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How important is game balance to you?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7018800" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Yes, it is. It's an example of failed spotlight balance. </p><p> Yes. Really, all spotlight balance is a matter of trying to frame mechanics (and genre emulation & setting, I suppose) such that each character has a niche, and each niche is important and comes up a fair proportion of the time. But it is an important GM issue. In spotlight balance, the DM has to keep the spotlight moving by pulling in each character's specialty, so no one's ever out of the spotlight too long.</p><p></p><p>BTW, another issue with spotlight balance (aside from the fact that it's not balance at, all, but a way of managing imbalance - an instance of a "balance-of-imbalances") is that it assumes that players can only have fun in the spotlight, so, best case, each player has fun only a fraction of the time (and less fun the larger the group). </p><p></p><p>So it's not only not really a form of balance, it's a form of not-really-balance that aims pretty low in the fun-delivery department.</p><p></p><p>Simple: have fewer social encounters. </p><p></p><p> It is. The less the DM needs to do so just to compensate for system artifacts, though, the better.</p><p></p><p>For instance, consider a simple D&D game with just the Big 4 classes. You /need/ a Cleric in the party for healing, so not only is a player obliged to put his character preferences second to providing that function, the DM is obliged to fit a representative of a deity into his setting and plot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7018800, member: 996"] Yes, it is. It's an example of failed spotlight balance. Yes. Really, all spotlight balance is a matter of trying to frame mechanics (and genre emulation & setting, I suppose) such that each character has a niche, and each niche is important and comes up a fair proportion of the time. But it is an important GM issue. In spotlight balance, the DM has to keep the spotlight moving by pulling in each character's specialty, so no one's ever out of the spotlight too long. BTW, another issue with spotlight balance (aside from the fact that it's not balance at, all, but a way of managing imbalance - an instance of a "balance-of-imbalances") is that it assumes that players can only have fun in the spotlight, so, best case, each player has fun only a fraction of the time (and less fun the larger the group). So it's not only not really a form of balance, it's a form of not-really-balance that aims pretty low in the fun-delivery department. Simple: have fewer social encounters. It is. The less the DM needs to do so just to compensate for system artifacts, though, the better. For instance, consider a simple D&D game with just the Big 4 classes. You /need/ a Cleric in the party for healing, so not only is a player obliged to put his character preferences second to providing that function, the DM is obliged to fit a representative of a deity into his setting and plot. [/QUOTE]
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