if u have to make a choice, which of the two balance paths would u prefer

Here are the two paths regarding the direction of balance:

1. balance by power"My main is super fun and fares well against other classes, but people just don't play other classes and the competitve scene is dull."This balance path aims to bring the power/effectiveness of each class as close as possible. However since the balance of power has nothing to do with thematics and such (and it's difficult to make all classes equally appealing), classes that are thematically/mechanically more appealing will be more represented, resulting in an imbalance of class representation and lower class diversity.

2. balance by popularity"I really like my main, it's super fun, but it's also nerfed as kitten and get rekt by every other class."This balance path is often easier for devs as they just need to look at class representation statistics and make changes accoringly. This will ensure balanced representation and higher class diversity, however it will also cause an imbalance of power, as classes that are thematically/mechanically more appealing will be underpowered, and classes that are thematically/mechanically less appealing will be overpowered.

These two aren't mutually exclusive.

@Sigmoid.7082 said:These two aren't mutually exclusive.

No they aren't. But I'd just like to know which one people prefer.

It's simple.If something is played too much, its BECAUSE its powerful/cheesey= nerf it.If something is never played, it's because it's underpowered/overly complex/uselss= buff it.

@Sigmoid.7082 said:These two aren't mutually exclusive.

Exactly.

@Cardolan.9123 said:

something wrong with your idea, there are so many others factors.

It's mostly #1 because #1 causes #2.

Where people get hung up is evaluating balance in limited situations - as one build or profession, or only in one skill range. Popular builds in competitive games are often ones where for the majority of skill ranges, the effort it takes to beat equally skilled players is disprortionate to the amount of skill needed to play other builds.

The other aspect of balancing is fun. If everyone can one-shot everyone else, it'sbalanced - but not fun.