Originally Posted by Longasc
Lately people posting here have been talking with Andrew Patrick on IRC in Lonesamurai's Ascension show.
The impression given was that TEAM ARENA = SUXX. It was not regarded a viable PvP format. |
One problem is the r-p-s aspect of TA, and this update has only made it worse. Not only do you need to take the current 4v4 meta into account (conditions, hexes, and certain gayways that are in at the moment), you now also have to figure out how you're going to split against dedicated HB builds. An HB build like spirit spam/Sin split will outmaneuver a standard balanced 4v4, while a decent 4v4 team can survive the first few spikes and pressure out the spirit spam on an annihilation map. This level of r-p-s isn't good for TA.
Somewhat linked to the problem above is that degenerate builds actually have a good chance of beating decent teams. These builds capitalize on overpowered skills, and I'm sure TAers can give some good suggestions on how to properly balance these skills with minimal impact to other formats.
Another problem is griefing builds which are designed to get one kill and survive for the rest of the match (they autowin when the timer reaches zero assuming you don't get a kill on them). While it's certainly beatable with a good coordination between your shutdown, snares and your melee, it's no fun spending 5-6 minutes trying to kill three healers with run buffs.
One last problem I'll mention is that it's simply not supported by the devs. Skill balances rarely touch on 4v4, even if the change is isolated within TA and would not affect anything else, and while TA is neglected, HB gets obs mode and a ladder...why? There is real competition in TA, top players from all formats regularly form teams in ID1. It's just a shame there's nothing in it for them other than glad points.
I'd love to hear an official word on this - what *they* think the problems in TA are, what they're trying to achieve with this change, and how well they think this change is faring.