[disclaimer: I am having a nostalgia boner and am very high]
I remember playing AoS before custom maps came out. Remembering back, it felt like a whole different game. The generated maps seemed to generate a gameplay style, a flow, that is totally different from todays custom maps. The thing is, there wasn't so much attention paid to pretty bridges, clever looking castle maps, but there was a much more focused gameplay focus. I would always play the blue team. It seemed that everyone had a role. The map created natural flanking zones, very natural points of interest. As blue, I remember, we would always train our focus on capturing a large mountain that was near the greens base. Not because we wanted to build, but because of /neccesity/, we would build more and more complex forts. We would dig out the side of the fort facing the mountain, to try and prevent sappers from coming in front. We didn't need them to be very tall, but every part of them had a use. Often times, there were rivers that cut through a nearby tall landmass, and it was a very obvious flank. We would set up bunkers hidden in the sand of the mountain, connected by tunnels, each positioned so as to give as much coverage as possible. Death was much less frequent. The spread out map meant that you engaged your enemies far less often, but far more strategically.
If we lost land, we would set up a bunker at the limits of where they could push us on our land, and slowly try to push back and get a better flank. All this came very fluidly, almost subconciously. You knew where you had to be.
This felt like such a different game. This is what made me love AoS. But it seems a lot of that is gone. The only gen maps, if there are any up at a given time, are filled with the least skilled players.
I just wish you guys could have been there. The perfect game. We had pushed green back to a mountain and a bit of peninsula. They started pushing the peninsula hard, and they started gaining ground. They pushed north, and we evacuated to a new position. Over time we pushed them back, but they started pushing south, through the river cutting sharply through the plateu. We had to split our forces between the peninsula and the bank of the river. Eventually we started capping. It was such an experience.
Anyone up for some good ole' .26 action?