Mepps, where is the said elusive balance between powers?

Community: What now? Some other power/s is/are OP and not quantum and the rest of the A Lister brethren.

Mepps: As noted earlier, overall most powers are coming into line.


This question reigns supreme in this entire game. We have gone from one update to another and the ongoing balance between powers is nowhere in sight.

The entire combat system has been overhauled twice over but the result is the same. Some power/s is/are OP in comparison to the rest.

So, I would like to understand that how complicated is it to balance powers as such that two overhauls of the combat system could not bring them anywhere closer to balance?

How are the developers so oblivious to the power imbalance that they maintain that most powers are coming in line?

Why have the second overhaul which is the AM style of combat eliminated skill from DPSing and yet not anywhere close to the aforesaid elusive balance?

I am not happy with the direction of the combat system overhaul and would like some element of skill in its execution.

Discuss.

You all may disagree if you'd like, however, I believe that it, sadly, comes down to sales. How will they continue to sell power change tokens if all powers were balanced? They'll just continue to avoid powers and wonder why at least one power is "broken" (working as intended)for a month or so... Then when they decide to patch it, I'm sure the patch will have something clever in it to "break" a different power.

They know what's OP.

No matter how close all powers come to being equal, the biggest variable is player ability. Just because a player uses a top tier power (as per community perception), doesn't mean they are going to be good.

Exhibit A Munitions needs a buff

Since, we have not experienced balance, we tend to assume that they know the power imbalance and continue to promote the same in order to sell power respecs but that can't be the entire picture.

Perhaps, there is something else which is an amiss here.

I think we're closer to balance now than we were some months back, a lot closer.

I can't say the one valid play style (with some completely ignoring the second power tree) is really making good use of the powers we have.

Some powers are still better than others but the gaps have all closed up, if Nature, Electric and to some degree Light? get a bit of a boost I'd like to hope from that point we can start to see more work on variety, options and depth to playstyles, iconic revamp, improved weapon combo damage to making not relying wholly on AMs a viable play style.

I can certainly see why you're frustrated about execution of this balance though. 1,2,3,3,3,3,1,2,3,3,3,3 shouldn't be the best way to DPS. Obviously there is still some minor clipping options etc for some powers but the results are pretty minor from what I've seen.

I guess a lot of the frustration here is from pre AM times and that the current state of the game is less balanced than things were back then?

I beg to differ on this aspect. The AM style of combat is one of the two types:
1, 2, 3 and 4= big boom
Hold and tap= big boom

Both these play styles are so simplistic that only an idiot will have problems executing the said rotation. Furthermore, the difference in player ability is simply about getting risky(or not) in combat and surviving and though that's the only skill needed to complete the end game content, the use of such power by itself is no more a variable.

I agree the AMs are foolproof. Yet here we are, in reality, with people that can't grasp it.

Closer to balance would mean that the recently updated powers i.e. Ice, Gadgets and Fire would be cracking the same numbers as the previously updated powers like Quantum, Mental (considered OP then) or newly released power Munitions but such is not the case. In fact, the newly updated powers outshine Quantum, Mental and Munitions by large differences.

Nature, Electric, Light, Sorcery, Earth, etc can't even dream of getting close to either the previously updated or recently updated powers. Then the question becomes, will the next updated powers become OP as and when they are released and instead of coming in line outshine the previously updated powers?

If such is the case, then it's not balance and nor will it ever exist.

you have to look at it from the dev PoV, look back a year or 2 ago, or hell even 6 months or 3-4 months ago.

there was what power on top? quantum? Munitions?

point is there are more powers now that are doing roughly the same damage at the end of a raid / alert then there use to be, to me that says balance.

Rather you or anyone else wants to give the devs a hand they are working at balancing the powers but they cant simply snap a finger and make it happen, it IS a work in progress rather you or me like it.

Balance will be here eventually, the question is will you be loyal enough to see it happen? I will.

It's getting pretty damn close if you ask me.

They are all balanced....just some more than others...

I am looking at all the variance between periods as you have presented. Two years back, play styles was skill dependent and no combat parser was readily available. Much of the so called imbalance could have emanated out of lack of skill. Six months back, we had an external combat parser and certain powers with AM were putting out insane numbers compared to the rest i.e. when gadget was updated with its first AM revamp, it became OP and then Quantum was updated and it became OP but not balanced although Mental fix was not good enough in its first update.

Then looking recently in the past 3-4 months, Mental was brought closer to Quantum and somewhat in line with it. Now the recently updated powers completely outshine the previously updated powers. They are doing at least 10,000k/sec more damage than Quantum, Munitions and Mental.

I won't call it roughly the same damage.

Also, it's not my job to give the developers a hand in bringing about balance since they are clearly paid for that work and make a living out of it. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is usually enough feedback by the players who test the powers for free and yet their feedback is perhaps clearly ignored or there is something flawed with the coding exercise that they can not fix the imbalance.

How is it balance if Ice which is a recently updated deals 10k/sec more than previously OP power Quantum?

Those bugs got fixed yesterday morning. Not sure where Ice is on the spectrum now, but its not hitting 40k a second.

The constant circus act of power imbalance is paralyzing to the game, yet great for sales. I have lost all confidence in DCUO when it comes to power balance. While it seems that they have brought a few powers in line with one another, every time there is an update to a power, players sit through the same broken record. A new OP power and all the chasers buying up them power respec token like they were candy, meanwhile converting group content into a damage fest. This is part of the reason why many feel that the scoreboard has to go. It's not the scoreboard. It's the cesspool of chasers jumping on the next hot item enabling them to ignore mechanics, pick ups, objectives, and support roles. Many times players testing the content (power) have given feedback specifically when a power is hitting harder than it should. Most of the time that feedback is ignored and the power is released. The new FOTM is born. All until there's enough uproar from former chasers who no longer top the board as well as others that just want to feel competitive. It's only then (and perhaps after respec tokens sales have dwindled down) when the FOTM is looked at. Sorry, but this has happened for too long for me to believe that it is not done as a form of the quick cash grab. That's fine as I understand that the game needs funds to stay alive, but when it impacts the player's experience, it should become priority. With the many outlets that this game has for making a profit (maybe updating the MP with things that many suggest here that they are willing to spend money on), a FOTM should not be one. It's been too long and too much of a repetitive cycle for me to believe that power balance will ever exist. Until then (if it happens), I'll continue to enjoy the game with the power that I like, while dealing with the consequences and effects of the FOTM for as long as I can.

I am sorry, what does that even mean: just some more than others?

I hope you do not mean that the recently updated batch of powers are clearly in line with each other but as a batch perform better than the second batch of powers which were previously updated.

In my opinion, that would not qualify for balance even if relatively means balanced for you.

I'll just point this out. Dps'ing was always easy. Clipping involved less skill then hitting the wm window. Sorry, but solar flare in to whatever power wasn't exactly hard.

Now..Am/Power balance is closer then you think. Fire, gadgets, ice are now in line with the rest. Ice was buggy but now it's fixed. I'll also say this. I can't speak for earth, but sorcery is right there with the rest.

if they truly wanted to balance the powers it would have been done a long time ago but clearly balance was never the goal. they just keep on buffing and nerfing over and over and selling lots of respec tokens. heres a challenge to the devs...get rid of respec tokens and let us switch powers for free and then i bet they could balance the powers.all the devs are doing is pulling a bait and switch scam over and over...and they wonder why the population has been declining lol,people can only be scammed for so long before they wise up to it.

No not for me in a sense of "balance". The devs revamp and reblance powers all the time with nerfs or buff some notice others go un-notice. When I say they are balanced just some more than others its because they are updated now if they are hitting as hard or doing their porper job then they aren't but as in upkeep they are balanced. But lets be real on this there will never be a such day whe nall powers in game will be "balanced" Some powers are easier for players, some powers effects are different than other, and too many people wil lsay that player is better than mine so it must be OP. Are we closer some say yes, I'm just on the fence looking eating a bag or popcorn and saying "anyone need my heals". All powers will become truly balanced if they are all the same power and we all know there that will never happen. So enjoy this current balance because I'm sure in a few months there will be balance issues again and there will be more threads like this. They are all blance just some more than others still in my opinion that will never change. Or should I have said some are balanced while others are being geared up towards what is balanced but might be off here or there.

For, this reason itself, i tend to play alts and sort of push the alt with FOTM power to the forefront as as when that happens.

I also agree that the game can actually look at numerous options for making money and one such outlet could be styles and cosmetic items in the MP but for some reason, the developers are not keen on that.