[Debate] Perfect Imbalance

Sir ArmaMalum·Apr 16, 2014·2 votes·537 views

Hello and welcome to my weekly (at least that's what I shoot for) [Debate] post. In this post series I outline a subject with LoL, and encourage people to post their own opinions and views about the subject. I hope to spark intelligent, civil and open-minded debate amongst the community. Just in case you don’t know how to do debate that here are the guidelines:

Don't dismiss anyone's opinions, opinions are never wrong, you just disagree with them.

You are free to disagree with someone always, but always do your best to explain why.
Don't get emotional, hopefully we're all adults here, keep it in 'debate' mode. No catfights allowed.
Feel free to disagree with my OP as well! I love feedback, but this is a debate thread, I'll respond where I can!
There is a comment reply cap! You only have a few tries to rebuttle and argue a point, so make them count!

#####Want to help decide what topic comes next? Well you can! Poll below!

http://i.imgur.com/6OhAghn.png ‘Perfect Imbalance’?

Perfect Imbalance is the term for dynamically imbalancing a game to prevent stagnation. In other words elements of a game are intentionally stronger than others ‘on-paper’. What this creates is a playerbase naturally being drawn not only to this stronger game element but also to the related assets that counter this stronger element. As players and strategies are developed around these choices, new elements and strategies are searched for to produce this process once again. Naturally, such a dynamic pattern requires constant re-tuning and balance changes, and therefore a constantly maintained game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e31OSVZF77w Here is a professional explanation!

http://i.imgur.com/gcAUbuq.png Intended Purpose

Why not just balance the game Rito??
Perfect Imbalance’s purpose is to prevent stagnation. Poking and prodding separate areas of a game creates new avenues to advantages and new problems to face and keeps the overall experience fresh. League of Legends being an online game expected to last longer than it’s already amazingly long run, stagnation is one of the greatest fears in the MMO genre.

http://i.imgur.com/bn5srbv.png So…..

###.....Riot is forcing us to play certain champions?

Exact opposite actually. It’s bad game design to specifically say ‘play this to win’, ‘play that to lose’. All game element should have a chance to beat another, or else having that asset in the game is pointless. Now, Perfect Imbalance creates a trend (FotM) that should be worked around, but every champion should have a chance against this. It’s just some will have an easier time.

###.....all patch changes, no matter how small, have an agenda?

No, that would require foresight on the level of a superhuman, Rioters are (at least as far as I know) merely human and are vulnerable to fallibility. However, some balance changes could be done with Perfect Imbalance in mind to help prod the playerbase along an established counter trend. Riot has the option to exacerbate the process of trending, but must be careful not to push too hard, or else another trending asset will develop unintentionally.

###......Riot will always nerf the stronger champs eventually?

Not necessarily, if a champion remains strong but falls out popularity for this reason or that (Poppy, fun fact, is ‘on-paper’ considered the most overpowered champion in the game) then that champion will not necessarily need to be brought down. They fell out favor for some reason and numbers are not the sole reason a champion has an advantage, team synergy, itemization counters, and simple counter strategy are all factors that can affect a champion’s perceived strength without hitting numbers.