in competitive sports, e.g. soccer, there is usually little to no difference in equipment. all participating players wear the usual equipment (shoes, dresses,...). if a player scores a goal, he must not add "deadly spikes" to his shoes and he won't get a discount on fouls. he won't get a free shot, and he won't get a "sprint buff". equipment conditions stay the same. the only disadvantage the other team has is the overall pressure that they themselves have to score a goal in order to still be able to win the match.
This similarily applies to most action shooter multiplayer games: respawn, repick class, assault again, die, repeat. The only penalty is the loss of some time and the pressure to have to catch up in terms of current score.
in DotA, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, WoW PvP and many many other RPG-based PvP games, this is not the case. The decisive factor is not exclusively "skill", "effective team collaboration", and "good strategies". In most "competitive" RPG PvP games, "stats" via "items" and "levels" enter the fray. there usually IS a difference in skill, thus at some point in the game, the more skillful team can increase its domination gap even further by increasing its stats permanently. the gap between "currently better team" and "currently inferior team" grows.
it's comparable to a soccer team being allowed to have an additional player per goal scored on the field. it leads to frustration of the other team as it has to struggle significantly more to catch up.
and that's why, imho, there shouldn't be any possibility for players to get any stats at all (via items, or levels, ability levels, or whatnot) - expect those buffs temporarily granted by the use of abilities.
tzirrit and I executed exactly those conditions in both of our Warcraft III mods, "Southfury Banks" and "Capture the Egg", and we think this makes the overall gameplay fairer, more enjoyable, and more competitive (and easier to balance).
This similarily applies to most action shooter multiplayer games: respawn, repick class, assault again, die, repeat. The only penalty is the loss of some time and the pressure to have to catch up in terms of current score.
in DotA, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, WoW PvP and many many other RPG-based PvP games, this is not the case. The decisive factor is not exclusively "skill", "effective team collaboration", and "good strategies". In most "competitive" RPG PvP games, "stats" via "items" and "levels" enter the fray. there usually IS a difference in skill, thus at some point in the game, the more skillful team can increase its domination gap even further by increasing its stats permanently. the gap between "currently better team" and "currently inferior team" grows.
it's comparable to a soccer team being allowed to have an additional player per goal scored on the field. it leads to frustration of the other team as it has to struggle significantly more to catch up.
and that's why, imho, there shouldn't be any possibility for players to get any stats at all (via items, or levels, ability levels, or whatnot) - expect those buffs temporarily granted by the use of abilities.
tzirrit and I executed exactly those conditions in both of our Warcraft III mods, "Southfury Banks" and "Capture the Egg", and we think this makes the overall gameplay fairer, more enjoyable, and more competitive (and easier to balance).
