Ya, seriously. Starcraft was good for its time, but the game had a terrible UI and glitchy units. Tourneys revolved around who could compensate for the terrible UI and exploit the glitchy units the best. I don't see the appeal. I'd rather a game revolve around me making grand strategy, not micro-managing retarded units.
In my opinion as a longtime RTS player, the fixed base/building slots/supply pad system is one of the best parts of Halo Wars, and in case you didn't notice, the game revolves around slot management and timing. Things like Hooks, Neutral Bases, and what units defend them ensure that each map is drastically different to a far greater degree than in Starcraft.
Supply crates are also nice, in that they give you a meaningful choice even in the early game. Which ones do you collect first, when do you use your scouts to scout rather than collect, and do you use your scouts to kill enemy scouts?
Making the Flood and Forerunners into neutrals seems sensible, given how different they are from other factions.
In a sequel, it'd be nice to see if they could figure out a way to make Flood and Heretic/Forerunner into functional factions, and give each faction its own tricks and styles.
For starters, I'd like to see supply pad upgrades have different effects for different factions
USNC: Gives significantly more supply
Covie: Gives a smaller amount of veteran supply. You can press A+another button to use it to produce Veteran units that come with extra stars, based on Temple level.
Heretic/Forerunner: Gives Tech increases.
Flood: Increases Pop, albeit with diminishing returns.