FOTM - how and why

[Plumz]

We all experience this in most of MMOs. Every major xpack or update a new “Flavor Of The Month” arises. A class that is either being buffed up, or other classes not getting enough “love” from the game devs.

 

This common mmo practice creates FOTM classes. Now Warriors/JK are the FOTM right now, as Sorcs/Sages used to be at the beginning. Other nerfs affected other classes and rather by design or by bugs (mercs/troopers) it slowly and surely moves SWTOR to next station. Those of you asking for class balance get in line and get ready to grow some facial hair. Why?

 

Because it is becoming the standard practice of any mmos, it is not a mistake or bug or anything that can't be changed. It is what keeps a lot of people interested. Think about this and see it for what it is.

 

You chose your class, you enjoy it and let it “grow” on you. Than nerfs are coming. You class becomes either underpowered -insert slider here- to unplayable. You also notice the fotm class gaining power. So you wait, and complain/whine/give constructive input asking time and again for balance. Than new xpac/update comes up and you notice... the fotm class is not fotm anymore Yey! But yours is still nerfed, and there is a new fotm on a rise. What do you do? You keep playing your class to next top level (since you already 50 its only 5-10 more to get there) get some gear etc. But since ranked teams are less likely to take you in (since your class blows more -insert slider here- or less) and you would like to enjoy what ranked team work offers (rather for your ego to own or for a dedicated team work or both) you decide to roll an alt. FOTM alt. Grind it to top level and gear grind it from there. You start to enjoy playing it, teaming up, being either fotm own-age or -insert slider here- competitive team player.

 

No worry. Next xpac/update a new fotm will raise. Will it be a range class? Will it be stealth class?Assassin or Shadow, Merc or Trooper? It only takes few “tweaks” for devs to make it so. And when that happens what will you do? Stay and wait the whole cycle hoping in next one your class gets buffed? Or roll an alt and level/gear grind it to be competitive –insert slider here- own-age?

 

Either choice you make – game wins. You stay and keep playing. And paying too. Unbalanced play (pvp specially) servers the purpose. And for those who say you would rather quit than re-roll a fotm class to satisfy your mmo ego – guess what. Enough people WILL re-roll to keep this practice in place. Not only for SWTOR.

 

We all know BW decided to make SWTOR a wow clone. There are differences of course some for better some for worse but the major mechanics are all in place. So it's fotm mechanics. And it is here to stay for a long time because it WORKS. More people decide to wait/re-roll than leave.

[Valkirus]

We all experience this in most of MMOs. Every major xpack or update a new “Flavor Of The Month” arises. A class that is either being buffed up, or other classes not getting enough “love” from the game devs.

 

This common mmo practice creates FOTM classes. Now Warriors/JK are the FOTM right now, as Sorcs/Sages used to be at the beginning. Other nerfs affected other classes and rather by design or by bugs (mercs/troopers) it slowly and surely moves SWTOR to next station. Those of you asking for class balance get in line and get ready to grow some facial hair. Why?

 

Because it is becoming the standard practice of any mmos, it is not a mistake or bug or anything that can't be changed. It is what keeps a lot of people interested. Think about this and see it for what it is.

 

You chose your class, you enjoy it and let it “grow” on you. Than nerfs are coming. You class becomes either underpowered -insert slider here- to unplayable. You also notice the fotm class gaining power. So you wait, and complain/whine/give constructive input asking time and again for balance. Than new xpac/update comes up and you notice... the fotm class is not fotm anymore Yey! But yours is still nerfed, and there is a new fotm on a rise. What do you do? You keep playing your class to next top level (since you already 50 its only 5-10 more to get there) get some gear etc. But since ranked teams are less likely to take you in (since your class blows more -insert slider here- or less) and you would like to enjoy what ranked team work offers (rather for your ego to own or for a dedicated team work or both) you decide to roll an alt. FOTM alt. Grind it to top level and gear grind it from there. You start to enjoy playing it, teaming up, being either fotm own-age or -insert slider here- competitive team player.

 

No worry. Next xpac/update a new fotm will raise. Will it be a range class? Will it be stealth class?Assassin or Shadow, Merc or Trooper? It only takes few “tweaks” for devs to make it so. And when that happens what will you do? Stay and wait the whole cycle hoping in next one your class gets buffed? Or roll an alt and level/gear grind it to be competitive –insert slider here- own-age?

 

Either choice you make – game wins. You stay and keep playing. And paying too. Unbalanced play (pvp specially) servers the purpose. And for those who say you would rather quit than re-roll a fotm class to satisfy your mmo ego – guess what. Enough people WILL re-roll to keep this practice in place. Not only for SWTOR.

 

We all know BW decided to make SWTOR a wow clone. There are differences of course some for better some for worse but the major mechanics are all in place. So it's fotm mechanics. And it is here to stay for a long time because it WORKS. More people decide to wait/re-roll than leave.

 

If they tried to make a WoW clone they failed. There are a lot of differences in TOR compared to WoW. I only wish they had made it better than WoW overall.

[Galbatorrix]

How do you get around it? A lot of times, the developers don't fully know what to expect when buffing or nerfing a class. And if they shot out buffs and nerfs every week, no one would ever be able to learn to play properly. All they can do is what they're doing. Keep trying to balance. As long as they're working on it instead of saying "working as intended", we should be happy. Heck, my Retribution Pally in WOW is useless in PVP in WOW and has been for over a year. At least Bioware seems to make all classes viable.

[metalgearyoda]

and judging by the merc/comm changes they will be the new fotm.

 

Arreo was pulling 1750 dps solo before getting another 30% armorpen. Wonder what he will be pulling now?

 

Edit: for reference, the average DPS in most boss fights is about 1500 dps.

Edited June 8, 2012 by metalgearyoda

[SajmanPeetee]

The reasoning behind it is simple. You can't balance for PvE and PvP without completely homogenizing the classes. Either you have unique classes with a revolving door fotm or every class plays the same.

 

I like the idea of unique classes myself.

[Plumz]

O right! Mercs are coming back:) Goodie:)

 

 

Poor sorcs.. Hey maybe in 1.5? Keep paying guys:) BW got your back:)

[MorgothPl]

The reasoning behind it is simple. You can't balance for PvE and PvP without completely homogenizing the classes. Either you have unique classes with a revolving door fotm or every class plays the same.

 

I like the idea of unique classes myself.

What about something like this - introcuding 4 skill trees, 2 for PvP, 2 for PvE, you want to change one area of class, you just change one of the trees. of course, that would require either capped respecc costs, or Dual Spec.

[metalgearyoda]

O right! Mercs are coming back:) Goodie:)

 

 

Poor sorcs.. Hey maybe in 1.5? Keep paying guys:) BW got your back:)

 

Mercs never left. People we just using a shoddy rotations and gear choices.

 

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1117292-Arsenal-Bounty-Hunter-Are-YOU-Doing-It-Right

 

Even bioware said its a L2P issue.

Hargan: Will the Commando Gunnery spec be rebalanced after the changes in Game Update 1.2 so that we are back on par with the DPS output of similarly geared Sages/Gunslingers/Sentinels in Operations?

 

Austin: I think I'll confirm a lot of suspicions with this answer, but the bugfix that addressed Demolition Round scaling had a large enough impact on Gunnery DPS that it surprised us, too. Although Gunnery and Arsenal had been hitting our targets, it became harder to do so than we were comfortable with. Another way to say that is that the "low end" of our test results was hit too frequently by too many people. The changes you're going to see are mostly in resource management and usability, which will make it easier for you to deliver the considerable damage you already wield. We'll have more detailed information for you soon.

[Datku]

FOTM, Nerfs, Buffs all come about due to PvP. As much as PvP can be fun, PvP is also the bane of MMO's. A vocal crowd that demands they be elevated while everyone else is nerfed. If they loose a fight its not because the other player was better or skilled...it was because of a bug, or an OP class, or to large of a gear discrepancy, or cheats or any number of excuses other than the most obvious one...someone was better than you. This causes the game to always be in flux tweaking this class, adjusting that class to quiet the vocal whiners.

 

Now I enjoy PvP as much as even the most hard core PvPer's do, but I also recognize PvPer's tend to only care about themselves and could care less about the over all game or anyone else. Its a self-defeating destiny. As long as there is PvP, no game will ever be balanced plain and simple. You take a first person shotter where everyone spawns with the same health, armor, weapons...yet someone will know a faster route to an upgrade than you do giving them an edge and soon enough the cry will come out...such and such item is closer to Spawn X than Spawn Y and needs to be changed for balance sake. PvP breaks games more than builds them.

[IasonEvan]

This game is really good at having all the classes work well. This is one of those rare games where I find every class fun. There isn't a niche class in the lot. I can see a little FOTM in PvP, but a good player will excel at any class in this game.

[Blondesolid]

If they loose a fight its not because the other player was better or skilled...it was because of a bug, or an OP class, or to large of a gear discrepancy, or cheats or any number of excuses other than the most obvious one...someone was better than you.

 

I am one of the few, the not so proud, terrble pvp'rs. I actually announce in /1 for them to be prepared to cap their medals in the very 1st encounter

 

Throws out some high 5s >surrender< /flap

[Owsley]

I am one of the few, the not so proud, terrble pvp'rs. I actually announce in /1 for them to be prepared to cap their medals in the very 1st encounter

 

Throws out some high 5s >surrender< /flap

 

Well , my guess is that with ranked warzones, you, I, and others that suck at PvP will never see a PvP match again.

[Liokae]

Well , my guess is that with ranked warzones, you, I, and others that suck at PvP will never see a PvP match again.

 

Ranking schemes generally sort by relative skill/results, not absolute. They set it up so that a certain percentage of people are sorted into each bracket, with the lowest bracket usually having the highest population. If anything, the *better* you get at PVP, the harder it gets to get in matches.

[uniz]

FOTM, Nerfs, Buffs all come about due to PvP. As much as PvP can be fun, PvP is also the bane of MMO's. A vocal crowd that demands they be elevated while everyone else is nerfed. If they loose a fight its not because the other player was better or skilled...it was because of a bug, or an OP class, or to large of a gear discrepancy, or cheats or any number of excuses other than the most obvious one...someone was better than you. This causes the game to always be in flux tweaking this class, adjusting that class to quiet the vocal whiners.

 

Now I enjoy PvP as much as even the most hard core PvPer's do, but I also recognize PvPer's tend to only care about themselves and could care less about the over all game or anyone else. Its a self-defeating destiny. As long as there is PvP, no game will ever be balanced plain and simple. You take a first person shotter where everyone spawns with the same health, armor, weapons...yet someone will know a faster route to an upgrade than you do giving them an edge and soon enough the cry will come out...such and such item is closer to Spawn X than Spawn Y and needs to be changed for balance sake. PvP breaks games more than builds them.

 

so true

 

pvp and pve never work well together. with both competing for resources what you usually get is a watered down version of both in the same mmo. for most recent mmo releases this is a readily appearant.

 

the best pvp experience i ever had and enjoyed was in a pve game where the game didnt do any balancing around pvp. you learned to use what you had and lived with it. in doing so the more skilled players used the most of what they had or didnt have and not whine to take it away from someone else. this same game had no faction issues in warfronts and both could group together. it wasnt based from the wow model which has been the detriment of most mmos in recent years. every mmo wants to emulate wow without first understanding what made wow succesful in the first place. it wasnt pvp with pve nor the constant battle of balancing such.

[paowee]

This game is really good at having all the classes work well. This is one of those rare games where I find every class fun. There isn't a niche class in the lot. I can see a little FOTM in PvP, but a good player will excel at any class in this game.

 

QFT!

 

Me and my guild run HM EC and and the DPS (i'm pretty confident that we all know "how to play") usually end up around 1-4 % of each other in boss fights for approximately 2 months now. HM EC, NM KP, tank and spank fights like NM KP 1st boss or Double tanks in HM EC...

 

the dps that we have are :

2 Marauders,

1 Sniper

3 DPS Sorc,

PT dps,

 

they are all mostly within range of each other's Damage done

 

Now i would say that's pretty good balancing in PVE.

[/b]

Edited June 8, 2012 by paowee

[discosoc]

If they tried to make a WoW clone they failed. There are a lot of differences in TOR compared to WoW. I only wish they had made it better than WoW overall.

 

Interestingly enough, they've copied most of the generic aspects of WoW, and ignored all of the good things about it.

[Urael]

Ganking leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to pvp.

 

Ganking leads to reroll. Reroll leads to server death. Server death due to ganking means you have noone to play with.

[Thundergulch]

We all know BW decided to make SWTOR a wow clone.

 

Go away!

Far, far away.

[Evironrage]

Byproduct of attempting to balance classes. It is inevitable and frankly I kind of like it. It means at some pt it will be my turn to rule

[DarkSaberMaster]

There will always be a FOTM. Whether a class is perceived to be overpowered or if it is in actuality. What gets me is that people always assume you rolled a class because it is the current FOTM. Take me for example. I play what is in my sig. I have played my Shadow ever since the servers came live. Way before anybody deemed it an overpowered class. Now that everybody and their brother is a Shadow/Assassin, I get called a FOTM re-roller. So because my class gravitated to that status, I shouldn't play my character anymore because everyone feels it's overpowered? I don't think so.

 

FOTM classes are going to be here till the servers get shut down whether we like them or not. It goes with the territory with having a class system. the only way to stop it is to make this like a FPS. Everybody has the same template, the same weapon and the same armor. But even then, somebody will find a way to cry about it and claim X is overpowered. And in actuality, this is the most balanced MMO I have ever played. I win and I lose just about equally no matter what class I play.

[Evironrage]

There will always be a FOTM. Whether a class is perceived to be overpowered or if it is in actuality. What gets me is that people always assume you rolled a class because it is the current FOTM. Take me for example. I play what is in my sig. I have played my Shadow ever since the servers came live. Way before anybody deemed it an overpowered class. Now that everybody and their brother is a Shadow/Assassin, I get called a FOTM re-roller. So because my class gravitated to that status, I shouldn't play my character anymore because everyone feels it's overpowered? I don't think so.

 

FOTM classes are going to be here till the servers get shut down whether we like them or not. It goes with the territory with having a class system. the only way to stop it is to make this like a FPS. Everybody has the same template, the same weapon and the same armor. But even then, somebody will find a way to cry about it and claim X is overpowered. And in actuality, this is the most balanced MMO I have ever played. I win and I lose just about equally no matter what class I play.

Nah play away like I did with my slinger and in a few months when you get hit hard with the nerf bat no one will be calling you out. Just have to wait for the dust to settle.

[MidichIorian]

Saying that sorcs used to be FotM has really become a pet peeve of mine. They were never as OP as some AC'es currently are and if you had looked at the post-game scoreboard you would have noticed that while the class was played by many the majority of those players would usually fill the bottom places, 10 sorcs in a game and you'd have 2 in top 3 and the rest as 8-16. Hence, the whole argument is based on some false perception where people ignored the fact that it would have been more worrying if a class played by 2/3 of the population didnt fill 2/3 of the top spots.

 

And I've said it before, sorcs/sages are currently the only ones that work as they should. If they had balanced the rest of the classes around them we would have had balance.

Edited June 8, 2012 by MidichIorian

[rymah]

Interestingly enough, they've copied most of the generic aspects of WoW, and ignored all of the good things about it.

 

Is it possible that they ignored aspects of that other game because they wouldn't work with what they were trying to produce? Without proper examples to put your statement into context we have only opinion which is subjective at best.

[Plumz]

Clearly you guys have a different point of view on why fotm exists.

 

What you see as a result of "balancing" I see as a very interesting feature, that when done on cycle and timely bases keeps a part of population interested in playing the game (paying subscription).

 

I know that it is very hard (or impossible) to "balance" classes. But it has to be possible to make the unbalance margines narrow. Yet, so many games don't. I see this not as inability of devs to do so, but as a necesity for keeping active subs on certain numbers.

 

Just a different opinion really.

[Evironrage]

Clearly you guys have a different point of view on why fotm exists.

 

What you see as a result of "balancing" I see as a very interesting feature, that when done on cycle and timely bases keeps a part of population interested in playing the game (paying subscription).

 

I know that it is very hard (or impossible) to "balance" classes. But it has to be possible to make the unbalance margines narrow. Yet, so many games don't. I see this not as inability of devs to do so, but as a necesity for keeping active subs on certain numbers.

 

Just a different opinion really.

There is some validity to this argument. It really both balances the game and in turn refreshes some players interest, thus resubbing for another month or two.

A rare win win if you ask me.