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The Lost Art of Class Balancing

Posted by Zonk on from the down-with-dr00ds dept.

GamePro has a look at the delicate touch needed when balancing classes in a Massive title. From the article: "Bad class balancing has been an endemic problem to MMORPGs--unfortunately especially in games where PvP is a major component. Dark Age of Camelot tanked the usability of the original classes with the emergence of Vampiirs in the ill-reputed Catacombs expansion. Users were incensed when Creature Handlers ruled the universe in Star Wars Galaxies--then angered even more when the class was beat down with the nerf bat in subsequent patches."

1 of 214 comments (clear)

  1. Most game designers just don't understand RPG's by Banner · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's that simple.

    A long long time ago there was a game system called Chivalry and Sorcery, whose greatest contribution to the gaming world was an essay called 'The Ecology of Monsters'. This is required reading for anyone who is going to do game design (along with 'Drop the Rock').

    What it comes down to is this: If your creature/character is all powerful, then why hasn't it taken over the eco-system/world and killed off everything else? All Monsters/Races/Classes MUST have an Achillies heel. They MUST have weak spots, they MUST be able to be killed. They must have some natural enemy.

    In WOW we have Shamans who are really over powered. Compared to the Alliance side actually, all of the Horde is more powerful (which according to rumor is because all the dev's play Horde and not Alliance - why am I not surprised?). The way to have really balanced the game out would be to make Shamans and Paladins equally powerful as group leaders (but in subtlely different ways) and then make one of the weaker classes the bane of these more powerful characters. That would of course encourage folks to play those less powerful classes.

    And of course the REAL answer to these problems is to make your DM's actually DM!! That's what they're being paid for right? TO WORK? The DM's in WOW are spectators and stink. When there is a terrible imbalance in the game the DM's are supposed to go out there and deal with it in real time. That's their job! Every good gamer knows that. A multitude of game mechanic sins can easily be handled by a good DM who gets out there and 'Deus Ex Machina's a little balance into the game.

    There will probably never be a perfect MMORPG, but that doesn't bother me. I'm there for the game, to have fun, not to rape the rules. Adults have all learned that life isn't fair so they don't mind games that aren't exactly 'balanced', as long as the games are fun!. And that is far more important than 'Balance' will ever be.