Game balance and you.

Discussion in 'PlanetSide 2 Gameplay Discussion' started by Jube, May 31, 2013.

  1. Jube

    So you say you want game balance but do you? Really?
    What we have here is a evolving three faction fight.
    Since according to the game lore each faction develops their own weapons, we can assume that one of these three factions will develop weapons that at least for a short period of time gives them an advantage in the war.
    After a report of this new weapons system makes it to the other two factions commands we can assume plans are being developed to counter said advantage.

    That being said the game should NEVER be really balanced. If they did really balance all the weapons the game would be mediocre. The real fun of the game is getting that new weapon that gives your faction an advantage and exploiting it. Admit it, the NC had a blast when it was the Scatter Max, the same can be said about the TR and their anti-air defense and now the VS with their Zoe Max's,
    Relax it will be short lived the weapons designers are hard at work and soon your faction will have their OP weapon for a time.
    That's what makes a fun game! And SoE makes more money that way, so it's a win win.
    • Up x 2
  2. Bankrotas

    But isn't is one part of Nerfwars, to nerfwhine?
  3. Jube

    I suppose it's just the nature of the beast that people feel the need to decry a weapon as OP when what the really mean is I want one.

    But as I originally stated the real fun is in having that OP weapon for a time. No need to worry SoE will be sure to spread the love to each faction in turn. They wish to make a profit and the easiest way to do that is through weapons sales. Sure people buy the decals and other aesthetics when they are happy but the real money is weapons.
    So don't get angry that VS has the Lobsterboy op weapon. Your turn will come.
    Look at the bright side....they have to look that stupid to use their OP weapon so they kinda have to pay a higher price.
  4. IamDH

    Well theres a difference between something gamebreaking and something fun
    How long do you think it'll take for this?
    Don't you ever notice that some factions have been left out?
    I would agree with you if you were referring to fun
    You assumed that if one faction gets an OP weapon all the others would, i find that unlikely (or they should release them all at once). I agree that the forums cry too much and make false claims and every faction has something to be proud/happy of but accepting someone to go rambo mode by himself is abit to much
    in a team based game
  5. Sharpe


    Good players will not over-pull OP stuff - only the stat padders and scrubs use the obviously OP and broken things that get added to the game. Which sadly is quite alot of folk.
  6. Jube

    There are opinions on any side of an argument, I'm not saying your wrong, I'm sure there are those out there who play as you describe.
    Surely though you have used an OP weapon before and had fun blowing **** up with it before putting it aside, right?
    The whole purpose of producing it was to sell it to you. If SoE sold it to you they accomplished their mission, which is to make money.
    They'll balance it later when they introduce the next OP weapon and sell it to your nemesis, who may or may not have your scruples.

    The whole point is there is no need to come into these forums and rage about nerf this or OP that.
    I've done it myself in the past, but as time passed and I saw how things turn around it became clear to me that this is how SoE makes their money, selling OP weapons. They will eventually get around to balancing them, when sales drop off.
    There's no need to get excited after everyone in the VS has purchased a Lobsterboy suit and all the TR has their Fracture purchased, Soe will bring out the nerfbat and you'll see your "Balance".
    Of course at the same time they will come out with an OP weapon for the Infiltrator or Light Assault and it will begin again.
    OMG that's OP nerf it!
  7. Konfuzfanten

    Some of the best players i have fought against or with in PS2 or other games will use any tactic or trick short of actually cheating to win. Thats called a winning mentality. I use OP weapons all the time, and i still have a problem with them and want them balance.

    But ill be damn if im gonna sacrifice my ability to be the best over some randon sense of fairness when i can turn a corner at get instant gib by some noob with a scatterMAX.

    In the end of the day i play to win/kill my opponent within an environment, doesnt matter what weapon im using - a kill is a kill.
  8. Konfuzfanten

  9. Sharpe


    Oh I get you, but "best" is a very relative term. It means a completely different thing to me than it does to you.
    I don't consider for instance A2AM users good players, or people who live in their MAX suits only (especially with ZOE and fractures nowadays) or folks who strap C4 to their flash and suicide run - they may have a "winning mentality" but to me, they are just aweful players.
  10. IamDH

    Naturally, most players will pull out the OP gun
    As would I
  11. LahLahSr

    This whole line of thinking about balance being a leap-frog game, would possibly make sense if that was the declared approach.

    However, it is not - so we can chalk this thread up to "one for the SOE apologists"
  12. Jube

    How long? Until sales fall off.
    No factions have been left out. Each faction has had it's OP weapons come and go.
    You don't agree that having an OP weapon for a time is fun? hmmm
    Oh no I do not assume all would get them. They all WILL get them just not all at ONCE.
    Teamwork always wins over the Rambo efforts of a few always will.
  13. SgtBreastroker

    Actually that's wrong. Why must a large portion of the Planetside 2 community use this mentality? There isn't actually anything insanely OP in the game.

    If you want to be respected, you don't pull the overpowered weapons.
    If you want to have fun, you do whatever you damn please.
    If you want to win, you use anything that will give you an advantage over the enemy.

    It is as simple as that, using something which you think is "OP" does not make you a stat padder or a scrub. You should go relearn those definitions before using them.
    • Up x 1
  14. Jube

    Oh I see, you think that because SoE has not outright declared to you that they wish to "Leap-frog" balance and sell the next OP weapon to as many people as possible. I'm wrong. Hmmmm
    OK I'm wrong. At least in your opinion.
  15. IamDH

    I am convinced and agree with the overall message you are trying to send
    its just when one team has something and the other team doesnt have one (or a weaker equivilent) it causes an uproar
    In an ideal world, every faction should shine in certain areas according to their lore
  16. LahLahSr

    LoL..no, my fellow denser-than-average forum poster...the burden of proof is on you since you imaged this all on your own. But if it helps in your struggle with reason, the question is: "because SoE has not outright declared to you that they wish to "Leap-frog" balance and sell the next OP weapon to as many people as possible." you are right? hmmm..
    OK you're right. At least in your opinion.

    Meanwhile, the rest of us read what the developers actually DO declare and understand clearly that their official line is that they strive for a general state of balance at all times.

    Now if you want to dust off your tinfoil hat and make the argument that their "real" motivation is what you initially speculated, perhaps it would merit some consideration.

    All the puerile forum-fencing aside, surely you must realize that such a strategy is doomed to fail unless it's declared - and probably doomed anyway. SOE might fool some people for a while, but the vast majority of players would turn their back as one recently purchased weapon after another would undergo drastic changes for the worse. And even if such a strategy was declared, most people would obviously see it as a transparent poly to get people to continuously pay to stay competitive.

    So, no matter how you look at it, it would be a bad idea, an unpopular idea and a poor business decision.
  17. RaZz0R

    So is finding large fights or towers zerg'd - spawning there and using C4 to get 4 ~ 5 kills per brick padding, using C4 in an OP way or just killing the stupid?
  18. Jube

    Hmmm. How this turned into major issue thread is beyond me, when the whole point was stop your whining and ********.

    But here is an example for you.

    For several months there where posts from snipers complaining that Heavy Assaults were using LMG's with 6X scopes at long range, basically sniping snipers.
    I play HA and when I read the post I thought, "Really sniping snipers with a TGM-50?" Sounds fun so I went and bought one, certed it up and went hunting snipers. I have to admit the snipers had a point the 6X scope was indeed in need of "Balancing" . But said balancing was not forthcoming. Why not? The code for scope sway is already in the game on the 10X and 12X scopes. How hard could it be, little more than a "Hotfix"?

    Now you can come up with whatever theory you like, but mine is this.

    There are what 2500-3000 readers/poster on this forum and like me people read that thread and bought their factions LGM that can support a 6X scope. And like me they tried it out. And when they found that it was indeed need balancing and was kind of OP and fun to exploit they told the people in their outfits. Therefore sales of LMG's went up.
    Now from a business stand-point do you really think SoE would be in a hurry to fix that issue? Or do you think they would wait until sales fell off?

    Now don't get me wrong I believe SoE has every right to sell anything in this game and waiting for sales to fall off to implement a balance of a given weapon is perfectly ok with me. I can tell you this if I where in charge at SoE that is exactly what would happen. Of course I wouldn't advertise that to you.

    Call me crazy if you like but I don't think I'm far from the mark here.
  19. LahLahSr

    Perhaps we are approaching this dynamic from opposite angles, then. No I don't think you're crazy and yes, I do think you have a point with the example you give here. An item becomes popular because knowledge of it's utility becomes more widespread. People buy the item. Perhaps the item, from a certain point of view, could be considered OP. Perhaps it works as intended in the designs overall scheme of things. Regardless, SOE would have little reason to rush to change it, seeing that it achieves commercial success.

    I took your point of view to be a different one, however. The idea that SOE would deliberately introduce new OP items to boost sales, as a preconceived strategy. Then later, follow it up with a nerf and then introduce something OP for another faction - the later nerf it and introduce an OP item for the third faction...all as a strategy of "leap-frogging balance" is not one I think would win hearts and minds of the customers. It would be too transparently a ploy to milk revenue and after a couple of cycles, there would be too many players who would catch on. Everyone's previous purchases would become relatively useless, compared to the latest greatest. It would also turn PS2 into a very obvious "pay to win" game, which isn't a model that has proven itself to be sustainable.At the very least if would seem as a "betrayal" if not overtly declared. And if overtly declared, it would turn many away since the "pay to win" scheme just isn't very popular. Based on SOE's commentary over the months, nothing suggests that they have adopted such a strategy - furthermore, their stance points towards a desire to have an overall balanced game at any given time.

    Their ability to achieve it, may be subject to frequent criticism here on this forum - although this is mostly on an item-comparison basis. We don't really see any sensible sweeping claims that any one faction is systematically and generally more OP than any other.

    If I misunderstood you, then perhaps we don't see things so differently after all.
  20. VinLAURiA

    So basically SOE's main goal is to make money above all else and they do that by selling pay-to-win gear, and if we're smart we'd take advantage of their greed and apathy towards balance and use overpowered stuff because the goal of this game is to win anyway; that's what you guys are saying?

    That's a very cynical mindset. That kind of thinking towards VALVe and their balancing habits is what made the TF2 playerbase ultimately so toxic (well, along with the Mann-conomy.) Aren't we better than that?