xdominik wrote:
About the map pool I think that lack of lower AR - AR8 on no-mod or HD map pool is really regreatable it would test players ability to play lower AR's and would rise diversity of map pool I understand that AR9 on first round is expected but I hope to see more diverse map pool next round
AR8 was certainly considered when we were picking the map pools. (and yes, we play every single map that we pick. you can imagine how long the mappool took us to make x.x)
What ended up happening, though, was that the maps were either:
A: Old maps. They fit the difficulty range, but often is mapped like a turd.
B: Newer maps. They fit the difficulty range, but that apparently didn't stop them from being mapped like a turd :/
C: Solid maps. Those were considered, but ultimately they've been harder than the difficulty range required.
Also, bear in mind that we can only put a set number of maps in the pool, so even an ar8 map of acceptable quality may have been discarded in lieu of an ar9 map with better quality. I hope this is an acceptable answer for you.