Joan Greywind
Temnava Legion
No Holes Barred
72
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Posted - 2013.07.24 05:35:00 -
[1] - Quote
I don't play dust, so this will about EVE.
It will help if you look at it from a developer's point of view. When they decide to do any sort of change it is based on numbers and stats. It is not (usually at least) based on a whim, personal biases towards ship types, or just f ******* their playerbase. rightly so sometimes you can make wrong assumptions from these numbers and do something wrong.
Now for the examples:
When they nerfed heavy missiles, they didn't just do it because some people felt it was overpowered, but they did it because heavy missiles were by far the top killers of pvp ships. So their heavy usage means they are overpowered and need to be brought in line with other weapon systems. Does that mean that some niche role of heavy missiles got an undeserved nerf? maybe (such as site runners), but overall the change will usually bring more "balance" to the game.
Now to the change of the t1 cruisers and frigates. Now rightly so they got buffed, but still t2 can easily beat t1 any day of the week (assuming similar real life pilot skills). But now instead of t2 trumping t1 in a hilarious way, t1 stands a chance if a certain gang does it right. The change of t1 cruisers and frigates didn't come at a whim, the numbers showed that in any pvp encounter they were horribly under powered. Before the change no serious pilot flew t1 frigates or cruisers because they were simply so weak, and that is (in my humble opinion unbalanced). From personal experience I can tell you now we fly moa's, vexors. In null caracels are finally a real doctrine. It doesn't matter how you feel, what matters is the numbers, and when any kind of ship is being used relatively less than its counterparts, then it is under powered. That is why the zealot didn't changed much and the eagle got a huge buff, people actually use zealots and nobody used eagles. It is all about the usage number and stats.
Don't get me wrong they can still **** it up and over nerf or over buff something, but from the current meta you can see a wider and healthier array of ship usages, which means that the balance was a great success.
Now your argument that higher skill characters should be better at everything (that is what I took from it anyways) is also wrong. EVE developers have always been stressing that if you specialize you will always be able to reach the same effectiveness of a higher skilled player . More skill points will give you more options but will not give you a permanent advantage over newer players, and that is a very good game mechanic (imo).
Some people will always get hurt with any change in the game, but what is most important is the overall health and balance of the game, and the game is definitely healthier and more balanced than a year ago. |