Jester David
Hero
Monopoly is far, far from perfectly balanced. It has a host of rules that are frequently ignored, and can be very swingy based entirely on dice. Strategy has less to do with the game and it is much more luck based.Funny how some people manage to enjoy Chess, Monopoly, Starcraft, a host of sports, and a variety of other things that are remarkably balanced. And fail utterly to find them boring.
Starcraft was laboriously balanced. But that took time and numerous patches, and among professional players it now comes down to speed in executing a winning strategy. Things have changed to be a speed game. And, player skill trumps any balance.
Chess and most other sports are imbalanced due to the skills of the player involved. The game is balanced but there remains imbalance due to the human factor.
D&D has elements of all three. There is the random dice factor of Monopoly, the different yet equal sides of Starcraft, and the different levels of player skill of chess. Which makes it phenomenally hard to balance without removing elements - such as the symmetry and reduction of skill mastery found in 4e.
Perfect balance would mean normalizing the odds for both sides. And reducing the impact of disparities in player skill. And making the viable options equal in every way.
What's the closest game to that? Rock, paper, scissors. Which still isn't completely balanced, but it's the closest humanity can come.
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