Originally Posted by
VeloZer0
If you round the numbers it works out even in the end. Many games truncate the number at the end, but that only results in you loosing 0.09% of your damage going from 99999 to 9999, and 0.9% going from 9999 to 999. A small price to pay for actually knowing what is going on. (For the record, I feel 9999 isn't too high, but equally good as 999).
This over inflation in games isn't caused by them wanting to add more detail, it is caused by them wanting bigger numbers, because I focus groups said they liked them. If you look at the combat formulas as the series progress they start moving from (when you break it down) [stat]+[stat] to [stat]*[stat] to [stat]^3. This isn't adding detail, it is just making a steeper and less linear curve.
To me this over inflation is a gimmicky way to make the game feel substantially different from the beginning of the game. This is something that should be done by forcing innovations in tactics through a well designed encounter and leveling system. If you take FFT as a case in point, the way I usually build my party, I hit most of the damage I want to do a little less than half way through, and for the rest I spend on developing mobility, 100% chance to hit, ect. And by the time I reach the end of the story, it is like a completely different game with the new abilities and tactics I employ. Compare and contrast Disgaea, where you are using the same moves and same tactics for most of the end game, but the damage keeps going up and up and up. One keeps me interested for long periods of time, one does not.