User blog:CaptainStarbuck/Balance

With v1.0.108 all drops just got a little more rare. The game is being balanced so that we don't get too much here, too little there. I think there will be more balance updates soon. I don't know if drops are "throttled" to some number per minute, or if it's truly random, just less frequent.

Personally I welcome more balance. A lot of us finish too quickly. Many people instantly ask for more, say they're bored, and there's not enough to do. I think the game needs to be a bit more difficult so that we work for our rewards and get better rewards with more effort.

We don't want it too difficult of course. A game needs to be a challenge to draw us into it. The rewards need to be adequate to keep drawing us back. There needs to be enough to do in the game to make us think about it when we're not playing, and to make us want to get in whenever we can. And when we don't survive, the game needs to penalize us, but not so much that we are discouraged from coming back to try again. That's why they call it "balance". It's not easy to achieve.

The author of this game understands the genre and he understands balance. He has to code in basic game mechanics, and he has to code details like how often items drop, what kinds of items get dropped, and how much experience we get for killing specific mobs. He listens to us, makes notes about how people are using his creation, and then makes decisions about how to keep the game functional and fun.

I write these blogs and send him notes and participate in this community because I know he gets it. He deserves to succeed compared to other developers who don't listen, or they don't understand why we play games.

I haven't seen any bad updates yet, but it's very possible that with some beta update we will see the game go "off balance". It might be too difficult to get rewards, or we might die too easily, or it will be too easy to get rewards and to level up our characters. If this happens, we must be patient, report our concerns, and give the developer time to respond.

This is one of the reasons why there is a Beta release before production. He must fix what has gone wrong, and possibly re-think how to re-establish the balance. And if the game is working exactly the way he wants it to, he needs to communicate that to us in a way that disrupt the social aspect of this growing player community. This is a challenge, in development and with social skills. And this process requires patience on the part of those of us who consume this product/art.

With so many eyes on every new release, I'm sure we will instantly see people complaining about various changes. Just refer them back here so that they can learn about balance, and patience. Encourage people to report issues constructively and give the author a chance to respond. Everyone, players and developers, needs that opportunity to be heard and to adapt.

The game gets its balance though code. As players, we balance our expectations with all of these other considerations and these concepts about what makes a good game for a lot of people with different opinions. Sometimes we get what we want and other times not. Sometimes we win, we get code changes we want, and we keep playing. Sometimes we lose our arguments, and we keep playing anyway. That's "balance".

With this game and this author, I'm sure there is always a fair consideration of all comments and suggestions. That's one of the main reasons why I'm here.

Oh yes, and to kill spiders ... I really like killing spiders.