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Guild Wars: Skill Balancing
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
The Guild Wars team has updated their Wiki page with this info on Skill Balancing.
Rather than introducing another skill update this week, we're finishing a new system to balance key skills separately for PvP and PvE. Within the next few weeks, we'll introduce PvP versions for a handful of skills. These skills will work the same way as normal skills, but have different number values (damage, healing, cost, recharge, and so on). We will do this as sparingly as possible and start with very few skills. So that we don't confuse players, we intend to keep as many skills unchanged as we can.
PvP versions are designed to target only specific skills. With such a system we can revert high-impact nerfs, such as Light of Deliverance and Defensive Anthem, to make them strong again in PvE. When we see something becoming severely imbalanced in PvP, we'd like to avoid harsh PvE nerfs without creating different versions of a large number of skills.
Skills that differ in PvP will have (PvP) at the end of their names when in PvP outposts and matches. These skills will automatically be adjusted within PvP outposts and matches. All players have to do is equip the skill as normal, and it will use the PvP version where appropriate.
We've decided to release our next skill balance update simultaneously with these changes. We can take full advantage of the new skill balancing mechanism and avoid multiple balances over a short time frame.
Read more here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
When will game developers actually start earning their keep and implement systems that automatically scale abilities. Flagged for PvP or in a PvP area and it automatically scales abilities to fall in line with their PvP vision, move back to a PvE area and it scales it back to normal. You don't have to have to seperate sets of abilities or 20 hot bars for easy access to the different versions of skills. You don't want them to put level 50 buffs on a level 10 player, have it automatically scale down to the appropriate strength for the recipient and so forth. No more scrabling for the correct level abilities in any aspect of a game.
With PvE raiding, it has never been a question of being "good enough". I play games to have fun, not to be a simpering toady sitting through hour after hour of mind numbing boredom and fawning over a guild master in the hopes that he will condescend to reward me with shiny bits of loot. But in games where those people get the highest progression, anyone who doesn't do that will just be a moving target for them and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay money for the privilege. - Neanderthal
Vrazule I'm confused: Are you praising their approach to finally making the PvP changes separate from the PvE or are you criticizing it? Everything you listed sounds like what Anet accomplished with this; but starting off with "When will developers learn!" kinda throws me off.
..good to hear that.. hope they implement it soon
Hmmm, maybe it's due to the comment that they are not scaling PvE skills for PvP,but rather they are creating seperate PvP skills. From the sound of it, you will have an ability icon for PvE and a seperate one for PvP. So now you have two different systems to worry about instead of an integrated one that scales depending on your situation.
With PvE raiding, it has never been a question of being "good enough". I play games to have fun, not to be a simpering toady sitting through hour after hour of mind numbing boredom and fawning over a guild master in the hopes that he will condescend to reward me with shiny bits of loot. But in games where those people get the highest progression, anyone who doesn't do that will just be a moving target for them and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay money for the privilege. - Neanderthal
IMO scaling alone wouldn't calm the rabid fans that QQ everytime their favorite skill gets nerfed. Skill balancing would be much more flexible if it included the ability for devs to change the way the skill works between PvE and PvP. This is not to say that all skills targeted for balancing will have different mechanics for each playstyle; it's just a foot in the door.
Though, I agree that having 2 sides of a skill to track can be cumbersome. We'll have to see what happens once the skill changes are implemented.
Hmmm, maybe it's due to the comment that they are not scaling PvE skills for PvP,but rather they are creating seperate PvP skills. From the sound of it, you will have an ability icon for PvE and a seperate one for PvP. So now you have two different systems to worry about instead of an integrated one that scales depending on your situation.
To quote their announcement:
"Skills that differ in PvP will have (PvP) at the end of their names when in PvP outposts and matches. These skills will automatically be adjusted within PvP outposts and matches. All players have to do is equip the skill as normal, and it will use the PvP version where appropriate."
So, hypothetically, let's say the did adjustments to Searing Flames, and my SF Nuker goes from Lions Arch to Random Arena....I don't have to change my skillbar, it'll adjust SF accordingly.
Also remember that in the environment of GW it's hard to "scale to level" because everyone in PvP is generally level 20, and the abilities already scale vs. the attribute points specd in the outpost. So scaling by level totally defeats the purpose of the GW character process in terms of PvP anyway.
So that's why I was confused....they have implemented a system that "automatically" scales to the PvP version, and Guild Wars skills were never level based, there's never been multiple Hotbars to toggle through (Unless you're absolutely bothered by loading up your Build templates you saved).
You've never played Guild Wars have you?
1) You can't get flagged for PvP in Guild Wars. It's an instance-based game.
2) They mentioned that they do not want to confuse players, that is why they will be implementing this system slowly. Can you imagine the confusion if all of a sudden skills started changing their effectiveness?
3) You can only take 8 skills along with you. Where on earth you'd like to find 20 hotbars, I have no clue...
4) Guild Wars has 20 levels, nowhere near 50. Apart from level-based arenas, almost all PvP is done at level 20...you can create a max level PvP character right from the beginning in fact.
Your "proposed" system would confuse me WAY more than what the dev team is doing. If you're going to argue your case at least argue it against a game you've already played. If you HAVE played Guild Wars, well then clearly you haven't played it enough.