Something seems off in this game!

Kazang, on 03 September 2010 - 05:29 AM, said: I'm not going to comment on all the rest of the stuff becasue it would take too long, but I have to comment on this.
You are wrong, so hilariously wrong. You cannot balance by cost or price, this does not work, has not worked, nor will it ever work in a game if you want fairness and true balance. Some people will always buy an advantage if there is that option.
I will use the example of Eve Online as a not overly dramatic comparison.
Titans - Ships that cost billions of in game currency and represent 1000s of dollars if exchanged straight to real money were intended to be super weapons rarely seen, with only a handful existing in the game. There huge power was "balanced" by the fact that at the time they were prohibitively expensive. Over time the number of Titans in the game exploded and it got to the point where it was almost impossible to have a large fight without one or more turning up and killing literally everything. This is because if there is a way to gain an advantage via cost, wealth or price, real or in game it will be exploited to the absolute maximum by people. This leads to terrible imbalances overtime as these effects build up.
Not balancing around raw cost without some kind of heavily limiting factor, such as the amount possible to spend or buy over a given period, is a basic principle of game balance.
Akin to not invading russia during winter being a basic principle of warfare. You just don't do it!