Arnoxthe1 said:
It's not about getting the best numbers. It's actually about giving you more options in your gun selection.
Ok, forgive me I'm trying to understand what you're getting at here with Borderlands as an example.
So based on what you've said, this is what I'm understanding your meaning - but if you could answer my questions to clarify I would appreciate it.
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No leveled weapons - meaning no level requirements to use a weapon? How do you prevent a level 1 from using a maximum player character item? I get that you prefer a game to be more stats based and the weapons not to change (unless I misunderstood a previous post), but in Borderlands it's all about finding loot rather than worrying about a skill level and points.
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More options in gun selection - meaning... more functions of the gun? Like additional damage etc?
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White colored doesn't mean it's trash - This is true on the higher skill levels, the whites can replace other colors, but if there's no level requirement than the other, lower difficulties have just had their white items negated.
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More rare a weapon is, the more extra functions and effects on it - Doesn't the game do that already? I mean at times if the damage, reload speed, or magazine size or increased beyond a certain % of what it would be for that level, it will change the color/rarity level of that weapon to indicate it has something special to it.
I think Borderlands does a pretty good job of balancing and marking which weapons are "rare loot". At any one level the higher the color tier the better the weapon is going to be to a comparable weapon - unless you're giving up something such as, with a sniper rifle I prefer a high rate of fire over a slower one - and I'll often not take something that does more damage but fires more slowly. Also there's the effect consideration as you may not want particular effects with a certain weapon. I think it's done pretty well with whatever algorithm is running the show in the background.
Does it come down to numbers? In a way, yes. There's always the other considerations/effects but I think ultimately something about those numbers (damage, fire rate, ammo count) are going to matter enough to make that gun something you'll want. Numbers drive so much in an RPG.