Quote: (Warhead @ 11 Mar. 2009, 00:07 )
Yes, your explanation was very informative, thank you for taking the time to do so. If I seem pushy well do you blame me for wanting in on something that I find very engaging and have done for years. I also consider that this is something I am good at.
Yes, I understand that others do not agree with all my ideas. That's only natural. There are ways of saying things though.
I find the costing of units frustrating due to the feeling of being herded into unit choices I wouldn't normally make. The v5 lists seems so much less. Sorry, but that's how I feel. Hardly anything is still free, there are very few sweet units of choice stuff. Instead of choice it offers limitation, constraint. This v5 has diverged from the direction our group took of allowing players the choice of more units, more options in an attempt to make the game exciting.
Some think the players out there can't find their own balance? I think some may not... but that most will. I think players will work out what to play and what not to for themselves as suits their own styles and what they like... not what someone else who made the lists thinks is cool, or too good or not good enough.
You're welcome and I'm glad you appreciate it.
Now, to answer some of your concerns.  There is a great deal of choice in the list IIRC.  I'm fairly sure we opened up a lot of them from V4.2 to V5.0.  I haven't made a comparison as I don't have the time but I'm pretty sure we tended to increase options rather than decrease them (but my memory could be playing tricks).
Now on to the reduction of free stuff.  This was made from a game balance perspective.  Many, many, many players were abusing the free cards in earlier versions and this was a point of contention with many of the V5.0 playtesters.  As a result, quite a few of them went away.  Some proponents of the free cards were quite vocal on keeping them but when the polls closed, they were in the minority.  NetEpic has always been a democratic process and unfortunately for them, they didn't get the votes.
As to players finding their own balance, I have to say that in my experience many players can and do find it to keep the game fun but there are still quite a few players out there who will find every loop-hole in the lists and use them to build the uber-list that we as the developers never intended.  They then suck all the fun out of it for the rest of us.  While you may think that creating a themed list of units X, Y and Z is fun there are many, many players out there who think that creating the uber-list that nothing else can defeat is cool and fun.  Trust me.  I've met a helluva lot of them.  Unfortunately, to keep things fair for all players you need to put restrictions in lists.  You need to cost some units up in comparison to other units to keep certain lists balanced compared to others.  A Tyranid army that can out-shoot the Imperial Guard is a ludicrous idea so that's why you can't take an army that consists solely of Exocrines, Dominatrixes and Dactylises that is competitive.  It goes completely against the theme of that army.  I can take a shooty Ork army but its usually an uphill battle to do well with it as the army was simply not designed to be an effective shooty force.  The same goes for a melee-oriented IG army.
If your group has found a certain balance that works well for you all I am thrilled that that's the case.  Unfortunately, what works for your group doesn't always work for the rest of us.  The NetEpic lists are based heavily on the old Space Marine 2/Titan Legions lists and while the 40K codexes have changed over the years, our lists have tended to ignore them.  Where a 40K codex has thrown up a cool idea we've tried to include it but make no mistake, the NetEpic background is no longer the same as the current GW canon.  Yes, the Necrons and Tau are based heavily on their 40K codexes but that's only because they came around after NetEpic was born.  Those lists that were around before have stuck heavily to their Space Marine 2/Titan Legions roots.  They have had over a decade of playtesting behind them and they work well in my opinion (and opinion of most of the V5.0 players I have talked to).
We're not always saying "no" just for the sake of avoiding change.  We're usually saying "no" because we think it ain't broke so it don't need fixin'.
besides that's what I have you lot for... Warhead control.
Do I cut the blue wire or the yellow wire?!?
 or green?
oooh pants! That's my vice at work again.. must not fiddle with rules, must not fiddle with rules, must not fiddle with rules, must not fiddle with rules...
LOL
and that can't be a good thing. 
