Sorry for the lofty title, but trying to stimulate discussion.
Issue: (Note: purely my opinion)
-At the moment, the game balance is chronically unstable; each new meta-build concept totally dominating for a patch cycle, before being relegated to obsolescence by the next one - the PvP game can functionally be considered broken.
-I suspect this is effecting the appeal of Cosmoteer to new players and perhaps hurting numbers of new players and retention. (Without having access to metrics I can only speculate on this point.) This concerns me, because I believe Cosmoteer has phenomenal potential, and I’d like to see it, and papa Walt succeed.
Thesis:
Cosmoteer, as a game, will always struggle to achieve any lasting balance in its PvP gameplay without introducing diversity to the gameplay environments. At the moment, the game takes place in open space; this severely limits the range of tactical situations that can develop, and almost inevitably leads to extreme sensitivity in game balancing.
As a remedy, I would like to suggest adding environmental elements (eg. asteroids, nebula) - thereby introducing new gameplay dynamics by acting as (for example) obstacles, cover, concealment, etc.
This might not sound novel, but let me clarify the extent of my thinking: environmental elements may ultimately be required in the core PvP gameplay to try to offset the game’s current issues (outlined above).
Issue meets Thesis:
I’ve been watch the game develop over the last 8 months - I believe this particular gameplay element more than any other could help stabilize the game balance. I recognize that the game is still in development, with new elements being added rapidly, and that this inevitably leads to re-balancing. However, competitive PvP gameplay currently revolves around identifying the most powerful current meta and maximizing on it to the exclusion of everything else. The results are ships that are extreme specialists chasing the maximum yield from a very specific advantage (or at worst, exploit). I personally feel this gives the game at least the appearance of being perpetually unbalanced, and might be alienating for new players interested in investing time and getting serious with the game.
Environment Diversity will perhaps break to tyranny of hegemonic meta dominance simply by creating gameplay dynamics where no single meta can be supreme at every point on the same map. What works where there is open space, might not work where there are obstacles… what works well around obstacles might not so when its cover instead, etc. One type of nebula might disable shields or missiles, another might eat armor, whatever. The variety of potential environmental elements and their effects on gameplay are huge. Overall, the effect being to reduce the appeal of over-specialization in ship design and create some continuity from patch to patch.
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Already too long, I’ll end it here.
Trying to be constructive, hope it comes across that way.
Please discuss and share thoughts.
