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View Full Version : Some balancing notes



CMaster
11-01-13, 12:12
An awful lot of the discussion here is regarding balancing. That's great, I feel - 2.2 was clearly something of a misstep, and as time consuming as balancing is, it's not so much so as creating new content, while being important to enjoy all aspects of the game properly. What I want to do here, is just draw attention to a couple of things to bear in mind when considering balancing.

The balance discussion forums (http://forum.neocron-game.com/forumdisplay.php?170-Balance-Discussion) - here you can find out how things are (or at least are meant to be) at the moment. It's buried across a couple of subforums, but generally, look for threads started by Thanatos or John Doe. Significant changes were made in patch 162 (http://www.techhaven.org/resources/nc2-patch-notes/patch-162.html), patch 163 (http://www.techhaven.org/resources/nc2-patch-notes/patch-163.html) and most significantly, patch 167/8 (http://www.techhaven.org/resources/nc2-patch-notes/patch-167-168.html).

Another thing worth looking at are the videos of Masters of the Universe 2 (http://games.linxsoft.co.uk/index.php/neocron-videos/39-masters-of-the-universe-season-2), a PvP tournament held not long after 2.2 was released. It's dominated by PEs using the Ionic Crossbow and tanks using the Creed and Ionic Shotgun Cannon. Not the current situation at all. This is down to two factors - one the burst damage buff (and xbow "bug" fix) of patch 167, and two, the fact that most people now get pretty high frame rates in NC, making beam weapons like the Creed pretty irrelevant to PvP. It emphasizes that bug fixing and weapon balancing is by far the most pressing issue with regards to balance at the moment. PEs went from near-kings of PvP to also-rans, just by changing which weapons were overpowered/bugged.

I'd also like to say something about how team balancing will not be achieved by balancing classes in individual fights - it could in fact make things more skewed than currently. However, I think a convincing argument here needs me to get around to constructing a simulation program I have had planned for a while.

So, with that in mind, keep those ideas and issues coming!

Dribble Joy
11-01-13, 23:32
I'd also like to say something about how team balancing will not be achieved by balancing classes in individual fights - it could in fact make things more skewed than currently. However, I think a convincing argument here needs me to get around to constructing a simulation program I have had planned for a while.
Indeed. Currently I am not convinced (though open to) this argument. There are a number of assumptions that need to be proved or disproved on both sides.
The role and mechanism of the PPU may have to be looked at from the ground up.

I am probably bias, but I think that (despite all I have said about the imbalance between the classes as a result of PPU interaction, especially PEs) the classes need to be balanced individually in priority to in a team. I know that NC is an MMO and thus a team environment and the end-game PvP is based around OP fights, but I also thing the basis for team play needs to be grounded in individual balance and we need to remember that each player is an individual; being at an institutionally defined disadvantage against another individual does not assist their enjoyment, especially given the skill based nature of the game.

Don't get me wrong, I just think that we can have both solo and team balance.