Balancing Multiplayer Games, Part 3: Fairness

David Sirlin · 14 Aug 2014

David Sirlin did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Massive customization in games can make them inherently unbalanceable.

Their wordsThis kind of massive customization is almost inherently unbalanceable.
Our reading
Players often struggle to understand that a character can remain top tier even after being slightly weakened.

Their wordsFor some reason, players in every game seem unable to grasp the concept that a top tier character who is made slightly worse can still be a top tier character.
Our reading
When balancing an uncertain move, it is better to make it too powerful initially rather than too weak.

Their wordsHe said that if you have a move that you're not really sure how to balance, make it too powerful. If you make it too weak, then you run the risk of no one using it at all.

Keep reading

More from David Sirlin