Re: [Wesnoth-dev] Orcish Slurbow

[Susanna Björverud]

Hej allesammans,
2005-04-07 kl. 07.19 skrev Richard Kettering:

> As those of you subscribed to the commit message list no doubt are 
> aware, I just committed the Orcish Slurbow into CVS.  I thought it 
> would be wise to have him in as soon as possible (before the next 
> release), in the interests of being able to test the unit thoroughly.

I truly think that the Slurbow should not be included in the release. 
In fact the inclusion of this unit, while extensively discussed on the 
forum, has not been brought to the ml for discussion, but thrown at us 
as a matter of fact. This is IMHO very bad style, and quite contrary to 
what we agreed to do.

> I gave him a weak increase over the orcish crossbowman in stats, 
> however, I feel that we should perhaps reconsider the stats of the 
> entire line, or at least the top two units.

Personally I am very doubtful to the advantages of this unit. I know 
that the upgrade from lvl2 is quite modest, but in all honesty, have we 
not before included units with weak upgrades just to see them 
consequently be beefed up. I fear that might happen to this unit too.

One of the things that initially attracted me to Wesnoth mp was that it 
required fundamentally different tactics to play f ex Rebels and 
Northerners. They were different, they should be different, game play 
was greatly enhanced by them being different. Sure they were not really 
on par, since the factions grew out of sp campaign play, and some sides 
were made for ai and some for humans. So, yes, in order to make them 
work well in mp some sort of balancing was necessary.

In the name of balancing a number of unit changes and additions have 
been introduced. Unfortunately IMO these introductions have paid too 
little heed to preserving the uniqueness and flavor of the various 
factions, and too much to filling perceived gaps in the factions. Gaps 
that IMO originally were intentional. Not all factions need good ranged 
factions, not all factions need quick scouts (if they have steadfast 
units that can hold on to what villages they have captured), not all 
factions needs fliers, not all factions need magic etc. More to the 
point, not all factions need a counter-unit for every unit available in 
every other faction. Then we could just as well abolish factions and 
just use a single faction, hey why even bother with diverse units, one 
super-unit that does it all could suffice.

I think we need to stop and reconsider what we are doing, while there 
still is any kind of unique character to the various factions. I am in 
no way saying that every addition/change that has been made is bad, 
many have been good. But the principle for why changes are being made 
have been severly skewed. While the game during the time I have been 
involved in its development has been made much more stable and 
polished, I cannot honestly say that game play has improved. In fact, 
it has deteriorated. A lot of feeling and character has been lost. I 
think this is a too high price to pay.

Jetryl, in your post you mention some very valid points delineating 
what is the core 'feeling' associated with the Northerners, though I am 
not too fond of the use of the word 'coerce' in this context. Yet you 
still propose the addition of a unit in contradiction with this 
flavour. In which way will the introduction of a lvl3 crossbowman make 
players more inclined to use units strong in melee?

/Sanna