Featured this one has no geos

This a new version. 4.0 seems to be a fork

1v1 pool perhaps?

Games ending much later than they should is something I see constantly at lower elos. Its not exclusive to this map at all. There have been hour long games on 8x8 maps, with multiple striders and things like that built.
Larger maps like this are a bit harder to play on, but they don't really cause stomps; they just magnify the skill difference between people that was already there.

I would say that it is caused 100 % by poor or unskilled play. Good players will resign once they realize they lost, or if they are winning will quickly close out the game.
Lower skill people already take unnecessarily long times to win/resign, no matter what the map size is. Games on big maps like this arent quiet porc fests, there is constant action and raiding going on everywhere.
So people winning by expanding better is somehow a problem? Even if its decided quickly, that isnt a problem with the map for keeping players there, its a problem with the players for not reigning. Or perhaps you know, they want to try making a comeback or seeing how long they can hold out if.
I wouldn't classify long games as "painful slogs". Most people seem to enjoy them because less seen units get to appear and more fancy tactical stuff can go on. I don't see how this is suddenly a phenomenon in that appears in maps. 12x12 map is ok, but 14x12! Oh no! Big problems! Nothing you said is not applicable to smaller maps, or medium maps, or even most larger maps.


I suppose that last thing is somewhat of a contradiction. It sounded better in my head.

This is very similar to other macro maps, just with some more interesting terrain than CCR.

quote: I wouldn't classify long games as "painful slogs". Most people seem to enjoy them because less seen units get to appear and more fancy tactical stuff can go on.

I don't agree with this statement. On a large map like Valles Marineris, in my experience "tactical stuff" gets thrown out the window in favour of hammering on one another with easy-to-micro units, with little-to-no finesse.

edit: oops, doublepost

I suppose I oversimplified a bit as well - while there are some maps I don't like playing 1v1 on in the current pool (mostly Valles and Hide&Seek) I think the balance between map sizes isn't too bad. I would't want a large fraction of the maps to be Avalanche or Desert Needle-sized.

For that matter, besides its size, I just don't like this map in general. I'd object less to playing 1v1 on Iceland. Possibly the metal density is more to blame.

There is something to be said for having some modicum of predictability in the MM map pool. As it is, when I queue for a 1v1, I have no idea whether I'm going to get a map which is more likely to take two minutes or half an hour plus.

Really? People complain about all this RPS but except for a few specific points in ZK history (looking at you gunships) I just don't see it.

Most maps have a limited number of facs/strats that are viable.

Right now, hover meta isn't RPS. Hover is the thing you expect, so don't pick strats that lose to dagger -> scalp. Sure complain about balance, but if you're getting RPSed by the dominant strat, you're failing to adapt.

I'm not defending it. I'm saying you can't complain about RPS unpredictability and complain about the homogeneous competitive environment. Pick one.