Jimmy argues that intentional imbalances in video games keep play fresh by forcing players to develop counters and counter-counters. Perfectly balanced games like chess lock into one dominant strategy, while League of Legends and Hearthstone stay varied because overpowered champions and cards constantly shift what works.
How's it going guys, it's Jimmy from WToG here. JJ kicked us off with a good upload yesterday. It was interesting, I'll give him an A for effort. But on a different side note, I saw this video yesterday and it got me thinking about this certain thing a lot. Are imbalances good in games? Now that sounds a little bit weird, I'm gonna do my best to to explain it. If you're thinking about it realistically and logically, you actually don't want everything in a game to be balanced, because if everything was balanced, then there'd be a certain way to win, or there'd be a certain way to do things that would give you the highest percentage of winning. And an example I'd give for that is chess, because chess, both sides are equally balanced. You both start off with the same pieces, and to win in a game of chess, you have to follow certain strategies. If you just experiment, there's always gonna be someone out there who can beat you. There are certain strategies you have to follow in chess if you want to be the absolute best. Which is where I gather my point: imbalances in a game are actually good for a game. You see, by having certain champions in League of Legends overpowered, or certain classes in Hearthstone good at doing certain things, that creates a metagame. Because then majority of people are gonna play that overpowered champion, and everyone else is gonna play champions to counter that, and then people are gonna play champions to counter the counter. And it creates a metagame because people are gonna be playing different stuff. The overpowered champion's not always gonna be the best solution to winning. So next time you find yourself on a forum complaining about how a champion needs to be nerfed or this card needs to be removed from Hearthstone, just think about it. Granted, that champion might be overpowered, but it being overpowered is gonna force other people to play counters to it, and the metagame's gonna be always changing, causing people to always play different characters. And is what makes League of Legends and Hearthstone such successful games. The whole reason I bring up this topic is because we always find ourselves when we're playing video games complaining about how this is better than that, and you know, just how this is overpowered, why would anyone ever play anything else? And that's actually a good thing, that's healthy for a game because it causes a meta effect. You do not want everything the same. If everything was balanced, then there'd be a certain path to victory and everyone would have to follow that route. By creating a meta, it allows you to play different champions, and a champion that does get you a bunch of wins this week could go on a 10-losing streak next week. You know, the same thing applies for Hearthstone. If a new card comes out for Hunter and everyone's playing Hunter right now because it's so overpowered, well then people are gonna start playing a counter to the Hunter, and Hunter's not gonna be good anymore, and then people are gonna start countering the counter, and you get it. So just think about that next time you're complaining about how something's overpowered. Just think about how that's actually healthy for a game, and it's actually good, you know, within parameters. Obviously, if it's not super, super OP, but a little bit of imbalance in a game is actually good for a game, and it causes a meta effect, which is what keeps the game interesting. It keeps everything changing, and it makes it where there's not just one certain way to win. There's multiple different ways, given the current meta. So that's pretty much all. Let me know what you think.
No exception to the rule, do what you do to get by. Cause I keep ticking like a metronome and my thoughts keep telling me to get me home, but my balls keep telling me to let me out. Oh, just let me out. That clock keeps ticking like a metronome and my thoughts keep telling me to get me home, but my balls keep telling me to let me out.
