As we continue our mission of collaboration with the community, we wanted to reach out and get as much feedback as we can on the topic of Mid-Cycle balance. In years past we have reached out to the community via a survey, and we found the feedback very valuable. Today, we are hoping to do the same once again.
Previously, our decision on the topic of Mid-Cycle balance has been to avoid adjustments to skills and items that are overperforming but are not bugs and to avoid fixing bugs that result in those skills becoming significantly weaker. The exceptions here are bugs that cause server stability issues.
To be clear, this small survey only focuses on bug fixes or balance changes that apply to overperforming skills or items. We will continue to fix bugs that result in skills and/or items receiving a buff. Things like server stability, Item Factions, or similar issues are not a part of this survey.
We know that the conversation can be more nuanced than your typical agree, disagree, no opinion poll, but we also want to get the sentiment of the community at large. Please take a few minutes (itâs only seven questions) and let us know your thoughts.
âStrongly Agreeâ and âStrongly Disagreeâ placed backwards in the surveyâŚ
Higher score and placement on the right usually associates with positive answer.
I know it says âduring a cycleâ or âMid-Cycleâ but what would be the eta of bug fixes/resets? I dont wanna be scared that I have to look into my builds/placements again 2 weeks before a cycle ends.
Also what are the downsides for a ladder reset to be associated with bug fixes/nerfs of overperforming skills/items mid-cycle? To me thatâs basically a new cycle every patch you do this.
I would assume a ladder reset among balance changes to be exciting for just about anyone remotely competitive and in line with the philosophy of swatting down overperforming/bugged/overtuned items and skills in favor of build creativity and fun.
Not that I expect it to be released but releasing final result would be great to shut up all the people pulling numbers from certain places. Lets see what the actual numbers are.
Two things related to this survey that the questions do not adequately let me convey:
I could not possibly care less about leaderboards.
I care so much more more about buffs to underperforming abilities than nerfs to overperforming ones happening in a timely fashion.
This surveyâs assumption is that I care how other people are playing the game infinitely more than I ever will. I do not. I only care that the game is fun to play.
Iâm all for balance changes mid-cycle. Especially for this one/the first few cycles.
I donât care about the leaderboards.
Edit to add-
(I do care that balance changes are stated to be being delayed in deference to the leaderboards, which is truly bizarre to me. I genuinely wonder how many people even pay attention to the leaderboards, but regardless they should not take priority over actual game/class balance.)
The survey only discusses nerfs so I want to point out that I have no problem with skills being buffed mid-cycle. This is something I think GGG should be doing as well.
Experiment with buffing skills mid-cycle and no nerfs besides at the start of cycles.
I love that you are gathering feedback but IMHO the most important thing right now would be to tell us what that means for the current cycle because it may influence what people are doing ingame right now.
Is there a chance you will change your stance this cycle? If yes I will wait for a decision and play the build I am enjoying right now. If no I will start my Warlock because I donât want to get way less loot while playing in a trade environment.
Please tell us when you are going to decide that as soon as possible. While I am strongly in favour of nerfing extreme outliers mid-cycle the most important thing is knowing when a final decision will be reached. I would assume a lot of people already started a new char after the last announcement and even if that survey now shows 80% are in favor of nerfs and you start nerfing in 2 weeks you will still have a lot of angry players.
