Some of you may be aware that a certain Cardhuntrian has been trolling about how terrible the maps where last rotation. This individual has insulted the devs and several of the map makers in chat. So, I want to know. What does everyone think about the Modune rotation? Did you love the maps, love one map, hate them all, hate a few? Please enlighten us with some honest feedback and critique. BUT, please remain respectful, avoiding comments about the makers character, intelligence, abilities etc. Just focus on the maps. Thanks!
Since that there is a thread about this, I will tell you my opinion: Summoning Race: Decent Maztec Melee: Bad Forgotten Temple: Bad Arena Crescent: Really Bad I consider bad or worse maps shouldn't be in the rotation. I don't mean to be discouraging but I really do think they should look at the map from all angles. (LeisureSuitLoli: and try to make a balanced map) Look at the amount of vision characters are getting. Does movement profit the player enough? Compare stabs vs 1 range attacks. Thinking about these can help you make better maps. Here is my main problem with each of the bad maps: Arena Crescent: Movement doesn't profit the player enough. There is no where to get cover from ranged attacks. Forgotten Temple: Both the above points but to a less degree. Mazec Melee: Stabs are way too much overpowered, and going around the back is useless(also buffs telekinesis too much) I hope this feedback helps you map makers with building maps.
I like maps that play differently from existing maps. Personally I'm not interested in players submitting tired reskins. Of the four maps above, I think Forgotten Temple and Summoning Race are the most different from existing maps. But they all were pretty new and I'm glad we tried them. People didn't really complain more about the Modune maps than they did about any other rotation. There probably should have been one more wizard-friendly map in the rotation but ultimately I'd call the month a huge success.
I'm not one that gets easily frustrated by a map, there will be maps that fit my play style and those that don't, and maps that my current build does well on and those it doesn't. But I'm perfectly fine with that. So in general I have two thoughts about Modune's rotation. First I liked that the maps felt creative and different than than anything I'd played on previously. Second the particular combination of maps resulted in me creating and playing a build I'd never run before - and I see that as a good thing. So in short, they all get my mark of approval and I hope to see them in rotation again at some point.
Maztec melee was a refreshing close-quarters game, and definitely made for some interesting tactical play. Favored warriors, but definitely cool. Summoning Race was an interesting one, the abundance of victory points definitely rewarded teams with superior mobility. A lot of games were decided on this one simply by who was more persistent about taking victory squares each round. Forgotten temple and Arena Crescent could be good maps with some edits, but I don't think either of the mapmakers anticipated the telekinesis shenanigans. Wall openings and/or a smaller size would have benefited both maps. Both were fine when telekinesis didn't come into play, but it definitely made for some OP plays when it did. There are definitely worse rotations out there, and personally I hope we do more of these types of rotations. I agree with @Flaxative though, an extra wizard-friendly map would've been good.
I loved the maps, but I definitely think that Arena Crescent and moreover Forgotten Temple had extreme TK issues. These maps would be really great with some small changes!
Not sure why everyone keeps bashing on TK. Once in a while we get a rotation which encourages strats other than Team Sprint/NS/AoA/Burrft/Maneuvers/Nimbus shenanigans, and people yell for the nerf? Clearly people like playing the same ol' strats on each rotation. Anyway, here's my 2c. Arena Crescent: very interesting map, liked it a lot. The huge walls make detours (be it caused by TKs or otherwise) largely impractical, so I'd suggest adding a couple small opening in-between the victory squares. Forgotten Temple: probably the one map I enjoyed the least. Very little difficult terrain + the victory squares being all together while still offering more than decent cover give melee teams too big an advantage I feel. Maztec Melee: similar opinion to Crescent. Map feels different and interesting, but the walls make for impossible detours. Whenever you look at a map and think "I really don't want my dudes to end up down there for any practical reason" it's likely that you need to add a few more paths. Just add a couple openings in the East and West walls and it'd be fixed. Contrary to what lots of people seem to think, I don't regard the fact it encourages the use of stabs, as those are hardly played in the other rotations. Summoning Race: Think this one's pretty good if a tad too small. The victory squares on the sides of the map seem to yell "here wizards, camp me!", but in reality they are basically death traps, as enemy warriors can all too easily block every escape route. Maybe add a tad more space over the outside perimeter to at least offer some chance of survival to those in need. So yeah, I think the lot is not that bad as a whole, but I think a small revision before they get back in the rotation would certainly make the pool way better.
Well, overall I agree with @Bandreus but here are my opinions and deviations: Maztec Melee: very fun map with a great aesthetic. I liked that stabs where encouraged and liked the close quarters. I found the outer ring we not terribly inconvenient but also did not see much play. My biggest dislike was that all the entrances had blocking terrain. Over all though this was my favorite map. Forgotten Temple: did not feel that the play style on this map was very unique. However I did like that the action could start round 1. I think it was well made and enjoyed playing on it. Summoning Race: This map was really cool in look and play style. There is just one thing. Stalemates. I hate a stalemate. Especially one that is all the way across the map. The size did mitigate this drawback some what. And, this was a truly unique/inspirational map. Playing on it felt very different from normal mp and thats probably why I struggled when playing on it. I imagine most felt that any chance of stalemate was worth playing on a unique map with lots of victory squares but I had multiple games that were robbed of their full potential in my opinion because of a stalemate. Arena Crescent: as much as I would love to toot my own horn here my map was the one I did the worst on. I am not sure why exactly, but I did not enjoy playing on it. The wall definitely could use a hole on both sides so that you can get back to the v squares. It was very open but I often felt trapped. And, it could stalemate with out forcing resolution. If I could redesign it I would make the inner circle more accessible from the outer and perhaps adjust the spawns to be slightly more dwarf friendly? I really never felt like TK was as OP as everyone thinks. Usually if I was TK'ed I had made a mistake and felt like it was good play. The biggest positive I felt the map held was that it encouraged multiple strategies. I felt like I consistently lost burft, mobile warriors and 3x vamps on this map. Also, if you packed enough mobility it really paid off. Overall I throughly enjoyed the rotation despite feeling like I struggled to get a grasp of the "meta" and win consistently. I liked that there where options that were competitive that did not involve burft or CoB. And, I felt like TK was finally a prominent spell. Other then Koi I have never really cared about being TK'ed. Other then the fact that is does not draw a card off Elven Maneuvers. I would love to see all the maps adjusted and ran again at some point. And, hope for more player made board rotations in the future!
I felt like both Maztec Melee and Summoning Race were prone to stalemates because there are good options for turtling. Maztec Melee in particular would often end up with 2v2, one player holding the middle spots (usually with dwarves) and the other holding the two outer spots. Forgotten Temple was the most interesting, because it was somewhat difficult to circle around despite the close proximity of VPs. The outer ring was problematic, but so long as you remained inside it was good for a quick brawl. Arena Crescent was ok, didn't have any major problems or highlights.
