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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5984046" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Obviously, people mean a lot of different things by 'balance,' and the exact mechanical means that can be used to achieve it could vary quite a lot in character, complexity, scope and effectiveness. </p><p></p><p>I think it's helpful to look at what balance accomplishes when present: If a game is 'perfectly' balanced, every choice you face in that game will seem meaningful, and each alternative will be viable. (You can see how that's an almost zen-koan-like conundrum, as each alternative being viable would seem to make it impossible for the choice to also be /meaningful/.) Even setting that aside, no game can be perfectly balanced - there will always be flaws in the mechanics, failures in execution, concessions made to the genre being emulated, skewed subjective perception, and a host of other impediments.</p><p></p><p>While perfect balance is impossible, that doesn't mean balance isn't worth having. Balance is like quality - perfection is unattainable, but striving for perfection makes a better product.</p><p></p><p>In practice, a game is pretty well balanced if /most/ of the choices it presents you with are meaningful and viable. There will inevitably be weaker and stronger choices, situationally superior or inferior choices, or alternatives that are difficult to compare, but a balanced game avoids over-powered ('must have' or 'no brainer') choices and 'trap' (strictly inferior) choices, while still providing an interesting number and variety of choices so that choice seems meaningful.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 5984046, member: 996"] Obviously, people mean a lot of different things by 'balance,' and the exact mechanical means that can be used to achieve it could vary quite a lot in character, complexity, scope and effectiveness. I think it's helpful to look at what balance accomplishes when present: If a game is 'perfectly' balanced, every choice you face in that game will seem meaningful, and each alternative will be viable. (You can see how that's an almost zen-koan-like conundrum, as each alternative being viable would seem to make it impossible for the choice to also be /meaningful/.) Even setting that aside, no game can be perfectly balanced - there will always be flaws in the mechanics, failures in execution, concessions made to the genre being emulated, skewed subjective perception, and a host of other impediments. While perfect balance is impossible, that doesn't mean balance isn't worth having. Balance is like quality - perfection is unattainable, but striving for perfection makes a better product. In practice, a game is pretty well balanced if /most/ of the choices it presents you with are meaningful and viable. There will inevitably be weaker and stronger choices, situationally superior or inferior choices, or alternatives that are difficult to compare, but a balanced game avoids over-powered ('must have' or 'no brainer') choices and 'trap' (strictly inferior) choices, while still providing an interesting number and variety of choices so that choice seems meaningful. [/QUOTE]
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How much should 5e aim at balance?
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