MP balance mod suggestion

[Geoffrey S]

Something that frequently seems to pop up in topics about MTW2 is the balance; more specifically, many worry that it'll be an inferior job as was the case in Rome. While this is easy enough to resolve for the single player game, as has been pointed out this does not help the online game.

Now I'm no mp gamer myself, but the bad balancing was obvious even to me in a RTW lan party session. A mod addressing balance issues is of course only feasible if a large number of players utilise said mod. Therefore, my suggestion is this:

When MTW2 is released, a group of dedicated and experienced players of the TW series perform extensive testing on what is unbalanced and what works. This does not even have to be unit combat stats, at least not extensively, but more the unit costs and movement speeds to promote a more balanced and tactical game. I realise that different gamers are looking for different gamestyles; to appeal to enough players to make such a mod useful, changes should be relatively minor, though how much change would be necessary can only be determined after the game is released.

As a team, this group of players would work out how to better balance the game and implement the changes. Once released, this mod could only be useful if as many multiplayers use it as possible. This is why it'd be great if well-known and experienced players could help with the balancing, and if this mod were promoted as extensively as possible over multiple TW gaming fora. Also, polls could be used to gauge what the majority of players want changed; and I mean relatively frequent players, part of the community, not one-off gamers who would prefer a cavalry spam.

Does anyone else believe this type of project is feasible? Of course, MTW2 may turn out just fine, but I'm sure there'll always be room for improvement. It'd be great if the community banded together to make such improvements.

Input would be much appreciated.

[Epistolary Richard]

I imagine something similar - i.e. a community standard MP mod - was attempted for RTW. Perhaps it would be useful to have a look at the problems they faced and what, if anything, became of them.

[L'Impresario]

Does anyone else believe this type of project is feasible? Of course, MTW2 may turn out just fine, but I'm sure there'll always be room for improvement. It'd be great if the community banded together to make such improvements.

The short version is "no". The long version isn't that long but reading some old topics in the MTW/STW MP sections can shed some further light and awake funny memories.
The main issue is the existance of a "playable" vanilla game. Even if the balance isn't that great, if the other parameters (speed & movement, hard-coded modifiers, map size, unit responsiveness, pc requirements/performance etc) are at least acceptable by longterm players, then people might consider it worth the effort to further mod the game in order to reach a satisfying gameplay.
OTOH, if the vanilla game is "decent", players won't be willing to try any mod, esp. over perceived balance issues which take quite some time for the "untrained" eye to detect (or accept that changes could be a positive thing).

[CBR]

The MP community is now so disorganised that I think that alone will make it nearly impossible to do.

But even back in STW/MTW days it wasnt possible as there are as many opinions on game balance as there are players.

Some doesnt want changes as they are doing fine chopping up newbies with the vanilla game. Others doesnt want changes because they dont want to learn a new game etc etc...

In my MTW MP days I saw how much big egos, paranoia and pride could ruin it. I guess thats my "funny memories" of it heh.


CBR

[Orda Khan]

I agree with the replies posted so far, Mods for MP have never been warmly received for the reasons given so far plus there are many MP players who simply will not install a Mod.
I remember some very frustrating stat conflicts with RTW MP Mods for no apparent reason and there is no chance that players new to TW would consider that. The best we can hope for is that CA have learnt from the first MTW and remove the European bias that made MTW MP a joke. The factions must be balanced in a way that allows tactical skill to prevail and that includes the Islamic factions

......Orda

[L'Impresario]

The best we can hope for is that CA have learnt from the first MTW and remove the European bias that made MTW MP a joke. The factions must be balanced in a way that allows tactical skill to prevail and that includes the Islamic factions

Nah, I don't agree that there was any European bias, it's just that the settings a majority of players used tended to favour those factions. Although if there's a "skill" gap between two players, then no army can save you.
It always boils down to preferred settings.