Sin_of_Onin posted:
the rule of thumb is to err on the side of overpowered which inherently leads to a FOTM scenario.
the rule of thumb is to err on the side of overpowered which inherently leads to a FOTM scenario.
Yeah, but you see it more at release and around expansion times than anything else. I think it's niave to assume moving boxes isn't part of it. You want your players to be telling their friends "omg buy this game you can play this sick fun overpowered class and pwn noobs!" rather than "omg they nerfed my class in the first month!" or even "omg the classes are balanced at release." Because no one buys a game because classes are balanced, but plenty of people buy a game to pwn people.
Once the game settles down a bit and most people are at the endgame for that particular release or expansion you see MMOs switch tracks and err more on the side of caution.
Games around release are all about selling boxes and getting people to pay past 30 days. Games later in their cycles are all about keeping existing subs going. Those take two different development philosophies and balancing classes fits into the latter but not the former.