Steam FAQ's now on website

**Ituralde** · 02-13-2009, 16:06

You know the more I read about those Special Units the less I like the whole concept. They should have just thrown those units in and be done with it. I can only imagine what a nightmare multiplayer will be. You just want to have a jolly good sea fight and suddenly have to face off against five USS Constitutions, or ten HMS Victories with no way of ever being able to field them yourself. The same goes for the land battles where the system will be more skewed.

I've made up my mind and I don't like this "Special Unit" system one bit. There's no place for something like this in a Strategy Game. Imagine Starcraft 2 shipping with special units if you preorder it.

**Fisherking** · 02-13-2009, 16:36

There are lots of special units in the game...

The ones from SF are extra...

**Ituralde** · 02-13-2009, 16:47

Well, call them "Extra Units" then, it remains the same thing. Although it's good to hear that there are Special Units in the game aside from the Extra Units.

**Zenicetus** · 02-14-2009, 17:31

Originally Posted by Ituralde

You know the more I read about those Special Units the less I like the whole concept. They should have just thrown those units in and be done with it. I can only imagine what a nightmare multiplayer will be. You just want to have a jolly good sea fight and suddenly have to face off against five USS Constitutions, or ten HMS Victories with no way of ever being able to field them yourself. The same goes for the land battles where the system will be more skewed.

There's something I've never understood about this crazy mix of special units. Aside from multiplayer issues, how can the game be balanced so the AI plays a challenging campaign both with, and without the addition of these units? If the special units are powerful enough to be worth having (and not just eye candy), then it will tilt the balance of power in a certain direction, and the campaign will play out differently than a vanilla game without the units.

I'm used to seeing strategy games that add extra units, usually in an expansion, but it's done in a way where all players (and AI factions) get the new units and the game remains balanced. It just seems wacky to have all these different permutations and expect the game to be as well-balanced as the vanilla version, unless they're just eye candy that doesn't affect the game.

If this has already been discussed somewhere else, please point me to the thread so this one doesn't get derailed.

**scipiosgoblin** · 02-14-2009, 20:46

Originally Posted by Zenicetus

There's something I've never understood about this crazy mix of special units. Aside from multiplayer issues, how can the game be balanced so the AI plays a challenging campaign both with, and without the addition of these units? If the special units are powerful enough to be worth having (and not just eye candy), then it will tilt the balance of power in a certain direction, and the campaign will play out differently than a vanilla game without the units.

First, I don't agree with CA providing special units to only a few factions in the Special Forces edition. I think it is a marketing gimmick that is quite obviously having the result of annoying a lot of gamers.

However, I don't think these units will be that dominant in the game. I don't think they will be uber-units that can destroy stacks by themselves. I think that they will be slightly better than the unit that they are based on. For example USS Constitution is based probably on the 4th Rate. It will be slightly stronger / more experienced than the generic 4th Rate. It will still get blasted by a 1st, 2nd or 3rd Rate since it is not a ship of the line.

I would have preferred CA to give each faction a unique unit. I don't think these units will tip gameplay balance all that much though.

SG

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 02-14-2009, 21:32

I suspect what will happen is there will be a small but noticeable number of people who will run around with only the special edition units, which will prompt "no specials" matches (either through modding or just naturally through the community).

So while I don't like the idea, I think the community will be able to deal with it (as long as the multiplayer is otherwise good, of course).

**Greyblades** · 02-14-2009, 22:18

I’m assuming that the powerful special units, like the two ships Rogers rangers and maybe the organ gun, are either going to be "1 unit only" or overly expensive to balance them. The rest don’t sound too powerful for multiplayer use.

**Sir Beane** · 02-14-2009, 23:32

Alright guys (and possibly gals), back to topic please

. This thread is for discussion of Steam and the Steam FAQ. We seem to have gone off on a bit of a tangent and (interesting though it is) it isn't related enough.

Further discussion of this important topic deserves its own thread, if anyone wishes to make one.