Post
by Habiki » 05 Oct 2017 19:56
If the divide by six stat issue is a red herring, it would seem the issue is more how stats affect combat. If you also factor in guild specials being affected by stats, we have a very complicated issue. Balancing all the guilds again isn't feasibly going to happen, especially since some guilds haven't been re-coded to the "new"er mechanics.
What is the main root issue? Strength is king for combat guilds (most guilds)? You need to be goblin for maximum output? I think most people's problem is this perception that goblins will beat everyone else.
Fact is, goblins are good in all three stats that matter for melee guilds - str, dex, con. Do I really care? Not much, but practically speaking I can see why some would. I've been a Kender Calian for some years now and some people tell me I'm limiting myself by not being a goblin (like I used to be). Many have said dexterity used to be the most important stat for combat but now strength affects "white hits" most. I have really high dexterity, but I still get hit and I still miss hits. It's hard for me to say how much really high dexterity helps my character compared to if I were a goblin. Having said that, I think the best combat damage I've witnessed has come from an elf, so matching guild and stat-knowledge really matters. I don't think that's going to change or that I would want that to change since, as has been noted on this thread, that would be really boring. I like goblins as killing machines and dwarves as tanks, and I like being a kender for kender's sake, but if I want I can choose to become a goblin again and that would apparently be optimal if I want to be a power-player.
I've never been in an occupational magic guild, but if gnomes have the highest stat-average, the clear issue to me is that intelligence isn't very useful, kind of like discipline. If wisdom affects mana-regen (as does spellcraft skill), wisdom is a much more sensible stat to focus on for a caster who wants to keep grinding. Intelligence would be useful for maximizing burst damage / healing but if mana regen is fast (and with the new magic system coded guilds it is quite fast), who cares about intelligence? I know I don't. If some people do, then where are they? Makes me wonder, can Gorboth post stats on the races of active players?
Based on empirical evidence and chatter about strength, I would be inclined to say make dexterity and discipline (maybe intelligence) more of a factor in these "white hits" and maybe you have something that balances races more among melee guilds. A simple modification, as has been done in the past, may be the best solution to what is the perceived problem of the need to go goblin. It would have to be tested thoroughly by the balance team before implemented. Maybe do something like the month we had with no experience loss from death but with a proposed stat-modifier change to test the real world affects and get player feedback.
Logical solutions to our ambiguous "problem":
1) Making more stats matter in "white hits". Everyone gives white hits. This would also fix the discipline issue being tossed around.
2) Somewhat diminishing the extreme nature of stat-modifiers in some, if not all, races. e.g. - goblins become less strong and more brainy, hobbits less dexterous and more strong, dwarves less sturdy and more dexterous, gnomes less intelligent and more SOMETHING, etc.
Sidenote - If some races are heavily modified for less meaningful stats (hobbits, gnomes) maybe they rightly SHOULD have higher stat-averages. But if more stats mattered, you could also divide evenly by six.
Would one of these make the players more happy? Would it create more race diversity? There will never be a perfect fix in this complicated game. We have more magic guilds opening up which I think will help. Also would be nice if some benevolent wizard would take on the ranger and minstrel re-code to the new magic system. End rant.