For example, a power called Fear where a selected battalion is forced to retreat for a set distance (like the Nazgul screech ability) or a power called Back to Basics where a selected battalion loses all their upgrades. Have affects on your units such as Heal or War Chant.Ĥ. For example, a power called Caltrops where cavalry units take damage when moving through that area.ģ. Have affects on land such as Tainted Land or a power that affects certain types of units.
Industry, or a power that trains units more quicklyĢ. Have affects on buildings such as generating more economy i.e. I feel that none of the powers should summon units or cause immense damage that cannot be countered.ġ. I believe the powers should be scaled back considerably. For example, we thought the Summon Army of the Dead power to be ridiculous that it could just wipe out a maxed-out, fully upgraded army so quickly, and there wasn’t much of a response that the opponent could have. We all enjoyed the lower tier powers such as War Chant, Heal, Tainted Land, and Eye of Sauron, but we absolutely hated how over the top the later powers were. Powers had far too much of an affect in multiplayer games for the BFME games to reach a competitive scene. We attributed this to how strong the powers and heroes were in the game. When we brainstormed why we didn’t attempt to play any BFME at a high level since we enjoyed competitive RTS gaming one of the first conclusions we all drew (aside from the fact that there is no real competitive scene) was that the game was too volatile and swingy in gameplay.
It would be a dream come true for me if a LOTR RTS developed into a competitive scene where there are world championship tournaments held regularly like we see with games like Starcraft, League of Legends, and Overwatch.Ī close friend and I both reached a high level in Starcraft 2 while our other friend was a very high-level Age of Empires player – so we are avid RTS players and are well versed with competitive play.
Instead the BFME games were limited to fans of LOTR. All the BFME games have done the latter very well, however, I argue that none of the BFME games have done the former which is why the games never saw huge popularity among a competitive RTS scene the same way as Starcraft, Warcraft, and Age of Empires.
The conclusion that we all came to is the biggest factor will be a deep, well-balanced skirmish platform that rewards skill and knowledge of the game, while allowing casual players to indulge in their need for huge epic Middle-Earth battles. We all agreed that this game will be popular with LOTR fans because it gives us some novel LOTR content to play around with, but the things I’ve been brainstorming with myself and my close friends is what will give it staying power and keep people playing this game. Not only have I thought much about what would make this game great, but I’ve had a lot of conversations about this game with some of my friends who are well versed in RTS gaming and who also have played BFME 1, 2, ROTWK, and some of the mods. Since I heard about the development of this game, I have thought a lot about what would make this game an actual great game versus it just being popular because all of us LOTR fans are happy to have a new RTS game to play for a while. I’m extremely excited about BFME Reforged, and I have been fully aboard the hype train ever since I discovered that this game was in the works.