Game Balance
Ongoing coverage on Game Balance.
Latest coverage
World of Warcraft: Forever devs address racial ability drama by creating even more drama, fans say Blizzard's…
Blizzard Entertainment is updating racial abilities in the beta for World of Warcraft: Forever, prioritizing "racial identity" which may lead to some races being more effective in certain combat roles. This decision has sparked significant community backlash, with players on Reddit and forums accusing the developers of bias and favoritism towards the Alliance faction, while others argue it reflects historical faction strengths or that the changes are simply poorly implemented.
Throne and Liberty’s latest patch preps for the transition away from Amazon with a smaller patch
Throne and Liberty is preparing for a transition in game operations on November 10th, with a recent patch implementing changes to minimize disruption. This update will reset certain player customizations like HUD layouts and Favorites, and adjusts server times for the end of Daylight Saving Time. Additionally, numerous weapon skills have been altered for balance, and further changes to skill cores are planned.
WoW: Forever Just Got Another Major Racial Ability Shakeup Before Launch
Blizzard Entertainment is implementing final changes to racial abilities in World of Warcraft: Forever before its November 4th launch, responding to beta feedback. The adjustments aim to re-emphasize racial identity while ensuring no single race is objectively superior for all combat roles, with specific tweaks to Tauren, Humans, Orcs, Dwarves, and Skyborne elves.
Mortal Online 2 puts forth its first refinement patch that adjusts combat, territory control, and balance
Mortal Online 2 has received its first 'Era of Refinement' patch, introducing significant adjustments to combat mechanics, including adrenaline, blocking, parrying, and attack timing. The update also modifies territory control systems with new timers for outpost sieges and structural damage rules. Additional changes include AI updates, balance tweaks for bandages and clade mastery gifts, and the introduction of a mental fortitude skill to reduce magic damage.
Overwatch devs took one look at Jetpack Cat and Bastion's combo and went 'oh, that's a little scary'
Overwatch's Associate Game Director Alec Dawson discussed the initial 'scary' combination of Jetpack Cat and Bastion, which created an "Apache helicopter meta" in the game. While the developers anticipated the potential for imbalance during testing, they deliberately allowed the powerful team-up to be experienced by players before implementing nerfs to preserve exciting gameplay moments.
Modern Warfare 4 players declare 'broken' on DMZ perk that lets you self-revive after full death
Players are calling the 'Possum' operator trait in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's DMZ mode 'broken' due to its ability to self-revive from a full death, storing health to maximum once per match. This perk, accessible early in the Warfighter skill tree, allows players to spring back to life after being killed, leading to frustrating scenarios for opponents. The article suggests Infinity Ward needs to re-evaluate the perk's execution, possibly by increasing its cooldown or adding a more significant in-game cue, drawing parallels to the 'Necromancer' perk in Hunt: Showdown which allows players to burn bodies to prevent revivals.
WARDOGS Season 2 Progression Boost Was “The Wrong Call,” Season 3 Being Brought Forward
Bulkhead Studios has acknowledged that the accelerated progression in WARDOGS Season 2 was a mistake, leading to player frustration and a drop in Steam reviews. The studio plans to bring forward content from Season 3 to offer a proper fresh start, rather than resetting the in-game economy again. Despite these issues, Season 2 has introduced new weapons, vehicles, and environmental effects.
World of Warcraft Forever beta patch makes sweeping changes to racials and classes
Blizzard Entertainment is implementing a significant patch for the World of Warcraft Forever beta, introducing changes to racial abilities and classes based on player feedback. The update includes new racial effects, class fixes, and an improved tutorial experience for new players. A stress test for the beta is scheduled for October 21st.
'We f**ked up': 1 day into Wardogs Season 2, the Blue team bribery bonus is being dropped
Bulkhead Interactive has removed the 'bribery bonus' for players joining the Blue team in Wardogs Season 2 after just one day, admitting they 'fucked up.' The bonus, intended to improve the Blue team's win rate, proved too effective, causing an imbalance. The developer is also addressing driver progression issues and exploits.
"We were wrong": Wardogs devs end Season 2's team-specific cash and XP bonus experiment after a single, tumultuous day
Wardogs developers Bulkhead have canceled their Season 2 experiment that offered team-specific cash and XP bonuses after just one day, admitting they "fucked up." The bonuses, intended to boost the underperforming Lonestar faction, led to "tryhard" players accumulating excessive in-game currency, disrupting progression balance and causing matchmaking issues. The developers are now reverting to more conventional rebalancing methods.
"We f***ed up:" Bulkhead admits Wardogs Season 2 "got a few things wrong"
Developer Bulkhead has admitted to making mistakes with Wardogs Season 2, particularly regarding the Blue Team bonus and Driver progression exploits. CEO Joe Brammer acknowledged these issues, stating they "fucked up" and have since removed the bonus and are implementing fixes for the exploits, including temporary bans for some players. A mid-season update will also introduce 'limited mode servers' to recapture the early-to-midgame experience.
Everything New In Wardogs Season 2
Wardogs is launching Season 2 with significant updates including new weapons, vehicles, and a revamped progression system. The update introduces a "Blue Team Bribery" system to encourage players to join the less popular Lonestar faction, new weather effects like rain that impact gameplay, and adjustments to weapon damage and building costs. Players can also expect changes to team killing penalties, team switching consequences, and an experimental Wager Vendor for risk-reward objectives.
Wardogs Season 2 adds new items, rainy weather, and rewards a faction shift with more XP and game cash
Wardogs Season 2, launching October 15th, introduces new items, rainy weather affecting visibility and sound, and four new weapons and vehicles. To address faction imbalance, players joining the Lonestar faction will receive in-game cash and XP bonuses, while the losing faction gets a vendor discount.
Wardogs' blue team is a laughing stock, and it turns out there are some valid reasons for it
The blue team in Wardogs suffers from a lower win rate due to factors like higher visibility, spawn issues, and negative player sentiment creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Developer Bulkhead plans to implement changes in Season 2, including spawn tweaks and in-game bonuses for the blue team, to improve its performance and perception.
Wardogs Season 2 will pay people to join blue team to fix its "notoriously lower win rate": Lonestar gets…
Wardogs Season 2 introduces changes to address team imbalance, particularly the lower win rate of the blue team, Lonestar. Developer Bulkhead is offering in-game bonuses like extra cash and XP for players who join Lonestar, alongside visual adjustments and spawn point changes. New restrictions on team switching are also being implemented to prevent match manipulation.
Wardogs Dev Explains Why Blue Team Loses More, Confirms Plan to Address the Balance in Season 2
The developers of Wardogs have acknowledged that the blue team, Lonestar, experiences more losses than other factions. They plan to implement significant changes in Season 2 to address and improve this balance issue.
Blizzard refuses to let World of Warcraft: Forever's dungeons become the fastest way to grind XP: 'We need to hold firm on these balance adjustments'
Blizzard Entertainment has stated that dungeon XP gains in World of Warcraft: Forever will be improved but will not reach the levels seen in WoW Classic, emphasizing a desire for the open world to be the primary focus. While some players are disappointed by the decision to limit dungeon spamming as an optimal leveling strategy, the developers are holding firm on balance adjustments to align with their core pillars for the game.
Dungeons and Dragons Online unleashes its Night Revels event, adds cantrips, and makes sweeping enhancement tree changes
Dungeons and Dragons Online has released Update 81.4, bringing back the Night Revels in-game event with new rewards and higher challenge levels. The update also introduces cantrips for certain classes, providing a basic DPS tool and spell point regeneration. Significant balance changes have been made to damage reduction, enhancement trees, two-handed weapon attacks, magic masteries, and the Reaper challenge difficulty mode.
Hearthstone's new 2v2 battles won't be perfectly balanced. Instead, Blizzard wants you to "go have fun"
Hearthstone is introducing a new 2v2 battles mode, which Blizzard acknowledges will not be perfectly balanced at launch. The mode will initially be tested in Tavern Brawls, allowing players and developers to experiment and identify overpowered strategies. While the team plans to address balance issues quickly, they encourage players to "go have fun" and explore broken decks during the experimental phase.
Battlefield 6 and REDSEC Season 5 Adjustments Revealed, More Planned For 2027
Battlefield Studios has detailed upcoming changes for Battlefield 6 and its battle royale mode REDSEC, set to launch with Season 5 on October 13th. Updates include adjustments to vehicle mechanics, anti-air systems, and matchmaking for both titles. Further refinements and new features are planned through 2027.
