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<blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 5749610" data-attributes="member: 23240">For me, the role and importance of balance depends heavily on how the game is designed to be played. Supporting different playstyles requires different design approaches.If the game is focused on overcoming challenges, strict balance is crucial. I want to be challenged in play, not in character creation and development, with &quot;well-built&quot; characters succeeding nearly automatically and &quot;gimped&quot; characters having no chance. All characters need to be useful in nearly all situations the game offers and each character should have their niche - something they are best at.If the game focuses on genre emulation, what is important is making each character represent their genre archetype well. Nobody should get overshadowed in what is their role, but global, objective efficiency is significantly less important. There is a need for balance, but it's a different kind of balance than in the previous paragraph.In a game that focuses on story, player choices must matter, they must shape the world and events that follow. Without this, the game just won't work. But what is important is the choice and it's consequences, not winning or losing; both success and failure may be interesting and fun. What is challenged is beliefs, values, relations and goals. What needs to be balanced is how well developed the characters are and how well they are hooked into the situation, not how powerful they are.Finally, in a game focused on immersion, the system must give results that are consistent and do not violate the setting as described. The system must also be light and simple, so it does not pull players out of their characters. GM and players' common sense must take precedence over rules. All other traits of the system, including balance, are strictly secondary to ease of use and consistency with the setting.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="steenan, post: 5749610, member: 23240"] For me, the role and importance of balance depends heavily on how the game is designed to be played. Supporting different playstyles requires different design approaches. If the game is focused on overcoming challenges, strict balance is crucial. I want to be challenged in play, not in character creation and development, with "well-built" characters succeeding nearly automatically and "gimped" characters having no chance. All characters need to be useful in nearly all situations the game offers and each character should have their niche - something they are best at. If the game focuses on genre emulation, what is important is making each character represent their genre archetype well. Nobody should get overshadowed in what is their role, but global, objective efficiency is significantly less important. There is a need for balance, but it's a different kind of balance than in the previous paragraph. In a game that focuses on story, player choices must matter, they must shape the world and events that follow. Without this, the game just won't work. But what is important is the choice and it's consequences, not winning or losing; both success and failure may be interesting and fun. What is challenged is beliefs, values, relations and goals. What needs to be balanced is how well developed the characters are and how well they are hooked into the situation, not how powerful they are. Finally, in a game focused on immersion, the system must give results that are consistent and do not violate the setting as described. The system must also be light and simple, so it does not pull players out of their characters. GM and players' common sense must take precedence over rules. All other traits of the system, including balance, are strictly secondary to ease of use and consistency with the setting. [/QUOTE]

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