Balance of Power

[a Chunk]

Balance of Power
By Jaime Griesemer


Read this article at our new site HERE: www.nextleveldesign.org/index.php?/featured-content/articles/balance-of-power-r61/


In this article, which was originally a 2-part series, Jaime offers his view on balancing resources in games.

“The whats-it is too powerful.”  It could be a weapon, an RTS unit, a character in a fighting game, a multiplayer class… it doesn’t matter because all chronic balance problems follow the same general pattern.  

The goal is to create a fair and enjoyable environment for players.

The game starts to revolve around a single dominant element, which is inherently overpowered and reduces the game’s strategic complexity, ultimately limiting its longevity.  Nobody notices when a single element is too weak, because they just avoid it.  And nobody complains when a dominant element increases strategic complexity, because that makes the game better and more fun.  And a simple problem, like a damage value that is just set too high, usually has a simple solution that is quickly applied.  But for chronic, fundamental balance problems, the designer is repeatedly faced with the same decision.  Should the dominant element be weakened for the sake of balance?  (Hint:  The correct answer is always“NO!”)

Perception is Reality
Jaime's perspective is that the actual measurable's don't matter when it comes to balance.  All that matters is the perspective of the player/s.  If something is balanced on paper, but the community views it as unbalanced, you have yourself a balance problem.

So often the problem isn’t that an element is too powerful, but that it feels too powerful. Maybe its a gun with a really great firing sound. Or a new unit that players haven’t figured out how to counter yet. Or perhaps it appeals more to skilled players or everyone is using it because it is new and novel. These problems usually fix themselves if they are left alone. I changed the perception of an “overpowered” weapon during Halo’s development just by announcing that I had fixed it (even though I hadn’t actually changed anything.)

The Tooth Fairy is Overpowered
Taking the 'perception equals reality' concept to another level, Jaime suggests we re-evaluate our own perspective on 'overpowered' items.  Perhaps game designers very often take the wrong approach by seeking to nerf powerful items in an attempt to create a balanced experience?

It’s easier to make a potent Sniper, so it immediately outclasses the rest.  Instead of spending time figuring out how to cripple the Sniper, focus on making the other classes equally awesome.  Or better yet, ditch the ones that will never feel as powerful as the Sniper and choose different classes that have their own natural strengths.

Too Powerful, or All-Powerful?
Continuing in the same line of thought, we dive deeper into the discussion of how to solve balance issues.  Jaime's feeling is that items often become unbalanced not because of poor planning, but because of poor execution...they're use has extended beyond it's intended role.  So how do go about re-adjusting these items?

The solution in this case is not to weaken the element, but to restrict it so that its strength cannot be applied in as many situations.
Often it takes ingenuity to limit a weapon without weakening it, but it isn’t as difficult as it might seem initially. Nobody complains that their fancy sports car doesn’t work underwater, they just stay on the bridge.

Tank Beats Everything
Is perfect balance ideal? Perhaps not...  Jaime feels that it's sometime beneficial to give players a temporary 'reward', which give them a sense of great power, alleviating the feeling that they must always perform at their peak, and 'cleansing their palate', so to speak.

A successful transition from “balanced” to “overpowered” usually requires some changes, though.  It needs to be exaggerated so the sounds, effects, even the fiction, match the new power level.  It should become a featured element on a single level or two, the player should feel special for getting to use it, and the enemy resistance should be ratched up as well to highlight how strong they have become.  The element should also be made as modal as possible, so the player knows when the “overpowered” experience begins and it is clear when it is supposed to end and resume normal gameplay.

In a Corner
What to do when an overpowered item doesn't fit into any of the categories listed so far? What if there's an actual (rather than just a perceived) imbalance, there's no obvious way of limiting the items use, and it doesn't really fit as a temporary 'intentionally overpowered' item? What other options do we have? Jaime uses Halo's Needler as his case study.

The Needler is a weapon from the Halo series.  It fires a stream of neon pink projectiles that actively track enemy targets.  On impact, each needle embeds itself into armor or flesh, remaining there for a few seconds before detonating and causing further damage.  If a character ever has more than 5-6 needles attached at any given time, they all explode in a particularly lethal chain-reaction known as the “Pink Mist”.  It first appeared in Halo 1 and was the bane of my existence for 10+ years because it was incredibly fun to use, but equally impossible to balance.

It would start out too powerful, so we would weaken it.  Which would make it useless, so we would change the mechanics.  Which would make it effective in too many situations, so we would limit its placement.  We ended up drastically weakening it right before we shipped to prevent it from wrecking the game.  Three times!  

So, even if an element cannot be balanced in any other way, the answer is still not to weaken it, but to cut it completely.  It is too difficult to weaken an element without destroying what made it fun in the first place, and the end results won’t be worth the hassle.  It’s best to just save it for another game where it will fit without compromise.

Sources:
rewardingplay.com/2011/04/01/balance-of-power/
rewardingplay.com/2011/04/04/balance-of-power-2/


Follow Jaime
Website: rewardingplay.com/
Twitter: twitter.com/32nds