Thoughts on Power Balance in S31
My reaction to Seasons 31 and 32 is simple: "This is no good for this game why the devs are just moving around too drastic." When I first saw Apex, I was genuinely amazed by its raw potential. Wh...
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If you're thinking that the developer is incapable of proper balancing then you're making a mistake. There is nothing random or mis-calculated in the way they nerf some legends into the ground and buff others beyond all reasonable thought. It's all deliberate. It's all intentional.
This game has many different measures of health and how you and I feel about the latest meta or the latest new season rebalance is only one of them, and probably the least important of the lot. What matters to the developer is store sales, which they know from experience are driven by the obsessions players have for over-powered legends. They also care about population bumps, and changes which seem excessive to you and me are exactly the thing that's likely to excite younger, less experienced players. Or bring back a player who wandered off to some other game - even if it only brings them back for a week or two at the beginning of a new season.
So yes, I agree completely that these over-corrections are annoying and not good for the long-term health of the game. But they are good for something that we either don't see or don't care about. Otherwise they wouldn't happen. I'd like to be able to say that I've made my peace with them, but they broke me seasons ago now and are just one of the factors that have made the multiplayer in this game a truly miserable experience. If it wasn't for bots I'd be playing something else now, or maybe even reading books again. If anybody else remembers what those are.
If the devs actually had the ability to precisely manipulate player behavior and balance the game solely to drive profits at will, we wouldn't be seeing all that massive layoff.
I think they're better at manipulating player behavior than most anyone gives them credit for. Obviously there are vast impersonal forces working against their efforts - their own players being the biggest, though not the only - so in the end there are still limits to what they can do.
Then there is the question of whether they wield their powers for long-term benefit or for quick short-term gain. The devs themselves would probably prefer the former, but their EA overlords don't and what EA says is what happens. Or rather now, what Affinity, Silver Lake, and the SSWF say is what happens. And what they're saying is what the unified voice of private equity has always said: Make more money now. Not tomorrow. Not the day after tomorrow. Right $%^& now. And when private equity expectations outstrip reality, which they often do, then you will see a layoff that makes everything so far look like a walk in the park. You may even see an end to EA. Which would be sad, but to be honest it would also be richly deserved. And would clear the way for some better, more creative people to find their way into the field. Maybe. If our luck changes.
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