[New Mode] Visible Pick

[Wingflier]

It seems to me that one of the main problems with Clash of Heroes, and the viability of certain lineups and strategy, is the random/unknown element of the picking phase.

Considering how much luck is already involved in the execution of the game itself, I think it would be logical to remove some of the luck before the game even starts, i.e. in the picking phase.

The fact of the matter is that some lineups are inherently stronger than or even hard counter others. For example, if I pick Druids and you pick Succubi, changes are you'll rarely get to cast spell. If I pick Death Knight/zombies and you just pick Elites, chances are they will continued to be so weakened before their actual attacks that I will simply win a game of attrition. If you pick Reaper and they have Unicorns, chances are you aren't going to get very far. In addition, some Elites are very dangerous to pick in general without knowing what the opponent is doing. Vampires are a good example of a very situational Elite, who would be great under certain circumstances, but only if you knew what your opponent was picking. Deer are another example of Elites that excel against certain lineups, and are near obsolete in others (Deer against Knights is a good example of this).

The point is that being able to see what your opponent is picking adds a greater amount of strategy and depth to the game. The strategy of the picking phase is a well known element of competitive video games. Considering that this mode would be optional, that it would open a variety of new strategies and builds if implemented, and that you have nothing to lose for adding it, I can't see any particular reason not to.

[wearedevo]

I can't see any particular reason not to.

But if you saw someone choose a good counter to your lineup, wouldn't you just... change your lineup? So then they'd change theirs again? And on and on?

[Wingflier]

Well, I'm assuming you would both come to a reasonable conclusion or compromise eventually. You could add a time limit to the selection screen so you can't go back and forth forever, though I doubt people would. In small communities like this, people are generally pretty mannered towards others; at least that's what I've found.

[Sacat]

I can kinda see where you're going with this... But I personally don't see it happening. I don't think it's that great an idea. It would just make people want to switch over and over to 'fix' their strategy against yours... Which would make you change yours, which would make them change theirs. Either doing that forever would happen, or people would just leave the game and find another one without said 'mode'. I've found that most people when playing online are very impatient when it comes to waiting. So impatient, in fact, that in a 2v2 game with 3 people already in, the third person will just end up leaving 5 seconds after coming in if the fourth person doesn't show up by then. Ridiculous. Still, getting a bit off-track there, sorry about that.

Point is, I can kinda see your point... But I don't think it's that good of an idea, personally.

[TFJ]

As others have said, this wouldn't really work because people would just keep changing their unit selections. If you put a timer, people would just try to fake selections and change at the last time.

Now I know this sounds extreme, but it actually happened in the console versions regarding character choice. People would wait for you to select a character and change accordingly (it usually involved Varkas somehow :p).