Pre-Alpha #2 Impressions so far

Rundar

Heyo!

First off I want to say wow. I was excited in the first test, this test though has so far blown that out of the water. You added air!!!! Wahoo!!!! This element changed up a lot of the game, and admittedly, added more ways to cheese hehe. So, for the feedback specifics.

1. First, I like the fact that you can build defense towers with your workers, it helps add a turtling element to the game that was missing before. However, I didn't even know you could build them till I was in my second or third game, then saw them popping up and was left clueless, and even after that each merc type has specific towers to build. Adding info about them into the mercpedia would help tremendously
2. The teleporter and transport are super super cheesy. I could just turtle up, build a lot of the Juggernauts, then just move them to the enemy side close to their core buildings, then destroy EVERYTHING. I could even do that with a ton of engineers. I don't really see much of a way to counter this. Also I couldn't find a way to see what units were in the transport.
3. The endgame. I like the fact that technically, you have more options to win the game. However, it seems right now besides the core units, everyone rushes for just the Juggernaut or the Leviathan. The Juggernauts are so tanky that rushing with even just 3 of them can destroy a lot. The Leviathans have the ability to fly so they are super mobile, also tanky. I enjoy the earlier gameplay, but the endgame is not as satisfying for me, the options seem few besides those two (at least so far, though it is more so than the first public test, so I think you have improved on it!).
4. The gem spawning is super convenient in coordination with the titans. When the gems are not spawning, I am attacking the gem titans, scrap resource titans, or gem resource titans. Staying busy is possible now, and equals a greater reward, I like it.
5. Watching replays. The system seems a tad wonky. First the loading time seems to be long. Second, I couldn't find certain things, like when I click on a character; who they are, what they are researching, what they are producing, etc. The boxes that normally are behind the info that normally displays that stuff remain, obscuring a lot of the gameplay. I also couldn't figure out how to jump to specific points in the replay, instead I was left with the speed-up function. My suggestions for this are to add more tools that display more player specific info, eliminate some of those boxes (or use them), and perhaps add an explanation/tutorial on how to use your replay system. Adding an explanation would be really helpful at least for the pre-alpha, it would allow for more theory-crafting and opportunities for feedback besides individual experiences.
6. The Wisp. I love Celesta, her siege playstyle is soooooo nice. However, I feel like the Wisp should have an ability like everyone else does, even if it has to be passive. The Purifier acts like a siege tank, and the Precognitor acts like a buffer/area denial type unit. The Wisp doesn't add much to this playstyle other than adding bodies. If the siege mindset is what you guys are going for, an ability I had in mind would be for the Wisps to be able to place destroyable barriers that lasted a short while. It could help with area denial, and add a wall to help defend where the majority of your army is. With Celesta you build a lot of Wisps, and you have a bunch by the time the first Purifier comes out. Giving them something that makes them tanky would be a bad idea since there are a lot, same with the damage factor. I don't think any unit in the game can place a passive, destroyable, blocking object yet. You could upgrade it by giving the barriers more health, or make them slightly larger. Just an idea, there are other cool abilities that would help a siege playstyle I'm sure.
7. Finally, add more player specific flare! I think I said this last test, but I'm just gonna emphasize how cool I think it would be to have buildings that can be recognizable as a certain players. Ex: Alder has a big plant as the base you build, while Ryme has an ice fortress. It would help add to the already awesome visuals of the game, and also provide more intel for denying resources. If you know who the damage dealer is, denying their resources would help stunt their damaging ability, which would result in them needing defending, resulting in more team battles etc etc. The possibilities!

Besides all that I don't have much to say right now, I plan to provide more feedback after I play the PvP. The game is very entertaining guys, keep it up!

Yours truly,

Rundar

Rundar

Also in addition, it would be nice to be able to choose with your teammates who spawns where, cause sometimes that can be influential in terms of someone doing the tanking/being the center of attention. It would help add a little strategic depth that I am sure is needed. You can technically do that when you party up, but sometimes that super tedious. Doing it on a game by game basis is easier in my opinion.

Day9

YAAAAAAAY! We're VERY curious to hear how TW1 players have been enjoying TW2!

1. I definitely should have been more clear about towers in the tutorial. Now that I think of it, I may have completely forgotten to mention them and they're preeetttyyy important
2. They are super cheesy in bot games, but can be a bit trickier in PvP play. We've had players load 5 juggernauts into a transport and lose the whole thing. Much pain and laughter ensued.
3. We have some post TW2 plans to address endgame. We feel that the current core issue is connected to the awkwardness of respawn + an army -- You can only end a game with a "killer death push." There's not really a clear "starvation" or "harassment" or "pickoff" style of play to achieve victory. Since you'll be losing a huge chunk of your army in most fights, we've packed finishing power into a few high end mercs.
4. YEAH! TIME MANAGEMENT W/ ARMY WOO!
5. It's SO weird right now. Replays are TRUE replays. That is, you see the entire replay of the deliberating/squad picking and game loading. We're trying to implement a "skip the deck picker screen" for Sunday. It might not be there, but it's a piece we'll have for final product.
6. We're fairly comfortable w/ the wisp right now. We're hoping to add more complexity outside of the T1 (through mercs/charms/heroes) to make the T1s a bit more of a traditional "reposition/kite" unit. If T1s stay boring even after our changes there, it's fairly easy to revisit adding an ability to these. For T1s, we tend to steer clear from targettable abilities and prefer "one-tap" abilities like Raptor's Eagle Eye.
7. Already on the roadmap :D

THANKS FOR HELPING AGAIN :D :D :D :D :D

Rundar

NO PROBLEM!!!! IT'S SUPER FUN!!! :D