It's been interesting following this, and I have a pretty good idea it won't be much of an issue for me. It's hard to see me every getting a hero up to the levels where this matters. Kids, etc. mean I usually play in chunks of 30 minutes or less, have only done a TF once, etc. I've played for about 8 months and my two heroes are level 35 and 30. I think I meet the requirements for the casual player...
That said, it seems like there are two problems being discussed. This is a consensual arena, where heroes show up to train and help one another. Superman decides to run a race with Flash, and agrees up front not to use supervision to melt the ground ahead of him!
So, issue one is what is a fun, workable way for heroes to agree to limit themselves for a battle. It seems like there is a general feeling that there MAY not be enough options on how heroes can agree to limit HOs. I emphasize may, because I don't think Statesman's comments can be taken as complete (though hopefully accurate for what it said!).
The second issue is one of visibility. This is just a specific detail of the first issue, but worth considering separately. When Flash and Superman race, both have a good sense of what the other is capable of, so it is easy for them to understand what makes it a fair and fun race. Same thing here. You can see the powers someone has, but can't see the slotting. Without HOs, this was not considered a big deal. Naturally, all level X's would have roughly the same level enhancements (all SOs, for example), and specific slotting differences seem like a skill issue. It feels right that smart slotting should give someone an advantage. With HOs, maybe it IS a big deal, since it doesn't feel like a skill issue, but a time-dedicated issue. I'm not sure, but it seems that way to me. If so, visibility is needed.
All this matters because it is only fun to have a contest when you understand what the contest is measuring. This is especially true when statistics are kept and available to all. We all agree we want to measure "skill", where skill is thought the be cleverness in choosing powers, in slotting those powers, and (most important) in clever use of those powers (good tactics!). However, we may not all agree to this. Some people may think the arena should also be measuring dedication and effort, not just skill. I'm not prepared to disagree, though I can say it wouldn't be as interesting to me personally to measure that.
The solution needed in the game, it seems to me, is the equivalent of a handicapping system (using betting parlance). When I'm considering an opponent for the arena, I'd love to see instant "odds" on whether I can take 'em. It should take into account level differences, perhaps some specific power differences, perhaps the presence of HOs. If I decide to take on someone with 5:1 odds against me, I should get extra points if I win! My opponent should get fewer points for beating me! Of course, then you start configuring the match: let's turn off travel powers, you exemplar down, we'll turn off HOs, etc. This should affect the handicapping and eventually we decide it would be fun to battle. To an extent, this is what the developers seem to be trying to do.
Now, it seems to me that the amount of specific customization will need to be kept limited, just to manage the dev costs. But I certainly would like to see come kind of proportional scoring that would show up in the overall arena results.
Of course, at some point this could get ridiculous. Back to Flash and Superman, I have this amusing image of them running around a laser tag arena with little laser vests shooting at each other... It was the only way to get to a fair contest, you know!
---------------------------
CoreLabs
