Re: Changes.
Posted: 08 Jan 2023 04:05
Wow Gorbaigh. There was a lot of things in that post... I don't think I will bite on your thoughts about society, other than to say I am all for equal opportunity for all people, regardless of where you happen to be born.
In terms of game design, I understand what you mean, and sure, if everything becomes too similar it becomes boring, and I also personally find the "instant-gratification" type of games to be quite boring. It's not a path I want for Genesis, and I don't think we are anywhere close to that. Or ever will be. You say you want Genesis to be more crazy, more stuff happening than solo play, etc. Well, I want that too. I'd like a game that has more elements of both cooperation and competition, so, it seems like we do want the same things.
Regarding your take on game balance: As I understand it, you feel it's interesting if some races are simply better/worse than others in combat, and the same goes for guilds. That kind of goes against what almost all other games tend to strive for - balance. What you are suggesting is basically to take the game of chess, and have a different set of rules for white compared to black. Rules that make white a much worse option than black. That is how races in Genesis work today. Would chess be fun if one player is playing with a different set of rules, that makes winning almost impossible? Is chess currently boring because you, as a black player, has the same chance of winning as the white player? Yes, I know it's an extreme likeness, but, I mean that is kind of what you are saying? Different races should have different sets of rules. Depending on which race you pick, you will play Genesis in "easy", "normal" or, "hard" mode?
You did say that the racial imbalances makes it interesting and challenging, and that some races should probably be better at combat than others. But, if you like a challenge, why are you playing a fighter goblin, when a fighter gnome would clearly be much more challenging? But even you, who say you really like this part of a game (and life) chose the strongest fighter option. So if you, who really wants a challenge, still picked the best fighter race, why would anyone else select differently?
To actively strive _for_ imbalance in a game just goes against everything I personally believe in. The goal for me as a game designer is to try to ensure our races and guilds are equally good, and that there is no clear "best choice" at all. If we can achieve that, then we have a good and balanced game that I think the majority of people will enjoy a lot more than a game where a specific race and/or guild is the clearly best option that everyone will flock to. The goal for Genesis, and most games, is for all playable options to be equally good, but also make them different enough so that your game experience as a player will be different depending on which race and/or guild you select.
If we make the races more similar in terms of stats we'll likely get more people playing different races, and more people trying out different races in different guilds, creating a bigger variety. I mean, even if the stats are more similar, the race you pick will still matter as it controls which guilds you can join and which sub-races you can become. And depending on what you pick you will get a different experience with the game - but you won't be better or worse of than anyone else in terms of "power", which is the foundation for any sort of fair competition between players.
I am going to go with my gut feeling about this. I fully understand not everyone will like it, but as the Keeper, the lead developer of Genesis, I need to go with how _I_ feel, and what _I_ think will be the most fun. We all have different ideas about what is a good movie, good music, what is a fun game, etc. I've worked with creative stuff all my life, and my go-to strategy is always to be honest with myself, and create things _I_ would like, and then bet on that if I like it, others will too. I am going to bet on that here as well.
In terms of game design, I understand what you mean, and sure, if everything becomes too similar it becomes boring, and I also personally find the "instant-gratification" type of games to be quite boring. It's not a path I want for Genesis, and I don't think we are anywhere close to that. Or ever will be. You say you want Genesis to be more crazy, more stuff happening than solo play, etc. Well, I want that too. I'd like a game that has more elements of both cooperation and competition, so, it seems like we do want the same things.
Regarding your take on game balance: As I understand it, you feel it's interesting if some races are simply better/worse than others in combat, and the same goes for guilds. That kind of goes against what almost all other games tend to strive for - balance. What you are suggesting is basically to take the game of chess, and have a different set of rules for white compared to black. Rules that make white a much worse option than black. That is how races in Genesis work today. Would chess be fun if one player is playing with a different set of rules, that makes winning almost impossible? Is chess currently boring because you, as a black player, has the same chance of winning as the white player? Yes, I know it's an extreme likeness, but, I mean that is kind of what you are saying? Different races should have different sets of rules. Depending on which race you pick, you will play Genesis in "easy", "normal" or, "hard" mode?
You did say that the racial imbalances makes it interesting and challenging, and that some races should probably be better at combat than others. But, if you like a challenge, why are you playing a fighter goblin, when a fighter gnome would clearly be much more challenging? But even you, who say you really like this part of a game (and life) chose the strongest fighter option. So if you, who really wants a challenge, still picked the best fighter race, why would anyone else select differently?
To actively strive _for_ imbalance in a game just goes against everything I personally believe in. The goal for me as a game designer is to try to ensure our races and guilds are equally good, and that there is no clear "best choice" at all. If we can achieve that, then we have a good and balanced game that I think the majority of people will enjoy a lot more than a game where a specific race and/or guild is the clearly best option that everyone will flock to. The goal for Genesis, and most games, is for all playable options to be equally good, but also make them different enough so that your game experience as a player will be different depending on which race and/or guild you select.
If we make the races more similar in terms of stats we'll likely get more people playing different races, and more people trying out different races in different guilds, creating a bigger variety. I mean, even if the stats are more similar, the race you pick will still matter as it controls which guilds you can join and which sub-races you can become. And depending on what you pick you will get a different experience with the game - but you won't be better or worse of than anyone else in terms of "power", which is the foundation for any sort of fair competition between players.
I am going to go with my gut feeling about this. I fully understand not everyone will like it, but as the Keeper, the lead developer of Genesis, I need to go with how _I_ feel, and what _I_ think will be the most fun. We all have different ideas about what is a good movie, good music, what is a fun game, etc. I've worked with creative stuff all my life, and my go-to strategy is always to be honest with myself, and create things _I_ would like, and then bet on that if I like it, others will too. I am going to bet on that here as well.