Nethaera on Balance

[Genopath]

Balance for StarCraft II is done differently than it's done with WoW because they are different games and we want to make sure we treat them as such. Now that that's out of the way...

As you could see from the PTR, we are working to try to show you a bit more of what is in store, test it, tweak it, and then put it out when we feel it's working as we want it to. We want the constructive feedback and have no plans to let up on iterating on what we have with StarCraft II. That said, this process is not going to be fast paced. It will be a bit slow and methodical so that we don't skew things too badly one way or another. We also have the future of the game to take into account as well. We have Heart of the Swarm up on deck next and we want to make sure that what we do now, fits in with what gets added in later. We don't want to make units and their abilities top heavy. We need to be careful in how we approach changes so that going forward we have something we can be proud of and you can be happy with too.

We're not going to be rushing into action, but do understand that we care deeply for the game, its future, and ensuring a continuing commitment to quality

Source:
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/1519283043#10

[Arkalis]

And I trust they will keep up their word. If they say they are going to fix, then have patience and wait. Just like they did with Starcraft I.

[Wankey]

I don't think Blizzard really needed to reiterate this. PTR is a great way to test new balance patches before they come out. Once 1.2 comes out I'm hoping that Blizzard will take a while for 1.3. Lets say mid Feburary. Leave the game as is, and let it flourish for a while. Let exploits be exploits for a while, let the community counter these exploits with ingenuity and skill. Then, come Feb, get rid of the obvious problems in balance and hit us with a massive content patch (sharing replays, I'm watching you!)

[Gifted]

Wankey, while I hope the exact same thing as you, I think it's important to reiterate this for the general mass. I'd say anything a blue says is considered "old news" within a month for the majority of people. While competent peeps with a level mind on the situation, like you and I, might say that it's not needed... I'm sure there's a flood of people saying "Oh, good to know that hasn't changed!".

Such is the way of mobs and communities though, I know I'm not saying anything "new" persay. In fact, I would smile if your immediate thought was "I don't think Gifted really needed to reiterate this."

[protoswarrior]

Woland, that is interesting what Nethaera says, but what context is he using for that post? What thread is it in on battle.net forums? I'm really curious, because it sounds like a retort to a bunch of people complaining about something to do with the speed of balance changes (?)

[Genopath]

Woland, that is interesting what Nethaera says, but what context is he using for that post? What thread is it in on battle.net forums? I'm really curious, because it sounds like a retort to a bunch of people complaining about something to do with the speed of balance changes (?)

Obviously they are being more cautious. The Zerg production and the fungal growth changes were ideas that weren't just on the table they were discussed at some point and ultimately the devs agreed on that. The community responded really aggresive on both of these issues and thus the overall feedback on them was more negative than the war on Iraq.

In beta, they were able to change and move things as they pleased they aren't much different than little kids playing on a sandbox. Reversing something like that on a patch can have costly implications.

[Gifted]

This just leads to show that the inclusion of a PTR in the SC2 development process is a solid idea and I'm glad they've done it. Ultimately, instead of being held back by a plethora of "What-ifs" and working with pure hypothesis, they have a test environment to see the preliminary results of a change before they push it to a live realm. It is just nice to see they have a solid place to gain data and perform initial bug testing to ensure that a live patch is more ready for release.

[Norfindel]

I loaded the PTR build the other days, and it said 0 SC2 games. How do you find someone to play there? Do you arrange a match with someone directly?

[Blazur]

And I trust they will keep up their word. If they say they are going to fix, then have patience and wait. Just like they did with Starcraft I.

Indeed. Blizzard hasn't shattered my faith in them at all. I've seen them silently update this game over the course of its short lifespan...small things like graphical or UI improvements, many of which were suggestions on forums. And I trust they will continue to balance this game over time to the best of their abilities.

In short, I still firmly believe Blizzard games are worth making the time investment in. They've got a good thing going on with their business model and ethics, and other companies can learn a lot from them (I'm looking at you Activision you scum...non-Blizzard Activision, of course).

[Wankey]

PTR is pretty empty these days, probably due to the constant resets.