The developers behind Camelot Unchained are currently in the midst of a hard crunch to get the game’s beta ready for players to, well, play. But as the game’s most recent newsletter reminds fans, it’s meant to be a doable crunch, not a death march for the programmers. So there’s still time to send out major updates to backers and fans, such as the aforementioned newsletter, which expounds at some length upon the subject of balance.
Most MMORPGs are balanced according to PvE play, as the newsletter explains, which leads to a sense of balance being struck within each given role (i.e., one healer has to be balanced against another healer, not against a ranged DPS). Camelot Unchained is focused instead upon PvP balance and a rock-paper-scissors setup, where one sort of class works as an active counter to another sort. This can also create issues in the early beta tests, however, as not all of the counters or even the classes to fill those countering roles will be available early on. It’s a fascinating look at how the game is positioning itself to provide a different competitive framework from the one offered by other games.
