great. I was surprised when the game was actually playable, it was just their marketing that was terrible.

Looking forward to the actual release.