Grease Spillett wrote:
If we continue to nerf builds that are effective because they are either not your race or not your class etc. We are going to run into the other half of players having alot of serious issues with the game. One day you will wake up and your build that you wanted will be Fotm because of the nerfs and you will be pretty damn happy for 2 or three months. Then all the work you had to do for 8 months will start being looked at for the nerf. You will be much less effective hence leaving a bad taste in your mouth.
I think you grossly misunderstand how this all works. "We", the players, do not nerf anything. CCP's designers make those decisions, based on their own research and based on MEANINGFUL feedback from the forums. The idea that the community is to blame when something gets nerfed is silly - because often CCP simply disagrees with the hurfblurf because they know full well that itis hurfblurf.
Forum QQ occasionally corresponds with an actual design problem, (such as the Flaylock) but often the QQ is based on a rise in popularity of a weapon and has little to do with an actual imbalance (Scrambler rifles more recently). In these cases, you probably won't ever see a nerf (or buff). As it stands today, while both could be better designed in some fashion or another, the AR and SCR are both very comparable weapons. No amount of threads or tears is going to magically convince CCP that something is broken, when it isn't.
This should all be good news, actually, as I think you have much less to fear here than you think you do. The idea that the "nerf/buff" cycle has anything to do with forum chatter is patently false, CCP's designers are often quite independently minded* and know better than to make changes solely based on anger levels. The best thing players can do if they want to influence CCP is to actualy sit down and make an educated post, with sound arguments, backed by evidence, in a respectful tone. ....If and when devs go wading into the forums to look for feedback, that's what they're looking for.
The "Vicious Cycle" is going to continue for the life of the product - everyone who's a fan of Dust should strap themselves in and learn that as new equipment and gear comes out, old things need adjustment, just as they do when players point out a glaring imbalance by actually going and breaking the game. Devs will (and should) ALWAYS be making tweaks, to get things closer and closer to their design intent.
But the players sitting around the forums complaining about their race or role because they want it to be the next FOTM? These are the first that get ignored by CCP, who have a professional responsibility to protect at the health of the game in general. They can't afford to "nerf by vote" the way you fear they might be doing.
Hope that helps.
*This of course has its own drawbacks, ideally we WANT them to listen to the community more often than they do. But for now, rest assured neither racial cliques or battlefield role tribes are getting anywhere by nailing up threads / petitions / cries for help. Stuff will get fixed in the order that CCP decides its a problem, and as fast as they can go, with or without cultural mini-movements in the community.