Arithron
Gallente
Gallente Trade Alliance
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Posted - 2008.07.31 22:56:00 -
[1]
Ship balancing issues, as LaVista rightly points out, is just one of the smaller issues that takes up a lot of time for the CSM.
Ship balancing, IMO, can never be 100% perfect for all of the Eve players, due to the fact that a player can have characters in any of 4 races, with secondary racial characteristics. This means that CCP gives each race exactly the same set of ships ignoring racial differences, which would result in some races getting better bonuses in some areas and others in different areas, or it tries (as it has) to take account of the strengths of a race and cater ships towards those.
This means that straight off, before skills are taken into affect, there is a spectrum of different ships that will each suit different types of players. Within each class of ship for each race, there is further possible variation depending on the skills of the character and module-fitting/use ability, rigs etc etc.
Essentially, there are many possible types of final ship types, depending on a character type and skills etc. It then follows that there will be MAJOR DIFFERENCES between the ship of a certain race class and that of a DIFFERENT race (of the same class).
This is all kept continuous in-game via the storyline, with different corps producing the types of ships for each race, each ship with its strengths and weaknesses.
The problem comes when a player designs a ship they think will do well against other ships, only to find that another ship has an advantage in an area they have overlooked.
Essentially, the ship-balancing calls place the CSM (and CCP) in a no-win situation. Players want an uber-ship that can hold its own and defeat other ships. We don't like it when we overlook something and are made to pay the price on the battlefield...
Anyone watching tourney battles will quickly come to the conclusion that certain ship types are useful in certain situations; there is no one answer.
It's essentially like cars in real life: each is made to do or fulfil different functions, they all look different and have different attributes. They even are made by different designers and manufacturers...the 'betterness' of one type over another depends upon how they are employed and who is using them, and the situation they are used within.
I personally don't think the CSM should be used as a portal for ships to be tweaked to make them better or like another ship. There is a place for it; it's called the Features and Ideas Discussion forum.
edit: I don't think balancing is needed, unless there is some major area that is not working as intended (eg., speed). Variety, as they say, is the spice of life.
Arithron
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