Odysseus wrote:It's mostly the art direction they are taking and their stance to making the game more e-sports ''friendly''. Starcraft II has an absolute monopoly on the RTS Esports, so in my opinion, going that route is just going to end in another disappointment. Relic has tasted the ESL with COH2, so now they can't let go of the taste.
I also personally compare it to Starcraft because Starcraft has set the standard for the traditional RTS games for well over a decade now. Any new RTS game introduced always has to look at their entrance and position in the market compared to Starcraft, since it is the only RTS game still alive after all this time with actually a positive source of income. Once more, Relic wants the Esports, they crave the Esports, which is why they took inspiration from Starcraft II and MOBAs, which they literally stated in their interviews, in the hopes of gaining and maintaining a bigger audience.
Yet Starcraft 2 is pretty much dead thx to the mishandling of Blizzard. They had a monopoly on RTS but they dont have it anymore. The only thing that stops from having a new rts in the e-sports scene is a big name to contend with SC2. I have no clue whether DoW series still have the same strenght of brand it had but its the only contender i can think off. Only time can tell whether it can be a rival and it is still mainly a community driven effort.