[Applications] Item balancers

[chadz]

Only post if you apply, + to show support

We are looking for clever people that are capable of joining the item balance team.

If you have a good understanding of the combat mechanics, are an active player and can think beyond "dun nerf meh!", apply.

Write a bit about why you want to join the balance team, write what you think about the current state the combat is in and how you would tackle the problem of the item balance. Don't be shy, there are no wrong answers. Except the obvious stupid ones.

[BlueKnight]

Application cancelled.

[Rhygar666]

[[ptx]]

My CV.

Will accept payments in booze and potato.

--edit: Some feedback and reviews:

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15:37:55 <Vibe> please hire ptx so he doesn't starve to death

15:43:01 <Tydeus> 2h is in a perfect spot
15:43:10 <Tydeus> completely balanced with poles and 1h

15:34:55 <•cmp> besides, length difference is 8 anyway
15:34:57 <•cmp> not 2-
15:34:58 <•cmp> 20*
15:35:06 <•cmp> [ptx] pretty bad at this
15:35:07 <•cmp> not hired

i maybe deulling way before you even know what M&B is

16:23:29 <Son_Of_Odin_> [ptx] wiltzu be hatin you

I am in awe. Never, never would I have thougt of such a brilliant, breathtaking idea. It boggles my mind how you could even compose such an elegant string of thought, even more so that you can express it in such a short and concise way. Your notion should certainly be heard and implemented as soon as possible.

Also, this is not a serious application, despite the overwhelming support received. Sorry

[Bars]

Buff Long Voulge ! 

[Byrdi]

I have been playing for far too long now and I always enjoyed playing different classes. I have only lately tried to dedicate myself to one class after several attempts; I still consider myself rather unbiased when it comes to the different melee types.

I would like to be honest: things seem pretty balanced as they are, but there is still room for improvement regarding a few things.
This means that I would very much like to help out adding new weapons and amours that fit in well with the current balance.

My knowledge of the development is limited to the impressions I got from beta testing the beta client (before the public release). But It made a positive impression and I would like to help out a little bit more. I like the idea of contributing to the game without being a top forum poster.

Thank you for the wonderful game and the continued development throughout all the years.

[Tyr_]

I'd like to join the balancing team. I used to be very active but I am currently moving to a new apartment so I didn't have much spare time the last weeks.

I play 2her for 2 or 3 years now, so i got very bored of it and i am basicly playing every class on my stf characters and i am fairly good with every class, so its easy for me to compare their strengths and weaknesses. Looking at the last balances i think that there is definitly a lack of experienced players withing the balancing team, my favorite example for this is the last change of the DGS and GGS, which made the GGS slower and its stab heavier hitting - which is not a balance, but an insane buff for every decent player that knows how to use a great sword.

I think the game is too random at the moment. If you have IF and low armor your chances to survive are better than the one of someone wearing a plated armor without IF, which is complete bullshit. Nocti can 2-3 shot me with his Hornbow while i have about 70 body armor while every singe arrow of an horsearcher bounces on me if they use the same bow - it is still the same weapon, powerdraw shouldnt have such an impact, it is still the same weapon.

Weapons and arrows always were made for a specific purpose, therefore their efficivity in combat should refer to their actual use. Long thin bodkin arrows like we have them in game were made to penetrate mail armor, they can only scratch a plate. Swords are for cutting down peasants, morningstars and bec the corbins are good against heavy armored targets.

The combat mechanics should become more realistic. For example if a onehanded sword hits a gothic plate armor at the cest it should do a medium amount of blunt damage, since it has no chance - no matter how heavy you swing it - to get through the armor. If you are strong enough you may break you opponents ribs, but it shouldnt do cutting damage.

Damage should be based on the armor you wear. Hitting sweetspots of the enemy should be more important, currently there is only the head, but since armors are actually weaker on arms&legs than on the body this should be the places to hit with higher damage, not the chest.

Muffin and I started to do a very long post about balancing/game mechanics but since I am moving we stopped it for now. I do not want to take too much out of it before speaking with him, so I'll edit this post later.

Ps: damn u cmp, new game mechanics would be much better :/
anyway, as i just edited it: There need to be more experienced balancers. You need to see 2 parts of the item balancing: The unexperienced players which pick the easiest way to play and the very skilled ones that do good with every weapon against every other weapon. From the experienced players you can learn how to micro-balance and item (if 50% of them start picking a longsword you know something is wrong) and the less experienced players give you a good feedback about which weapon is completely inbalanced

[cmp]

Just a clarification: item balance means item balance, not game mechanics balance.

[Shadowren]

I have played every class  possible in C-rpg :{D  I wouldn't mind helping if it didn't come in the way of my admin duty's and my normal life.

[Everkistus]

I'm applying for this. I have played pretty much every class and if chosen, will try my best at getting the item & class balances correctly. I believe this is the one dev position where I could really be a help.

You guys already know me, I've been playing since 2010 and been an admin for over 2 years as well. I got elected to be an admin with a short and serious post, so I'll give this a shot as well with a short and serious post.

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Write a bit about why you want to join the balance team, write what you think about the current state the combat is in and how you would tackle the problem of the item balance. Don't be shy, there are no wrong answers. Except the obvious stupid ones.

Shoot, I forgot something. Alright, here's a longer version since it seems necessary. Notice that this all was before the patch which came 5.3.2013.

First of all, I want to join because I want to contribute to this mod. cRPG is still probably the greatest game I've played to date. I've done my bit of community service as an admin for 2 years now, and chadz & co should be aware that I've tried to get into the item balance team even before. I'm not really good at programming, but I have a good sense on balancing.

Second, I currently think cRPG is somewhat balanced with some quirks you see here and there. We can't change mechanics, so got to roll what we can use. For starters, I'd do a slight broad spectrum nerf on 2h weapons. For example, if you look at 2h axes along with their polearm counterparts, you'll see that there's no competition really. Also the internal balance of 2h weapons is biased on my opinion by the supergood cheap axes. For example, I think the internal balance on 1h weapons is extremely good at the moment, with loads of weapons on all price ranges for different purposes. I'll strive to make the other classes be as balances internally as they are now.

One of the huge problems that you see now are crossbows in my opinion. When compared to throwing and archery, they are the obvious option. They are a cheap every mans weapon that can be wielded with ease to wound enemy players without any kind of skill investment. If chosen, I'd try to get the number of crossbows to decrease to the same level as where archers and throwers are now.

However, item balancing is a group effort for the simple reason that no item balancer could pass a biased stats change. I understand this, and if chosen, will work with my colleagues to make the game better for us all.

[Rebelyell]

If you consider balance of siege EQ like catapults or craptowers I love to help.

[JackieChan]

Well if this means speeding up the new item patch, why not!

I've witnessed 3 years of patches, nerfs and buffs, seen how it affected the game and the players. I also noticed the mistakes and the good doings. Played many classes and i am active daily so i know how things are ingame. Nothing more to say.

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buff ha

[SirCymro_Crusader]

Thought i would write my own wee little app for this:

Firstly just a wee bit about myself,

I've played warband for way too long, if i mention the hours i will probably shock myself but it is well into the several thousands and that's just on steam. My experience within cRPG varies, from the very start, to present with a wide range of experiences in melee and ranged combat. I've played a wide range of classes with variations of each of the 3 classes 'infantry, ranged and cavalry'. My first build was 2h, and that evolved into crossbow, shielder, cavalry etc etc so i have a very wide understanding of all the classes and what weapons work well and what don't, which are overpowered and some which are not.

Also a note on armours, some of them are ridiculous and based on price and armour you get there are ones which can give similar stats with a point or two of IF that are several thousand cheaper and just throws a lot out the window.

In my eyes the current state of combat is mixed, sometimes i see some obvious things that are complete bullshit yet they happen anyway, such as speed of weapons, damage that some do when compared to others, ranged stagger. Yet whewn actually in melee combat things are ok, but could be improved a wee bit, all the glances, the sudden attacks with no indication of attack direction etc.

I've been playing this mod for 2 years and would like to see it carry on once the battleground is released and would like to help in any way i can.

[Erzengel]

Hello,

I would like to apply for the job as item balancer. I am generation 21 at the moment, very active (mainly siege, but also battle) and already have played all melee classes for a longer time (about 10 generations 2h/pole, 1 or 2 cavalry/thrower and the rest shielder, including several respecs).

In my opinion the game is pretty well balanced at the moment. All melee classes are nearly equally strong. There is no need for either huge buffs or nerfs. There are just some (more or less) overpowered weapons in each category that could need an adjustment. The Glaive for example is still too fast. Same goes for several one handed weapons like Steel Pick, Elite Scimmitar or Niuweidao. Also the knockdown chance on some weapons (especially one handed maces and Bar Mace) is too high. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to nerf items to the ground, just make slight adjustments. My goal is to make more weapons viable. I would really like to see some more variety on the battlefield. Two handed weapons for example are already pretty cool. Even the cheaper ones are useful. You can pick the weapon you like without being totally gimped. This is what I want to achieve for all weapons. One handed weapons on the other hand are the exact opposite. While there is already quite a huge and interesting variety, atleast 50% of the items are still completly useless (especially the cheap ones). Each weapon should fulfill a certain role depending on it's upkeep. Cheap weapons should be weaker than their more expensive counterparts but they shouldn't be useless.

Some armors could also need a buff. There are too many of them which nobody uses because they have not enough body armor/too much leg armor compared to their weight/upkeep. While there still should be some armors with high leg armor for cavalry there are just too many other clearly superior choices for infantry. You should be able to use the armor you like without getting too many drawbacks for your playstyle. It would be really nice if we could reduce the amount of Kuyak users this way. 

I am not an expert for ranged but my idea would be to give archers the ability to actually fight in melee without totally gimping their ability to shoot. You could reduce the slot requirement for all bows by one for example (Short Bow - Yumi = 0 slot, Rus Bow and Long Bow = 1 slot) while making all arrows 2 slots (and increasing their amount a little bit). This way you can either choose between a good bow, one quiver of arrows and a one slot weapon (+ Round Steel Buckler which should get a price drop) or a "weaker" bow with either two quivers/a two slot weapon/one slot weapon and shield. You can still kite, but you will either have less arrows or do less damage.

Just some ideas which came to my mind while writing this.

Thanks for reading.

[Bjord]

Been playing several years, played every class, don't really care what class I play as long as I have fun and I strongly believe I have a sound field of knowledge regarding the balance as a result of my experience.

Also, for me it's a given fact that when you nerf or buff items, the increments and reductions are humble and non-zealous.

The reason for my application is simple: I want to help. I know I would treat this task like any job.