Lets discuss Game Balance in RPG design and how it affects PoE

[Elerond]

What is a class?

 

A class is an extensible program-code-template for creating objects, providing initial values for state (member variables) and implementations of behavior (member functions, methods).

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2014 by Elerond

[HiddenX]

@Elerond - I'm a Grognard...

 

[HiddenX]

Grognardia:

Links of interest

The original D&D discussion


PS:
Muscle Wizard:
 

 

Cool article about balancing that describes most problems PoE will face:

Warrior, Wizard, Thief: Class, Balance and Archetypes in Computer RPGs
 

...The problem isn't that a classless system is doomed to fail in one area or another but that it represents a more complex model of the world and must take into account a wider range of variables and address a greater range of needs. By deepening the representation of the fantasy archetypes, by providing thieves with richer thieving experiences, wizards with subtler magic experiences, and warriors with more demanding combat experiences the developers can appeal to a wider range of players without sacrificing balance or discrediting the archetypes. The solution is NOT to reduce gameplay to a perfectly balanced plane of combat bonuses and penalties, but to expand gameplay to new dimensions of activity where these tradeoffs are no longer required and no longer make sense. If you're going to give players the option of creating new archetypes, you need to give those archetypes a world to live in.

Good Luck, Obsidian!

 

[Lephys]

 

There’s a concept in video gaming called “Perfect Imbalance.” It is best described by this Extra Credits clip. The short version is that there is a game design approach where one archetype option (in RPG’s, this would be a player character archetype) is slightly more attractive on a mechanical level.

 

The key word is "slightly."

 

I think the short version is that seeking perfect balance is futile, and often leads to unintended fun loss. Seeking balance, however, is fine, in moderation.

 

But, I have to shake my head in disbelief when someone uses this argument, wrongly, to back up such things as "don't worry... I know this class is lame right now, but in like 5 more levels, it'll be really fun!"

 

If the goal is fun, then I don't understand how fun loss up front should be endured in favor of bonus fun later, while trying to distribute the fun more evenly is somehow a fool' errand.