How important do you think game balance is?

[pntbllr]

I think that balance comes second only to fun. However a good DM can make just about anything fun, balance takes a little more work.

 

[shilsen]

In a perfect group, balance wouldn't be that important. In an imperfect group, balance is the only thing making the game playable. Since I cannot be guaranteed a perfect group, I consider balance important in a game system. Since the designers are making the game for all groups, I expect them to take balance very seriously.

If a group doesn't need balance, its very easy for them to make "fun" changes to a balanced system. If a group does need balance, its very hard for them to effectively change an unbalanced system to suit their needs. The default for a game designer should always be to make balance important.

Basically what she said.


*looks around*

Hey, where's DaveMage?

 

[Umbran]

There's two different questions buried in there - because what's good for the game in general is nto necessarily what's good for me, in particular.

I think it is reasonably important for a game in general tobe balanced. Balance is a *huge* aid to folks who are new to gaming in geeneral, or to the specific game in question. And a well-balanced game requires less work on the GM's part to run properly. All else being equal (not that all else really ever is equal, but still), one would expect a balanced game to sell better than an unbalanced one. That's good for the game, the publishers, the players, and all.

For games I run, in particular, I'm not so worried that the game have balance built in. I am an old enough hand at GMing that I can make sure that each player gets his or her times to shine, and I don't mind teh extra work that might entail.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

The designers at WotC think game balance is extremely important for a roleplaying game. How important do y'all think it is?

I think it's really important, since having all character options equally potent keeps everyone from glomming onto one or two really good classes or races in order to hold their own. It also keeps those who choose to pick their classes and races for rp/in game reasons from being overshadowed by the unbalanced choices.

That said, striving as hard as WotC often does to maintain balance can do harm. This is especially true for stuff like the Epic Level Handbook, the very concept of which goes against balance. WotC erred on the side of balance, and the book never realized its potential.

 

[Crothian]

I'd be really surprised to see someone vote not important for game balance. Its the most crucial aspect of the game.

No it isn't. Most important part is to have fun and game balance is not needed for that.

 

[Wayside]

I'd be really surprised to see someone vote not important for game balance. Its the most crucial aspect of the game.

Says you. D&D's lackluster attempts at balance are actually some of the primary reasons I don't play it (ditto d20/modern RAW). A lot of the balance mechanics, like x/day, just make no sense from a flavor standpoint. Of course a lot of groups need rules to enforce balance, but a lot is not all, and even if I was DMing one of those groups I'd still agree with Umbran and BryonD inasmuch as 5 players who twink their characters out for dungeon crawling aren't going to do so hot when I throw them into some political intrigue.

 

[philreed]

I voted "somewhat" but I'd like an option between "somewhat" and "not very."

 

[drowdude]

I voted "Not very important." It's all relative to your gaming style, and the people that comprise your group.

 

[Shadowslayer]

I replied Somewhat Important. A good DM can adjust PC vs Monster blance easy enough...so no problem there. I also don't feel that character classes have to be "perfectly" balanced against one another...some guys want to play PCs that are all flavor and not so much muscle.

The problem arises when PC classes are BADLY unbalanced against each other. In my experience, this sometimes happen when guys don't like something and try to homebrew it without considering the impact on the game system. Then one player finally realizes that he could smoke any of the other party members without breaking a sweat, and the game goes downhill from there. I've seen this happen a couple times when guys (poorly) homebrewed their own spell point systems and such, but the game's designers arent at fault for that.

Bottom line is the PC classes should at least be in the ballpark with one another.

Trev

 

[ThirdWizard]

I voted extremely important. The more inwardly balanced the game itself is, the more time the GM can devote to other things. The more I can trust the game design to work for me, the better I feel about working within said system. It's also better for those just picking up the game, as they won't have to fiddle with it to make it work. Lastly, for those who don't have a lot of time to devote to the game, or who don't want to devote a lot of time, the more balanced the system, the easier it is to just pick up an adventure and go without worries.