Pardon the hubris, but lately I've seen a lot of inanely retarded posts regarding balance. Let's set some things straight. First we need to start with the very definition of "balance":
bal⋅ance
–noun
1. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
Note the key words equal distribution. These are very important! The term balance does not directly refer to general strength -- it refers to distribution.
Let's apply this knowledge. In one post, I saw the suggestion that the Rook's towers are balanced because they are strong on maps but weak on large maps. This is an example of what I regard as an "inanely retarded post", because it's the very opposite of balance! There is a clearly unequal distribution in the strength of towers, thus it is appropriate to call them "unbalanced". It makes no claim as to their relative strength. They could be too weak or too strong or too purple or too smelly; it really doesn't matter, they are still "unbalanced". Now, to be clear, it's ok if one ability is weak on some maps as long as another ability is equally better on the same maps.
Additionally, all demigods must be equally potent on all maps, and it's pretty clear that they aren't. For example, one insightful poster noted that Erebus's bat swarm can cross gaps on Crucible and Exile that otherwise require a long trip. He (or she) did not make strong judgement to this, only pointing out that it felt unfair. That's perfectly valid criticism! Yet several people proceeded to flame or offer flawed theorycraft (eg, it's ok because you can buy a $5000+ item to get the same ability yadayada).
So this brings up a second important point. Check your theorycraft at the door. I'm tired of reading about ridiculously contrived impractical counters that never happen in real games. If you can't offer real gameplay experience, then don't post about balance.
Finally, please consider Pantheon in your posts. It is simply not OK if the counter to something on Light is also on the Light side. Same for Dark. If your post contains a contrived theorycraft counter to something on the same side, you have just posted something inanely retarded. Please stop it.
In summary:
- Balance refers to equal distribution. All demigods should be equally potent at the start of the game, regardless of map or team composition. Imbalance should result from the direct stategic actions of players.
- Theorycraft is retarded, but is usually used as the exclusive justification for balance posts.
- Pantheon matters too.
