Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-30199286-20170807220636/@comment-31722401-20170809231403

CallMeKnuckles wrote: Vrokorta wrote: Timefreezer4 wrote: I hate the level system, and think it takes away from the spirit of VS debating as well as oversimplifying and exaggerating character power. I also think it puts too much focus on the physical capacity of combatants rather than their special abilities.

Scaling is overused and really blows a lot of characters out of proportion. Just because a character fights evenly with another doesn't automatically mean they're comparable in physical stats. Just because Batman beats Bane doesn't mean he can lift 27 tons. Just because Sonic and Knuckles are near equals doesn't mean Sonic is as strong as Knux or Knux is as fast as Sonic. Just because Mario constantly beats Bowser doesn't mean he's strong enough to hurt the Koopa. Most of the time, fights that are improperly scaled are won via skill, special powers, or just dumb luck.

Most calculations in VS debating are unreliable, as they rely on taking feats out of context via questionable and irrelevant methods of measurement and/or a lot of assumptions which undermines the calc credibility. I have to agree with that for the most part. I was actually thinking about this one day, on Vs. battle wiki, Mario is at least Star level, in Mario Galaxy, Goombas are capable of ramming Mario, dealing damage & knocking him back a bit. By this logic, Goombas are at least Star level, & that's just lowballing. This logic ruins fights between pathetic characters, for example, Goomba vs Freddy, Goomba vs Dan Hibiki, & Goomba vs Magikarp. I'll admit, powerscaling works well for say, Digimon (mostly cause characters are constantly fighting or different levels simply scale to each other), but in some scenarios (like the aforementioned Goomba), it's just a little ridiculous. Well, the Goomba example would be gameplay mechanics.

Gameplay mechanics are a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have measurable feats from gameplay, such as DK lifting a sunken ship while standing on it, or Bayonetta flipping a satellite with her legs, but on the other hand, gameplay mechanics would mean that Catwoman can feasibility defeat Superman, Flash or Doomsday. Or the whole Empress Peach thing from Mario Strikers.