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u don't make other classes skills less effective because another over powered class is abusing it... u fix the over powered classes skill(s)...
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I thought the same about a year ago. But in the meanwhile i've realised that, in this game, it's impossible. The primary/secondary system is too intertwined, too much rooted in the game, and there are way too many skills to achieve anything even close to balance.
Probably the only way to keep the game 'balanced' is to change, let's say, 10 skills every month or every fortnight. Nerf five that cause the most overpowered builds, buff five that have potential but are neglected - and hope that no one will find out yet another broken, overpowered build in the first two days, to exploit its power for the next four weeks.
Seriously, GW1 can have little 'ultimate balance potential', a state when the game needs no skill updates and everything's working. SC1 is an example of such a game in strategies, GW2 has the potential to be one for MMOs, but GW1 ain't even remotely there. With ten professions, 1319 skills total (1235 of which are available in PvP, over a THOUSAND skills to balance!), and the primary/secondary system being probably the biggest 'problemogen' around, the only possibility to maintain such game is to keep changing it, constantly, over and over; either by slight, but constant and precise cuts, or by shuffling the whole meta every month, changing its flavor completely. Mind it, even ANet themselves admit they wanted to greatly reduce the amount of skills in GW2, one of the reasons being the impossible to achieve balance.
Both options require loads of manpower and understanding of all the builds that circulate in the current meta; and why do they work, why they are abused, what are their strong/annoying points. The Live Team can't afford that much time and work for it, and they can't be aware of every overpowered skill/build (and their potential), even (especially?) with Test Krewe.
And yes, i was talking above PvP side. For PvE, the devs should have set a limit of balancing before they have attempted it. One thing that is the least likely to change or update is the mobs' AI. The game's monsters should have been designed first, then the skills balanced among them, then further balanced for players to be able to overcome the PvE side - that way the 'difficulty level' of specific PvE parts is much easier to tackle, as well as there are no god mode skills or, most likely, speed clears in the first place. In short, the monsters should have been the base to cut PvE balance to, not the players (thus getting mobs with higher levels, more armor, and using pvx builds...).
I'd love to see the Live Team to focus on the game's
mechanics first and foremost, rather than skills. Fixing carriers and turtles, or Longbows (however they were changed), is a good step. A technical fix every fortnight/month, along with several most pressing skill updates, would be cool. Too bad it's a bit too late in the game's life to undertake such process.
so its not fixed at all
