[Norfleet]

Well, the ultimate question about VQs is this:

Do VQs, independently of their players, win games? Does choosing the VQ mean you are far more likely to win against anyone who does NOT choose one, independently of how good you are, or how good he is? If so, then VQs would definitely be unbalanced.

I don't think this is actually the case, however. The opinions of noted beta testers like Zen and Jasper support this.

Now, we consider diversity: Why are there so many VQs in the game....and why does it continue even though ultimately, these aspiring VQs are inevitably laid to burnination by somebody else?

The answer seems fairly simple: As the VQ is generally used as an SC chassis, it tends to be the most visible symbol of asskicking. When a VQ destroys your army, you think "Wow. Those things are mean." They're also available to many nations(vampires being a legend in many different cultures). As such, it is very easy to reach for the thing which Last handed your *** to you.

As a result, the vast majority of VQs are not, in fact, being operated because the player in question has evaluated its individual merits and drawbacks in relation to the strategy he wants to play, but because he saw it/heard about it, and thought it was cool.

Unfortunately, this is an entirely illusory, and unavoidable, effect. People are inherently drawn to stories of success and wish to emulate it: Witness the evolution of cookie-cutter character building in RPGs: Regardless of whether it's the character that's right for the player's strategy, people want these cookie-cutter formulas, perhaps because they are new and know no better.

I've heard of this myself: People, who have no idea what they really want, will take this high-priced chassis, and proceed to do something completely useless with it, like turning it into an artillery caster. Why did they even *PICK* a VQ for that? You certainly can't get a terribly good blessing with one, so it's not a good choice if you wanted to play a 9-bless.

I chalk this up entirely to imitation, particularly of something people have heard of or observed first hand. If somebody's playing a water blessing, or a fire blessing, a player isn't likely going to see this in action directly, because the pretender is not an in-your-face item. If your army gets wiped out by a VQ, though....you're going to see it unfold. You're going to think, "Wow." (or something less complimentary). If you're a newbie and don't know any better, you're going to think, "I want one of those."

Nevermind that it may not be suitable for your strategy. If anything, I expect that VQ usage will actually taper off as newbies mature into veterans and find their own niche. However, newbies will newbies.

[ May 06, 2004, 21:36: Message edited by: Norfleet ]