Hubert Cater
Posts: 5199
Joined: 7/22/2013 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Alter Native Isn't there an obvious solution for the problem? Just rename the current easy mode to "normal" and have it be the default option when starting the game and rename the current "normal" to hard. The hard of the current version becomes very hard etc. Basically just shift the naming of the difficulty settings by one, but keep all settings for experienced players that are looking for a challenge. The problem is that many people are too proud to lower the difficulty to easy, even if they had a better experience with it. Many game developers know this and have the easiest difficulty as "normal" and then several hard options. The only possible issue here is we have a bit of a sliding scale when it comes to spotting, experience and MPP bonuses for the AI. At the default INTERMEDIATE level those items are all at zero, but can be + etc as you select the harder levels, and - when selecting the easier levels. Having GREEN become NORMAL would then have -20% MPP for the AI, which I don't think would feel right either. Don't get me wrong, I understand where the suggestion comes from here, we also at one time had the default level named as BEGINNER which we then changed to INTERMEDIATE for similar arguments, e.g. players felt better not being categorized as a BEGINNER when playing at the default level (and rightfully so), but the other concerns here is that while some may find the default INTERMEDIATE level too difficult, some find it just right. And going with a renamed GREEN level as the new default has the potential of then making the game too easy for some players and that might not be a good thing either. For example, one early review of War in Europe gave it a knock because he found the default level too easy. I also completely understand where players are coming from in that they don't like the idea of the AI receiving free bonus units, however they are strategically laid out for an optimal experience for once you get a good feel for the game. It's not a matter of just throwing a bunch of extra units on the board and calling it a better AI, it really is game action dependent (e.g. not all will fire as it matters what the player is doing in game) and it does help to make up for some of the weaknesses in the AI big picture thinking. We do feel it gives the player a much better game, but again, for those that may disagree or just want to remove them we also provide the in game option and methods to do so. But that being said, if we can massage the INTERMEDIATE level just a little bit to make things a little bit easier at the default level, and some careful thought went into this for the next update, we are happy to do so. Hubert
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