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Is AoC spells and gear to cool looking?

I enjoy all AoC video content, but whenever I see the spells, they are massive and Epic. The weapons and armor look as if an important person was wearing it. I wish to see an MMO that makes spells, that aren’t massive and epic unless they are meant to be that way. This wouldn’t be a big deal for non-magic classes like fighters and their Charge ability.
Ex: 
Rank 1 Fireball: Cast faster, uses less mana, less damage, and appears smaller. Low lvl spell.
Rank 5 Fireball: Cast longer, use more mana, deal more damage, and be that epic spell: but only high lvl mages can use Rank 5 Fireball, so not a lvl 1 person.
They can even take a step further by making certain High Rank spells be only be obtained through finding a tome from a world boss or metropolis vendor.

Also, whenever I watched the videos of the characters, I notice how epic the armor looks. I mean hopefully the lvl 1 nobody’s don’t look like a high ranking general with all the cosmetic armor or armor they get from quest. In vanilla World of Warcraft, your character looked like crap for the first 40 lvls. Whenever you saw a badass looking person, you could respect their character, or if they had that epic mount at lvl 60, you would be like wow. Since AoC has the store for in-game items, that sense of wow and respect is gone. The only wow people will get is that they spent a lot of money on in-game items. I believe the moment Intrepid studios crossed that line was after the kickstarter, when they added the summer mounts and cosmetics.

I hope AoC doesn’t fall in this pit like every single MMO, where it’s easy to become super powerful and epic looking with your spells and equipment. It should be extremely hard to become powerful and cool looking. I think lvl 1 gear and spells should be and look like crap. Max lvl is a different story, people should look pretty cool (but not epic “yet”) but thats when people have access to use tomes and seek out the secrets of the world and raids and obtain that EPIC armor and spells.

I also hope, that if I’m not careful I can be killed by a much lower lvl mob, like if a lvl 8 bear attacks my lvl 20 mage. I want that bear to be able to kill me if cross paths with it, thats when I cast that Rank 1 Fireball spell and not that Rank 2, because Rank 1 cast faster and to cast a couple of spells and not be a sitting duck casting a powerful Rank 2 spell while taking damage.

In the end, AoC is an incredible game in incredible hands of many trusted developers. In the back of my head I know the game is in pre-alpha, I can still put in my input in as an mmo player. If a Dev sees this please respond through the forums or in the upcoming stream about the combat system. 

Comments

  • ModernPie said:
    " ... Since AoC has the store for in-game items, that sense of wow and respect is gone. The only wow people will get is that they spent a lot of money on in-game items. I believe the moment Intrepid studios crossed that line was after the kickstarter, when they added the summer mounts and cosmetics ... "
    i agree ... i even hate that thread that literally brags about what they bought at the Cash Shop ... and trying to make light humor of it doesn't help either. Intrepid is going to be losing money if the Hysteria of ... " A Cash Shop in a P2P MMORPG ?! WTF ?! " kicks-in.

    Let alone McStuffington ... but at least the lore behind Stuffington reassures some sort of positive-feelings about it .... via " toys coming to life via Magic " ... which has a  Flip-side via a Demonic-Spirit possessing a Toy/ Doll . Its alright ... kinda

    On another note ...
    I would actually prefer if Intrepid's Magic is more versed - having many different types of Magic thats both over-the-top and Small in regards to filling up the Screen. And having Action-Combat being more prominent can help that

    Preferably displaying other Magic via Wind, Water, Earth, Lightning, Ice, Dark, Light ... and maybe other hybrid via Twilight, Chaos ? Each having multiple Defense-versions & Offensive-versions of themselves + being represented with  a different Shade of Color

    i.e. Color can sometimes represent emotions, right ? So why not let it represent the ...
    " Tone of the Ability " ? 

    In other words, Fire can Heal, Protect and Defend ... just like every other element
    • Crimson Red = a Vile/ Tainted Fire
    • Scarlet Red = a Searing Fire ... hinting its intensity 
    • Maroon Fire = a Wicked Fire
    • Green Fire = Twisted Fire
    • Blue Flames = More Intensity
    • Black fire = Menacing Fire
    • White Fire = Peak of Intensity
    the brighter the Fire gets ... its heat-intensity also goes up too which is why Violent & White is the Hottest ... and possibly any Shade of White )

    Similar things, like this, can be said about every other Magical Elements
    take this 2 example of other Fictions for exampleI know there's others I'm missing, but just pointing-out that there should be other variations/ forms to consider ... especially since Action Combat is more FreeForm-less


    This last part 
    ModernPie said: 
    I also hope, that if I’m not careful I can be killed by a much lower lvl mob, like if a lvl 8 bear attacks my lvl 20 mage. I want that bear to be able to kill me if cross paths with it, thats when I cast that Rank 1 Fireball spell and not that Rank 2, because Rank 1 cast faster and to cast a couple of spells and not be a sitting duck casting a powerful Rank 2 spell while taking damage.

    This part would only work if Intrepid prioritizes Skill as #1 Priority out of
    • Skill, Gear and Level
    Which is something that I'm hoping

    Gear & Leveling should have some sort of weight .. but Skill is what makes the world feel more alive. So Slow-Level-Progression should assist in containing Gear & Level having to much Emphasis in a PvE-Engagement & a PvP-Engagement
  • Remember everything you've seen thus far as how the combat looks has been place holder.

    The armor and stuff you've seen has also been place holder.

    Its not until later this year when we see Alpha 1 will we even begin to get a true glimpse of what its really going to look like.  The final versions of stuff wont' be settled until Beta.   
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited July 2018
    I'm pretty sure i posted a comment in this Thread ...

    okay i see what happened now xD This thread ...
    https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/39906/is-aoc-spells-and-gear-to-cool-looking#latest

    seems identical to this Thread >.<

    ... might as well leave it here :/
  • okaaaay ... I'll just summarize what i originally wrote ...
    ModernPie said:
    " ... I also hope, that if I’m not careful I can be killed by a much lower lvl mob, like if a lvl 8 bear attacks my lvl 20 mage. I want that bear to be able to kill me if cross paths with it, thats when I cast that Rank 1 Fireball spell and not that Rank 2, because Rank 1 cast faster and to cast a couple of spells and not be a sitting duck casting a powerful Rank 2 spell while taking damage. ... "
    This would only be possible if Skill #1 Priority over Gear & Skill 

    ModernPie said:
     " ... Since AoC has the store for in-game items, that sense of wow and respect is gone. The only wow people will get is that they spent a lot of money on in-game items. I believe the moment Intrepid studios crossed that line was after the kickstarter, when they added the summer mounts and cosmetics ... "

    I agree with this part because it'll create the Hysteria of ... 
    " A cash shop in an P2P MMO  ?! wth ?! "
    ( Its a Cosmetic-only Cash Shop btw ) 

    The McStuffington item doesn't help either ... after more Lore info was revealed that the McStuffington was " a toy that gave birth via Magic " ... i actually have more positive feelings about it - it gives the idea that Intrepid is thinking outside-the-box with Magic 

    But the SummerCrowding happened only because the KickStarter's Payment Method could not work in other Countries - so that was reasonable & understandable

    [...] 

    On another note,  i think Magic can be conveyed better for Each type of Element
    via Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Lightning, Fire, Light and Dark ... each having its own Defensive-variations & Offensive-Variation ... which can be better conveyed with more Action-Combat over tab-target.

    but only a Slight preference of Action Combat over Tab-target
    via a ratio of

    60% Action Combat : 40% Tab-target 
    maybe ?

    That other thing about ... " Tone of the Ability " ... yeah, maybe i rambled too much xD

  • Combat - I agree, there are some massive effects in the game that might get frustrating as a melee player but until I get more time to test I won't be able to be constructive on that. Maybe there'll be a way to tailor what effects appear on your screen or maybe the experiences in Alpha 1 will suggest that the devs need to tone it down. Cool effects are cool however, so lets see.

    Armor - @Jahlon's made a valid point and we've seen no gear variations yet so I assume that the concept art on armors are based on high level gear rather than lower level. I understand your concerns @ModernPie but I'm inclined to welcome what we've seen thus far rather than be sceptical. At least they don't look dreary and painted on like some other MMOs I could name. Time will tell. :)  

  • I'm assuming they will dial down the size of the effects that they showed in the most recent videos. 
  • I agree with everything the OP said
  • I always felt spells should look as to how they work, a fireball is a goddamn ball of fire so dont expect it to just hit something and fizzle out like a candle in the rain, magic is supposed to look amazing not like most games where I summon a meteorite it hits the ground and disappears like it never existed. As far as armors go, they should look good but dull so that it doesn't scream "I killed a dragon" at level 10.
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