Quote:
Originally Posted by Riggler
Great review. The person I do most of my playtesting with has asked me every time we've got together since we've tested Striking Distance, "When do we get to test another map like that one with the split start zones."
This map no question represents a direction of innovation in map design that I'd very much like to see continue. Great players should be challenged by maps like these. Take the tried and true maps and a few maps like this into a tournament pool and I think it really shakes things up. Advantage goes to the best army builders and players -- for a while. There is just too much information out there about how to play the "You line up with all your guys on that side. And I'll line up with all my guys on this side. And we'll meet in the middle." Lots of new tactics can be used on maps like these and I think several more maps like these could impact power rankings too.
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Thank you (not just to Riggler but to Kroc and others who have expressed appreciation about my review). This was the hardest review I've done; I'm glad the final result was worth something and valuable to some.
I do want to throw out one other thought. This map pushed the edge quite a bit (and at times in my early testing looked to be heading to a No vote). If it wasn't so well built in every other way, the proximity of the start zones to the opponent could have been disastrous.
I hope to see more excellent split zone maps (I love them, when done well), but also want to express some caution over how it is done. (And, of course, other judges may end up feeling like this map didn't quite pull it off; that's still to be seen.)
I am excited by many of the maps in the pool now and look forward to other excellent nominations--there are some great maps circulating out there. I am looking forward to what is to come.