Q&A on upcoming Monster Balancing
Original Link (now dead) - http://acdm.turbinegames.com/featuredarticles/?action=view&article_id=170
Q&A on upcoming Monster Balancing
By Orion
In our March event there are going to be a number of changes made to the various monsters found throughout the land. Orion on the ACLive Team took a few minutes to answer some of the questions that have come up regarding these changes.
Q. Why rebalance monsters?
A. While it may appear that monster difficulty was not broken, it has become apparent through the several years of Asheron's Call development that at any given time one "class" of character is more pronounced and able than the others. This has been due to an imbalance in creature defenses. We are adjusting this to bring a more acceptable level of difficulty for creatures.
Q. What does "rebalance" mean?
A. Rebalance means adjusting the skills of the creatures to be more indicative of their level of difficulty.
Q. Is it true that you are adjusting creature levels to more closely mirror player levels?
A. Yes; in a sense. But not in a restrictive manner. We are not looking to create cookie cutter levels. We are trying to give a more adequate representation of the creature level. In some instances those levels will only be geared toward an archer of that level, in others a mage or melee character. The level is now just a more useful tool for you, the player to gauge what you can or cannot fight.
Q. I've heard that you are "nerfing" missile characters; is this true?
A. No. Missile characters are having nothing done to them directly. What has been stated is that the skill that most creatures are having adjusted is their missile defense. This will alter, in some cases, the creatures that missile characters were hunting. The most relevant cases however are those characters that were hunting creature far above their level.
Q. I like/hate the new monster spawns; why did you do this?
A. During the Virindi story arc the monster redistribution was a result of virindi influence over the world. Now that the virindi are no longer influencing the land some creatures have begun a natural migration, while others make their way across the lands for their own dire purposes.
Q. Are the new creatures (Drudge Bloodletters, Banderling Scalpers and Predators, Sclavus Lords and Olthoi Warriors) balanced?
A. Olthoi Warriors are right where we want them. The Bloodletters, Scalpers, Predators and Lords are very close, though not perfect.
Q. If you are adjusting creature levels how am I going to earn experience with the xp reduction code?
A. Every effort is being made to ensure that leveling does not become a tedious measure of diminishing returns. To that end creatures are being designed for a certain level of player but being given a generous buffer in which the creature is still worthwhile to hunt. This does not mean that players will feel it necessary to hunt one grouping of creature until they level.
(ex. Gardok has hunted Olthoi Soldiers as his main source of leveling creature from level 40-50. He now finds that the soldiers [Level 61] have become simple yet still yield good experience. He has attempted to hunt Nobles before, but often found that he cannot hit them reliably enough to earn the same amount of experience as he can off of soldiers. With the new rebalancing complete he decides to test them out again and finds that he is earning more experience on the Nobles now than he was on the soldiers.)
Q. Are you adjusting creature experience?
A. Yes. Creatures will reward you based on their difficulty. Most creatures will see an increase in the amount of experience that they yield, but there will be some that see a reduction. The goal is to stop the feeling of a leveling treadmill after level 80.
Q. How is experience calculated?
A. While we cannot give you the exact model for this, we can give you some insight as to how we are calculating the creatures experience. We first determine the level of character that the creature is designed for then determine whether the creature is designed with more deadly skills than others, (Does it have War Magic, is it Hollow does it have a breath weapon?) if the creature does an enhancement modifier is added to the creature. We then determine how many characters would ideally be suited to face this creature. That number influences the experience yield as well. The final determinant is the creatures skills. The higher these are the better the experience.
Q. Are you taking away solo advancement?
A. Certainly not. We are well aware that one of the draws of Asheron's Call is the fact that a player can advance through levels alone. Creatures may be better suited for being faced off by multiple players but they are still very soloable. Again though a group may increase the amount of experience that you can earn over time significantly, but this has been the case for a while.
Q. What about the offensive skills of creatures?
A. These are being adjusted as well.
Q. If you are adjusting creature skills is there hope that player skills like melee defense, missile defense and magic defense will have more use?