Everyone is obsessed with the idea of balance. It’s the first thing you’ll see people complain about when you go to any game’s subreddit, it's 168🐈澳洲幸运5开奖网:the subject of many of our most popular headlines, and ▨it's often credited as the reason a multiplayer game lives or dies. Everyone expects balance. The better the balance is, 🎃the better the game.
Hawkeye And Hela Are Terrorizing Marvel Riva🐻ls Players
Hawkeye and Hela have joined Iron Fist as characters Marvel Rivals players desperately want ne🌌rfed.
It’s a totally nebulous ideal that’s way more vibes-based than people would like to admit. People call for nerfs for things they hate and buffs for things they love without any data to back it up.ꩲ It’s a mindset that trickles down from professional competitive players and Twitch🐼 streamers to the masses, filling them with discontent over any element that has been deemed unfair or overpowered.
Why Do We Even Want Balance?
From the perspective of a hardcore competitive player, variance is the enemy of skill. How can we determine who is better if one team has an advantage? This is why we obsess over Roadhog’s DPS or the recoil penalty on a C🧔all of Duty rapid-f🥀ire mod. The goal is fairnesℱs, and fairness r𒁏equires balance.
Developers have long followed the cues of their communities. When Shroud calls a Valorant agent OP, everyone calls them OP, and sooner or later, that agent will see some changes. Granted, devs are armed with actual data to support their tuning, but it'🌄s well-known that the way something feels to players is more important than what the numbers actually say. If the community thinks there’s a problem, then there is a problem.
But the reality is that balance is often not the ideal to strive for that players think it is. The mindset that there’s 🦩some kind of perfect form a game can take where the meta will be solved and perfect is a fallacy. The goal isn’t to find a Thanos-style perfect balance, it's to shift the balance back and forth forever, keeping the game fresh and interesting.
Shifting the balance,ꦑ as opposed to finding the balance, also keeps people talking about the game, which is either an ꦦunintended or intended byproduct, depending on how cynical you are about game developers.
It’s not that developers don’t think balance is important - no one wants an out of control character ruining their game - but balance is not the end all be all that players think it is. The most important thing for an online game is that people are playing it, or more specifically, that more people are playing it this year than last year (number go up). To do𝐆 that you have to make a game that’s approachable, fun, and always has new content to experience. For far too long, fun h🤪as been defined by how balanced the game is. In 2024, some of the most popular games started to change that narrative.
In 2024, Balance Took A Back Seat
We’re seeing a reordering of priorities right before our eyes, and one of the games that made the biggest impact in 2024 was 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon TCG Pocket. As a card game closely tied to one of the oldest and most successful TCGs out there, the initial online reaction was that Pocket was grossly unbalanced. From the coin flip advantage to the power of ex Pokemon to Misty, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a win-on-turn-one Trainer card, there are a lot of things about Pocket’s meta♈game to criticize.
For months, the developers have ignored those criticisms. At the end of December a new mini-set called 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mythical Island launched that did nothing to address these issues (and may have even made some of them even worse) and no one from The Pokemon Compan🦹y or DENA CO has come out to ensure fans that balance is a priority, or that they looking to make any improvements.
Right before Pocket launched, I wr♓ote about🏅 why it’s a mistake to expect it to be a well-balanced game, and it seems like most people have come to the same conclusion. The complaining hasn’t stopped, but it's certainly subsided. The casual players, which are Pocket’s biggest target audience, simply don’t care about these issues. The game is a massive hit that is beloved by its players, and it's woefully unbalanced. Suddenly those two thin🐻gs aren’t mutually exclusive anymore.
If you need more evidence that the narrative is shifting, look at Marvel Rivals. Yes, there are people out there complaining about Hawkeye and Hela and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:seasonal buffs, but those voices are getting drowned out by the masses who just want to be Spider-Man, and don’t care about these supposed problems at all. While it’s early days for Rivals, it seems like NetEase is taking its cues from the big fan base rather than the loud one. When players demanded role queues to make team compositions more balanced, creative director Guangyn Chen said they🙈’re not even considering it.
Not every game needs to be an esport, and shaping the meta around the desires of the top one percent of the player base has proven to not always be the best approach. The pursuit of balance is more important for some games than others, but the pursuit of fun should always be mo🦹re important. The less attached players are to balance, the more room developers have to create surprising, exciting, and memorable gameplay moments.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Marvel Rivals
- Top Critic Avg: 78/100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- December 6, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
- ♎ NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
- Net🦩Ease Games ൲
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
Marvel Rivals is a Super Hero Team-Based PVP Shooter!
Assemble an all-star Marvel squad, devise countless strategies by combining powers to form unique Team-Up skills and fight in destructible, ever-changing battlefields across the continually evolving Marvel universe!
A Deep and Varied Marvel Roster
Choose from a vast array of fan-favorite and cult-classic Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains from across the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, and many more from across the Marvel Multiverse.
Fast and Fun 6v6 Action with Ever-Changing Game Dynamics
With intricate environments, fast-paced gameplay, and ever-changing battlefields, there's never a dull moment in Marvel Rivals! Battle as Super Heroes and Super Villains with incredible abilities and combine your powers to bring unexpected fun to the battlefield in a matter of seconds.
Dynamic Hero Synergy
Coordinate unique combinations between characters to ignite surprising Team-Up Skills! Unleash the synergy of combined superpowers and invent new tactics that can turn the tide of combat. Ride on Groot's back as Rocket Raccoon to take on your enemies as a dangerous duo, unleash Gamma energy as Hulk to charge Iron Man's armor for massive damage, and so much more!
Creative Environment Destruction
Tear your way through iconic Marvel worlds across destructible environments! From Asgard to the Tokyo of 2099, use superpowers to alter these environments, reshape the terrain, and craft a strategic advantage on the battlefield! Take cover to dodge attacks or use makeshift weapons to strike down enemies. Players will find countless ways to utilize the environment to claim victory!
Continually Evolving Universe and Robust Post-Launch Updates
The Marvel Multiverse brings infinite possibilities! Each seasonal drop will introduce new Super Heroes to the battlefield along with challenging and diverse maps🎀! Unlock new content to implement across various gameplay strategies while experiencing thrilling action and endless possi🉐bilities in these adventurous team battles!
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