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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Evenglare" data-source="post: 6708392" data-attributes="member: 63245">I've been thinking about this question a lot and I haven't come up with an explanation. Why do tabletop games invariably mess up balance to some degree, while the vast vast vast majority of Video Game RPGs seem to put out decently balanced games almost every single time.  Even more bewildering is that there are hundreds if not thousands of completely different systems (system as in what the rules of the game are like tabletop has the d20 system). So let's be honest here. D&D and many other tabletop games have been around for decades and most of those games have new editions which usually corrects some balance from the previous edition. D&D is over 40 years old and it STILL doesn't have that balance that people clamor for. So whats the deal? Why can hundreds of video game rpgs get balance correct on a myriad of different systems. While tabletop rpg creators can't get it quite right? I also admit there are some horribly broken games out there, but compared to the sheer number of them, they get the balance correct. Why is it so easy for them and so hard for tabletop to achieve? Especially when a game is built from scratch with a brand new system and rules.Im not trying to criticize any developers or anything. I'm genuinely curious why the balance aspect is so different from each side.Is it because games are restricted to pure numeric rules? Well it can't be that, because as a tabletop player the things we gripe most about are classes and combat. Both of which are defined by numeric rules. Very very few complaints about balance are made against the social roleplaying aspect. Is it because video games can be patched, tweaking the balance? Well that can't be it because D&D and other games essentially patch the game through errata. Perhaps it is that you are playing alone and need not concern your self with other people? Well, not really. Many games like MMOs and Diablo etc etc are played with other people and, again, are fairly balanced within those games.So why is it so hard for tabletop? Perhaps we, as tabletop gamers, are blowing things out of proportion? IS the ranger beast master completely inferior in every way? Is it that big of a problem, and if so why are the devs incompetent compared to Video Game devs, with regards to system creation? If it's not that big of a problem, then why scrutinize it and blow things way out of  proportion, why not ignore it since the problem is so miniscule?</blockquote>

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