This man speaks the truth. Why would you balance around players that don’t know the game and are in ranks where there is no meta?
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OP is right, and the aversion that these forums have to skill-based heroes is all you need to see to know that the forums are not the place that the devs should listen to.
Pretty sure Genji is quadruple S tier and moira is harder to play than tracer. This is the forums and when have they ever been wrong
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sure, and I hope that you’re happy with your matchmaking when your balanced game bleeds players more and more.
Also your raw skill at the game doesn’t mean you have the knowledge of how to develop it in a meaningful/successful way.
Almost no developer of any game is as skilled as the top players in their respective games, yet I trust their opinions far more than some kid who can click a few buttons.
Also the more hardcore a game becomes, the higher the barrier of entry becomes, and the population of that game begins to shrink.
In summary, your balance decisions depends on what you define as success.
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Mmm… That’s a hot take, out of a post made entirely of hot takes. Ana has some mechanical skill requirement, but so do Zenyatta and Baptiste, yet neither of those heroes are over-represented in elos that shouldn’t have the skill to utilize them.
If skill intensive heroes should never get nerfed, what happened to poor Baptiste? The man has two different skills to juggle on his mouse buttons alone.
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We balanced around high ranks and got multiple metas that were awful, including the recent Hog/Zarya meta.
Your title is incorrect. They do have a say, as confirmed by the devs. You can’t sustain a video game by making things unpleasant for the vast majority of the playerbase. The casuals pay to keep the lights on and therefore get a say.
That isn’t to say they are the primary balancing force, but the game still takes these opinions and perfomances is into account.
She was, the devs flat out stated as much. The higher ranked players wanted a Tracer counter, the lower ranked players wanted Tracer nerfed. The higher ranked players wanted a hero to shake up meta.
The highee ranked ones got their wish and then tried to blame lower ranked players for it.
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The high ranked playerbase asked nerfs to mobility as a whole and buffs to cc, this is why hog was actually being asked to be buffed before hand, as back then healing was still ramping up and pick potential was the number one choice for a team comp. Most pros activley said they wanted a meta fast paced like dive, but required less mobility and rewarded picks, so more of a hitscan hog meta, like the one we had before with the hog patch.
I understand your point, though I don’t necessarily agree with it.
Higher ranked players do indeed have a better understanding of the game and its mechanics. I don’t think anybody will deny that.
However, that doesn’t inherently make their ideas better for the whole community. They are still the minority. A quite small minority at that. There is so much difference between the low ranks and high ranks that they are practically playing different games.
And I doubt very much high ranked players would advocate for what the lower ranked players actually want. Which does matter, at least a bit. This is still a game. Enjoying it is kind of a huge part of playing it.
And all that aside, do the higher ranked players really have more of a vested interest than the low ranked players in say, bastions viability. I doubt they care much about him either way. I mean look at the OW league. Do they really care about who’s meta? Or making every hero viable? Or just what personally makes their job easier?
I doubt any player at any rank will have an unbiased view on how the game should be balanced. And NONE of us are game designers. Even high ranked players have churned out truly awful game balance ideas.
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They also consistently stated that the problem wasn’t that Tracer was too strong but that Tracer didn’t have a proper counter. They did not have something like Brig in mind when they stated those things, but regardless it was that specific feedback that lead to her creation.
The devs explicitly stated she was created for high rank concerns. She was created to shakeup meta. That was the explict reason cited and they told them to be more careful for what they wished for later on.
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It would make sense if it weren’t for the fact that the majority is the reason the game has killed itself. Once we started listening to pros we started seeing less healing, characters feeling fun to play, and a much more refreshing experience. There has never been a good experience listening to the majority of the playerbase, as their is way too much variety.
She did have counters, but they all got nerfed badly. Hog 2.0 was still a shadow of himself after quad tank, and mccree was sitting in garabage for a while after being broken in early ow. No one asked for a character with 2 stuns that are easy to land and a kill combo on tracer. The character was made for low skill players in mind. It is the perfect, ah tracer killing me in back line, lemme go brig with minimal counterplay and kill the tracer and deny her any value. She was made easy for a reason. Peel exsisted in pro play, they didn’t need a character who denied value passivley to dps heros.
You are not really making a convincing argument other than “because skill”. For example here is a counter argument: Why would the devs balance around the 0.01% of the player base and make it terrible for the 99% of the rest? It’s better for them to make the game fun for the actual playerbase that makes them their profits.
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The character was factually and explicity stated by the developers with high skill players in mind. They made her to shakeup meta. Every aspect of her kit was anti-dive.
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Proof, because I have some and your is, I said it therefore the devs have said it
Everybody of any rank, or no rank, are allowed opinions on the game balance, what they enjoy and dislike and what does/does not work.
It’s solely up to the devs and what they listen to - but every person that has paid for the game is entitled to their thoughts. It’s how discussions start and continue.
Yup. Though I still fully believe everyone is allowed a say, and to be heard, high rank is where the game is optimal (for lack of a better term).
I wouldn’t dismiss that too quickly.
The dev’s admitted she was made to end dive…
Dive only played in the high ranks.
Therefore, Brig was made for high ranked players.
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True, but I remember most support players on old forums complaining about the lack of peel and or actual abilities to fight back against dps players, and for good reason. I think moira is pretty healthy in that regard
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