thisfieldisrequired

Good shit dude. I don't really like the whole "sov early game, allies late game" balancing act and I think it's questionable design in an otherwise amazing and nuanced RTS. Disparities between factions is okay, it's what makes them unique, but the differences are too much in RA2. Your changes sound like they're healthy and I hope the devs of the CNCnet community balance patch are thinking along the same lines. The CNCnet guys are doing a great job with the community patch and I hope they continue to iterate, because sadly without them there's no real chance of meaningful balance changes having impact across the general RA2 community. Bringing up micro difficulty is a great point. Again, it's totally okay that one faction is more difficult to micro than the other, but the disparity should not be as stark as it is now. Right now, Allies have to juggle WAY more micro...and still end up losing (usually) to the sheer simplicity and raw power of spamming of an entry level basic tank that is so strong it crowds out higher tech level units. Because of this last point, I believe Rhinos themselves deserve to be hit with a mild nerf and higher tech level options should be buffed so Sov players actually consider mixing in Apocs or something.

I think the idea of a community rebalance is amazing, but I think a lot of the changes are moot because the patches have not put a dent in the core balance issues present in the game. Soviet is still way too strong. Even after the rebalance, the most efficient strategy by far is still rush with rhinos + IC. Siege Choppers are also very good, but I think that's okay; Sov deserves a strong lategame siege tool too and Apocs are still generally not worth it. The Sov early game is still busted due to the raw power of Rhinos and the Sov economy. Adjusting the Tesla Tank won't matter if Sov never needs to build anything else to compete in the late game. Nobody's gonna build Tank Destroyers. Mirages, Prisms, and BFs are great, but when Sov players play correctly these units are not as good to the equivalent investment they put into Rhinos, they require way more micro, are more expensive, and don't come out fast enough. And what's the point of a balance patch if it doesn't meaningfully address the core balance issue that has always persisted in RA2? I know this might not be a popular viewpoint since people have been playing under the established order of Rhino spam meta for like 20 years now...but what if we tried making Rhinos slightly worse? Or make Grizzlys not shit?

What exactly is so bad about the map? It looks fine to me. It appears to look relatively clean and balanced due to its symmetry. Not that asymmetrical maps are bad, but this one seems totally fine? Who cares if the cliffs are "straight lines", there's nothing wrong with competitive-oriented layouts and aesthetic...you want to play other maps then play other maps or feel free to delete this one if you hate it so much, nobody's forcing you to play it. To your other point, I actually kind of agree. The map pool needs to be organized better. A dedicated section of "CNCnet Community Favorites" or some shit like that, IDK. Easy for me to suggest I know, this kind of a thing will require adjustments to the UI. But I think it is a good solution.