The Map Buff Philosophy on Rainbow Six Siege
When it comes to balancing, developers are often challenged to find ways to make certain characters, maps and other variables interesting but not overbearing. Ubisoft recently released a blog detailing what they want out of their map buff.
It is no secret that whenever there are changes, there will be winners and losers. With a map rework coming to one of Rainbow Six Siege's original maps in Operation Grim Sky, the developers brought some of their thoughts into how they redesign maps to a more competitive and intuitive way. Hereford Base was not the first map they altered on a grand scale; Clubhouse was their most recent work, with additional rooms and avenues albeit in a smaller scale compare.
Importance of Map buff
Rainbow Six Siege had a history of some pretty unsavoury maps that got itself kicked off the roster from ranked and even casual. Maps like Yacht, Favelas and Bartlett University weren't exactly met with a warm reception. That isn't to say it wasn't a favourite of some players, but it was generally seen as a mediocre to unfun as a map.
"After two years, some maps or parts of maps in Siege can feel stale. As players and playstyles evolve, there are also areas of certain maps that lack competitiveness. This can make a map unbalanced or even just not fun to play," in accordance to the Dev's blog.
However, some maps like Clubhouse, before its 'buff' had severe flaws. Those were emphasized as more operators were introduced to the game. The extra work on Clubhouse introduced in Operation Para Bellum was designed to rebalanced the map so that it wasn't favouring attackers or defenders too much.
As a result, the map certainly increased its viability for the defenders as more objectives were a solid choice rather than a bad choice. Ubisoft expressed that they would like to increase the rate of 'buffing' maps, but is it a good thing or a bad thing?
The frequency of buffing maps
Rainbow Six Siege and many other games with several different maps would quickly teach you that one of the key skills of succeeding the game is understanding the maps. Some of the questions you might ask yourself as a player would be; What are the key points of the maps? What are the strongest positions to cover multiple angles?
If you consider environmental destruction mechanics in some games or weapon and item utilities, the complexities of a single map starts to reveal itself. With each map having its own set of possibilities and strategies, a map rework can greatly change how it is played.
"They aim to offer a few critical improvements to competitiveness, mainly more viable objectives," the dev blog stated which refers to small but crucial improvements that could be rapidly implemented as a map buff.
While it keeps the game fresh in a different dimension, it also forces players to adapt to the new environment and strategies that can flip the tables in all levels of play. So what maps do you hope to see reworked or buffed after Hereford Base?
