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Fellow Genesis Enthusiasts,
Balance is a tricky thing in any game as complicated and organically developed
as Genesis. We can never achieve perfection, but we continue to strive for
as good a sense of overall parity between options in the game as we are able
to achieve.
Another thing we strive for in Genesis is collaboration between players.
Content which prompts team-based cooperation creates a rich environment for
many reasons, compared to solo-grind hour after hour.
Both of these aspects of design are present in the battle mechanic typically
referred to as tank-rotation. The tank (person taking hits for the team) is
determined by your opponent, rather than by you, unless you have special
tank-rotation abilities. Such abilities are not available in normal combat
unless you belong to a guild that features them. Traditionally, the only
two guilds in Genesis which did were the Calians and the Knights, each the
opposide side of one coin (Knights could become the tank, Calians could
select someone other than themselves to become the tank.)
This two-guild monopoly on tank-rotation existed in Genesis for around
twenty years. In recent years, tank-rotation abilities have begun to pop up
in new ways in new guilds. Thus, the ability has spread beyond the original
and highly limited Knight/Calian construct.
Arman and I recently began looking at this, at the prompting of the wizard
Nerull. Nerull's concern was that tank-rotation appeared to be very much
unavailable to purely evil guilds in Genesis. This was part of the design
originally, but as more and more guilds have made the picture more complex,
it was time to re-assess. Exploring the issue, we've determined that it is
now time to level that playing field.
We have decided that, thematically, the most team-oriented evil guild in
Genesis has traditionally been the Army of Angmar (i.e. their "shield"
cover ability is specifically meant to benefit team members.) As such, we
are expanding the AA team-oriented concept, and giving them a tank-rotation
skill that will function much like the Calian move-behind.
We believe that offering this team-interaction ability to the evil factions
of Genesis will provide greater balance and greater team-based collaboration
overall - both of which stand to benefit the game's future.
Also, quite importantly, we have created a rule that states that tank-rotation
abilities will be considered exclusive, throughout Genesis, to occupational
guild membership. Thus, the layman branch of the AA (or any other) guild will
not be permitted to have such abilities.
Thanks goes to Carnak, who took on the implementation of this project based
on the ideas devised by Arman and myself. His quick code-work is, as always,
a blessing!
In posting this note, my desire is to provide everyone with a complete
understanding of the process, the rationale, and the interests at stake.
We all know what happens when wizards just do things and leave it all up
to the rumour mill! ;-)
Onward, and upward!
G.