I lold so hard!

I'venever tried to be a beta-tester, but I've sure heard their stories about they somehow screwed up a game like god-knows-what. And I laughed everytime. X3
I love the way you draw; it's so simple, yet very funny. |3

Thanks! That's just the kind of reaction I want, and I'm so glad I got it. I am inspired by the drawing style of Hergé, although we're obviously on a different skill level...

I'm going through something like this myself right now...

"What skills does a Swordsman need for PvP?"
"Leap smash."
"And?"
"There is no "and" just spam it."

"What skills does a Summoner Need."
"Summoners need skills?"

"What about an archer? What skills should he have for PvP?"
"The ability to Escape"
"Yeah, it shouldn't take that long to run away."

Maybe PvP was not meant to be implemented in this game I play...?

"Balance" in these kinds of computer games always struck me as silly. You have a made up set of properties with arbitrary values that is interacting with another set of made up properties with arbitrary values, and they are then to be compared to how a different set of made up values of made up properties interact with others and so on and so on, and in the end you come up with the color orange and a rectangle that are supposedly balanced.

...And witches burn because they are made out of wood. Since wood floats and ducks also float, it means that if someone weighs the same as a duck they are also made out of wood, and therefore a witch.

Balance is an important issue in games like this because of the idea of skill (Which, I admit is also arguably arbitrary). Balance is not an absolute, but a game is fun when you can choose whatever you want and still be able to win. If the game is unbalanced to the point of whether you win or lose being a direct correlation to which character you pick, it's not considered fun. In my example it just illustrates that the PvP can't be fun, because it relies almost entirely on your class.

The problem though comes from the fact that the classes already are balanced, but for PvE instead. The thing though is that the enemies were designed to be both numerous and heavy. The players however were only meant to take very few hits while dealing damage in the hundreds constantly for over a period of several minutes. It's a very awkward transition, and it simply doesn't work.

So yes, burn the witch!

The point I wanted to make is that it's not very useful to talk about balance since there's no real metric. How do you measure the power of a character compared to the power of another character? There are too many variables, and they are all made up numbers. I've never seen a game with balanced classes, RPG, FPS, RTS or otherwise. What is balance? And what is being balanced?

It gets even more absurd when you start to balance particular things against each other. I saw a serious debate saying the ability of one class to make potions was too powerful in comparison to a sword that another class could use. How does the ability to mix drinks compare to a sword? What property of an abstract concept such as an ability is it that's being weighted against what property of an entirely physical object such as a sword?

I see what you're getting at. But we're actually talking about opposites sides of the spectrum. I'm talking about examples where Balance has been thrown recklessly to the wind, examples where the winning formula is "Pick this Class, Buy these Skills." You on the other hand are playing examples from the other side, where the balance is already close enough to make a fun and entertaining game system, yet there are still enough differences that people will complain that the potion that give you +20 Stength is better than buying the sword of +16 Strength, therefore that squishy mage gains more than the tank paladin, etc. etc.

But then think about it this way - Would you rather people whining about a potion being stronger than a sword, or a level 2 butterfly critting you for 350 while you can only try and loot it?

It seems pretty random to me. I've played finished games which have been exactly that - "pick this class, choose these skills". It always follows a pattern, too. But then that's because every game has the same classes with the same abilities... and the same balance issues. If there is a spectrum, I haven't seen it. It seems to me that the less you care about balance and the more you care about making sense - the better the balance. It makes sense that a scholarly gentleman in heavy robes isn't able to win a sword fight against an athletic soldier even if their careers have been just as long. Imba? Yes. Makes sense? Yes.

*snicker*

Bugs can be dangerous.

Especially the flying ones that regenerate their HP every time you hit them.