Granted this is Alpha, and Early Alpha at that.
We completely understand that the Purpose is focused on Testing Game Mechanics and possible Features.
Further, Bug Reports and Testing the product for Play-ability and Launch Readiness are chiefly the purview of BETA Testing.
That being said ... a few issues need to be addressed.
Recent Changes have NOT been successful in guiding the Testing toward Line Battle Mechanics, as intended.
- The inability to scout or deploy skirmishers, combined with the ever present sniping by sharps rifles, has resulted in the almost exclusive use of one tactic ... hunker down and prepare for Custer's Last Stand.
This could be fought as a Line Battle but adjustments to Spawn points and out of Bounds limits has made bunching together in a square the only way to keep a good eye out.
- Then there is the 4X Ticket Loss mechanic.
It has had the intended effect of getting everyone to stay grouped but ...
Having a group as small as 6 scouts means that after the death of the first guy the remaining 5 now cause the massive Ticket Loss that can not be absorbed. Scouting Parties need to be large and unwieldy. 3 Man skirm groups are no longer possible and Watching the Flank now falls to the main Line.
This Ticket Loss is greatly felt when the enemy is sniping reinforcements of a few men, a PUG Rambo keeps charging instead of playing as a Team and if the Defender doesn't focus an undue amount of attention on falling back and staying shoulder to shoulder.
I say UNDUE Attention because it is one thing to Fill In for a lost man but if ... and this has happened to me several times ... you are anchoring the end of the line and the two guys to your left get killed just before you, during a volley, then you are shot ... you are considered Out of Formation. There ought to be a small window where the chance to Cover Down is available.
The effect of these Recent Adjustments has resulted in several sweeping changes. It is possible that this is intentional but we wish to Note them here for Informational purposes ...
- We NEVER see a map timer run out. 10 minute battles To The Death are the new norm.
- The Ticket Disparity now has the Rebels losing almost every engagement when before we lost very few. Not a complaint but rather an observation of how much the Game Changes are having an effect.
- Win Parameters are now overly skewed to the Union side. The best example from this weekend was a Skirm in which the Yanks NEVER took the Point, not even once. The Final Death Toll was 87 Yanks dead to 38 Rebs. The Timer only ran for 8 minutes ... and we LOST.
- The Weekend Events used to be composed of 4 Events consisting of approximately 3 skirmishes each of which the Rebels won all but 1 or 2 of these 12 to 15 ... on a bad day.
Now, we play at least 25 Skirms and are lucky to win 1 all weekend.
We now have a bit more empathy for the Pain of our Union Foes but losing when you dominate a battle is not right.
This brings me to our Final Point ...
The Confederate Leadership is finding it increasingly difficult to convince our Troops to attend anything except Drills.
Nobody has a problem with Losing due to our own Mistakes or Miscalculations but it is hard to motivate a man to spend his few free hours a week Testing a game that makes no sense.
Again, this IS Early Alpha and we are testing mechanics but no testing can be done without Players.
We aren't asking for Favoritism or an Easy Ride ... you don't build muscle, courage or camaraderie by having Victories handed to you. However, it is not fun for anyone to feel they are wasting their hard earned Time on being a Pop-up Target with zero chance to win because the battle cry has been changed from Deo Vindice to Deus Ex Machina.
Thank you for your Time and Attention in reading this long Post.
We greatly appreciate your efforts and will always support and test the game and its Developers.
Our Desire is to help bring this game to Fruition and, although it may be unpopular to some, we can not AND SHOULD NOT be yet another Member of The WoR Forum Echo Chamber.
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