Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
Do we know if focus will deteriorate outside of battle?
What i suggested is just a basic example, theres alot of ways it could be done/altered, and thats the direction I think they should focus on. Skill usage.
Completly agree with you Proxy.
If there is a statement as you claim then you need to provide a source for it. Everything outside the "hard facts" is merely concept or idea they are playing with. Not a confirmed Iteration of the combat development. So most of my suggestions stem not so much from what they have "said" but what they have "shown". And soon they will show new changes. Alpha Zero hype?
Do have to agree on the timing thing being a plus, HOWEVER it needs to be 1. faster .. 2. while the timing might differ per skill, it should NEVER differ/randomise with the same skill. Thats where rng would come in and if there is one thing you do NOT want, its rng in combat.
So my opinion is as long as the combat works properly and isn't just "thrown together" then I will adapt and have a great time.
At this point thats just a concept and not currently something that exsists in the current iteration correct?
Steven is always very particulate about his chosen words and he makes the distinction between skills and ultimate, so it's not likely that he was just refering to different ultimates.
So all I am doing is assuming here, nothing more, nothing less.
In the first place tho the "current iteration" as you call it is just a "vertical slice to showcase what you can kind of expect from a class". Quote from somewhere in the video. We just got a few selected bare bone, non-augmented skills out of the larger skill pool from which we can choose.
Imo we are getting to hung up on details for now so take this as you want, i delivered because apparently I have nothing better to do.
But still the problem remains that skill time bar forces you to focus your vision on it more than you should, and not allowing you to enjoy the scenery and player surroundings while fighting.
I would like to watch the world while fighting, more than I watch my UI.
Rest of OP argument is good though.
The OP was telling us about something that hardly anyone's complaining about, which is the action combat, and why it's good. Which isn't what anyone is complaining about, most of the community is complaining about the action bar at the bottom of the screen that takes your eyes away from the rest of what's going on. This is a mechanic of the action combat, not the action combat itself.
In regards to this, OP is very misinformed about what the community is talking about. The AoC team, on the other hand, is not. And I think that the team is pretty good at listening to the community so there won't be much trouble around the combat system.
Now to actually address what you said, I somewhat agree. No perfect mmo combat system has been found yet. I personally hate action combat systems as they are shallow and pull away from rpg mechanics. MMORPGs are far to MMO these days and its showing in the poor quality all around. Tab targeting has problems, and you addressed many of them, but it is a superior RPG system. You are far to uncharitable to its strengths such as rewarding game knowledge, proper builds, knowing what to do and when to do it, and fitting your basic rotations and optimal play pattern into the bosses dynamic fight.
The boss isn't complex, the tab system isn't complex, but when put together well and multiplied over your party it creates complexity that is very engaging and fun. Action gameplay is the height of shallowness. They add a gimmicky dodge roll that is either op or useless and then warp boss mechanics around it. Tab games are usually much more difficult because of this because you have to be predictive and knowledgable. Reaction based mechanics are overrated. Having to commit and only being able to use cooldowns to stop poor play is far more skill intensive then always have a "get out of jail" card.
Tabs can be boring though, especially if you master them. I think the system ashes is proposing is quite interesting in this regard as it rewards game knowledge and prediction but adds a reaction based mechanic into the ability that also rewards practice and can be messed with by external factors.
The second fishy thing you already mentioned. If games are easy to master, then it is no achievement to be top in those games, as there is no skill or experience involved. I could be top if I played Hello Kitty Online, but being top in that game wouldn't contribute to my own skill and experience.
The third fishy thing is "top ranked this season". This is subjective. Being top in a season in a game which nobody really plays anymore is also not much of an achievement. Being top while a game is in its prime is something big, but being top after over 10 years of a games existance.. meh..
If combat needs an additional layer of difficulty - fine, so be it. I still don't like the slider in its current state and can't wait to see it reworked.
Beta is kinda late, right ?
Yes, "normal" action combat, without time bar.
I Personally prefer Tab targeting in my MMO games because the pros outweigh any benefits action combat offer as a primary option. Environmental awareness in 3rd person free camera is just to important in a massive multiplayer game IMO.
Tab targeting also has a less frustrating tolerance for latency compensation making my play experience more enjoyable.On the other hand, Most Action combat I find is overly reliant on AOE and Cleave abilities which neuter any perception of Skill* because with latency the majority of direct* attacks would actually miss/wiff and as the player numbers increase the saturation of AOE floods the combat space converting it into a clusterfudge of high latency, aka not fun.
So there are benefits to having elements of both systems and I am personally happy with Tab targeting in Ashes.
The UI slider on the other hand is trash, It is a vestigial UI distraction with absolutely no counter play and its novelty will ware off after an hour. It is a poor excuse for complexity, will punish high ping, offer nothing truly dynamic or actually engaging combat wise other than a placebo.
The UI QTE regardless of how customisable* it's pitched is still a fundamentally lazy out of date solution* to what could be achieved with modern tech. Fighting the UI as well as your opponent is not the rewarding type of complexity nor does it encourage skill*
This link for example
- https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/35644/ashes-of-creation-dear-intrepid-lets-talk-about-your-combat-system
- Read my 1st & 2nd Comment at the Top of the Page 11
... This is what i thought of.It has nothing to do with the Combat-System(s), but the Combat-Style(s) and how the it'll be conveyed ; the many different potential-elements that'll constantly be presented to the Player - thus causing their to be uniqueness compared to other MMOs
i.e. " In short, i just think that other " Foundations " can be considered & expanded upon before settling to whats already there "