PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - via Twitter: AA OP
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This is the last VIP post in this thread.   Old 2012-10-24, 11:09 AM   [Ignore Me] #9
Malorn
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PlanetSide 2
Game Designer
 
Re: via Twitter: AA OP


Originally Posted by Miir View Post
The problem isn't the damage. It's the amount of AA people can have and how quickly they can get it. That is a common issue with a game that has 1000 players fighting at once.

If they balance it based on those times where there are 50 people with AA maxes or Skyguards. Then those other times when there are only 2 or 3 guys you'll find that your AA is completely worthless.

AA damage is fine. Pilots should not be able to solo.

If they want to do some side grades that increase ammo or change the weapons to something heavier with a lower capacity sure do that. But don't nerf AA anymore or it'll just turn back into to Pilotside.
Balancing against critical mass is always going to be an issue. AA is one place where it becomes problematic, but also with Tanks, rockets, and AI MAX.

The more the fight is focused, the more this becomes a problem. Its one reason they like spreading out the fight across different territories so you don't get 500 people in one spot annihilating everything.

One way to help resolve this is to apply the idea of some sort of adaptive armor where if you take damage from multiple sources in a short time frame (i.e. multiple people are shooting at you) then you have more damage resistance. It helps counteract the problem of critical mass without impacting small-group situations. That's the real danger here...balancing the game for the small fight at the expense of the big fight, or vice-versa. Scaling the damage based on number of sources might be a way to help compensate so we can get balance on both ends of the spectrum.

The idea of that mechanic would be to not pile up hard counters but to diversify.
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