Talking Balance with David Kim
Based on our internal data, tournament results, as well as the feedback we receive from pro-players and the community at large we believe that the balance between the StarCraft II races is in a good place. Still, we’re going to keep a close eye on things to make sure that gameplay remains fun and balanced even as we prepare for the exciting changes that will come with Heart of the Swarm and beyond. In today’s report, we’re going to look at some recent shifts that might merit further investigation, where we are in terms of balance over all, as well as how things look in the pro scene.
We’re currently looking into a couple of potential issues. Zerg has recently shifted from making a very strong showing in tournaments, to having slightly weaker representation only at the highest levels of professional play. We’re also continuing to see a slight advantage for terran in terms of opening flexibility and scouting denial. In response, we’re considering offering zerg better scouting options in the early game.
I think that it’s worth pointing out that these are actually relatively minor concerns in the face of the statistics we’re seeing. Assuming nothing drastic changes in the meta game that would shift the win rates further out of balance, there’s a strong likelihood that it won’t be necessary to make balance changes until Heart of the Swarm arrives. Still, if a significant issue arises that is beyond the reach of metagame changes to resolve, then we will react as quickly as possible to make the adjustments necessary to restore balance.
Adjusted ratings
Here’s the latest global adjusted ratings data:
| All leagues | North America | Europe | Korea |
|---|---|---|---|
| PvT | 54% | 56% | 50% |
| PvZ | 54% | 53% | 50% |
| TvZ | 50% | 50% | 52% |
Please note that the way we do this calculation factors out player skill. These numbers are also constantly in flux. For the purposes of interpreting this chart, a 45-55% win rate suggests that there is no sign of imbalance. Also, because these numbers change from week to week and day to day, it’s not uncommon for a race that shows a 54% win rate this week to show 46% next week. Overall, we have been seeing win rates in the 45-55% range in every matchup and in every region for a while now.
We do have a new method of calculating player skill more precisely. The different races tend to be slightly stronger or weaker at different league levels , and since most players only ever play one race all the time, racial strength was an influence on their hidden rating. For example, if terran is slightly weaker at the gold level, the player would have a lower hidden rating than if he were to play a different race at that level. When using this method of calculation, we are seeing good balance at the highest levels of the ladder - race balance is good enough at those levels to have a negligible influence on player performance.
We’re checking all of these numbers on a frequent basis in order to react quickly if something big happens.
Tournaments
My earlier comments about zerg notwithstanding, overall, we are seeing good win ratios and stats from tournaments.
One interesting thing to note is that there still is a skill gap even at the pro level. This is what we’re seeing:
- Protoss has good representation in terms of the number of protoss tournament qualifiers at the general professional level, but has the lowest representation at the very highest professional level.
- Zerg has the lowest representation at the general pro level, but has been showing the best standings at the highest tournament levels until very recently.
- Terran has good representation over all.
We are concerned that protoss players seem to be having a slower start compared to zerg or terran players. For quite some time after StarCraft II was released, especially at the highest levels of professional play, protoss players were primarily only focusing on 1 base or 2 base warp gate all-ins. It was only after we toned down these builds that protoss players really started exploring their various tech options in the same way that the other two races have been doing for a long time.
Terran representation remains strong even after recent nerfs. We think that the adjustments we’ve made over time have kept pace well with meta game shifts, and that overall terran is in a good place.
Again, we’re closely watching every major tournament, and working with various tournament organizations around the world in order to keep close tabs on both specific games and overall tournament data.
Maps
In our current map pool, we’re seeing that not every map we’ve added to our pool is balanced for every matchup. For example, our data shows a 70% PvT win ratio on Cloud Kingdom, a 62% win ratio in PvZ on Korhal Compound, and a 37% win ratio on Metalopolis for TvZ. It’s worth noting that these represent the heaviest imbalances in the maps on our ladder, but that this also isn’t necessarily a problem.
Our current stance on this is we believe slight imbalances in maps actually make the game more interesting, as long as the imbalances aren’t too great. Various new meta games and strategies develop depending on the map, and it’s interesting to see the game play out in different ways as players exploit their own strengths and weaknesses from map to map. We believe a lot of the fun comes from this as well. On top of that, we have our veto system on the ladder and tournaments have their own player map veto systems that also deal with this issue.
That said, if a map pushes the limit too much and a matchup becomes significantly imbalanced, we will definitely take steps to adjust the map pool accordingly.
Community Feedback
The pro player and caster feedback regarding which races are overpowered or underpowered is very evenly distributed among the three races, which is a very good sign.
The feedback from you all in the player community has been very interesting too. A lot of the feedback we used to see on the forums was often related to perceived imbalances in units or strategies at the pro level. These days, it seems that we’re seeing more conversations that focus on what’s happening at the league level directly - which we think could be related to a more visibly balanced pro scene. That’s good for us because, while we like seeing very solid results at the pro level, we are also always working towards a balanced experience across all skill levels. We will continue to pay close attention to both high level players and discussions within the community in order to continue pursuing this goal.
At this moment, it feels like we’re in a good spot when we look at the current state of the game from various angles. However, we are always on the look-out for new issues that could arise, checking our data, and gathering new feedback on a regular basis, and we’ll make adjustments to the game as needed.
Thank you for your continued support and valuable feedback!
From Zerg: Terran and Protoss are OP
From Terran: Protoss and Zerg are OP.
If roughly 50% of the time each race wins/loses against each other...IT IS BALANCED. That is a fact.
A little bronze league player giving Advice to terrans in the Late game against protoss: The key is to do enough damage in the mid game that one of two things happen A. being you win. or B. you put yourself far enough ahead to win in the late game. Protoss is almost forced to be defensive in the mid game--take this time to expand, harass and expand.
In bronze and silver, Terran is OP because marines kill anything without micro, while not microing themselves. Gold to plat, Zerg and Terran stay the same mostly balance vs eachother since micro and macro isnt at top level, where protoss then starts to feel too strong with the A moving and the mass storm drops and feedbacks. In Diamond, TvP becomes horrible in late game, as diamonds cant land emps, and fend off protoss death balls without using nukes to properly get a positional edge/distract the other player, then in masters, as ive experienced myself, TvZ is near impossible. You can be aggressive, prevent expansions, multi pronged drops, micro near perfectly with splits vs A move bane/ling/infestor, and still get roflstomped. I find the only way i win TvZ now is not because i play well, but I play consistently, and the zerg MUST MAKE A MISTAKE. if the zerg and terran both play super well, Z will always come out on top. if the zerg screws up, then terran has a CHANCE to win.
Just my thoughts on this, you cant balance a game on the statistics of every single league, the game should be balanced at the masters and GM levels, and let lower leagues struggle until they figure it out. a lot of zergs even agree that TvZ is impossible, and that Zerg finds it the easiest matchup. This really needs to be looked into more, as TvP at masters is fine, sufficient micro on both sides is needed, and mistakes are not the win or loss of a game. TvZ is purely micro intensive, and is basically flawless terran play until/if the zerg makes a major mistake ''greedy drones, misses injects, fail to scout bases''. the late game must be fixed....
There isn't any hope for HoTS.
And for the record, although the raw numbers aren't 100% of the indicator when it comes to balance, they are most important part. This is because they abstract away from individual skill level an situation and look at what is happening as a whole. And that is what balance is.
Kinda like how being paid to be an actor automatically means you're the best actor for the job and nobody could do better. Which is why Disney Channel is so full of --quality acting-- [/sarcasm]. Obviously nobody who isn't being paid to be an actor could do a better job.
And I hope you're joking about the raw numbers. They are not THE most important part, they're only one important factor. What's also important is that the game has to be studied from all angles and balanced for all parts of the game, early, mid, and late. Not only is this proper balance, but the affect on the players is that it keeps them interested and keeps the game fun for them. Broodwar had that sort of balance and has enjoyed 14 years of success while this game, despite riding on its coattails and despite its predecessor's legend, is suffering a decline in players. Why do you think that is? His lazy “well, the raw numbers say its balanced” way of balancing is frustrating players and instead of playing the game they PAID FOR, they're SWITCHING to (mainly) LoL (all my friends have done it. Prominent SC2 streamers have done it. The ones that haven't have just plain quit).
Asymmetry not an excuse, because Broodwar had amazing race asymmetry and was still balanced properly, but of course they had a different person balance that game. For the record, this isn't about nostalgia, this is about better game design.
This game is flawed and it's because David Kim doesn't want to go the extra mile to make sure the game is balanced in all aspects and would rather keep nerfing and buffing until the 3 raw numbers are around 50%. He simply doesn't care about the method that the players use to win, as long as that number is around 50%.
If you still don't get what I'm saying, think of it like this. If Zerg were nerfed so far into the ground, that the only options they had were working really hard at early-game ling attacks like 6 pool, would you still say the game is balanced because they somehow retained a 50% winrate or would you investigate the game to see why Zerg can't do anything but early game attacks? You'd do the latter, right? That's because raw winrate isn't the be all, end all way to balance the game and shouldn't be treated as such.
nvm... hi bronze league
"toss mass stalker or mass voids and carriers with the one mothership."
Seriously get better.
You wanna know the top ZvT strat right now. Mass Lings with festors in the back. 2 units.
Zerg is hands down the hardest race for a beginner to learn. Because not only are you still trying to learn the basics of Macro and Micro, As Zerg you also have to learn about larva control. They have to understand inject timings and rationing of units. A successful push against a Zerg isn't always the one that causes a lot of damage, But one where the Zerg wastes a bunch of Larva on lings instead of Drones. Also Zerg units are in general easier to beat than their Protoss and Terran counterparts. It's often seen in lower league games where both players just sit back, Max out, then crash their armies into each other. This really doesn't favor a healthy Zerg play style. However does this mean the bar for Zerg should be lowered? I don't think so, Because Zerg gets a lot of benefits to balance these challenges. Supply block isn't as detrimental to Zerg, As well they can hide their supply buildings or use them to scout. Their units are much faster to produce, and tech switches are much easier to do. Creep gives the Zerg precious vision and time to react, as well as giving a Zerg the tactile advantage when in home territory in the form of a speed boost. Another thing a beginner might find hard is Droneing up. unlike Protoss and Terran who basically just keep building workers, Zerg needs to know when to start and stop Drone production.
So yes Zerg is undoubtedly a different play experience than Terran or Protoss, and for beginners more difficult. But they have other advantages that balance this out.
Here's a random list in case the block of text is a bit much.
[Cons]
-Larva Control (injects, rationing...)
-difficult scouting
-weaker maxed out
-Production = Drones
[Pros]
-Cheaper Production*
-Faster production
-Ease of Tech switch
-Creep
-Faster Movement
-Strong early Anti air (The Queen)
-Supply block is not as detrimental
-Moveable Static defense
*Production wise 1 hatchery is about 7 units every 40 seconds.
(Z)350min/0gas = 7 units/40 seconds [Hatchery]
(T)400min/100gas= 8 Marines/50 seconds [2 reactor Barack's]
(P)300min/0gas = 4 Zelots/40 seconds [2 Warp gate/wt warp and Chrono]
There's probably a lot of stuff I've missed, but I don't have a lot of time left. Tell me what you think and if I've made any mistakes.
Hope you having a great day [^_^]
What about zvp? nearly every map has a large hill or hole in the middle to prevent a large middle ground from appearing. But im not complaining about those maps. They are fine for zerg; they just don't make zerg OP. What im mainly complaining about is ZvP on Antiga Shipyard. Oh God. That map is so choked up thata protoss can win with mass colossus. I feel lie im being strangled in RL playing on that map. I hope maps that bad never make it to the pool again.
David Kim, wake up ~