Patching Games After Release And How Casual Players See Balance

Daryl: So I’ve got a question that I've been trying to figure for a long time now. Back in the day, when a fighting game came out, it would be final; players would have to make do with what they got. This was something I held onto for the longest time before the infamous Sentinel nerf and a number of changes that happened in MVC3 and even in Mortal Kombat. Do you think companies should actively alter characters in their game through online patches if they see a trend of unbalanced play?¹

Alex: The joys of the internet have been both a blessing and curse in this regard. I think companies should patch for balance when it's something broken, like when Zero could Snap Back you out in MVC3 when his double was out and no one would replace your fighter, or even for things that everyone can agree on being overpowered (arguably Dark Phoenix right now). It's just that determining what is worth patching and what isn't is difficult right now, and when companies jump the gun on patches, such as Sentinel’s HP nerf, the game’s chance to develop is hindered in a way.

And Jonathan, you're completely right on that, I was talking from a tournament level that it's agreed that Yun and Yang are overpowered with hardly any bad match ups.

Chase: As more of a casual fighting fan, I can't really tell if a character is unbalanced on my own. It's not until I read and hear things from other people that I see this, and usually it only manifests itself when play is way above my skill level.

Daryl: Your average Joe the Plumber can sit down after a day's work and play Arcade Edition, enjoy his new characters, and play competitors around his same skill set. At this level, it's hard to say a game is not balanced because it would typically rely on the player's skills to win or to deal with problem characters.

At the tournament level, the top players are using characters that they are comfortable playing against the game's entire roster. At this point, tournament results and tier listings do come into effect because they compile generalized information of what characters are winning and against which opponents you character can dominate. As a former tournament player, I want to come out on top because I did not want to travel 50-plus miles to lose two games and get called free on a live stream.²

Chris: Daryl, I think the Sentinel nerf was planned before release. When we wrote about it, one of our community members mentioned that those patches are sent weeks in advance, so it probably wasn't a knee-jerk reaction.

Jonathan: My gut reaction to that question is that the entire premise is wrong. I don't know why you would tailor these changes to the arcade market, which is anemic outside of very small niches in Japan and the United States, and apply it to a console/PC release where the variety of players is vastly different.

Alex: Despite its name, I think it was always the plan to release Arcade Edition on the consoles.

Jonathan: I agree completely, I was just trying to answer Chris's question about Yun and Yang being a selling point for arcade players. I just have a gut feeling that the selling point of the game is different for arcade and non-arcade audiences.

Daryl: The problem with snapping in Phoenix is how to deal with her once she comes in. She has enough mobility to run away and once she super jumps and shoots out tracking fireballs, she can safely tag out upon landing back on the ground. At this point, only rushdown-type characters really benefit from such a tactic, whereas everyone else just sits down, watches Jean run away, and feels sad that they couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. This situation, however, can be the center of the "Imbalanced tactic/Player error" Venn diagram.

Jonathan: I'd best visualize that Venn diagram with Phoenix's Healing Spheres, surely.³

Chris: Chase and Daryl have good points. Back when all I had was a PlayStation 2 copy of Capcom vs. SNK 2 I knew nothing about tiers, let alone advanced techniques like that game's roll canceling. And I enjoyed it just fine. When I play online in the original SSF4 I fight Kens, Blankas, Codys, Sakruas, Guys, Gens, and Makotos – all of whom weren't considered that great in tier lists. Unless you went to tournaments or someone told you online, you probably wouldn't be able to judge just how good a character really was.

Daryl: If you took a trip to some of the bigger arcades in the nations, you’d notice that the Street Fighter 4 machines only had 17 characters, which was less than what the console port brought home audiences. This version of SF4 remained untouched for arcade players worldwide even when Super Street Fighter 4 came out. Arcade Edition was a much-needed update for arcade players.

The Importance of Balancing in Game Development And Hacking Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Alex: That brings up the question though: Even if it goes unnoticed by a majority of the audience, should companies still strive to create a balanced product?

Chase: Exactly. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, I specialize with Lucas, widely considered to be one of the worst characters in the game. But since I only play with my group of friends, it's never that big of a deal (and since I'm the best player of my friends, I normally win anyway).

Daryl: Given the unavoidable competitive nature that fighting games have built over the past two decades, I think it would be wise for developers to consider making their game balanced so that individuals who have an affinity to a certain character can enjoy winning. Let's be honest -- I despise losing, and I would be a masochist if I liked playing a character that's meant to lose all the time.

Jonathan: I think that producing a balanced fighter should still be important in the development process as long as it fits the subject matter (licensed products like DBZ aside). I don't think, however, that producing a "tournament-viable" game with airtight 5-5 matchups should be the main worry of that game. From a pure marketing perspective the tournament players are a captive market to begin with. Making it fun and accessible with a variety of compelling characters should be the first concern, as it is with pretty much any video game with a narrative component these days.

Chase: Yes, developers should try to balance their games. Since casual players like me don't know the difference anyway, why not balance the game so that all players can enjoy it?

Daryl: Chase, your Smash Bros. comment just brought up some painful memories, my friend. I used to be a content producer for a Smash-dedicated website called All is Brawl, and for the longest time, I've watched the evolution of tier debates. I particularly like this small faction of players who hated how Sakurai sabotaged the competitive nature of Brawl so much that they went on to produced a hacked version of the game by adding in the advanced tactics found in Super Smash Bros. Melee and removed tripping.⁴

Chase: Yeah, I remember hearing about that patch. It sounded ridiculous from my perspective, but I knew hardcore players would probably love it.

Jonathan: That's a fascinating case, Daryl, because it flew against the designer's intent for the game altogether. Members of one segment of the game's audience were flabbergasted that it wasn't built for them.

Alex: Say resources are limited for a team, and they can only do so much to ensure the game is fun and balanced. How should it be skewed? The Brawl community should be applauded for their tenacity if, although I think the game’s balance was a clear message from Nintendo on how they feel about the competitive scene. 

Daryl: It was a sight to behold. This was during the time before Major League Gaming picked up Brawl for their competition circuit, and the Smash community was in a three-way butting of heads between the "Melee is a better game" faction, "Brawl is a better game" faction, and the "let's have it both ways" hack faction. I've been away from the whole Smash scene for a few years now, so I'm really interested in driving out to Genesis 2, the big international Smash tourney, this weekend.

Chase: If I were a more hardcore player, I'd probably lean more towards balance, but being the kind of player I am, I'm more interested in getting all my favorite characters in the roster.

Alex: Fun fact: I went to a local Smash Tourney shortly after Brawl came out and in the first round I had to face Mew2King. Needless to say I got my ass handed to me, but he was a pretty nice guy although he could've used a stick of a deodorant.

Where's The Love For Fei Long?

Chris: Plus you had the Meta Knight issue as well. I don't think the twins have a stranglehold on SSF4 as much as Meta Knight did on Brawl.⁵

Even after adding the twins, I think Capcom wanted the game to have balance. There are still good characters in the old cast and strong players who can overcome the twin match-up. That also brings me to another character that has been considered top tier that we haven't talked about: Fei Long. Why hasn't he been given the same amount of attention that the twins have?

Alex: I think Fei Long hasn't been mentioned with the twins because it's generally agreed he's not as strong as them, with worse match-ups against much of the cast (including the twins) and not nearly as many options. And to top it off, he's not nearly as flashy.

Daryl: I think the reason why there hasn't been a red alert on Fei Long or any of the buffed returning characters solely rests on the amount of warning stories about Yuns dominating Japan. First, it's a bad sign when two-time defending Evolution SF4 champion Daigo Umehara is switching over to Yun. Second, according to data collected by Japanese player Nohoho, Yuns have been winning by a large margin.

This is almost like a modern-day legend unfolding, where all walks of life gather at a local bar and tell tales of an unbeatable hero. In this case, it's tournament players going to arcades discussing how to handle Yun. 

Jonathan: "The poor sod got up to his feet and looked up. The silhouette of a young man, his arms stretched out like a bird, blocked out the sun before him. Two sneaker-clad feet dove towards his face.

It was the last thing he ever saw."

*drinks*

Chris: Yeah, I think Daigo's switch did have an effect on the psyche of players, since he's so well known for using Ryu. But Daigo is also Daigo; even if he didn't pick Yun, he'd still be placing at top spots in tournaments.

I think another factor with Fei Long is that more people are used to him from earlier games and don't see him as being as strong as the twins, who are new. He got improvements, but mainly benefited from the rest of the cast getting nerfed.

¹Shortly after Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out, Capcom added a patch that reduced Sentinel’s health to two-thirds of what it was. Sentinel had the highest health of the game before the patch, and some believed it was a reaction to complaints about the robot. It was the first time Capcom patched a game after release that directly affected competitive play.

The 2011 Mortal Kombat has a feature where developers can tweak characters without using a formal patch. Developer NetherRealm Studios has used both this system and patches to balance the game.

²"Free" is lingo for when people lose quickly and brutally in a verses match, or for when a certain tactic will always work on them.

³"Rushdown" characters are those who specialize in close-range offense like Yun, Yang, Magneto, and Wesker. It also refers to an aggressive playstyle for any fighter.

Since Dark Phoenix is so powerful, tournament players prefer to force regular “Jean Grey” Phoenix into a match early using a technique called a Snap Back and KO her before she gets five super bars. Phoenix can die from even basic combos due to her abysmal health, but if she escapes she can run away and tag back out.

Healing Field is one of Phoenix supers. She creates a flaming sphere around her that regains health if she’s near her opponent.

⁴Super Smash Bros. producer Masahiro Sakurai has said that Super Smash Bros. Melee is geared too much towards hardcore gamers. When designing Brawl, the developers removed many unintentional techniques used in Melee tournament play, like wavedashing and lag canceling. In Brawl characters will also trip randomly when they try to run.

⁵Meta Knight is the dominant character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Unlike the previous characters discussed, Meta Knight is so strong that many in the community wanted him banned from competition, though the Smash World Forums rules list that most events follow never did.