Void Rifts is
an older mutator that causes Void Rifts to randomly appear on
the map and spawn enemy units. I'm focusing on it now because on
one side, it's a very good mutator, but on the other side it has
its problems. When it was released, I considered it as one of
the most fun mutators to play against as it rewards multitasking
and provide a challenge without artificially making enemy units
stronger.
Minimap
Let's start with a technical problem.
Players rely on the minimap to see where Void Rifts are, but their
visibility on the minimap differs based on the texture settings. On the
low setting there are only dots, on medium/high settings there is a
small icon and only on the extreme setting we get full minimap icon and
good visibility. Gameplay should never be significantly affected by
graphical settings and this is an issue. CtG's video showcases this
well.
Diversity
The second problem is with its strength. I'm
all for a challenge, but Void Rifts alone are harder than most mutations
with three mutators. This hurts the diversity. When you sit down and try
to think of good mutations with Void Rifts, you find yourself severely
limited. You can't add too many mutators without the difficulty spiraling
out of control. In CtG's Mutation Database all mutations with Void Rifts are ranked
between the most difficult (average mutation - 3.1/5 difficulty,
average mutation with Void Rifts - 4.5/5 difficulty). If the mutator
was weaker, there would be more possible combinations with other mutators
and players could experience it in different ways. As it stands, any
combination with even a weak mutator will result in a significant
challenge for majority of players.
So what would be good ways to change the
mutator? Rather than straight up nerfing unit/voidrift spawn rate, a more
subtle change that affects later stages of the game could work. Perhaps a
cap for maximum Void Rifts on the map, or more elegantly - increasing the
delay between Void Rift spawns as more Void Rifts are active on the map.
That way the pressure on early/mid game stays the same, but it wouldn't
spiral out of control completely.
Early Game
Early game is often crucial when dealing
with Void Rifts. The first Void Rifts spawn at 2:20. If players are
unlucky and Void Rifts spawn in places they can't immediately reach— for
example deep behind enemy lines—players will most likely lose
the game. If Void Rifts spawned at 3:00, more commanders would have
options to deal with them as it would line up with hero units spawning.
Also, the requirements for position of the rifts should be tighter for the
first few spawns. The game already checks how far they are from player's
bases, units around, pathing, etc., but players can still get unlucky with
their spawn.
