[2019] Triterion is terrible at making balance and game design decisions. This is killing the game and needs to be properly acknowledged.

Let me preface this post by saying that I do love the game. Not only do i love the game for what it is, I love the story and development behind it. I also like the devs and hold no genuine ill will towards them, this is simply a critique from a consumer. I am posting this because I care, and it hurts to see the game suffer. Certain elements of a game are allowed to be bad, every game has them. However this thread is more to highlight how some of the worst elements of Mordhau have been ignored despite desperately needing to be addressed, or have been made worse by the decisions made by the devs.

Triterion can't balance the game. They are either incapable or chose not to put the effort in. This is seriously hurting the long term health of the game and is the core reason we saw the playerbase drop so hard. The first thing that needs to happen is that this problem needs to be recognized. Frontline players either stay silent or don't know how to word their voice to the devs about their gripes with the game. Duel and hardcore players ignore the problems entirely. Both of these groups owe it to the game to recognize the damage the balance and design issues are causing, and speak up about them. This game will not last more than a year unless these issues are talked about. (And no, <1000 playerbase is not "lasting", that's dead)

So what exactly do I mean and how does it hurt the game. Well, to list one core issue, it's no secret Mordhau has brutally unbalanced maps. This however goes a lot further than one might initially think. The devs are talented and passionate designers when it comes to visuals and aesthetics, but terrible at actually translating that into gameplay. To go into detail, the newest map, Feitoria, is the strongest example of this. The map is beautiful and intricate, and the gameplay concept is perfect. However, absolutely zero of it's potential is realized because of the design decisions by the devs. It was meant to highlight the ability to siege right and true fort, prioritizing wall defence, and not once has it actually felt that way. In frontline, there are far too many ways to enter the fort that you are more often simply on the Keep point trying to defend rather than defend the walls. On invasion, there is only one stage of the game where blue can take advantage of the walls, and they are forced into a ground melee instead. On the second stage it's now entirely a bunker simulator. In my last 5 invasion games I have played red every time, and every time all 3 nobles are hunkered down in the far tower. This was the EXACT problem we saw with Grad, and nothing was done to prevent it. This stage in particular kills all momentum the map has. Nobody actually ever sees majority of the map, even though it is highly detailed. There's no skirmishes on the many different fortified locations of the map, just rushing the same tower over and over again. It's so bad that the last two invasion games I've played on that stage, there has been a player holding a shield on the plank you can jump to from the Keep, preventing any sort of flank. It's so poorly thought out, one of the routes red can take into the tower is out of bounds. The final stage is fine, if not a little too easy for the attackers. The issue is the solid wall of anti-fun that is the second stage. Every single problem I've said has already been a problem in some other area of the game, and zero measures where taken to prevent them from happening again.

That was long winded, but these details are important, because these ( and many other) details are what's pushing players away. Mordhau by it's very nature has a very tough barrier of entry for it's higher level of play. If you only play casually and have no interest in keeping up with the constantly developing meta in duels, you will not have fun playing them. This matters because these kinds of players are the majority of any game, and they are what keeps the game alive. If they have no means to enjoy duels, they will automatically drift to frontline. If all frontline can offer is blue side stacking to be able to play nobles and poorly thought out gameplay sequences, they will drop the game. That is not a matter of opinion, that is exactly what happened. casuals not being able to find a home in the game will kill it, and the reason this needs to be properly acknowledged is because this is Triterion's fault.

Again, I like and respect the devs, but that does not mean I can pretend they haven't damaged their game. This does not make them bad people or devs, it makes them inexperienced. This would be fine, but not if they keep making the same mistakes and these mistakes are not addressed by either them or the community. They have repeatedly and consistently turned a blind eye to the game's biggest issues. Perhaps (and likely) this is because of the difficulties they face being a small team who's members work independently across the globe. Struggling with these issues is not something they should be criticized for. However the onus is and always has been on them to at least try to work up solutions to their development restrictions and the game's core issues. I do not think they have done this. The game's issues that caused the playerbase to drop so drastically are worse than ever before. New maps are being released more unbalanced than ever, taking far too long reach even a partially acceptable state. The game STILL has no sort of autobalance, which I do have to say feels personally insulting at this point. The casual appeal of the game is surface level only, once you get into the meat of it there is nothing to enjoy unless you are willing to spend a lot of time investing into the meta.

I love Mordhau, and the thing is; if the devs aren't interested in taking the initiative to tackle the game's biggest issues, that's their decision. I would respect that decision and simply enjoy the game for what it is until I no longer can. However I would love to see this game last and thrive, and if the players also want that then there needs to be open discourse with the devs about the game's problems, and active work to solve them. I'm not asking for insults or hostility towards the devs, I am simply saying that we must remind them that the game is hurting, and that they must address that if they want to see the game survive.