A simple fix for 8v8 games
I don’t think the balance issue is as much to do with the number of one class on any given team (even if both teams had 4 theives and 4 mesmers – they would be on even footing) I think its more about that fact that some professions excel at 1v1 / small skirmishes while others are more effective in large zerg fests.
A necromancer for instance can do quite well in 8v8 because of the tendency to have huge battles with 4+ players from each team. Factor in epidemic, mist form elite, and all their AOE bleeds and other marks and the necro can put out a lot of damage. But then in tournament play – they need to be able to fight 1v1 or maybe 2v2 and they can’t dish out nearly as much pressure as other classes.
As long as hot join mode is 8v8 and tournament mode is 5v5 – I think this difficulty with balance will always exist.
I think it would harm participation in Quick-join greatly, and there would have to be an overhaul of the system before it could even be implimented, but I’m not against the philosophy.
Balanced teams do better, each class has more fun when there are other classes to play with and against, some of which they are even strong against, rather than constantly facing enemies that are built strong against your profession’s strongest builds. (coughnecrocough)
It would be nice if there was an active lobby interface that shows you the status of a game you’re selecting to join. Aka, who’s there on what team, and what team you’d likely be joining when you hop in. This will allow people to be more selective as to what games they join and then we can see more balance among actual lobbies.