I have no love for the direction the game has been going in lately, that's for sure. But consider this. We are given small stages, very minor things, and asked to comment on them, or to summarize.
However, I feel it is impossible to give fair assessments of individual changes when we cannot see the overall goal, or the "big picture." I do not like some of the changes, and I think a lot of the crap going on is pure bollocks. If NGD is asking for player summaries and comments on the balance changes, then they really need to give more of the big picture, and let us know the direction they are steering the game in.
Another thing: Something as large a scope as balance, something that is so interconnected and fragile, needs to be done as a complete "piece" I don't have a good analogy or visual, but something so interconnected cannot be done in small steps. It all needs to go in as one piece, and then analyzed after implementation to see how all pieces work together. Then certain individual parts of the balance can be adjusted as needed based on feedback, and how well those parts work with the other facets of the overall balance.
Right now, though, it is like we are asked to comment on individual pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.....like a single edge, or some obscure piece in the middle somewhere. We cannot see how this piece will fit with other pieces.....How can asking for comments on that single piece possibly be a good thing!?
OR: Maybe it is like building an engine, or some other mechanical piece. Sometimes parts need to be put together externally, and then fit into place in one go in the prototype, and then do test runs to see how well they work together as one piece. Then, after analysis, it can be determined if a part needs to be redesigned, or adjusted to work more optimally. That's the feeling I'm getting with these "stages" anyway. I think small steps is the wrong way to go here. But that's just my gut feeling.
Okay, so maybe I did have a couple analogies. Don't know if they're all that relevant though, heh.
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