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Penny Arcade - Comic - Sample Size

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
edited August 2016 in The Penny Arcade Hub

imagePenny Arcade - Comic - Sample Size

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here


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    poipoigirlpoipoigirl Registered User regular
    Actually, I would feel the same.

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    RoeRoe Always to the East Registered User regular
    Met's not that bad. Just like bastion, shes better in some situations than others.

    Any character is powerful in the right hands and situations.

    oHw5R0V.jpg
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    QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    I for one look forward to my enhanced icy death machine.

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    LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    People like to complain a whole lot about Mei, citing reasons like slow and movement restricting abilities should not be in a FPS. But this isn't just a standard FPS. This is a hero FPS where everyone has unique abilities and slow/freeze is a perfectly valid option. Especially when other moves like stun grenades and sleep darts exist.

    This game is also a game of counters and balances. Mei can slow people down, but her range on her slow attack is very short, nearly melee range. That makes her a counter for melee characters, and speedy characters to slow them down, if they're dumb enough to get into her range.

    You know how you avoid getting frozen by Mei? Don't walk into her freeze range. This game has a lot of dudes with guns. Pick any one of them that can range her freeze-ray and then shoot her in the face. It's really not that hard.

    Also, don't be Genji and run at her head long. If you get slowed and frozen, that's on you for being dumb.

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    Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Mei was bae, but then they buffed D.Va. Now Mei's getting a buff? Like... c'mon girl, just let it go. We had a good run, but this 1337 amped up Korean she-goblin offers me more. And as far as Blizzard's balancing Overwatch goes, all I need them to do is enable god mode for me and no one else. I feel like that would perfectly balance things!

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
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    EnlongEnlong Registered User regular
    Lo, and the true servants of the LORD did look to the heavens, and spoke as with one voice, imploring their master thusly: "Nerf the devil, man. Shit's imba as hell."

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    GONG-00GONG-00 Registered User regular
    The devil appears in many forms. *points at Genji and Tracer*

    Black lives matter.
    Law and Order ≠ Justice
    ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
    Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
    xu257gunns6e.png
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    QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    I mean it's pretty well known characters I like need to be buffed and ones I don't like need to be nerfed. It's just facts.

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    joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    This comic applies to so many other games, too.

    Dead By Daylight killers got a buff this last week and survivors got a nerf because they were literally destroying all the hooks, which are the only way the killers can win. Cue the salt.

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    TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    I mean it's pretty well known characters I like need to be buffed and ones I don't like need to be nerfed. It's just facts.
    The one true solution is to buff me and nerf other players.
    The only way to fix Overwatch's obvious balance problems.
    I find I sometimes lose games and that is unacceptable.

    steam_sig.png
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    geekoidgeekoid Registered User regular
    I think she is OP in CtP maps. Escort ission is fine. Although she is a PITA for the opposing D.Va; which is fine.

    Now I will break machinery with my head!
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    geekoidgeekoid Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    I mean it's pretty well known characters I like need to be buffed and ones I don't like need to be nerfed. It's just facts.

    LOL.

    Now I will break machinery with my head!
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    lionheartssjlionheartssj Bartertown Chief Merchant BartertownRegistered User regular
    Man, this one hits close to home.

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    DrascinDrascin Registered User regular
    Man I'm at super low level (I got this game recently, I'm like level 15) and I never get why people complain about Mei so much. She barely even gets picked. I may see a Mei per eight or nine games. People talk like she's the harbringer of death and destruction, but she seems just pretty effective and that's about it. I never actually used her, myself, yet, though.

    Now Genji? Genji is a dick.

    Steam ID: Right here.
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    TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    Man I'm at super low level (I got this game recently, I'm like level 15) and I never get why people complain about Mei so much. She barely even gets picked. I may see a Mei per eight or nine games. People talk like she's the harbringer of death and destruction, but she seems just pretty effective and that's about it. I never actually used her, myself, yet, though.

    Now Genji? Genji is a dick.

    It's less that she's super effective and more that she is super annoying. True a decently played Mei can kill you, but aside from that, she is great at control, cutting off your escape routes, separating you from your team, shield her team mates, and if you get caught in her ult or can't get out of her spray in time you basically yell Noooooo in slow motion as horrible things happen to you and everyone around you.

    Even worse though, is that a bad Mei on your team is probably more destructive than an other hero played at a similar level. Because a badly timed ice wall can shield the enemy from both bullets and sight, prevent you from chasing down and finishing off low health enemies, or worst, completely fuck up an ult use.

    steam_sig.png
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    QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    Mei's biggest "issue" is that she slows down and potentially stops your movement noticeably. And then depending on who you are lines up a shot and shoots you while you watch.

    Which I'll be the first to admit isn't fun on the receiving end. Stuns and slows are generally never enjoyed in quick paced games. And when they happen you notice them much more than, say, Reaper or Widow taking you out in a couple shots. Those unpleasant experiences are much shorter lived.

    But at the same time I do think it and her other abilities are neat mechanics that add more variation to the game. And so long as they can be reasonably countered I'm okay with them.

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    CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    I mean it's pretty well known characters I like need to be buffed and ones I don't like need to be nerfed. It's just facts.
    The one true solution is to buff me and nerf other players.
    The only way to fix Overwatch's obvious balance problems.
    I find I sometimes lose games and that is unacceptable.

    Game devs hate him for this one simple trick

    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
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    LostNinjaLostNinja Registered User regular
    Drascin wrote: »
    Man I'm at super low level (I got this game recently, I'm like level 15) and I never get why people complain about Mei so much. She barely even gets picked. I may see a Mei per eight or nine games. People talk like she's the harbringer of death and destruction, but she seems just pretty effective and that's about it. I never actually used her, myself, yet, though.

    Now Genji? Genji is a dick.

    It's less that she's super effective and more that she is super annoying. True a decently played Mei can kill you, but aside from that, she is great at control, cutting off your escape routes, separating you from your team, shield her team mates, and if you get caught in her ult or can't get out of her spray in time you basically yell Noooooo in slow motion as horrible things happen to you and everyone around you.

    Even worse though, is that a bad Mei on your team is probably more destructive than an other hero played at a similar level. Because a badly timed ice wall can shield the enemy from both bullets and sight, prevent you from chasing down and finishing off low health enemies, or worst, completely fuck up an ult use.

    I dislike Mei for a few reasons, one of them being the amount of rage a slow freeze death brings to a boil within me, but this is my number one reason for hating her. I don't even think it's bad players as much as it is trolls love to play as her. Whenever I'm on the same team as one in quick play, they are mostly there just to troll and will block the shuttle door with an ice wall at the start of the round, as well as any other choke point between the team and the objective.

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    ZomagicZomagic Registered User regular
    edited August 2016
    I actually don't hate Mei, but I also don't think she needed the buff. Just because some characters are less favored in competitive, doesn't mean they need to get buffed. That's the DEFINITION of bad reasoning for a buff. Most people don't pick Bastion in competitive either, and he MOST DEFINITELY doesn't need a buff! While he is often considered a "no skill" character, when you put him in skilled hands, someone who is patient and mindful, he's incredible. I am a rape machine with Bastion, as long as my team keeps Genji out of my face. POTG, Golds, and on fire almost every time I play him. Last week some team got their jimmies so rustled about me, they all came for me, I team killed, and then killed two more on respawn, before they finally got me.

    AND YET... people often give me shit if I try to play Bastion in competitive, and tell me to pick a "real character". Buffing him because the community's opinion of him is low, mostly out of the fact that the personality type of people who play these games usually doesn't lend them the kind of patience and mental acuity it takes to be masterful Bastion... does not mean he needs a buff. Same could be said of Mei. She's not easy to play really really well. That's why people aren't picking her. She already has massively too much regen and her right click shot does plenty of damage. She's supposed to be DEFENSE. She's got that. I actually do feel like some of the reason she's not getting picked is probably for similar reasons. If you're a really good Mei, you get no end of toxic verbal garbage from the enemy team, because getting killed by her is super annoying. If you're a bad Mei, you're just dying constantly, and going to get the same from your own team. She has an image among the community that inspires vitriol. Most people don't want to get shat on verbally just for their character choice. I don't know if Blizzard is really taking this into account.

    PS- D.Va needed a buff, but they really overshot the mark. You know something's out of balance when almost every game now contains the character you just buffed, and if you DON'T have her against a team that does, you're prone to losing.

    Zomagic on
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    EnlongEnlong Registered User regular
    Zomagic wrote: »
    I actually don't hate Mei, but I also don't think she needed the buff. Just because some characters are less favored in competitive, doesn't mean they need to get buffed. That's the DEFINITION of bad reasoning for a buff. Most people don't pick Bastion in competitive either, and he MOST DEFINITELY doesn't need a buff! While he is often considered a "no skill" character, when you put him in skilled hands, someone who is patient and mindful, he's incredible. I am a rape machine with Bastion, as long as my team keeps Genji out of my face. POTG, Golds, and on fire almost every time I play him. Last week some team got their jimmies so rustled about me, they all came for me, I team killed, and then killed two more on respawn, before they finally got me.

    AND YET... people often give me shit if I try to play Bastion in competitive, and tell me to pick a "real character". Buffing him because the community's opinion of him is low, mostly out of the fact that the personality type of people who play these games usually doesn't lend them the kind of patience and mental acuity it takes to be masterful Bastion... does not mean he needs a buff. Same could be said of Mei. She's not easy to play really really well. That's why people aren't picking her. She already has massively too much regen and her right click shot does plenty of damage. She's supposed to be DEFENSE. She's got that. I actually do feel like some of the reason she's not getting picked is probably for similar reasons. If you're a really good Mei, you get no end of toxic verbal garbage from the enemy team, because getting killed by her is super annoying. If you're a bad Mei, you're just dying constantly, and going to get the same from your own team. She has an image among the community that inspires vitriol. Most people don't want to get shat on verbally just for their character choice. I don't know if Blizzard is really taking this into account.

    PS- D.Va needed a buff, but they really overshot the mark. You know something's out of balance when almost every game now contains the character you just buffed, and if you DON'T have her against a team that does, you're prone to losing.

    I must be playing the wrong matches.

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    MaryAmeliaMaryAmelia Registered User regular
    We must remember that Blizzard has all the data, and our own observations do not paint the whole picture. Yes, Mei can be very powerful in the right hands, but the game should not only be balanced at the top. If their data tells them Mei is dying more/dealing less overall damage in all matches, I'm fine with the buff.

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    ZizyZizy Registered User new member
    The issue seems that some characters here are OP for noobs and useless for pros, while some others are useless for noobs and OP for pros. Try to cater to either of these groups and you screwed up for the other one.
    It is difficult to have every single one balanced both for pros and noobs. Different level of skill required.

    Sensible game balance would require that each character is viable at some level of skill while none of them is overpowered at any level. Sure, you might have pro/noob games completely empty of some characters, but so what? As long as there are enough viable choices for everyone this isn't a problem.

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    jwalkjwalk Registered User regular
    so they're balancing an entire game for the the 0.01% of the playerbase that actually plays games competitively?

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    HevachHevach Registered User regular
    jwalk wrote: »
    so they're balancing an entire game for the the 0.01% of the playerbase that actually plays games competitively?

    It's a problem WoW suffered from all the time, there'd be a class that could be outstanding in some edge case scenario, sometimes a really silly one (like affliction warlock DPS in early WotLK which only applied to one fight, or consecration stacking which only applied in arena teams consisting entirely of paladins), and to control that they'd end up giving the class a kick in the nuts in every other situation.

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    wallywestwallywest Registered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    I mean it's pretty well known characters I like need to be buffed and ones I don't like need to be nerfed. It's just facts.

    The one true solution is to buff me and nerf other players.
    The only way to fix Overwatch's obvious balance problems.
    I find I sometimes lose games and that is unacceptable.

    Agreed.

    If they could like install a "WIN GAME" button on my PC, and ONLY on my PC, that would be great.

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    NobeardNobeard North Carolina: Failed StateRegistered User regular
    I've been out of the loop for a while, what buff is this comic referring to?

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