Enough with calling for nerfs

God you people who want absolute balance just don't get it.
This game is about three DIFFERENT factions. NOT three BALANCED factions.
Each factions SHOULD have DIFFERENT strengths and DIFFERENT weaknesses to each other.
Zoe Maxes SHOULD own infantry in open field. NC Maxes SHOULD own close in fighting. TR Maxes SHOULD own armor. The same mentality SHOULD be applied to ALL Empire specific weapons.

These differences are what make the game interesting. These differences are what make planning and execution fun.
If everything is completely balanced the way your calling for, the game becomes a boring kill fest with aimbotters being the winner.
Put your stats away. Stop demanding nerfs. And start using you head to figure out how to defeat your enemies, then you will have fun.

If all you want is complete balance then switch over to using all NS weapons, then you'll have what you want.

Agree with the premise, if even if not the specifics.

Asymmetrical balance should be the goal. This whole "fairness" thing that most younger gamers want is a tripe. Not everyone gets a trophy, and not everything is fair. Its just balanced.

As long as I have options for dealing with certain weapons, thats all I need. I can adapt tot he situation/environment.

Asymmetrical balance doesn't mean vastly overpowered or underpowered weapons that are faction specific, lol. No one really has an issue with certain things being better at certain roles, its when things like the fractures, or Vulcans start doing multiple roles killing AV and AI far too effective and the other factions have nothing like that.

You can't have balance without buffs and nerfs, it is literally impossible.

Because no one thing is ever perfectly balanced first try, never mind a lot of complex things, especially in an "asymetrically balanced" system, and you can't just buff because that leads to ridiculous mudflation and a broken game.

To be honest if you can't take nerfs, MMO games are probably NOT for you (and disagreeing with buffs and nerfs is basically the reason MMO game forums exist! ).

I like the current asymmetric balance. Take the example of the empire specific tank/harasser AI, each has its own unique role:
Marauder = Fury+
PPA = Disco
Enforcer Modified = A modern art installation depicting loss and the futility of man's struggle with his fellow man

Good lord lol +1+1+1

Most of the faction differences are gone and they have been mostly homogenized because people just couldn't handle it. If a weapon doesn't kill in the exact same 1/1000th of a second then people will cry oceans for nerfs and buffs.

Some weapons need tweaks. This is a fact. This goes for all three factions. BUT what people keep asking for is for a factions entire weapon selection be dumbed down and turned into useless Fisher-Price gun or for their factions guns to be turned into insta-gib rifles. What exactly is this going to solve besides ticking people off? Luckily SOE isn't THAT stupid and would never do something that bad.

We want balance, you should've said three different factions. Not three COMPLETELY THE SAME factions. The issue is in game is that balance is hard to find. People may think some things are unbalanced while other aren't. The issues people mostly have are theoretical DPS/TTK.

On the Max argument people really like to make the argument of versatility. Weapons should be different yes, the issue is versatility needs to be made according to most people equal. On the NC max note, we (besides some with mattocks and slugs) can't range and don't dominate in close quarters if you add another max due to reload. I play the NC max, and we work best in enclosed space yes, but it requires a heavier amount of certs to be able to be competitive with other maxes, but we easily can kill the softies around the max which can easily give us a position advantage if we have support. Just a final note, I didn't play MAX Pre-Nerf, only post, so I have no real idea how OP it was back then compared to the other two I only know what I've heard...

I agree. AV weapons should NOT be good at AI roles, and visa versa. Weapons being to universal is certainly an issue in this game. The problem is that most gamers simply call for total nerfs to weapons, instead of small tweaks to further define their roles. I beleive thats what the OP is getting at.

Take the lib at release. Many saw the lib as being WAYYYY to powerful because the zepher did a ton of damage to EVERYTHING. Instead of calling for a further defining of the lib weapons roles (like making the zephyr an AI weapon, dalton an AV weapon, and the shredder an in-between), people accepted that all 3 belly guns were different firing modes of the same weapon, and simply demanded massive nerfs. Now the core problem is STILL there, and the weapons are simply weaker.

Should ZOE be owning at close and open field?

Imagine the TTK of a shotgun on infantry in CQC.

Now imagine that same TTK on MAXes.

Starcraft 2 has 3 different factions and they manage to balance it.

Emphasis on should.

I actually agree to at least the spirit of the OP.

One of the greatest threats of the MLG encroachment upon this game is the "everything has to be super even and symmetrical" demand they typically demand of all games they touch.

But nerfs can feel so good. I cant think of many though, besides prowler indirect damage and rocketpod damage.

I've played since day two and I remember the NC scat Max pre nerf, it was awesome to behold. In my opinion they went way to far when the "Adjusted" it. (I'll say adjusted instead of nerf to make those sensitive people happy)
The fact is people go too fat coming in here raising hell about whatever happens to be the "Hot" topic is today.
Today it's Zoe last six months it was Strikers.
Look at what happened with the Striker. It was OP no doubt about it. It was a mistake to make it a lock-on launcher to begin with and SoE had problems with the code so what was the end result? People demanded an "Adjustment" and to console them SoE responded and now it's broken. It can't be used reliably, you never know if it's gonna work or kill the guy beside you.

Let's look at the Vulcan-H When it came out you couldn't kill an infantry soldier with it. A Gatling gun that sprays bullets couldn't kill an infantry soldier....SoE "Adjusted it so that it could kill infantry. Now everyone cries it's OP. Why because it can kill you? IT"S A GATLING GUN, of course it can kill you! How many bullets do you think it should take to kill you anyway? IT's simply ridiculous to demand that it can't kill you or that it take a full clip to get it done. But people are gonna cry about it anyway.
Zoe's going to end up the same as everything else if all the crybabies get their way..."Adjusted" into uselessness.

Do adjustment need to be made? Sure. But they should be small adjustments not "Nerfs"

I say return the Scat Max to it's former glory, leave the Zoe as it is and stop crying about the Vuklcan-H.

Nice theory but ZOE Max is also the best at killing vehicles and killing infantry up close.

+1 OP but TR/VS got our NC max nerfed hard which suppose to own in close range but clearly they said it wasn't fair soooooooo


RELEASE THE NERF HAMMER!

Hmm...

@OP - One empire was better at owning air than the others. Look how that turned out for the world populations.

Asymmetric balance is the goal; but you cannot have one empire being better at AA, one better at AV and one better at AI because the various units themselves aren't of equal power. Imagine not being able to challenge for air space? Libs would dominate all vehicles AND infantry.

So, no, you can't just say the TR maxes should dominate vehicles. You can say the fracture is fine against vehicles (ok), but the other empires need something as effective, even if their mechanics differ.


People will always cry out for nerfs and buffs and where there is sufficient noise, there is likely to be an imbalance. What you have to have faith in is that the developers make any adjustments carefully, gradually and frequently. That last point; make a few tweaks. Measure. Make some more. Measure. That way people can see the changes and play through them, rather than overnight discarding their previous weapon of choice, as seems to have happened with the striker. And phoenix. etc.

Players wish to discuss balance? On a forum?! The nerve!!