I recently gave FAF another go after about a 7 year break. It turns out its still a fun game, but using my old account is proving a real ball and chain when trying to actually play the game.

The issue is relatively simple. When I re-started my rating was 1651 (apparently 1700 in a lobby) leading to a situation where I was apparently too skilled for the noobs and too poor for the pros. I find that I am either kicked for having too high a rating or disparaged at as a consequence. My rating has since dropped to 1500ish which is better, but still suggests I'm a better player than I am which makes finding a balanced game difficult.

I personally find this quite irritating as I do not want to ruin anyones game by folding like a stack of cards, but the only other option is not to play at all. I also find that there are some pretty passioante players out there (particularly on Setons) who don't enjoy others not meeting their expactations which leaves a bad taste in the mouth of all involved. As such I would suggest that FAF implements something to aid returning players such as:

• A one off abilty to request a rating decrease
• Adding a incremetor to the sigma element of ratings (rating +-) after say 6 months so return players ratings rapidly adjust back to a reasonable level
• A gradual rating avg decay
• An ability to totally reset an old account to a beginner rating

How about just removing RAS from ACUs all together. With the ACU investing in RAS has a clear trade off, economic benefit for a decrease in ACU survivability. For an SCU there is no such trade off, ultimately it makes little difference whether an SCU lives or dies to the outcome of the game.

The SCU is far too useful. It can run your economy, duplicate itself (via a quantum game), snipe your opponent via teleportation (particularly for Aeon), build point defences, shoot things, reclaim a base, whip up an experimental, wander over to help shore up an ally etc. The truth is it has far too many benefits which have no real trade off. The whole concept of a payout time is totally moot as a consequence. You'd never talk about the "payoff time" of a monkeylord because the unit has inherent benefits which are totally unrelated to time. I don't see why an SCU should be considered differently in that regard.

I think one of the following would be reasonable solutions:

• Turn RAS into a mobile mass fab, power for mass or power but not both
• Increase the volatility of a RAS ACU (lower hit points, bigger bang, makes it less useful in its other roles)
• Increase the cost substantially
• Increase build time and increase quantum gate build power so assisting becomes pointless
• Remove RAS preset
• Remove RAS entirely