How the Nerf/Buff Cycle Actually Works

Once you begin to understand that the “balance changes” aren’t meant to make all legendaries somewhat equal to other legendaries, all epics to all epics etc, and that these changes are actually designed to protect the META until it’s essentially “sold out,” it all makes sense.

Here’s how it works:
They nerf the current META & buff an under-used weapon.

That weapon most recently was the Deconstructor. Mind you, they don’t have to actually announce they’ve nerfed or buffed something. Sometimes, the buffed weapon isn’t really something they were trying to make over powered. But, they’ll shuffle things around in an attempt to break the META (more on that in a minute).

Once it’s buffed or at least becomes the META, the META-chasing players then begin to acquire as many as they feel they need to fuse them into oblivion. This means players could be buying a couple dozen so they can get a full set of matching fused weapons.

This obviously feeds money into the game via shop purchases with real money. People are buying Coin Packs, CrossCrowns, Vehicle Packs & BP Seasons to keep up.

The “tracking internal data” the devs are actually doing is tracking how many players are spending money to get that new META. They simply see who puts real money into the game & what they then spend that money on. Once the new META weapon starts to reach “market saturation” - meaning people stop spending real money to acquire it - they will nerf that weapon and buff another. Or, they’ll simply nerf that weapon & let another rise to the top.

This is the nerf/buff cycle. It has nothing to do with making sure the SledgeHammer is effective. If they nerf or buff non-META items in the game, it’s a side-show to distract you. This is why some items in the game have been completely ignored & unused for years while they introduce yet another omni-directional movement part or Levi-breaking uber-weapon.

This game is a money pit for players.

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copy-paste of the above for when Monkey flags the above…

Once you begin to understand that the “balance changes” aren’t meant to make all legendaries somewhat equal to other legendaries, all epics to all epics etc, and that these changes are actually designed to protect the META until it’s essentially “sold out,” it all makes sense.

Here’s how it works:
They nerf the current META & buff an under-used weapon.

That weapon most recently was the Deconstructor. Mind you, they don’t have to actually announce they’ve nerfed or buffed something. Sometimes, the buffed weapon isn’t really something they were trying to make over powered. But, they’ll shuffle things around in an attempt to break the META (more on that in a minute).

Once it’s buffed or at least becomes the META, the META-chasing players then begin to acquire as many as they feel they need to fuse them into oblivion. This means players could be buying a couple dozen so they can get a full set of matching fused weapons.

This obviously feeds money into the game via shop purchases with real money. People are buying Coin Packs, CrossCrowns, Vehicle Packs & BP Seasons to keep up.

The “tracking internal data” the devs are actually doing is tracking how many players are spending money to get that new META. They simply see who puts real money into the game & what they then spend that money on. Once the new META weapon starts to reach “market saturation” - meaning people stop spending real money to acquire it - they will nerf that weapon and buff another. Or, they’ll simply nerf that weapon & let another rise to the top.

This is the nerf/buff cycle. It has nothing to do with making sure the SledgeHammer is effective. If they nerf or buff non-META items in the game, it’s a side-show to distract you. This is why some items in the game have been completely ignored & unused for years while they introduce yet another omni-directional movement part or Levi-breaking uber-weapon.

This game is a money pit for players.

1 Like