EA Staff (Retired)I have read the patch update and let me just say this to you that most people say about you people and I will try to be completely honest and kind about you people (this is what I summed up about what people say) :
I just want to say that you just completely screwed up the game balancing with the characters. You people just need to listen what the players want and the patches you people make are actually destroying the game and causing people to play other games like Block - N - Load, Overwatch, The Sims 4, and etc. First of all, the camo cactus was fined but a bit hard to use because of its ammo and look speed was a bit slow. Now its even harder to use him now and you mostly nerfed a lot of the characters. You still haven't fixed the issue with no enough people playing this game. Your actually pushing players back away than pulling them into this game. My suggestion would be to listen to what players have to say. In fact, why don't you just create a survey asking what players think about certain characters like the creators of Block - N - Load did. What they did was look at those results carefully to see who was overpowered and who was underpowered. They even posted a graph of win rates for certain characters which helped them decide who needed to be fixed. SO what you people need to do is send out a survey that list just about every single plant, zombie, zombie variants, and plant variants in the game and just for once, ask people what they actually think about the characters and whether or not they should nerf or buff a character.
Also, I would love to contribute to the fountain, but its just too hard to complete when nobody is barely playing the game.
Character balancing:
If PopCap genuinely want this game to move forward in the same way that GW1 did then I'm starting to feel that it's time they should consider pulling one or two of the community members to one side and having a proper (non-forum) discussion about how they can address everything that is seemingly making GW2 not the game everyone hoped it would be.
Balancing isn't my thing but looking through the various posts it's clear to see that certain people really do understand the intricacies of fine tuning characters and have spent a great deal of time and effort laying out every meticulous detail for all to see -not for the benefit of themselves or to satisfy their own ego's, but for the benefit of the developers and for the love of the game. If you take out the ten-a-penny random moaners who simply post because they can no longer dominate with their favourite character then you're left with a select few who obviously play the game enough to generate a non-biased opinion as to the pros and cons of every single character GW2 has to offer. It's blatantly obvious who these people are (the forum posts kind of give that away) and looking at it from a logical point of view, considering the thoughts and opinions of these people is a far more sensible approach than simply hoping for the best with the trial and error approach that seems to have been adopted.
Gameplay with balancing issues put to one side:
Map size and layout has been well discussed from day one and although it's fair to say that changing core elements is probably a non-viable option, raised concerns of these original maps could easily have be addressed when designing future additions for the game. GW2 has been blessed with two such updates since launch and my personal feeling is that both these additions haven't really enhanced the quality of gameplay in a way that they could have - or should have. Aqua centre is just a poor map and although Zombopolis is actually quite pleasing to look at, it's broken exactly the same rules as all those locations that have gone before it - in the sense that it's simply too big and too poorly laid out for the purpose it was designed for. Again, PopCap were in an ideal position to take advantage of gamer feedback and create something really exciting but chose to completely overlook these concerns by simply releasing content they deemed appropriate. Ok, so everything is free and we should be happy for the loyalty displayed - but in all honesty I would sooner pay for community influenced maps as opposed to free content that's simply added to make a game look bigger and more appealing. If a gamer is left with the same old game after the novelty period of new inclusions then that achieves absolutely nothing in terms of lasting appeal. When you consider the fact that the bulk of GW1 was played in the gardens and graveyards then it just emphasises how important quality (no matter how small it is in content) is when playing a game.
The two key elements that above everything else have the biggest detrimental effect on gameplay - and two key elements that, if addressed correctly, can make every other minor nuance considerably less painful. PopCap have a unique opportunity to take away the guesswork and take advantage of the people out there that really do seem to have a good grasp of the problems by just taking them a little more seriously then they appear to do. Surely anything that helps push the game in the right direction in a more fluid manner can't be a bad thing.
At the end of the day my ideal scenario is just like everyone else's. I want to be able to switch on my Xbox and not have to play GW1 in order to play a great map or have a great game that I've won or lost purely on my own abilities (and not because my character is stronger or weaker than someone else's) and If achieving that experience means dragging members of the community into the equation then I'm all for it. Again, If playing a decent (community influenced) map means dipping into my own pocket in order to do so is the only way forward then that really isn't a problem.
But yeah, PopCap have their own vision and if that vision doesn't include community influence in taking the game forward then so be it - it's their investment. But what I would politely ask is, if that is indeed the case then it would be nice to inform those that spend huge amounts of time doing the +/- various percentages of various attributes that their efforts are in vain. At least that way they (and indeed everyone else) can move on instead of just hanging around and hoping for the best.
Balancing
To everyone who thinks this game isn't balanced, it has never been balanced. It can never be balanced either until everyone playing has access to the same ****. It sure as hell wasn't balanced in the first game but game modes were one sided so it didn't matter as much, and it sure as hell won't ever be balanced in any sequels.
It is really that SIMPLE.
