Thoughts and Review So Far

GENERAL UPDATE:

I'm not sure how much time I've put in so far, but I've been playing every day since around the start of the month, at least enough to get all the daily rewards. I did make it to level 12 and the top 100. At some point, I will stop playing (though I'll come back for the full launch and I'm glad my progress isn't being wiped) but currently I'm still playing every day, but a little less and there are some new games coming out that I'll probably be putting time into soon. 

REVIEW UPDATE:

I've continued to enjoy this game. I think it is great. The depth and strategy is, and has continued to be, really good. While I'm nervous about what introducing real money into it will do, I continue to recommend this game and think it is awesome. I haven't enjoyed playing a real time strategy game this much since SC2. 

CONTINUED COMPLAINTS:

Specific Unit Locks. This continues from my first review, so I won't repeat it. But at higher level's I'm noticing a new problem. Even though I can now unlock units all but two units, they are so low level when they are unlocked, that they are basically unplayable until I get more cards for them. Again not a big problem, but it is sad to unlock a unit and then still not be able to use it (because my snipers are level 3 and they're facing infantry at level 6-8). Being able to spend money could fix this though I suppose. 

I do like the level locks in general. I think it is interesting, increases accessibility (even for experienced RTS players) and is something that forces an extra level of strategy.

Cards and Leveling Units: The meta level this provides is interesting. I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to level units and looking forward to being able to do so. However, it is still almost always unfun in gameplay. Especially at higher levels where a lot of people run very similar strategies, mirror match ups are becoming more frequent and, I'm not joking about this, in the last 100 games or so all but one or two players have had an average unit level higher than mine, often by one or two levels. I don't mind this as much as some people, and I still win approximately 50% of my games (give or take) so the system is working. But it's depressing sometimes, and makes me wonder what will happen when you can spend actual money?

BIGGEST NEW COMPLAINT

Losing sucks a lot in this game. This has only become more obvious as I've hit my skill cap and really started to lose 50% of my games. Of course losing in most games is less fun than winning, but in Rivals it is really, really bad. Here's why: The cost of losing in Rivals is punishing because each loss wipes out a win's worth of meta progress and meta progress is actually necessary to keep winning. 

Take Star Craft 2 as a counter example. In SC2 you have a match making rank which is hidden but represented by a visible rank which approximates the MMR Rank. If you're at you're level you win about 50% of games. Win more than 50% you'll move up, lose more than 50% you'll move down (generally speaking). This is roughly the same system that Rivals uses, but it works in SC2 and does not work in Rivals because in SC2 you MMR doesn't matter for anything except match making. In SC2 the field is completely fair and level. You aren't limited by units availability or unit level. Everyone gets the same units (side dependent) at the same level. This is not true in Rivals. In Rivals, units are locked behind levels, which you only reach by winning, and units can themselves be leveled up which are locked behind winning (or money). So losing in Rivals means more than just your rank. It means minus progression towards new units (you have to win a match just to be in the same place as you were before you lost) and no progression towards money and cards. 

Additionally, Rivals has nothing but match making (or alliance skirmishes which require an active alliance and don't contribute towards overall progress). SC2 has a single player campaign, it has ranked and unranked match making, it has multiplayer player team matches and free for alls, it has the ability to team up against a computer player. So not only does losing a ranked game in SC2 mean nothing more than your rank goes down, if you don't like that you have plenty of other options. None of which exist in Rivals. You play ranked and every time you click that button you risk losing progress towards that unit unlock. This compounds the feeling of unfairness when you get matched against people with higher ranked units or units you don't even have access to.

POSSIBLE SUGGESTIONS

• Lower all unit locks to below ten and make medal progression significantly greater for winning than for losing until level 10. Essentially guaranteeing that every player can reach and unlock every unit with enough play. And that assuming a 50% win rate progress is steady and visible. 
• Some meta progression benefit for losing. For example, you get 50% of the daily coin limit you get for winning when you lose (just like fuel).
• Some meta progression for being matched against players with higher level units (both unlocked and leveled). For example cards or gems. Personally, I would do this regardless of whether you win or lose. Like I said, and I do check almost every match, I don't think I've had a higher average of ranked units than an opponent in 100+ games with one or two exceptions. If win or lose I knew that I would get cards or gems for this unfair matchup, I would perhaps even look forward to it. 

FEATURES I WOULD LIKE:

• Unit Card Drafting Match Type. As an alternative to the basic blind army set up, which i do like, I think there should be a different match type where you see the map in advance and take turns drafting units cards - and can see what your opponent is drafting. This would add a really interesting layer of strategy and just in general deepen the game. I wouldn't mind if it is locked behind a certain level. 
• A seventh unit. Really, sometimes it seems that six is just one too few. Maybe if there were seven though I would feel the same way about that. But with six it's just really hard to field a full set of unit counters and sometimes it seems that you just have to accept that certain builds will beat yours. (Maybe card drafting would help with this).