A question of game balance came up in one of the recent comments. I thought that I would address this concern.
I feel that it is unjust to determine whether or not something is balanced without examining the scale used to measure that balance. For example, would it be fair to say that it is unbalanced to place an Orga Fury in one of the rat towers or on Kitty Beach? I say that it is unbalanced, because this monster doesn't fit the scale of the other monsters found in those areas. It's too large and too tough and too overpowering for the skill level of the players who hunt those areas.
On the other hand, would it be unbalancing to find an Orga Fury in the Slate Caverns? I am of the opinion that an Orga Fury in the Slate Caverns would be marked as "junk," because the threat of an Orga Fury does not measure to the threat of an Albino Arachnoid. In this setting, the Orga Fury falls on the other end of the scale.
The new monster AIs will need to have their degree of threat weighed, and then monsters running those AIs will be placed in an appropriate area for that level of risk. In the example of monsters flanking players, it is unlikely that you will see this tactic used on Kitty Beach (although the thought of Rockodiles trying to maneuver around players makes for an amusing mental picture). However in a place like the Orga Village where the threat level is already rather high, having some Orga try to maneuver around the players to cut off their escape makes for a new and exciting combat experience. This tactic would not be unbalanced within such a dangerous area, so a flanking AI scales well for that hunting ground.
So yeah, no Flanking Rockodiles for Kitty Beach. The new monster tactic AIs will need to scale into hunting areas that match the risk level of that area.
Kill An NPC Every Session
5 days ago
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Why put an orga Fury in the slate cave when we all know that there should be banana arachne there instead ? ;-) And yes a fury there would be considered as junk by anyone hunting SC seriously :)
ReplyDeleteMore than the AI scaling with the level of an area, I guess the critters specs are the properties to scale. Maybe not for the rat towers or really lowbies areas but as soon as it kind of make sense I'd say. Even junk flanking creates an additional challenge which, if well balanced, can be extremely fun. And encountering new AI might also help to retain players. It would be a pity that these new AI were actually limited to medium-high to high level areas. I would also consider them for low-ish levels so that players can actually start learning strategies to beat them (and then complain and ask for more AIs, players are always complaining no ? ;) ). Meaning I would not see that as an issue to see some flanking critter on kb, probably not rockodiles but some sort of low histia, low defense monster that would mostly only block temporary the exit(s).
Anyway, best of luck with that. I can't wait to see the result if that ever come out :)
As long as the exp payout makes sense for the difficulty of the AI, I am always fine.
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