How is working is different than explaining it by words. Is really impossible for me, so trust me and wait the beta. Of course I could also be wrong, but I can tweak it anyway if necessary, so won't be an issue.
Some quick replies (don't have much time):
- You can't change equipment while fighting now

- You talk like if is EASY to get new equipment and balance everything - it won't be simple!
- yes I take the base stat, and a small % of the "derived" stats from equipment. So items still have an impact
- saying that items aren't important is the same as complaining that the game is too easy after you grind for 10h to beat the boss... a bit hard to explain, but you need to remember that we're talking about averages here only as a starting point. The real difficulty of an enemy is his level relative to the player. Like in many MMORPG, there are enemies 1,2 levels lower than the party and are easy, then others that are 1,2 or more levels higher than the party, and are tough.
- I do randomize a bit the resulting stats for every encounter based on parameters, so it's not always the same
- there are SKILLS, very different. The result of the outcomes will depends on the equipment but also on the skills
- I can still tweak the bosses checking the player level. I can make it easier if player is a certain level for example, though I think that if you level up and get better gear, you'll have the edge, since enemies won't grow up so powerful at same speed
I wanted to achieve a few things with this:
- avoid boring encounters after people did a lot of grinding. I still remember people whining that the Hard level of Loren was too easy. Obviously, people that got at the final boss fight at level 30

- put more emphasis on the skills used rather than relying only on the best equipment
- much FASTER development times for me to define the encounter, knowing that I'll always have a solid starting base, and then I can customize opponents using traits which makes much more sense: fast but weak enemies. Strong but slow enemies. People think which skills is better to use. Heavy damaging AOE skills to quickly kill 3 weak but fast enemies, and you win the battle. Otherwise, you pick the wrong skill and lose. Sort of chess/planning your strategy more.
OK, after this won't talk about the system anymore, because is really better to wait and play it. So far I've done a few encounter, and feels really great to play. There are easy battles of course, but the hard one are really challenging

those who want it easier will play in Normal mode anyway
