Neo Tokyo and Non-Standard Maps: A rage-free opinion.

I wrote this in response to a comment and by the time I finished I realized I was putting a lot of thought into something that's only a comment, and there's enough content here for this to be a text post.

Here are a few points I find reasonable to not include Neo Tokyo in the competitive map rotation. Some apply to Wasteland, and some will likely apply to future non-standard maps assuming Psyonix is still interested in releasing more to competitive games.

I'm not raging or mad, I just think these are reasonable points:

1. Neo Tokyo's ramps can be line-of-sight blockers between players. If you're approaching a ball on the ramp from the ground, you can't see players on top. Players should be rewarded for noticing where other players are. Mechanics that prevent sight are counter-productive. See: all team field sports. It could almost be considered a "randomizing" factor - but let's not bother getting into that, there are better points to make.

2. Neo Tokyo's shape funnels the ball towards the nets. The side ramps cause bounces that center the ball towards the net. Also, the curvature of the side walls causes nearly every shot in the corner to roll towards the net.

a) The back walls outwards angle causes shots that rolls around corners to be lifted off the ground and approach the net above single jump distance. In other maps, a light pass around the corner doesn't gain height, and it's easy to stop. If you want to make a pass that's hard to stop you need to aim your corner shot properly. Neo Tokyo just does this for you.

3. The outwards angle of the back wall makes missed shots more forgiving. A shot at the back wall is deflected slightly upwards and less backwards than on another map with vertical walls. The ball doesn't bounce as far back out of the offensive zone, and stays in the air longer. This is a distinct advantage for the offensive team because:

a) There is more time for aerial shots (debateable if that's an advantage); and

b) It is more difficult to clear the ball over the offensive players since it doesn't bounce as far back.

4. The ramps create a smaller center-field for dribbling play. There is less room for deking opponents, making it easier to stop even well practiced players.

5/General point related to all other points) Blindly hitting the ball (a.k.a. ballchasing) is less punishing on this map than standard maps. A blind hit in the forward direction is more likely to center than on standard maps. A blind hit in a sideways direction is more likely to take huge air off a ramp. This gives the shooting player much more time to get back into position, while the opponent(s) have to wait for the ball to fall lower.

6/non-important personal grief) Flashing lights and colours everywhere. It's pretty but distracting and I find I miss the ball more often.

Quick summary of the effects:

• Good corner shots are less important because your bad opponent can do the same without effort.

• Good clears are less important because just about any clear will find it's way to the center.

• Clears in general are more difficult because shapes of the back walls and corners reduce outward bounce distances.

• Map vision and awareness is slightly less valuable since there will times the opponent is on a ledge and out of sight.

• Ball chasing is slightly more effective due to easier centering

• Ball chasing is slightly less punishing since there is increased airtime of ball off ramps - more time for an out of position player to get back in position.

Every single one of these effects is something that helps tilt the advantage back towards a "worse" player. A matchup that I'd lose 80% of the time on a standard map, I may only lose 60-70% of the time on Neo Tokyo. That's not very fair to the better player. Rocket League doesn't need mechanics that level the playing field (haha - Neo Tokyo isn't level), that's the purpose of the ranking system.

A solution: Map veto options in the settings. Give players 1-3 map vetoes they can use so that they don't have to play on certain maps in ranked (some may veto the bright or dark maps too). Starcraft 2 does the exact same thing. Players get to veto up to 3 maps in the current map pool each season.