by amoshias
This conversation doesn't really apply to non-hardcore gamers, I guess.I play with several groups of highly experienced gamers who are, mostly, really strong tacticians. And I've seen this pattern repeat itself several times - the first campaign, the heroes choose their characters based on who seems cool, who seems good, and they make a decent party. The heroes and the overlord bash it out, sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other.
The second campaign, though, the heroes have a strong feel for the game. Their heroes aren't a mish-mosh - most of them are A-listers in the game. There's synergy out the wazoo - if anyone is chosen who ISN'T an A-lister, it's because they've got an ability which does something ridiculous when combined with the other heroes, some particular class, or whatever. The overlord never really is able to get his footing, and just loses quest after quest.
The same thing is even true with the co-op mission - I've played it solo a few times, and if I choose my characters, I annihilate it. It's never even been close. But if I flip up random characters, it can actually be an interesting challenge. (Never that hard, but at least a challenge.)
I'm interested in what other people's experiences have been, and what people might have done - if you agree that this is a problem - to allow the heroes to still have the fun of character selection but without allowing some of these insane combos to be built.