We will be live at PAX East 2023 with at least one panel on Thursday!

Can Competitive and Casual Coexist?
Thursday Mar 23 @ 2:30pm ET
Bumblebee Theatre

Fortnite rolled out changes to make the game more competitive, and then promptly had to roll them back. Overwatch struggles to balance how characters are used competitively versus casually. With Root we even see balance patches in TABLETOP games. Game balance in a vacuum is one thing, but how do you balance a game across all possible levels of player skill? Across normal and professional/esport play? And most to the point, across a varied player base where people often have diametrically-opposed reasons for playing? The simple truth is that the more "skill input" a game has for the players, the broader the gulf will be between "casual" and "serious" play. Bronze-tier Overwatch is in some ways a completely different game from Platinum-tier, in the same way that high school football is miles away from the NFL. Are they really the same game? Join us for a rousing discussion of what player skill, game balance, and even player motivations mean in games of all kinds!

Remember that PAX East is still a mask-required event. We'll even be masked on stage! Hope to see you there!