I find this video very relevant to think about in this game and games like it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e31OSVZF77w

Basically it explains that games like Chess are considered almost 100%, as balanced as can be. However there are certain disadvantages to this balance, namely that very specific strategies for all situations will appear eventually, and that some people only need to learn and memorise these strategies to win.

However a game with slight imbalance can have an advantage, if done correctly. This is best explained with an example, as given in the video:

Unit/Strategy/Hero A is found to be slightly above average. Players find this and a lot of them adopt this. This then leads to other players looking for weaknesses, or holes in the unit/strategy. Players then find Unit/Strategy/Hero A is best countered with Unit/Strategy/Hero B. But then the process is repeated, and Unit/Strategy/Hero C is able to counter Unit/Strategy/Hero B etc.

This is a good thing to think about especially with these games, and why it's awesome that special units like commanders are being added, because it may allow for this type of scenario. However this will only be the case if more special units are added, and mainly, whether other special units will require a membership to include in games. If it does, there most likely will be quite a few players not experiencing the strategy this allows without having membership players host games for them, and that could be very inconvenient for a lot of 1v1s.

And I know that there are very few strategies that work against most players, including elites, and with no luck it boils down to the best calculations.

That's just my opinion on the subject, and hopefully Fizzer notices and takes note of this or similiar. I'm not making a uservoice or messaging him directly because this is something for the community to discuss.

Edited 1/16/2016 13:25:38

Yeah, I think a lot of Warlight players don't understand this, expecially at the "top"

Also Chess is fast becoming a "solved" game, and then it will be releaved for the farse that it is...

Why do you think many good players don't understand this? Makes no sense for me. There is always one strategy that seems to be the best (maybe expansion wise) and the counterstrategy. A good player has to find the best balance between risk and expansion

I'm not saying that high level players don't understand this at all.

I may not of put it correctly, but what I was inferring is that with the current basic strategic templates, there is limited strategy on what you can do. Limited choices.

Obviously this can change with a much better, more thought out template. But the ones in the ladders, and some similar templates don't seem to have this. At the current time there it seems there is still plenty of experimentation and some new little strategies coming through, but there is the basic strategy you always need to implement, limiting your choices on what to do, Order Delay, Expansion, Picking (this is different for the map and pick dist.), choke points etc.

The best way is to make Warlight open to many more varieties of strategy and ways to counter them, instead of a fairly low number (anywhere from 4-10? Not sure on this, but I could figure it out if I really had to).

I'm not saying this game is too limited or that it's too basic, I'm saying it has the chance to grow into something that can make each players strategy even more unique while still being effective.

I hoped I conveyed my point of view better then I did previously.

Edited 1/16/2016 14:10:53

mod, you're the only "top" player I've come across that does seem to understand this...

Uhm, I have no qualms with commanders IF we can customize them so they're not just a 7 stack. Being able to take a territory per turn with minimal risk (need 11 to take out just the commander) is hard to balance. If we can customize them, we can make it work strategically for sure.

Edited 1/16/2016 16:09:10

I would make them worth 4million.

Commander Multi-Attack. :P

^ https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=10270975

*I know, My picking was poor*

Edited 1/17/2016 04:12:29

@Fletcher Renn

Great vid. Thanks for sharing. I completely share the view. This is what makes Warlight such an enjoyable game. This is also one of the reasons why I think all ladders should have rotating templates. A seasonal with rotating templates would be so much more enjoyable than playing 20 games on the same template.

Edited 1/17/2016 08:32:50

This is also one of the reasons why I think all ladders should have rotating templates. A seasonal with rotating templates would be so much more enjoyable than playing 20 games on the same template.

Exactly :)

Join the Optimum ladder then ;)