The Necessary Nerf (Redux)

I originally wrote this over a year ago, but have decided to reblog it at least once a year on the off chance that someone who constantly complains about nerfs reads it. I’ve been close to MMORPGs since the inception of the genre in 1997. Without exception, the biggest complaint about every game I have ever played is how much the development team “nerfs” game mechanics. For those of you who do not know what “nerf” means in the context of an MMORPG, I’ll explain (if that is the case, you’ve never played an MMOG, and you should probably just get off this site now):

nerf (nûrf): To weaken or make less dangerous in the interest of game balance. The term came about in gaming because the Nerf company creates harmless versions of harmful devices (swords, guns, etc). Hence, if a game developer makes a weapon less dangerous, it has “nerfed” that item. Mind you, this does not only apply to items and equipment; it also applies to classes, spells, etc.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me explain to you why game developers nerf their game. It is all in the interest of fun. No, contrary to popular belief, it is not because developers hate you and like to watch you squirm. It is not because they have a vendetta against the character you play. It is simply to enhance game balance, and therefore increase the enjoyability of the game as a whole as well as the long term game potential. Even if that fun isn’t immediately apparent, the intent is to preserve the health of a game long-term.

If a game is easier if you are a certain class or create your character a specific way, it will become stale. Everyone will want to be that class, everyone will want to have that sword. Players will no longer feel different from the majority, because they won’t be. If they are, they are different from the majority, they are at a handicap and the game will not be fun. The same applies to items or just about anything else that can be nerfed.

Why nerf an item if it’s overpowered? The answer is different based on the scenario. If it’s a difficult item to obtain and can only be used by certain characters, it needs to be nerfed in the interest of fairness (in addition to the fun/balance/health concerns mentioned before). If it’s an item other players can obtain and use, it needs to be nerfed because it will become the norm.

If the norm is better than it should be, other items need to be brought up in power, trivializing content, forcing developers to uberfy the content, and finally making it another nerf against all players (rather than the few who initially had the item). The point is: You have to think about the long term, not the immediate impact of a nerf. Not nerfing something that needs to be nerfed will only result in the issue compounding, necessitating a much more profound nerf down the line.

There are always players, who I like to refer to as “the boy who cried nerf,” who tend to look for the strong points of every other class or weapon type and attempt to get it nerfed. This isn’t necessarily something they do to be assholes, but they are suffering from acute “grass is greener” syndrome. They see the good points in everything that they cannot be, but are unable to see those strong points in their own character. Ignore them. They are stupid. Yes, you are more intelligent than they are.

There are others who get angry when something is nerfed because they feel developers are lazy. They think that a design team should revisit the entire game system and balance it out such that the mechanic they intend to nerf is simply the example they should aspire to match. This is foolish for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it requires a ridiculous amount of time. Second, and in reality more importantly, it would be the exact same thing as nerfing in the end.

Yes, we all want to be unique. Yes, we all want to be powerful. However, if we are more powerful than others, we have to be nerfed. It reduces our overall enjoyment for a period of time, but we as players need to learn how to deal with it. If you get nerfed, take a deep breath, step back, and note if you’re still having fun. If you are, don’t complain about the nerf.

What it really all comes down to is the long-term health of a game. I haven’t listed all the reasons that nerfing is necessary, but I think the point is made (and I’m trying to shorten my posts a bit so people can read them in one sitting). The more players who are having fun, the better. The less uber one set of characters is in relation to other characters, the better. I know that is like a stake in the heart to some people, but no matter how powerful you want to appear to other players, you never will be. It’s an unfortunate symptom of online gaming that no one player can truly be powerful. Explaining that statement might require another long entry.

So what is the point of this entire post? Developers have to nerf. They don’t hate you, and they aren’t trying to piss you off. A mechanic is only nerfed if the design team feels that it will make the game more fun in the long term. There is always the potential for overcompensation, but we’ll leave that for another rant altogether.