LogFAQs > #908664389

banananor posted...

the best part of mercs is imagining how fights will go and how abilities will function.

the worst parts of mercs are things that get in the way of that. to me, those are

1) huge character rosters with characters i don't recognize with huge JRPG/anime level feats

2) abilities that determine the outcome of the match on a metagame level rather than an imagination level

like, ones that straight up auto-KO characters rather than allowing voters to decide whether the ability would reasonably be able to do so

1 is to some degree unavoidable. One man's unrecognizable character is another's cause for celebration (case in point: Kain and Raziel, who famously have a group of 3-4 voters who absolutely love them and are otherwise kind of obscure). While I want to borrow a page from LLF Mercs and add brief bullet point descriptions of what a merc can do for the sake of newbies, the only true cure for that is to ask the leader who the fuck their character is to see if you can get a quick primer on them.

2 is there moreso for the sake of the players than the voters. In a world where we were 100% committed to making Mercs a spectator sport abilities would be massively nerfed, but then we'd barely have any players because of how much powerlessness and worry a raw no-abilities match makes you feel, usually (source: been there. A lot). Hardcoded 'this guy is outta here/useless' abilities let the players dictate the match they'll have to face to some degree, which is huge for managing your stress levels.
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Shine on, you crazy diamond.