Best Of
Re: Resurrection during combat
I want combat rez, mass combat rez and combat rez scrolls. Abilities should have long cd, high cost and long cast time (with mass rez having ~30 min cd, if not hour). Mass rez should only apply to your party, not the guild/raid.
Scrolls should have an even longer cast time and should be crafted at a fairly high cost.
Scrolls should have an even longer cast time and should be crafted at a fairly high cost.
Ludullu
4
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
I don't want to see the graphic getting clipped by an incline. I've been looking at clipped AoE graphics for 20 years, can you solve that issue?
Also, the AoE from the dragon raid boss left smoldering circles on the ground, but they also were under the water in puddle areas, that should have an interaction, vision obscuring fog, or steam cloud that causes little DoT.
It should be abundantly clear to friendly and hostile players. The harder it hits the more telegraphed it should be. Don't make AoE so strong that it becomes a brainless meta strat to AoE everything.
Also, the AoE from the dragon raid boss left smoldering circles on the ground, but they also were under the water in puddle areas, that should have an interaction, vision obscuring fog, or steam cloud that causes little DoT.
It should be abundantly clear to friendly and hostile players. The harder it hits the more telegraphed it should be. Don't make AoE so strong that it becomes a brainless meta strat to AoE everything.
Nuub
2
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
Hard CC should have a telegraph especially if its followed up by a one-shot mechanic.
For pvp its hard to be give too much directional advice as I still don't know what combat system you're going for. If it's an I-frame system where our dodge or movement abilities are intended to be used to avoid hard cc telegraphs for pvp and pve then hard cc should be telegraphed. If you don't want I-frames to be a thing, than that's less important. I don't think it's been made clear what the dev's intent is with giving us the rolling dodge. Typically that signifies I-frame, but I don't know if it works that way in testing and with tab-target abilities does it matter either that someone is rolling around?
I think you need to define the game's combat style first.
For pvp its hard to be give too much directional advice as I still don't know what combat system you're going for. If it's an I-frame system where our dodge or movement abilities are intended to be used to avoid hard cc telegraphs for pvp and pve then hard cc should be telegraphed. If you don't want I-frames to be a thing, than that's less important. I don't think it's been made clear what the dev's intent is with giving us the rolling dodge. Typically that signifies I-frame, but I don't know if it works that way in testing and with tab-target abilities does it matter either that someone is rolling around?
I think you need to define the game's combat style first.
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
I really don't want outlines on the ground like other MMOs.
I'd also want an option to hide Ally damage ground AOE effects or even better be able to lower the Opacity of them.
I'd also want an option to hide Ally damage ground AOE effects or even better be able to lower the Opacity of them.
Re: Let's TheoryRaid #5 - Tiamat (FFXI) vs FireBrand
Ludullu_(NiKr) wrote: »How many games have tried going for a "you can stand in the fire and get a dps boost, but the stacks of fire can be blown up by the mob" approach? I'm assuming there has to be at least a few. And how successful were those attempts?
I'd say 'a few' and 'successful', but not as much for Open World. Because that's just changing your composition. That's number crunching, for a dedicated PvE player. I don't have any opinion on it relative to FireBrand.
The FFXI equivalent is usually in gear, but there isn't a lot of really specific 'wear this gear and when under this bad effect get this good one' that also boosts damage.
Ludullu_(NiKr) wrote: »And then a more personal question for you here. If you, as a cleric, had to track burning stats on your party and had a tool to only remove a part of them (say a mage elemental augment, or maybe smth religious) - would that make this encounter (any any potential other one) more interesting to you? Or would that still be a bit too much of a bottable thing for you to value it highly?
The interesting part is entirely about 'why I am choosing not to do that as soon as possible'. If I assume you're talking about burning stacks from the previous paragraph, this is interesting to me, and probably good design because it also allows groups who want less complexity to just decide 'We're always letting it stack' or 'we're always removing the stack'.
Good for friend group content. Not so great for less organized Open World but I think it's fine if high level OW content requires organization, obv.
Ludullu_(NiKr) wrote: »As an additional thing here, what if FireBoi had a much much higher chance of turning and aoe attacking the people who have gone over a certain amount of stacks of burning.
That's sort of just taking the choice away again. As well as opening a lot of options for manipulation of the AI. No strong opinion, depends on the skill of the encounter designers and the senior designers to predict manipulations.
Ludullu_(NiKr) wrote: »And on the summoner side of things, what if Transfer Pain was the main resource of the archetype and would then have augments that would interact differently depending on the type of summon you're using.
Say, a sum/tank's TP would go up based on how much damage your summon absorbed by standing next to someone who's taking dmg (i.e. being in fire for the dps boost).
Sum/cleric's would grow based on the HP healed by the summon, which is done at the cost of summon's own hp (reducing the main Cleric's tasks to do, but also being less reliable cause summon heals would be obviously weaker, hence riskier).
Sum/ranger's could grow based on the additional points of dmg done to the enemy due to summon's Marks, which in turn eat away at its hp.
And stuff like that from other archetypes. In other words, make the summoner gameplay different based on their class. So, in stead of just "my summon is chasin the boss or gets out of the fire", you'd have a variety of actions, all of which require actions from both the summon and the summoner themselves.
That's both 'no opinion' and 'what about Summoner/Summoner though?'
I know I didn't end up going too much into the Summoner Role thing in that giant dragon of a post above, moreso 'expecting that any dev who cares also will read between the lines on it'. But my answer to this is that 'role' isn't 'gameplay' that often in complex PvE. In fact I'd say that one of the biggest fundamental gaps between people who like complex PvE (regardless of how good they are at it) and those who don't like or don't care about it, is their understanding of this.
In my experience, a huge relative subset of the people I know who don't like/see the point of complex PvE don't actually understand or like 'roles' in MMOs, because they are focused on 'gameplay'. Obviously 'gameplay' is important, but your role for a given fight guides that gameplay. If you meet someone whose response to a PvE challenge that forces them to change their gameplay is 'what's the point of this if I can't do what I normally do?' then that person has a fundamentally different wish from PvE than someone like me.
The role of a Summoner against Tiamat (in the basic strategy) is to be ready to heal if anyone messes up a CC, and to DPS whenever things are going well. The specific gameplay of this role is relatively different than what they normally do. Sometimes a Summoner chooses to focus more on the healing because of their team composition, or because the weather ingame is different that day, or because it's Firesday and Tiamat's spells hit harder. Their role changes slightly because of the day, weather, or team comp.
The suggestions you made would not be affected differently by those things except in an incredibly obvious way that I don't care about as much.
"You should sub /Cleric today because it's Firesday and the weather forecast is heatwave and you're going to have to heal more."
I wouldn't want it to be 'change your secondary today'. I would want the Summoner/Ranger to have the option to stay Summoner/Ranger and play differently skill-wise.
Azherae
1
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
1. Area of Effect (AoE) abilities are a common staple in MMORPG combat. We’re curious to know what your thoughts are on AoE abilities and the way they’re displayed.
I think Mages are the dominant users of AoEs, however I think its important that all Archtypes have some limited access.
For both the user and the target, its important that the AoE has a very distinct indicator on the ground that doesnt get obstructed by terrain or verticality.
I think that if you dont have visual indicators on the ground, it harms people playing at low settings, and forces players to turn up the graphics which can turn the battlefield into a soup of VFX.
2. In PvP, which Area of Effect (AoE) abilities, should be telegraphed to enemies?
When telegraphing to enemies, it should be all non-instant cast AoE abilities within a certain reasonable distance to where there could be a threat to the user.
If the AoE has a well defined shape, there should be an equivalent telegraph overlayed on the terrain, whether thats a circle, square, cone, column, or oval. This includes abilities like the Rangers Air Strike, or the Bards Pheonix Saga ability.
If the AoE is a radius around the person casting the AoE, the telegraph should move with the user (such as bards melodies).
The only AoE abilities that I dont expect telegraphs for are those that can rapidly change, such as the mages prismatic beam, however I expect those types of abilities to be exceptionally rare.
3. How clearly should AoEs be to enemy and friendly players?
The AoE that the user is casting should be treated with the most priority, since its a direct feedback to the users actions.
The AoE that is casted against the user should be treated with the second level of priority, since it provides a level of danger to the user.
The AoE that is casted by the users party or raid should be treated with the lowest level of priority.
Additionally, the telegraph that gets overlayed on the ground needs to be color coded to differentiate between friendly and enemy. Obviously you dont want to color code the entire ability, but the telegraph thats overlayed on the ground needs to be differentiated.
Ultimately, my dream would be to be able to adjust the VFX for each ability individually, since I think it would be difficult for Intrepid to match the fidelity & intensity of each abilities level of VFX. However I expect this would be a UI nightmare.
4. Do your thoughts differ in a PvE setting?
Not really, while everyone will claim to have the sensory processing capabilities of Spiderman, very few people are going to be able to deal with all that information, and it will simply overload them. As I said previously, the users own actions take the most priority, while the party members AoEs take the least priority.
In a PvE situation, especially a raid, the enemies AoE is much more important than the raid members.
5. Do you have examples from other games in which AoE abilities are presented in a way you like? If so, please share them!
I would reccomend looking at the way GW2 handled displaying AoEs. You can specifically take a look at Necromancers that use Staffs. I personally didnt like the class design of the Staff Necromancer, since almost all of the abilities were AoE, but they were displayed well.
Here are some clips of the AoE placement in action.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxpvxKFHADArzAHEcgC0T0UYwagzXfORGq?si=zRfG0XsdI7Dga1fc
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxFHk-K-kdnjUftgP68Mi30F2YkgceN_iS?si=c-1NyyTdhOZmbPHZ
Another GW2 AoE clip:
https://youtu.be/gih36QLKj5A
I think Mages are the dominant users of AoEs, however I think its important that all Archtypes have some limited access.
For both the user and the target, its important that the AoE has a very distinct indicator on the ground that doesnt get obstructed by terrain or verticality.
I think that if you dont have visual indicators on the ground, it harms people playing at low settings, and forces players to turn up the graphics which can turn the battlefield into a soup of VFX.
2. In PvP, which Area of Effect (AoE) abilities, should be telegraphed to enemies?
When telegraphing to enemies, it should be all non-instant cast AoE abilities within a certain reasonable distance to where there could be a threat to the user.
If the AoE has a well defined shape, there should be an equivalent telegraph overlayed on the terrain, whether thats a circle, square, cone, column, or oval. This includes abilities like the Rangers Air Strike, or the Bards Pheonix Saga ability.
If the AoE is a radius around the person casting the AoE, the telegraph should move with the user (such as bards melodies).
The only AoE abilities that I dont expect telegraphs for are those that can rapidly change, such as the mages prismatic beam, however I expect those types of abilities to be exceptionally rare.
3. How clearly should AoEs be to enemy and friendly players?
The AoE that the user is casting should be treated with the most priority, since its a direct feedback to the users actions.
The AoE that is casted against the user should be treated with the second level of priority, since it provides a level of danger to the user.
The AoE that is casted by the users party or raid should be treated with the lowest level of priority.
Additionally, the telegraph that gets overlayed on the ground needs to be color coded to differentiate between friendly and enemy. Obviously you dont want to color code the entire ability, but the telegraph thats overlayed on the ground needs to be differentiated.
Ultimately, my dream would be to be able to adjust the VFX for each ability individually, since I think it would be difficult for Intrepid to match the fidelity & intensity of each abilities level of VFX. However I expect this would be a UI nightmare.
4. Do your thoughts differ in a PvE setting?
Not really, while everyone will claim to have the sensory processing capabilities of Spiderman, very few people are going to be able to deal with all that information, and it will simply overload them. As I said previously, the users own actions take the most priority, while the party members AoEs take the least priority.
In a PvE situation, especially a raid, the enemies AoE is much more important than the raid members.
5. Do you have examples from other games in which AoE abilities are presented in a way you like? If so, please share them!
I would reccomend looking at the way GW2 handled displaying AoEs. You can specifically take a look at Necromancers that use Staffs. I personally didnt like the class design of the Staff Necromancer, since almost all of the abilities were AoE, but they were displayed well.
Here are some clips of the AoE placement in action.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxpvxKFHADArzAHEcgC0T0UYwagzXfORGq?si=zRfG0XsdI7Dga1fc
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxFHk-K-kdnjUftgP68Mi30F2YkgceN_iS?si=c-1NyyTdhOZmbPHZ
Another GW2 AoE clip:
https://youtu.be/gih36QLKj5A
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
Interesting.
I think in a modern large scale MMO, AoE attacks should be telegraphed in PvP, and in PvE. Imagine being in a large scale 100v100 fight. It will go one of two ways.
1. Players are incredibly frustrated because they are randomly being damaged and can't really comprehend what is happening due to the large amount of effects and players. Sure, they can make out some longer, more defined AoE attacks sometimes to avoid, but otherwise it is difficult for them.
2. Players are frustrated because enemy AoE attacks are telegraphed, and the entire battlefield floor is a some shade of flashing red because there are so many AoE attacks being used.
How do you balance this? I don't think it will be possible to please everyone, and I don't think it will be super possible to make it a very accessible user experience on either end of the spectrum.
An example of what I personally like is GW2, there are red shaded floor spots of Aoe attacks, and even an indicator of WHEN the damage will be done for certain attacks. This is really nice in PvE encounters, and also appreciated in PvP.
However, it can be more interesting than just red circles everywhere. AoE abilities can be telegraphed intuitively based on their effects. Like what if you are casting a meteor shower over 2s, the floor could start cracking, or the meteors could appear in the sky before actually falling to the ground and doing damage. This would be more interesting, and leave it to players to learn over time what AoE abilities look like before they actively affect you. Instant AoE's are harder to telegraph warnings about, but as they happen it can be tastefully done effects to make it obvious where it is hitting, or a well defined red polygon that shows the accurate area of effect.
Either way, I'm sure there is a sweet spot somewhere about this.
I think in a modern large scale MMO, AoE attacks should be telegraphed in PvP, and in PvE. Imagine being in a large scale 100v100 fight. It will go one of two ways.
1. Players are incredibly frustrated because they are randomly being damaged and can't really comprehend what is happening due to the large amount of effects and players. Sure, they can make out some longer, more defined AoE attacks sometimes to avoid, but otherwise it is difficult for them.
2. Players are frustrated because enemy AoE attacks are telegraphed, and the entire battlefield floor is a some shade of flashing red because there are so many AoE attacks being used.
How do you balance this? I don't think it will be possible to please everyone, and I don't think it will be super possible to make it a very accessible user experience on either end of the spectrum.
An example of what I personally like is GW2, there are red shaded floor spots of Aoe attacks, and even an indicator of WHEN the damage will be done for certain attacks. This is really nice in PvE encounters, and also appreciated in PvP.
However, it can be more interesting than just red circles everywhere. AoE abilities can be telegraphed intuitively based on their effects. Like what if you are casting a meteor shower over 2s, the floor could start cracking, or the meteors could appear in the sky before actually falling to the ground and doing damage. This would be more interesting, and leave it to players to learn over time what AoE abilities look like before they actively affect you. Instant AoE's are harder to telegraph warnings about, but as they happen it can be tastefully done effects to make it obvious where it is hitting, or a well defined red polygon that shows the accurate area of effect.
Either way, I'm sure there is a sweet spot somewhere about this.
Michael
10
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
I'm curious to know how AoEs work in the PvE setting, especially relating to flagging.
If you're unflagged, what happens when another unflagged player walks into your AoE?
What if they're a combatant? What if they're corrupted? What if they're corrupted AND attacking you?
My main concern is whether players can abuse your use of AoEs to flag you against your will.
You have to flag before aoe affects players, supposedly you can even change it so you can only target combatants.
Corrupted players can be attacked by non-combatants without them flagging which I really hope they change.
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #67 - AoE Form and Function 💣
clear, distinct edges of aoes via colouring or customizable settings that take precdence over the rendering of the skill effects would be very helpful for large-scale pvp/group content tbh.
lolage
1
Re: Ideas on goldsellers and ban that feels?
They need detection rules which detect bots and rules which monitor player accounts for sudden and unexpected changes in available resources.
Also the banning aspect...I really believe they should accept only limited number of credit card issuers and credit card types, and ban not the means of the payment, but the identity associated if that is possible. No pre-paid bs.
Also the banning aspect...I really believe they should accept only limited number of credit card issuers and credit card types, and ban not the means of the payment, but the identity associated if that is possible. No pre-paid bs.