Marvel Rivals Is Beating Overwatch Because It's Broken | Design Delve
Added 2025-01-24 16:05:52 +0000 UTCThis week's episode of Design Delve is now available!
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Done properly, super-heroics HAS to be broken. Super powers break all the rules, so trying to 'balance' them against other super powers either doesn't work -as the best result- or fails and ruins the play. That said, I agree with you 100% and - by NOT trying to 'fix' the broken nature of super powers, 'Marvel Rivals' makes it actually feel MORE super in the play.
melchar
2025-01-26 09:40:36 +0000 UTCThem choosing casual audience and thus fun and addictive gameplay loop makes sense - it is Marvel game, it is aimed at casual audiences. Also why all games should have good competitive modes, not sure. They attract players who come back, but it is also very hard to manage without very clear goal. If you license Marvel, there will be always someone playing this game if it is fun. Great insights as always. I like how you concentrate on balance, because it is hardest thing in game design, but also most rewarding to dig into.
Pēteris Krišjānis
2025-01-25 13:53:22 +0000 UTCI feel like all the comparisons to Overwatch in particular might be a little tunnel-visioned, especially given Overwatch has in particular gotten a lot of criticism for game design that seems encouraged to create stalemates. Like, describing how one on one encounters with classes designed for it usually end quickly and decisively, and that changes drastically with a healer involved? You're kinda just describing Team Fortress 2! Also while there's the talk about the power fantasy, the whole deal about giving characters full flight capability is just one of those things it'd be more trouble to NOT have in a full 3D superhero game, where for many of those characters it's their signature ability inseparable from their iconic movement, poses and fighting styles. The role queue also seems like the kind of thing that creates more problems than it solves compared to just being able to switch to a character that suits the current role.
Swift Justice
2025-01-25 03:05:23 +0000 UTCcommunity management destroyed ow.
Sven F.
2025-01-24 21:50:38 +0000 UTCI believe it was David Sirlin (Playing to Win) who said that balancing games should be the last priority. It's more important to create a fun game with interesting characters and abilities first. Achieving perfect balance isn't the end-all-be-all that leads to that.
David C
2025-01-24 21:37:49 +0000 UTC
