Early game strategies not balanced?

[occasionalplayer]

I think the debate is an issue mostly for impossible or extreme. On these levels it is obvious that you can only win with some strategies, and even then not consistently, as demonstrated by some of the best players in this forum. However, that is/was also true for the Civilization franchise, Master of Orion etc. It would be a problem if long-term strategies were not viable eg on hard difficulty, but impossible has that name for a reason. Slow, but good, strategies should win frequently on hard, if properly implemented. For instance, Focus magic Trolls, development dwarves etc.

[Arnuz]

I don't know... I find it limiting that a slow strategy cannot cope with impossible at all, barring extreme luck, due to the necessary "cheating" from the AI.

If we limited the advantage of early rush strategies then we could also reduce the necessary cheating somewhat, resulting in perhaps a possibility that also some longer term strategies become viable.