Dealing With Fairness and Balance In Video Games

MarkN writes "Video games are subject to a number of balance issues from which traditional games have largely stayed free. It can be hard finding players of comparable skill-level to create even match-ups, diverse gameplay options can quickly become irrelevant if someone finds a broken feature that beats everything else, and some online games make your ability to play competitively a question of how much time and money you've invested in a game, rather than the skill you possess. In this article, I talk about some of the issues relating to fairness and balance in games, in terms of the factors and strategies under the player's control, the game's role in potentially handicapping players, and the role a community of gamers plays in setting standards for how games are to be played. What are your thoughts on managing a 'fair and balanced' gaming experience?"

Comments

Connection speed comes to mind

[Skurge357]

I'm stuck with an older DSL, since my local service providers are not finished upgrading here. 768Kb. If I'm going PvP against someone with 5Mb fibre or a T1, frame lag is going to get me my ass handed to me in a few seconds. One possible way to fix that (at least for PvP) would be to adjust the speed to match the slowest connection involved. Obviously not good for overall game play, but in direct combat with other players.

Re:Cannot be balanced nor fair

[drinkypoo]

I love how your sig is about anti-trolls, yet you're doing it yourself.

I love how you don't know what a troll is.

What has creating a balanced scoring system got to do with griefing?

He explicitly created the opposite of a balanced scoring system, that's why I quoted the part where he said a skilled player could take out lots and lots of unskilled players and still have their ranking go up due to points. I guess reading is too hard for gamers these days.

Obvious troll is obvious...

You and the other people who think I am trolling are obviously idiots. The guy explicitly tells us that he created a system which rewards griefing (you get ranked up for killing players who are essentially defenseless against you) and you want to give him a medal, and call me a troll for pointing it out?