Ha ha, no I haven't actually forgotten about this site.
But updates have been sparse since my new educational journey has been more than a little taxing, and time is no longer something I have in large supply. Truth be told, I haven't even really played a game of Arkham in about 2-3 months. Hard to playtest things when you don't play the game.
Don't worry though, I'm still alive and hey maybe there's other people on this site and maybe they've made some cool things too or maybe not. It's a little hard to tell at a glance which mechanical contraptions people have made that actually work, but just like rummaging through a can of legos you sometimes have to feel your way around EVERYTHING to find the pieces you like.
What was I talking about again? Updates? Right.
So, yeah I'll try to get something up soon, but chances are there won't be any balance changes yet again because I haven't really had the time to do proper analysis, which might be good or bad depending on how you look at it.
There are a couple of small things I've been working on that I figure you might be interested in:
Arkham Light!
Okay what...even IS that? Like, all I can picture is a Cthulhu with a bib and a big ol' smile.
But seriously, what is that? Well, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but a few of the characters I've created have some
complexity issues
. Maybe after you've picked up those characters a few times, you may find that their large collection of tools is RAD, maybe even SERIOUSLY COOL, and I think that's GREAT. The problem however is that those characters aren't usually going to get to that point simply because the initial information hurdle is just too much, even for experienced players! That's just WHACK, absolutely NOT COOL. The objective of Arkham Light is turn that frown upside down, cracking open these superimposing investigators like a flipped over crustacean.
After the update goes through, downloading any character that may be a little more complex than average will receive a series of "Arkham Light" rules that help to introduce those characters' abilities in smaller chunks, allowing players to get more familiar before diving deeper. The alternate rules will appear as a simple text document, and will come in a couple different varieties. The above character, for example, has a beginner version in which you only have access to 3-4 of her most basic abiilties, as opposed to all 8.
>Doesn't that undermine the player?
Possibly, but it's definitely not intentional. I actually feel the opposite way, I feel like I may have been expecting too much of the people trying to play these characters since they are just plain difficult to pick up and play.
>Doesn't restricting a character's options make them worse?
Unfortunately, any character run through the Arkham Light rulings will probably be weaker by default, but never in a crippling manner. The core identity hasn't changed, just a few branches have been trimmed. As you gain confidence and comfort with these investigators, you can start dismissing the Arkham Light versions. They are 100% optional in all cases, and fully adjustable. At best, they function as personal recommendations.
More organized playtesting
This is a more minor detail, but before I play another game of Arkham, I'm going to try to flag down characters that seem like they are most in need of attention for one reason or another. This way, I don't get too bogged down playtesting characters that don't need it so badly.
