Strategic Options

So lately I've been diving into the world of Real-Time Strategy games. Two of which I currently have installed are Company of Heroes and World in Conflict. Both are interesting in their own right but there's a problem. I'm not a RTS player. One of the things that bug me in RTS games is the need to manage resources. Back in Starcraft and Warcraft days, that means having to gather critical resources such as gold and wood. Without these resources, you cannot create more units. And without these units, they cannot build advanced structures to create better units. Company of Heroes try to change that somewhat but it still came back to the same problem... managing your resources. It's a different kind of management but you're still stuck having to ensure you have the necessary fundings in order to create more units.

Perhaps this is the reason why I have continued playing World in Conflict at random for these past several weeks. Instead of having to deal with all of these trivial elements to a typical RTS game, I am just given a predefined amount of spendable points, with some later to be made available, and make as many units as I can within that spendable limit. The units can then be sent out into the field, be destroyed, and the points that was spent on creating that is then refunded back into my pool.

Another thing that kept me coming back was how the multiplayer aspect of these games is arranged. WiC is formatted in such a way that it is easy to find friends, join them on a server, and browse for one. Even setting up a clan is easy. These little things are the stuff that makes a solid game. Alas, a certain other game cannot ever come close to matching the way the interface is laid out. There's even an added bonus to all of this -- widescreen. Yes, as a user of widescreen displays, I am now quite supportive in games that properly and natively support this. No hacks. No modifying files. No screwed up interface. And no unsupportive feeling you get when you post on forums. Everything is all fine and dandy, at least for now.

So as I look at my own profile, I find myself wanting to keep going. But for how long and how far can I go? I still have unfinished business with another title. Yet I do not know if I can take it nowadays. It's time I evaluate my strategic options...