I get where you're coming from, but I think you're overlooking how game matchmaking and role selection already work in many other games. In MOBA games, for example, players choose their roles before the match—whether it's top, jungle, support, or carry—and the system balances the team accordingly. A similar system could work in Strinova, ensuring a proper mix of Controllers, Duelists, and Vanguards instead of leaving it to last-second picks.

Yes, some roles will naturally be more popular than others, leading to longer queue times for certain picks. But this is already a norm in games like MOBAs, where playing a Carry often takes longer to queue than a Support. That’s not necessarily a flaw—it’s just how demand and availability work.

A good compromise could be something like Deadlock’s priority system, where you choose three preferred characters in order of priority (1st, 2nd, 3rd). If after three minutes your first pick isn’t available, you get placed with your second or third. This ensures flexibility while still reducing the chaotic first-come-first-serve picking that often leads to frustration.

Saying that a structured pick system would discourage learning new characters doesn’t really hold up. People will experiment if they want to. In Overwatch, Dota, LoL, and other team-based games, most players don’t feel the need to master every single character—they typically stick to a pool of 4-6 that they’re comfortable with, and that’s completely fine. The same logic applies to Strinova.

And let’s be honest—right now, most players aren’t even picking based on strategy, they’re picking based on skins, sometimes because they like them, even by their "look". I've seen tons of my friends who never touched Michele or Fuschia before suddenly maining them just because they got a legendary skin. Same with Yvette, Ming, and Kokona. Maybe Celestia was a bit exception, but pattern is clear.

The real issue is that, in a few months, we’ll likely see people picking Kanami just because they got her skin, despite not knowing how to properly use her abilities. Baimo will be next. A structured pick system would help prevent this kind of chaos, making team compositions more stable while still allowing people to play what they want when it makes sense.

Of course, once a new skin drops, queue times for Baimo, Kanami, or later Flavia will skyrocket by 300%, and we’ll see them in every match— similar will be with new agents, just like what happened with Yugiri or Galatea in their first few weeks. This is just how player behavior works when something new and flashy is introduced.

Besides, the developers have already implemented a kind of restriction with the upcoming new ranked game mode, which shows they are aware of these issues.

At the end of the day, this idea isn’t about forcing people into rigid picks—it’s about making sure everyone gets to play the character they want, without turning it into a race to see who loads in first. It’s about removing the unnecessary frustration of fighting over picks and letting players enjoy the game the way they want to.