While the new maps are coming, which is a good thing. The current gameplay meta had some tweaks here and there.
However, some mercs do not provide anything useful to the team, other mercs are too powerful, all depending on who you ask.
Better question is: What should be SD’s top priority? Considering their resources and the time it takes to update.
If so, then the amount of progress done to gameplay meta balance is concerning…
Yeah so I don’t know how work is divided up at SD. I voted for maps, but mostly as a representation of more content in general for DB. I don’t think this game can be supported very well solely on the backs of us competitive, number-crunching folks, so it needs to have a good base of content when the beta stage ends. The next map or two could very well do that (+Turtle).
Balance is an issue, but I don’t think it’s as bad as many people make it out to be. Obviously a lot of mercs/weapons need tweaks but the game is in a playable state, certain free rotations notwithstanding… But these things will never be perfect. That being said, there are some balance issues that ought to be remedied before a full release.
I really hope that the game will see a lot of support at the full release, assuming SD plays their cards right. The influx of cash should drive more consistent, substantial updates.
So ultimately my vote went to maps because as we (presumably) approach full release, those probably take more resources than balance.
why theres no third option that said
“i want both to be worked on together”
As much as a lot of people would hate to admit it, comp is only a small aspect of this game. Almost all of DB’s population play PUB matches, where you’re a lot less likely to see any sort of meta.
For one, larger servers like 8v8 add an increasingly random value to combat, meaning games are less about countering other mercs and more about actually playing the game. Another thing to note is that the majority of people who play DB aren’t at the skill level where this merc meta would be an issue. Sparks, for example, can be horribly godlike in the right hands in ranked. But she’s hard to learn, so this issue barely ever shows itself at all.
As much as I hate to say it, with a population like this, SD’s goal should really be to cater to new players more than the rest of us. And well, when you first start the game, what becomes more apparent? The occasional unbalanced merc, or the fact that there are only 6 maps in the DB’s most popular game mode?
Of course more maps doesn’t mean balance should stay as it is forever, I believe they do need a balance, but maps are far more important to me. I know if it came down to it, I’d definitely rather continue playing this game with more maps even if no balance changes were made, versus a perfectly balanced game with almost no content.
Maps, cause the meta as is can’t be changed too much. Any changes would need to be serious revamps of spread, mercs, cards, etc
Honestly, I don’t feel like voting on this, because everyone’s view of balance is different. I haven’t honestly seen what the “Meta rebalance” would look like, in all of my time on the forums and talking with people…
Also, it’s not my game, I’m not in development, so I wouldn’t honestly know what they were going for on TTK. I think the majority of the game (Merc-power wise) feels balanced though, and maybe rather than mercs changing, objectives and the style in doing them should be updated to match the merc strengths and make mercs across the board more viable. Maybe add in smoky patches of areas for recons to be more useful. Add curved vents or something that allows more vertical and constant movement around the map (engineer speeds up removing or repairing vent covers, etc. Well placed proxy mines could seal off these entry points, etc. Ditto for Bushwhacker, or even a fletcher that uses stickies as a seal-off. (ugh… bad fletchers) Maybe instead of making almost every primary objective Speed or Engineer necessary, it takes time to complete. Imagine a much longer control point style approach, as one person inputs data. The other team hacks their data away when they’re on the site, etc. I feel DB just needs more variance in map features, to really offer the mercs themselves more utility/ less utility to balance.
And I don’t just mean one map gets this feature, because then that would mean one or another merc is dominant. I mean the whole maps gets reworked. If you meant all of this under GAMEPLAY META balance, then I would absolutely 100% vote for this.
[spoiler]
Maybe they could touch Rhino and his counters when he’s on a heal station a little more… That in Ranked is pretty crappy when it’s a good rhino and a good aura… Most of the mercs have their niche and their playerbase. Maybe if SD used more graphs to balance, they could see what mercs are more played/ less played, and the user efficiences with each. I dunno. [/spoiler]
Just food for thought I guess.
maps maps maps
balance is easy to address, SD could spit balance changes if they wanted to; maps on the other hand take a lot more effort and manhours to produce
what is meta balance?
top priority: balance
top resource hog: javelin followed by maps o:)
What about both ?
We’re stuck with the same maps for so long, it’s really about time to get some fresh maps. Dockyard is right around the corner yet so far away. People are going kind of fed up from playing the same areas over and over again. Gameplay balance ? Well, balance is always an issue. Getting balance tweaks on a regular basis is always welcomed.
However, about balance changes, I’d point out that it’s not really about finding the perfect balance between mercs. It’s mostly about creating a meta that would be enjoyable for most players. You just can’t achieve perfect balance. There will always be one guy a tad bit above everyone else.
As nice as new maps are, I honestly can’t give a shit about them until a ton of stuff is rebalanced or reworked. Why would I want to play Dockyard when the entire thing is a long sniper sightline?
[quote=“Szakalot;c-225769”]maps maps maps
balance is easy to address, SD could spit balance changes if they wanted to; maps on the other hand take a lot more effort and manhours to produce[/quote]
I want maps too, but balance is not easy to adjust either if they’re throwing it out like spitfire especially… It also depends on how they go about trying to balance…
Honestly… are these teams related or separate? Does DB do balance and map changes together or apart?
So wouldn’t you want it to come out sooner so they can see and fix any sniper related unbalances?
New Maps means new strategies, new strategies means new metas, new metas means more balancing
New Maps= Gameplay Balance(ing).
Also, why are there no options for new mercenaries? I’m a newbie, and having 19 mercs to unlock and play with is stuffing me already, but I’m sure the veterans are getting kind of pase (or however a cultured person spells it) of the same mercs.
TF2 proves that 9 characters are enough to make a game fun and diverse. Overwatch has shown us that over 20 characters isn’t enough to satisfy people. What do you think?
[quote=“Xenithos;c-225854”][quote=“Szakalot;c-225769”]maps maps maps
balance is easy to address, SD could spit balance changes if they wanted to; maps on the other hand take a lot more effort and manhours to produce[/quote]
I want maps too, but balance is not easy to adjust either if they’re throwing it out like spitfire especially… It also depends on how they go about trying to balance…
Honestly… are these teams related or separate? Does DB do balance and map changes together or apart?[/quote]
Ideally, map designers and game tweakers would be in thesame team or closely connected, especially when we’re talking about a competetice game.
Art Stylists deserve their own special corner.
So wouldn’t you want it to come out sooner so they can see and fix any sniper related unbalances?[/quote]
Everyone knows that snipers are inherently broken right now, it won’t take a new map to see that.
I honestly want both, but the lack of consistent balance changes is problematic. They are fairly infrequent and leave mercs like Thunder or Phantom stuck in a bad spot (either too powerful or too weak) for months.