Aeaus
The Black Rabbits
The Gurlstas Associates
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Posted - 2007.11.14 18:32:00 -
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I haven't posted on this forum in what seems like ages, but it used to be the other way around, I used to be one of the people as active everyday attacking suggestions, pointing out flaws in balance, arguing for why some races should be buffed, some races should be nerfed, how some modules are overpowered, etc, etc.
There is a reason why I stopped posting unorganized and vague ramblings, and while just getting tired of arguing with people who I thought were entirely clueless played a role, it was also a greater understanding of the game and combat and the role of ever elusive balance.
I don't think that EVE is entirely "balanced," but a game such as EVE can never be completely balanced, and nor will such a state of the game be entirely interesting. Every race has entirely useless ships, every race has entirely suboptimal ships, every faction, every officer has modules that are not worth using, hell, nobody complains about rare modules giving 5% powergrid, because nobody really cares. Half of what exists in this game is entirely ignored, unbalanced in the direction of being useless, but having no effect on actual gameplay as players can pick up T2 modules (and ships) instead.
So then why are people up in arms against the balance of some races?
At what point is the spread of power too extreme? At what point can we really start paying attention to the hoards of threads proclaiming "Amarr is useless in PVP!!!" Well, Amarr is not useless in PVP, I fly Amarr, Gallente, and Minmatar, and I have an alt which can fly Caldari. I would choose Amarr BSs over any other race's BS, I would choose the Archon over any other carrier, but I would never bother training for a Zealot, or an Absolution, or a Curse.
Whenever somebody whines about the Zealot they compare it to the Deimos or the Ishtar, when somebody whines about the Absolution they compare it to the DPS of an Astarte, when somebody whines about the Curse they compare it to overwhelming power of the lachesis.
The fact is, looking at balance within classes is just a futile and pointless idea. The problem has always been the "generic" ships, an Omen, a Thorax, neither offers anything amazing, but the Thorax outperforms, Amarr Sucks. The Harbinger, a Myrmidon, same generic gank/tank ships, Myrmidon outperforms, Amarr Sucks.
But Amarr are so powerful in PVP when used in the right position, and so are Gallente, and so are Minmatar, and so are Caldari. When ships fill a particular niche or bring something unique (Amarr BSs can swap to mid range, while dealing almost identical damage) to a generic role then nobody argues, nobody complains, people are happy.
CCP has made great strides in trying to differentiate and make unique ships (The Khanid Lines For Instance), but they've also greatly screwed up (IMHO) the Marauders by putting them all in practically the same role (ironically only the Vargur has a unique aspect to it, but it is limited in other ways).
I feel like I've drifted off topic again ( ), it's not only about ships filling niches or excelling at roles, it's about what effects those have, these ships are the ones that are useful in PVP, these are the ones you'll typically see.
Gallente, and I don't think anybody can argue has more usable PVP ships then any other race, the other races are lagging behind. By having good ships in every class, newer players have greater opportunities to choose their own paths within a race, this is why Gallente is so alluring. Amarr, well, good "endgame" ships, very little offerings for the newer / midrange players.
I think, that with more niche ships in different classes and each race having at least one good ship in every class would effectively eliminate the majority of race related balance concerns. Although I might be smoking something.
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