Discussion on Asymmetry

[DavidP]

We all want it. But how do we go about getting it without throwing the balance of the game off? Some Ideas i've seen on the forum and in game I like, Others not so much. So thats why I ask you guys. How should the devs go about Asymmetrically balancing the game? Give me your best Ideas.

[Jaymz]

When things are made asymmetrical, it's very tricky to do it in a way that doesn't allow exploitation. It is the way we want to go with several things though.

[DavidP]

Such as?

[Outlawz7]

Rock paper scissors.

[Truism]

Lots of mods past & present have managed to achieve asymmetrical balance. Typically the army with "better" equipment has limitations place on them by the mapper. I.e. In the Desert Combat Realism mod (BF1942) the M1A1 tank obliterated the T72 in a head-on 1v1 match-up. To balance this, many of the maps had either more T72s (3 T72s vs 2 M1A1s), or the T72s were placed on a faster respawn.

That's the weakest form of assymetry there is, giving one side a weaker version of the same thing, but more of it. I really hope PR doesn't take this path any further. There are so many other ways to achieve assymetrical balance within this engine, that I think that would just be a cop out.

This also applies to infantry as well. I enjoyed the old insurgency game play because of the multiple spawns for insurgents and the feeling that they could appear from anywhere on the map. They had crappy guns, but their sheer numbers kept the game play fun and prevented them from getting steamrolled by a modern army with awesome equipment.

This is a little different to the above. The spawns didn't just mean more people, they meant, as you said, that Insurgents were everywhere. It was really tangibly different. :'( I miss it.

When things are made asymmetrical, it's very tricky to do it in a way that doesn't allow exploitation.

I thought the entire point of assymetrical warfare was that both sides had to exploit their advantages, and the side that better exploited them should win. Why should we avoid these exploits - just balance them by improving the other side's trump card/s...

I think I'm picking at nits. It's great to hear that the devs are very much in agreement with the community on this issue.

There are some ideas in this thread that I thought were a pretty good place to start looking at US-MEC balance.

Edit: Added shameless self promotion.

[DavidP]

I remember that trusim. That was one of the many things i liked about dcom. You don't know how satisfying it was to take down an abrams with a pair of t-72's. Hell same for PR .5! If you could get a t-72 off the palace island, you could rain hell on the USMC. I remember that time I shot down a blackhawk landing on Island from the palace bridge as he was landing.