Imperfect Balance

[Sliver Chocobo]

I know this is about video games, but this episode feels relevant to recent topics

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/perfect-imbalance

[Guy in Suit]

Saw that today to. Good explanation of the premise - but unfortunately much harder to apply to mini-gaming as we can't get our 'patches' quite as easily!

[Undisclosed]

This is what i wanted to say in a discussion i had with people about 6 months ago but it wasn't so well put. Thanks for the link.

[ravenborne]

This is also called "intransitive design".

[nilus]

I really don't like these videos. Its partially because I can't stand the narrators voice, which is kinda bad since I know I myself has an irrating voice yet continue to subject people to it when I beg to be on podcasts.

Anyways watched this one and here are my thoughts.

1) RE: The Wizards Jedi code. What the narrator fails to mention is the cards that are skewed 15% down from average. They don't see play and are generally considered crap. People are countering Warrior A with Warrior B from a new set not Warrior B- from the current set

2) The whole Warrior A beats Warrior B who beats Warrior C. Is that a perfect imbalance or just good old fashion power creep. Unless Warrior C also beats Warrior A then it basically is

3) Like others said, patching in a game or a new card set is a lot easier then a mini game. And when a mini games get a patch(a new book) and a new model is made to defeat an old problem people generally dislike it.

I am not dismissing the concept entirely. I personally believe no miniature game can ever truly be balanced and the admit the system they describe is very hard to do...I would go so far to say its impossible to truly make a balanced system and then imbalance it to a degree that makes players happy.

[Gruesome]

What a funny collision of interests for me...

League of Legends happens to be my favorite and currently only Video game that I play.

I also liked that he had batman riding a pretty-pony thing or whatever they are called...

[mpangelu]

I believe this has gone into mini-gaming.

Look at the dreamer and why the change in him was so long in coming. There are times models will interact with others that haven't been intended. But it does make sense in helping stop games from being stagnant.

[rancor709]

Oh fun the models themselves need equalibrium not so much balance in a miniature game. What we want is there to be able to take any master & have a realistic chance against the rest.

[Boscotopia]

Oh fun the models themselves need equalibrium not so much balance in a miniature game. What we want is there to be able to take any master & have a realistic chance against the rest.

+1

Exactly. The rules of the game are fine, it is the fact you have to buy the latest minions in the new book in order to fix the balance problem of the last book instead of fixing the balance issue of the last book by fixing the minions of the last book. If I get 25-35 SS to pick my crew and I have to spend 15 - 20 SS from Book 2 & 3 just to keep the scrap even, that leaves me little to play with Book 1. That is not balance, that is power creep and it leaves older models collecting dust and it makes responsible consumers question buying other minions because why buy if there is a good chance the minions today will be obsolete by the next book?