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There are geysers on many of the ladder maps that are improperly placed, resulting in slower gas mining rate with 3 workers for some positions on a map, here's an example/demonstration:
http://drop.sc/50663
Bottom main is 20 gas ahead for same mining time, mining about ~10% more quickly than the top one.

This is very significant, in one of my PvP openings for example, I 11gas so i have enough for a sentry, warpgate, and a robo as soon as my core finishes, but if any of those things are 10 seconds late due to gas placement, or if i have to pull an extra probe off minerals for 2 minutes, I'm quite likely to die to a 4gate, which comes as early as 5:30.

Please have the map team check, at the very least, all the 1v1 ladder maps for more geysers that are too far from the start location. I know there used to be one on meta, top main left geyser, but I haven't checked to see if that was fixed.

After testing, it's apparent that if the gas is placed such that it would intersect the nexus if moved straight vertically or straight horizontally, it will mine optimally with 3 probes. The diagonals that neither touch nor overlap the nexus if moved vertically/horizontally cannot be mined optimally on 3 probes. The diagonals that would touch but not overlap the nexus if moved vertically or horizontally would only require more than 3 if they're at the top 2 such locations: http://i.imgur.com/DtBJQ.jpg Additionally, many of the geysers positioned to require 4 gatherers, will mine at a different rate with 3 gatherers if mirrored across the start location.

I tested all the 1v1 ladder maps by taking all the mains and gasses. Synchronizing the start by, per geyser, taking 3 probes carrying minerals , telling them to mine the geyser, stop before they get there, and move to the nexus on the side facing the geyser, then start them all mining gas at same time with the return cargo order. When at least 1 geyser mines out completely I watch replay till that instant, and list which geysers have gas remaining and by how much. All screenshots are taken just after the first geyser depleted. Margin of error in starting mining is ±4 gas.

Note that I am only doing this for the main start locations on the 1v1 ladder maps. Expos, and maps not currently in that pool may also have issues. Also keep in mind there are probably similar imbalances for the minerals on some maps, but I don't have the time to go through and test them all, probably fastest/easiest/most accurate to do that with some manner of script.

Results:

Xel'Naga caverns:
top main left geyser 28 gas remaining.

Abyssal caverns:
bottom left main right geyser 176 gas remaining
top right main left geyser 176 gas remaining

Antiga Shipyards:
All mains OK

Metalopolis:
top main top geyser 56 gas remaining
right main right geyser 184 gas remaining
bottom main bottom geyser 96 gas remaining
left main left geyser 176 gas remaining

Nerazim Crypt:
top left main right geyser 64 gas remaining
top right main left geyser 176 gas remaining
bottom left main right geyser 172 gas remaining
bottom right main left geyser 56 gas remaining

Shakuras:
All mains OK

Tal'darim Altar:
top left main right geyser 88 gas remaining
top right main left geyser 28 gas remaining

Shattered Temple:
All mains OK

Images: of problematic geysers on ladder maps:

http://imgur.com/ZkIXy,KVPyH,K1YQL,OFhL8,Gwq67,SEX49,NETtp,KvHzu,VOwKb,UNpu1,Q68F2,MzNHE,Ylx4K

There's a problem with the minerals as well. It seems that some of the minerals on certain spawn locations are placed directly behind others, which blocks the pathing of workers mining from the further mineral field.

Example of an OK mineral layout : Xel'naga caverns, both the naturals. None of the mineral fields are in the way of mining workers

Example of a flawed mineral layout : District 10, 12 o'clock location. The mining path of the 4th mineral field from the left is directly hindered by the 3rd mineral field from the left.

There are other instances of this in varying degrees, like in the 12 and 6 o'clock spawns of shattered temple, but they are not as drastic. Nevertheless it is still an issue.

Will this be fixed in the season 5 ladder pool?

If no, why the hell not?

Edit: It seems like the map team didn't get or understand the message, every single main in the 2 new ladder maps has a geyser that can't be optimally mined by 3 workers, and on Entombed Valley the misplaced geysers all mine at different rates.

Will this be fixed in the season 5 ladder pool?

If no, why the hell not?

Edit: It seems like the map team didn't get or understand the message, every single main in the 2 new ladder maps has a geyser that can't be optimally mined by 3 workers, and on Entombed Valley the misplaced geysers all mine at different rates.

... Our top priority is making sure that the resource placement on these maps are consistent for mirrored locations on that same map. ...
-Kelphe

If they can't be optimally mined it's fine, but if some locations can be mined faster than mirrored locations, could you please specify where these are?

Arid Plateau:
bottom main left geyser 56 gas remaining
top main right geyser 56 gas remaining

Entombed Valley:
top left main right geyser 156 gas remaining
bottom left main right geyser 56 gas remaining
bottom right main left geyser 188 gas remaining
top right main left geyser 148 gas remaining

Thank you for noticing this, Soul.

let's hope i get the good geysers...

Can't help but point out ZvZ is in the same scenario although with less long term repercussions. The zerg starting at the north side is always behind the zerg starting at the south side. That is because their drones will always have to walk around their hatchery and potentially pool (if the pool is setup sim city as a defensive block), while the zerg who's mineral patches are south of the hatchery will be able to path drones directly to their minerals.

ZvZ tends to be the most volatile match. It's not uncommon for games to be decided in the first 6 minutes.

I find it odd that for all other race rally points direct which side of the building the units come out of. Zerg is the only race that doesn't enjoy that benefit.

this is really something that needs to be PTRed with all the maps. you can tell which ones are off by adding a fourth worker. you can see it stop before the worker leaves the building, by a hair. this doesn't happen on good geysers - as the fourth worker arrives, one leaves.

and more people should know. take the good gasses first, especially in a mirror match.

trying to keep this bumped, hopefully small map changes like this aren't too hard.

the gas must be able to touch the nexus when moved either horizontally of vertically, otherwise true saturation requires like 3 1/2 workers. any gas that odes not pass through the start point in both directions is a faulty geyser.

this seems like a change that could be fixed in a day.

trying to keep this bumped, hopefully small map changes like this aren't too hard.

the gas must be able to touch the nexus when moved either horizontally of vertically, otherwise true saturation requires like 3 1/2 workers. any gas that odes not pass through the start point in both directions is a faulty geyser.

this seems like a change that could be fixed in a day.

That's not completely true. Kelphe said that they vary the layout, and it's only a bug if saturation requires a different number of workers for a mirrored location. It does seem like something that should be fixed by now though :(

To answer any question about mining, read this absolutly interesting thread from TeamLiquid.

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Mining_Minerals

It's not a bug, but a diagonal difference. =)

"Gas

Each of the three workers on a single geyser will collect approximately 38 gas per minute, with saturation at approximately 114 gas/min.

Distance Variations

A very close gas geyser may collect gas faster when having only 1 or 2 workers on it, but once they get a 3rd, the rates become exactly the same, due to the waiting of a worker at all times.

Exceptions

Very far gas geysers (common on some maps) may actually require 4 workers for full saturation, although having 3 workers on such a geyser results in only a ~10% decrease in your gas output. These geysers are generally the "far corner" placements. You can usually notice easily that the geyser is farther than normal."

^^ that's the point, but this should be fixed already. mirror matches are broken because of irregular gas placement. it is a simple placement issue, and these maps SHOULD be balanced after a year and a half.

especially on the ladder, and in tournaments. how are the ones on shipyard? what about tal'darim? shakuras seems fine i think...

Sigh, almost three months later and nothing done.

slowly being buried..

again...

Comeon, blizzard. Please fix.