Removing it is akin to dumbing down the game and getting rid of what makes it so unique and interesting.
Assuming you’re the definitive authority on what’s dumbed down and what isn’t is the biggest misstep in your argument. Note that I emphasised that I do not believe ‘my way’ is the ‘only way’. I do believe in my opinion over counter-opinions, but I’m not here to wage a crusade and burn down anyone else’s ideology.
I’ve been on these forums long enough to know everyone here is very different in what they believe a game this complex, design-wise, should be. So it’s impossible for Larian to actually accommodate everyone, since even one topic – CC in this case – can generate such impassioned yet tunnel vision defence of the mechanic.
So why not just be democratic about it, and let people decide via a game setting configuration?
Something like:
CC: hard/soft
Hard = the current system, where you or the enemy loses all control.
Soft = the countless creative alternatives for each CC type that don’t make you lose control.
At this stage, the game is clearly balanced around ‘hard CC’. So what? I’m willing to bet that everyone who prefers the alternative will make do with an ‘experimental’ soft CC at launch that doesn’t have to be perfectly balanced. Honestly, I believe it’ll be self-balancing, but either way it would remove the time sink that goes into rebalancing – while it would also satisfy both parties.
I likewise believe hard CC is too binary, too simplistic, too boring, to belong in this game. Again, this is just an opinion – I believe this, and some others may believe this, but it’s not an attack on anyone who wants CC to stay as it is: yes, you should get what you want as well.
I do believe it would infinitely improve the game to give the option of an experimental soft CC as a game setting. I also think Larian is forward-looking enough that they might do something like this: make your own game, at your own expense. The core game should be balanced around mainstream expectations, with the option for experimental, unbalanced features to override them. I want this company to make money too. It deserves it – but I also, shamelessly, would like to see their staff get enough cheques to keep them making patches, and hopefully an expansion as well someday…
