Skill Set Theory
04-25-2010, 10:33 PM
"The best possible team in the original Final Fantasy is three Fighters and a Red Mage. This isn't up for dispute; it's a solid fact. Fighters are virtually unstoppable; they have incredible defence and offence, piles of HP" That's just an opinion actually. The blackbelt class with minimal grinding early on outdistances the fighter by a long shot, and eventually (if you have an original final fantasy game) becomes more powerful than the Black Mage.
Tiers are a genuine aspect of a game where "game balance" between characters has to be scrapped in order to come out right. One of the ways to overcome this direct competition for numbers in battle is using alternative currencies. Currencies are like units of power represented in different ways. Money, Hit Points, Spell Points, and Skill Points are currencies.
When summoning monsters are just graphical versions of high level attack spells, they get dumped into the black magic/damage currency box and the Summoner loses their charm. Social twink characters are very rare - like nobles, ship captains, or royalty, but through systematic eventing, can play powerful roles.
A bit of customization goes a long way, and if you follow up customization with "no way back" specialization you can also avoid the problem of "who is better?". A Fire wizard is pretty hot stuff in a place with a bunch of ice monsters, but they are more like Tour Guides in the Land of Fire.
Tiers are a genuine aspect of a game where "game balance" between characters has to be scrapped in order to come out right. One of the ways to overcome this direct competition for numbers in battle is using alternative currencies. Currencies are like units of power represented in different ways. Money, Hit Points, Spell Points, and Skill Points are currencies.
When summoning monsters are just graphical versions of high level attack spells, they get dumped into the black magic/damage currency box and the Summoner loses their charm. Social twink characters are very rare - like nobles, ship captains, or royalty, but through systematic eventing, can play powerful roles.
A bit of customization goes a long way, and if you follow up customization with "no way back" specialization you can also avoid the problem of "who is better?". A Fire wizard is pretty hot stuff in a place with a bunch of ice monsters, but they are more like Tour Guides in the Land of Fire.
