I've been banned from reddit and the discord for criticizing the game. I doubt I'm the only one. These type of practices only ensures they're in an echo chamber and no real change is coming.

[The Detective]

This is probably the last place you can freely trash the game. BTW the post that got me banned from reddit was just a poll asking if FG should do steady incremental improvements in the same general direction, make huge pivotal changes, or if they couldn't make a recovery. Most people voted they couldn't make a recovery.

[AgustinAbadi]

artist really don't appreciate that negative feedback is just as useful as positive feedback.
and they are the only ones that lose in that regard.
honestly, who cares if the game is good or not at this point?
like really, they don't read steam, they censure bad feedback in their eco chambers, and in the end, they are the only ones to blame for the poor spot that stormgate is rigth now.
we have 10 years of experience in early acces games, and every good game was built in good comunication, and every bad game was built in ecochambers.
so you know what? who cares if stormgate is good or bad... when nobody is playing it you will have your own answer...

[Spartan dropkick]

They removed my post for literally just putting the Tempest Rising release date without any further comment or reason.
Like... what.
I don't know with this company anymore. This is censorship. And I didn't criticise them or remotely say anything hateful or inappropriate. Is it off topic? Slightly. But tempest rising has been mentioned frequently as one of the other games to play from modern rts.
I think Blizzard was more respectful to the fans than this. Diablo Immortal got an eventual pc port too.
Their echo chamber is like 100 people now. Good luck with that.

[Maraxus]

But they go to other game spaces(including TR discord) to aggressively promote and defend SG. To the point where they annoy multiple users and they get into arguments. So it's kinda funny that a TR video gets deleted here. :p
Speaking of which, I am willing to bet TR will be the biggest RTS released in god knows how long, simply because it focuses on what most RTS fans want, and I say this as someone who never got into C&C nearly as much as Blizzard games.

[RBTV_Red]

Stormgate’s art direction can change as often as the developers desire, but without significant gameplay innovations, the game risks feeling stagnant. To truly captivate players, it needs deeper mechanics and features that enhance replayability and excitement.

Procedurally Generated Maps
Introducing procedurally generated maps would revolutionize the scouting, making it more dynamic and engaging. This approach would also vastly increase replayability, as each match would present unique challenges and opportunities. Players enjoy adapting to fresh conditions rather than memorizing static, handcrafted maps. Age of Empires 2 serves as a perfect example: its map diversity, ranging from Arabia to Nomad or Gold Rush to Black Forest or Team Islands to Arena, requires entirely different strategies and skills, keeping gameplay fresh and exciting across thousand of matches.

Evolving Economy and Resources
A more diverse economy system could further enrich gameplay. Imagine resources with distinct mechanics: one tied to fixed points on the map, like gold or minerals, and another that players can harvest or generate anywhere, turning the entire map into potential strategic hotspots. Such a design would shift the focus dynamically during matches, ensuring that battles and critical moments happen in varying locations. Art-wise, resources should also stand out visually, adding aesthetic appeal and aiding gameplay readability. This diversity would make every match unique and create opportunities for more complex strategies, enhancing both player experience and spectator enjoyment.

Buildable Walls for Strategy and Comebacks
Walls are essential for creating strategic depth in RTS games. Cheap, high-HP walls allow for defensive maneuvers, buying time, and enabling dramatic comebacks—especially in team games, where protecting allies becomes vital. Walls also influence the flow of battles, shaping chokepoints and forcing creative unit compositions. The destruction of walls can spark tense, exciting moments across the map, keeping viewers and players alike engaged. Without such a tool, gameplay risks losing variability and tactical nuance.

Aiming Beyond SC2: Learning from Age of Empires 2
Stormgate aspires to be a next-generation RTS, but to surpass Starcraft 2’s appeal, it must broaden its scope. While SC2 excels in fast-paced 1v1 matches, Age of Empires 2 boasts the highest active player base in RTS history due to its unmatched gameplay diversity and robust multiplayer modes (1v1 through 4v4). Even if one personally prefers SC2, the numbers don’t lie: Age of Empires 2 has found a formula that resonates with a wider audience. Stormgate can benefit from adopting and improving upon these mechanics without losing its identity. Procedural maps, diverse resources, and walls would not make Stormgate a clone of Age of Empires, but rather a richer game that combines the best elements of various RTS titles.

Embracing Innovation
The success of RTS games lies in openness to innovation. Just as Stormgate borrows successful elements like early scouting from Age of Empires and player abilities from C&C Generals and AOM, it should embrace new features that foster replayability, strategic variety, and accessibility. Procedural maps, walls, and an evolved economy are not constraints—they are opportunities to craft an RTS that stands out in the modern gaming landscape. By combining the best ideas from across the genre, Stormgate can deliver the diversity, excitement, and depth that players crave.

To limit its scope would be to limit its audience, ensuring it remains a niche game rather than a genre-defining masterpiece. A broader, more adaptable vision will unlock Stormgate’s true potential.
Listen to the nay-sayers who like Starcraft 2 will not improve Stormgate much. They want a game like Starcraft 2 and how successful this was and is we can see. It has less active players than SC 1 and Age of Empires 2. So they have to think about if they want to build a game for a niche or they really want to build the best next gen rts possible.

There are still plenty of things that differentiate Stormgate from Age of Empires. Not only the futuristic setting but also the look and feel of the units, the better technical execution, and the improved unit responsiveness make the game still feel like a Blizzard RTS. By the way, Age of Empires, like Warcraft 3, features units with higher HP, which is one reason Age of Empires has a larger player base as Starcraft 2 and why Starcraft 2 is beyond its potential. Even the developers of Stormgate knows that and that is the reason why they increase the life of all units and structures compared to Starcraft 2. But here the good parts of Age of Empires doesn't stop. There is more like the benefits of procedural generated maps, walls and a bit more different economy. There are also good things for the economy in other games like C&C. The concept of power plants that work a bit like Pylons have a big potential to create interesting mechanics and decisions during one match. Don't just think about the mechanics in other games one by one, but also be creative. Change something in a new direction to the things you take from other games.

To be successful, a game needs casual players, not just professional ones. The pros will come on their own if the game is successful with the broader audience—if players not only enjoy playing it themselves but also watching others play. Seeing the same revealed maps repeatedly, already knowing how they will be played (as is typical in Blizzard RTS games), becomes very boring for viewers. It lacks the variety and surprises that make for exciting spectator experiences.

Everyone opposed to these changes should carefully consider their effects: fewer players, longer queue times in ranked matches, fewer tournaments, less support, and ultimately a less developed game. Is that what you really want? Then continue to be endlessly enthusiastic about Blizzard RTS games and ignore everything other RTS games have to offer.

You can dislike Age of Empires, but you can't dislike walls or procedural-generated maps, because they offer to much for the exciting gameplay and the replayability and from which game these ideas come doesn't matter. There are lot of other games with procedural generated maps and buildable walls.

[Spartan dropkick]

Originally posted by Maraxus:

But they go to other game spaces(including TR discord) to aggressively promote and defend SG. To the point where they annoy multiple users and they get into arguments. So it's kinda funny that a TR video gets deleted here. :p
Speaking of which, I am willing to bet TR will be the biggest RTS released in god knows how long, simply because it focuses on what most RTS fans want, and I say this as someone who never got into C&C nearly as much as Blizzard games.

By they, you mean frost giant or the SG discord users? It's ridiculous.
Yep. TR is gonna do better as a love letter to old rts C&C fans because EA is doing squat with the franchise now but terrible mobile games and SG feels like a chinese ripoff more than a service. I'm into C&C but haven't played most of them, mainly generals and 3. Imo, if you play the first C&C, its militaristic theme with rock music influenced SC1 and its fmvs a lot. It might not turn into a huge esport but the world building and feel is pretty nostalgic.

[Dalv]

Originally posted by RBTV_Red:

Procedurally Generated Maps
Introducing procedurally generated maps would revolutionize the scouting, making it more dynamic and engaging. This approach would also vastly increase replayability, as each match would present unique challenges and opportunities. Players enjoy adapting to fresh conditions rather than memorizing static, handcrafted maps. Age of Empires 2 serves as a perfect example: its map diversity, ranging from Arabia to Nomad or Gold Rush to Black Forest or Team Islands to Arena, requires entirely different strategies and skills, keeping gameplay fresh and exciting across thousand of matches.

They will never ever learn. Every new RTS with high hopes that comes out totally ignores AoE2. They will never understand how a classic RTS can have extremely exciting 4v4s as well, they will never learn that procedural generated maps are the way to go to avoid turning the game into a repetitive borefest in each match, they will never understand the importance of a starting scouting unit, they will never understand the importance of resources variety, because they keep ignoring the only RTS still alive and thriving. I tried telling them years ago to have a look at AoE2 and see how they can make an RTS work so well in 4v4s, but they just ignored. In their minds other RTS dont exist and it's just Starcraft and 1v1s. And whats that PvE 3v3 they are on about wasting their time? That's yet another mistake. That gets boring fast. It was never about PvE, people want PvP team games.
Stormgate never stood a chance.

[RBTV_Red]

Originally posted by Dalv:

They will never ever learn. Every new RTS with high hopes that comes out totally ignores AoE2. ...

Exactly. That is why they will fail.

They will recognize it in about 10 till 15 years. Like the HP thing in SC2. I have told them short after the release of Wings of Liberty that the high damage and low HP is the main problem of SC2. They ignored until they improved it in Stormgate. I think for every smart change we have to wait 10 till 15 years.

I hope Microsoft is working on a Age of Fantasy so it combines the Age 2 playstyle with medieval races like in WC3. So we have elves, dwarfs, orcs, undeads, humans etc.
And maybe some units with active abilities.

Most developers don't understand that the best mixture is key for a succesful rts. Everyone is just staying in their bubble.

[Maraxus]

Originally posted by Spartan dropkick:

Originally posted by Maraxus:

But they go to other game spaces(including TR discord) to aggressively promote and defend SG. To the point where they annoy multiple users and they get into arguments. So it's kinda funny that a TR video gets deleted here. :p
Speaking of which, I am willing to bet TR will be the biggest RTS released in god knows how long, simply because it focuses on what most RTS fans want, and I say this as someone who never got into C&C nearly as much as Blizzard games.

By they, you mean frost giant or the SG discord users? It's ridiculous.
Yep. TR is gonna do better as a love letter to old rts C&C fans because EA is doing squat with the franchise now but terrible mobile games and SG feels like a chinese ripoff more than a service. I'm into C&C but haven't played most of them, mainly generals and 3. Imo, if you play the first C&C, its militaristic theme with rock music influenced SC1 and its fmvs a lot. It might not turn into a huge esport but the world building and feel is pretty nostalgic.

Fans, and I have seen a Reddit mod do that. These places(I have seen this happen in the Zero Space Discord multiple times as well) are usually very chill and only get heated up when the SG folks show up and needlessly start aggressively debating everyone lol. Just another case of saying one thing and doing another("Rising tides lifts all boats" "We welcome all new rts", etc. But you mention TR and "bam get rekt son lol").

I think TR has much wider appeal not just to CnC fans. It really feels like a time you could buy an RTS and get a really cool experience. I for one look forward to it more than any other RTS. >.<

[Spartan dropkick]

Originally posted by Maraxus:

Originally posted by Spartan dropkick:

By they, you mean frost giant or the SG discord users? It's ridiculous.
Yep. TR is gonna do better as a love letter to old rts C&C fans because EA is doing squat with the franchise now but terrible mobile games and SG feels like a chinese ripoff more than a service. I'm into C&C but haven't played most of them, mainly generals and 3. Imo, if you play the first C&C, its militaristic theme with rock music influenced SC1 and its fmvs a lot. It might not turn into a huge esport but the world building and feel is pretty nostalgic.

Fans, and I have seen a Reddit mod do that. These places(I have seen this happen in the Zero Space Discord multiple times as well) are usually very chill and only get heated up when the SG folks show up and needlessly start aggressively debating everyone lol. Just another case of saying one thing and doing another("Rising tides lifts all boats" "We welcome all new rts", etc. But you mention TR and "bam get rekt son lol").

I think TR has much wider appeal not just to CnC fans. It really feels like a time you could buy an RTS and get a really cool experience. I for one look forward to it more than any other RTS. >.<

Ikr. "We like to see all RTS games succeed." Then removes posts bringing attention to other ones.
But there's a bazillion posts about Starcraft 2 and they don't ban them? Wtf.
Debating with everyone. Reminds me of toxic people I know irl.
Fingers crossed tempest is fun and delivers a solid campaign.

[Spartan dropkick]

Originally posted by RBTV_Red:

Originally posted by Dalv:

They will never ever learn. Every new RTS with high hopes that comes out totally ignores AoE2. ...

Exactly. That is why they will fail.

They will recognize it in about 10 till 15 years. Like the HP thing in SC2. I have told them short after the release of Wings of Liberty that the high damage and low HP is the main problem of SC2. They ignored until they improved it in Stormgate. I think for every smart change we have to wait 10 till 15 years.

I hope Microsoft is working on a Age of Fantasy so it combines the Age 2 playstyle with medieval races like in WC3. So we have elves, dwarfs, orcs, undeads, humans etc.
And maybe some units with active abilities.

Most developers don't understand that the best mixture is key for a succesful rts. Everyone is just staying in their bubble.

You seem obsessed with age of empires and I still doubt stormgate is adding procedural maps. But I admit Age of Fantasy has been a wish of mine.

[Maraxus]

Yeah bro, way to build "good will" lol.

But yeah TR's got delayed for more than a year and the third campaign got cut, some people complained but I see it as a sign that they are polishing everything as much as they can before release. They can release the third campaign as an expansion later.