So I started a series of posts a LONG time ago, starting with an analysis of academic research papers into what motivates people to play games. The point was to agree some common base line understanding from which to look at our game.

I never got around to completing it, for a bunch of reasons. But I thought I would share something about game balance that occurred to me while I read all the research.

Games are balanced around TIME, SKILL & MONEY.

You can find many things that interest you in a games but in terms of what allows you to progress or be successful it can all be boiled down to just these 3 key elements. Do you think there are more? (it doesn't matter to the conclusion whether there are 4 or 5 but interested to see what your reactions are to summarising it to 3).

The money element doesn't have to be there because games can be subscription based, but in reality virtually all devs for all games have moved to micro transactions. 

The game design can favor any one of those 3 elements. I kind of think of it as a tringle and any games balance between the factors can be summarised as a point in the triangle (or at extremes it might approach just being in one corner).

For instance, Stormfall is designed very much not to reward Time. You only get 10 raids (although we have a booster event now). And troop queues physically cap the amount of resource that its worthwhile collecting. And on the other main element of gameplay, you only get so many BG's per day (also something that has increased over time)..

Why would a dev limit your ability to play the game? It's generally accepted that more time in game = more money.

If you could gain an limitless advantage from Time (well there are only 24hrs in a day but I hope you know what I mean), then most of the players that don't have unlimited time to play (jobs, school etc) will see they can't complete and will leave the game. So Stormfall limits the benefit of Time (e.g. raid cap / BG cap etc),

As you allow a game to become more tilted towards just one of three elements it will become attractive to a smaller and smaller player base.

If the game very much favours skill, then the players that like to grind and are willing to invest Time will find the game suits them less and less and at some point most of them will have left to find a game that is better suited to them.

It follows logically then that, if the advantage of money becomes too overpowered, it will turn off all the players that value skill and time until they leave the game.

Can't prove this with specific evidence but all common sense screams at me that the number of people that value money so much that they are willing to play in a game where all that matters is money is going to be very very small. So as you push to money and only money being relevant to progress in a game, the player base is going to get very very small.

And that is why game balance matters so much. Tilt to one element too much and you will start limiting the player base significantly.

I don't think any of this is at all contentious. But what do you think?

Lets not get into any discussion of where Stormfall currently its on the spectrum atm. That will go round and round in circles and get nowhere.

Lets just see that we can agree that as you tend towards one element over the others, your player base will get smaller and smaller. i.e. that breaking game balance has serious consequences.