posted 04-16-99 11:24 AM ET     

Specifically, factions are NOT balanced in and of themselves. It is preposterous to suggest that the Peacekeepers are somehow internally balanced, that -1 Efficiency somehow is equal to all their other abilities. If that were the case, one could have "balanced" Super Keepers with -2 Efficiency, one talent for every 2 pop, +100% voting, and able to squeeze in an extra four people over set population limits. Or to use a non PK example, Hive + Sparta = +2 morale, +1 police, +1 growth, -2 econ, free prototypes, a 0 efficiency minimum, and a free Perimeter defense at every base.

On the other hand, Believers + UoP have +2 support, -1 probe, no research for the 1st 10 years, a free network node at every base, +25% to attack, and an extra drone for every four pop... arguably much worse than any other faction.

From this we conclude that the factions are either a) point balanced, in that each faction has x many points, and then you buy different advantages and get more points for negatives, or b) they are roughed out in something like the above fashion, but then extensively play tested for balance. Point b is more likely, as it would be hard to assign point values for different attributes... for example, +2 econ is much better than +1, more than a simple one point progression in scale would indicate. Similarly, +3 police over +2, but +2 is not all that much better than +1. And if we take +2 research and -2 probe as equal (a bad assumption, but okay), then is +4 knowledge = -4 probe? No, because probe penalties level off after a certain point, while knowledge bonuses go pretty far up the scale.

So, when making new factions, do not simply assume that because something balances out for one faction doesn't mean you can take it out of its context and still consider it balanced. Nor should we take the social engineering models to be "balanced"; those are techonological advances, which are beneficial in general as well as aiding certain types of play (free market and fundamentalist being to exceptions, as they tend to force you out of regular tactics... but both are extremely good for a certain style of play).

What is important is play balance. Compare how your faction rates against other factions... if it is better than more than one faction at their "strength", unless it has crippling weaknesses, toss it out.