So, how is ArenaNet balancing record?

[EpicName.4523]

I'm someone who recently started playing GW 2 and have no idea how good (or bad) is Anet when it comes to balancing.

 

However, I do sense a lot of anxiety on the forums about this upcoming patch. Why? What is their record when it comes to balancing?

Do they have the habit of overnerfing professions or leaving stuff broken? Are the balancing changes coming often enough for you? Do devs listen to feedback?

 

I've been browsing the forums for a few days now trying to find some preview on what is to come and can only draw one conclusion. - This "silence before the storm" treatment is bad policy. You cannot leave everyone in the dark, release some probably major changes (from what we've seen about mesmer) and expect everyone to be fine with it. Why the secrecy?

[Sephylon.4938]

"balance sledge hammer" is a term that pops up alot when my friends and I talk about how anet balances things. The recent preview of whats to come with mesmer coined the term "balancing wrecking ball"

[Xillllix.3485]

They kinda do things randomly and break things that worked, like the elementalist fury in the last patch.

[mercury ranique.2170]

I think (as usual) there is a ton of panic and in the end it is very mild. The biggest elements are the condition overhaul. They exchange stacks for duration. The goal is to have the total damage output about the same. So for example, when it was 3 stacks that last 2 seconds, it will now be 2 stacks lasting 3 seconds. So less dps, but the same damage overall.

The second part is the mesmer shatter overhaul. not many details are known, but there too it is a bit of switching of abilities from left to right and from right to left. The more popular builds get hit hard, but it also gives opportunity to new builds.

 

Overall, Arenanet balance patches are pretty mild and balanced. Just know that some builds will be less effective (and people will claim it ruined their class), but actually, the class is tackled very balanced and there will still be fairly optimal builds.

[Sephylon.4938]

I agree with mercury, it's just that because of their balancing schedule (once every quarter, though I heard they're making it more frequent) all the things that they do feel like a mallet to the face rather than pinpricks once a month or so.

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

I think it's mixed. Part of that is we spend a minimum of 3 months playing our toons the way we do, and then Anet comes along with the balance pen and we have to go spend all that time trying to re-trait ourselves to get back to where we were before the balance patch. Sometimes they do things that make us go, "What the heck? Alacrity on Ventari for Rev? Are they crazy?" Sometimes we get things like, "Facet of Nature nerfed by 50%? That bites, but it was too OP." Sometimes we get, "Banners are now 10 man? WOO-HOO!"

 

Sometimes they listen to our complaints and fix things the balance patch broke - I think it was last time around there was a major change to Necro and Anet did roll-back one of the nerf's or corrected an unexpected side-effect nerf. Sometimes we just have to accept a change that we don't particularly like.

[Asum.4960]

Balance has gotten alot better recently, but over all, it hasn't been that fantastic.

 

Too infrequent, to random, to drastic and maybe most importantly way to little communication.

[TheGrimm.5624]

> @"EpicName.4523" said:

> I'm someone who recently started playing GW 2 and have no idea how good (or bad) is Anet when it comes to balancing.

>

> However, I do sense a lot of anxiety on the forums about this upcoming patch. Why? What is their record when it comes to balancing?

> Do they have the habit of overnerfing professions or leaving stuff broken? Are the balancing changes coming often enough for you? Do devs listen to feedback?

>

> I've been browsing the forums for a few days now trying to find some preview on what is to come and can only draw one conclusion. - This "silence before the storm" treatment is bad policy. You cannot leave everyone in the dark, release some probably major changes (from what we've seen about mesmer) and expect everyone to be fine with it. Why the secrecy?

 

I think this is a loaded question. You have to consider any time there is a balance patch someone is going to be impacted. Be that a class they play or one that they play against. Rock/Paper/Scissors syndrome. On top of that if its a class that someone plays they might also have built up their toon and its gear based on the ways that skills and abilities functioned. So when you change that you have a chance to impact all that time that a player spent gearing up that toon. I admit, I am mental and typically have one of each class and specialization so I spread that impact out, others I know that are less alt-o-holics this hit can mean now no longer playing a toon they enjoyed for a long time. Like any experience, negative ones always stand out more when you think things are running as expected.

 

Each person is going to see these differently. I like balance patches since it might open up new options and play styles and that keep things fresh. But I understand the otherside as well since when you lose a combination you enjoyed as well you are back to the drawing board and that may mean you now have a toon to shelf until they can be reworked.

 

As far as secrecy, one big reason that you might think shouldn't impact it but does is the trading post. As people figure out the balance patch some gear food/utilities might now become an item in demand and that can cause serious fluctuation of prices as early adopters and TP barons see a new market and capitalize on it. That mean seem trivial but when it moves mats from silvers to gold that can impact things quite a bit. When a gear set that used to cost you 10 gold now runs at 120 gold, that can hurt. So level the playing field and inform all players at the same time.

 

It also reduces some impact by not having people guess what a change is versus seeing it themselves. If anything will happen it is that the sky, truly, will fall this day after all this time...though you have higher odds of being killed by a coconut today, just sayin.

 

Good gaming!