| FaRmLaNd said: I don't actually want to play the beta. I'd rather play it when Blizzard releases the retail version and many of the balancing issues are fixed etc. I've waited this long, I might aswell play the best version and not spoil it with the beta. |
If you get the chance, go for it. It's fantastic. look at the original SC - I remember small balancing tweaks being done years and years after release. Granted, they are being done a lot more often right now, but it's SC - and you wouldn't regret it. Actually, it's made me appreciate more the work that goes into balancing a game like this... Having to take into account micro skills in the balancing process.
For instance, I've only been in the beta a week, with just under 25 games under my belt. I love toss void rays(protoss air unit, especially good at killing big units and buildings), and build them pretty much every game. However, I didn't realize just how deadly they could be with good micro... I was in a game yesterday, and I had mostly zealots, and a couple stalkers (new equivalent of dragoons), a couple void rays of my own, and a couple cannons near my nexus. 4 void rays completely ruined my day. 4 void rays can kill a cannon or stalker almost instantly, my 2 void rays were insufficient to respond, and I was suddenly helpless, they could kill anything I produced before it could retreat to the safety of my last 2 cannons.
This puts a lot of pressure on Blizzard, IMO. The one thing you could be fairly sure of, was that an early game arial attack would be fairly 1) vulnerable or 2) slow at killing key structures. 2-4 scouts or wraiths would take forever to kill any building, and a small number of them would never try to engage a few dragoons - mutas could come in bigger numbers much earlier, but they were also really fragile. Blizzard is now balancing a game where <everything has changed> from the original. plenty of similarities, but there are fundamental shifts in strategy and race tactics.
But one thing I'd like to stress - the multiplayer, from a coding/visual viewpoint, is 100% done. a few balancing changes don't ruin the experience int he slightest. if you can get a key - you get that key!
