I didn't know extra credits. Very interesting, everyone should watch that !
I think I agree with everything he said, about perfect imbalance, the facts that games should be easy to learn (e.g. with tutorial(s)), that there's no excuse for a counter intuitive interface, or that irreductable complexity is *very* bad. (I didn't try Dwarf Fortress, and will probably never... for this obvious reason)
Though, in doomRL's balance, we're not in LoL or DotA : the RNG can't "counter pick" with lava filled levels when you go tactical boots, or increased number of revenants when you choose DodgeMaster.
That's why we should keep things as much balanced as we can (don't read equal), so that when you find some great items (especially early), it makes you think again about you build. Last time I found a super shotty at level 2, I wondered if I should go for Shottyhead instead of CatEye, but I didn't :
-Shotguns are great, but unless you find a plasma one or a sniper mod, they sometimes lack power. Plasma rifles don't have this problem.
-Shotgun shells may sometimes not drop in later levels. With a nuclear plasma rifle and 2 B-moddable BFGs, you solve all ammo problems.
-Shottyhead doesn't seem worth picking to me. I think taking no mastery is, at least, as good as picking it. It blocks SoB, and shooting speed is only useful in the open... (read mortuary ?).
Of course, my point of view is probably not 100% accurate, but why would I have switched to a weaker build while some special levels ensure me I'll drop the best (plasma) weapons of the game ?
On the other hand, if I had had the option to switch to MAD (which I don't like, but would have made a good use of the weapon), I probably would have done it, just to take advantage of the occasion.
Same problem applies when you find a good gun, which is quite useless if you're not going for SoG... good rocket launchers, well, it's called missile launcher, and can only have some use in N!, to make the arena easier, since you'll get one at Lv7 anyway.
The result is quite obvious : you'll keep on your ammochain build in most cases, just because it's safer and more efficient than the other ones... :(
There are just not enough variance in boots to make it interesting. It boils down to speed, dodge and lava immunity. Last one is more situational, and not available until much later anyway. And first two are both on one assembly. So, actual choice is just make tac boots before or after wk2
I think we need more boots variation ideas
Fully agree. Removing movement penality on all resistances boots (
and improving gothic to something usable, like -20% EDIT : nvm, gothic boots have -15%, only armor has -70%) would probably be a first step. Does anyone think it would be too powerful ?
Why do Tact Boots or any assembly have to have static stats?
Because non-assembled modded weapons have static stats. If your assembled hyperblaster can be worse than your AT2 plasma rifle, you'll stop assembling it (or only try one when you have mods to dump).
As for weapon's damage dices randomization, I agree that,
"If done tastefully, it could work", but I'm sure it's a wrong way. Having to check every shotgun looking for a 9d3 would be inuintive and annoying, but wouldn't bring much to gameplay. In other words,
it would increase game's complexity, but not depth.
In fact... we already have exotics for that purpose.
The problem is that some are guaranteed (like missile launcher or good plasma weapons), while the other aren't (e.g. good guns/shotguns, or minigun), which makes some strategies reliable... while the other have random efficiency.
What makes gun masteries (namely, MGK, MCE and MSh) efficient is that SoG is OP, and thoses masteries are good. Same for MAD, which lets you obliterate any enemy with a simple shotgun, but a Shottyhead or Fireangel build, for example, will be too much impacted by available weapons (not that it's a bad build, but it's not reliable. It doesn't ensure the freewin that other masteries, like MAc would)
If we want to add randomness in the game, I'd rather see enemy's behaviour reworked. Not only for bosses. I think having several AI for enemies (e.g. stand still / wander randomly / explore level / hunt player [in group]) would be nice : you could camp wandering monsters, but not the whole level... and should have to worry more about exploring formers or knight, since their aim would be to run through the level and grab as much stuff as they can before you do.
For bosses, it could be interesting too, but if some AI are more efficient thant the other, we'd end up with an ugly, randomly-refereed balance problem, again.
This can probably be made better, with bosses changing strategies during the fight, but is that enough ? e.g. Cybie could keeps hunting player until he comes close enough, then, choose, after every attack, between charge to melee, normal attacks, aimed attacks, radarshooting, or a few turns of strategical retreat. (melee or retreat/radarshooting would only trigger at close/long range, btw)
Anyway, while this kind of ideas is interesting, it would need
a lot of testing. That's why balancing some game elements,
which clearly need it (boots, other useless assemblies, F-mod...) looks like a more sensible approach than from scratch remakes, atm.