Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
I have plenty of other games I can do "Action Combat" in.. MMO's should be more strategy gaming then twitch gaming.
I did find the combat tiresome for pve content, but for pvp it was a blast. In the all the tab target games I played I just learned the sequence for my skills and that was it. If I got hit with a debuff I just hit this button and that got boring. I didnt really mind it, but the best part about tab target only is really trying to devise the right set of skills. Loved doing builds in gw.
But a combination of both is the best way to go, so long as it can be pulled off properly.
Mostly though because I just don't feel they are going to be able to balance it out correctly. Kinda like how Keyboard users (action combat) are so much quicker and fluid than controller users (tab target) and those two playstyles needing to be separated in FPS style games. Controllers just can't keep up with keyboard and mouse users. I feel its going to be the same for tab target not being able to keep up with action combat users.
So while TT may be easier to tag your target, AC may have it's benefits since you are able to aim for specific parts. I like this. Options options options!
Limitations will only bring the game down, IMO. How can the game be groundbreaking, innovative and game-changing (like we're ALL hoping it will be) if we the players are locked in to a specific combat style? It'll be just another BDO at that point (sans the horrid Asian-style RNG system) and NO ONE wants that in AoC.
Developers have a very very hard time balancing classes as it is. This goes for just about every game in existence, between champions in LoL, guns in FPS games and Battle Royales like Fortnite and MMORPGs especially between PvP and PvE.
Now Ashes is going to make that even harder by having to do balance for all the classes between PvP/PvE and adding a whole new element by adding two distinctly different combat styles on top of the already challenging job of balancing.
1) Greatly reduces in-fight STRATEGY (PvP) - This is BDO combat in a nut-shell = Try to land CC > i-frame and/or block and/or Super Armor/Frontal Block > Try to land CC > i-frame / mitigate > Try to land CC > Try to land CC > Try to land CC > land CC > one shot CC'd opponent. WOW HOW FUN!!! In BDO, damage is the ONLY viable build. DP (defensive power) sits in the back of the bus behind accuracy and evasion. Fighting-game combat, like found in BDO, reduces build options, strategy and teamwork, hence everyone gunning for that precious AP (attack power), only hitting typical DP milestones.
2) Greatly reduces in-fight STRATEGY (PvE) - Imagine a raid or dungeon in BDO. Sounds pretty cool right? Fun combat mechanics, right? WRONG (least from a true MMORPG standpoint). The reason you don't see dungeons in BDO, like you see in almost all MMORPG's, is because it simply WOULD NOT WORK with BDO's combat system. Dungeons would be a hack-and-slash gamut, not a true MMORPG experience where Tanks are needed to aggro hard-hitting enemies, Healers/Buffers are needed to keep the group going, and DPS' to make everyone's hard-work worth it. BDO combat does not allow this. It will be a hack-and-slash dungeon, just kill everything and de-aggro when doing too much DPS, with minimal heals just in case. Just look at World Bosses and see how they go. Can you not see how lame this would be in AoC, aka an ACTUAL MMORPG?
3) Caters to a specific audience - One of the beauty's of MMORPG's is that the genre can pull people together from many different ways of life. BDO is disliked by many because the combat system is purely fighting-game-esque. I think it's fun (hell, I've played and spent way too much time and money), but that doesn't mean Fred or Nancy over there think so. What of the Support minded-players? What of the strategists who rather survey and solve what's going on, instead of focusing on button mashing? Those types have NO PLACE IN BDO, and it is because of the combat system. It's a damage-based slug fest. Leave brain at front door, instincts only required. NO THANKS, NOT IN AoC!
4) It'll be a CC game - BDO combat, while fun, is severely shallow, which I've found after hours upon hours of PvPing. BDO's combat boils down to who can CC first. And if you get CC'd, you pray to the RNG gods their AP is low enough so you don't get one-shot while CC'd. Strategy in 1v1 = CC, don't get CC'd, bait and react fast. Strategy in Mass PvP = Have a large group (recruit another guild if needed), stick with group, hope to win skirmishes, if you win, attack key parts of their base (barricades, hwatchas, flame towers) until you have an opening to the tower, hit tower, time enemy respawn, exit enemy base when they respawn, zerg enemy when they group up again ("P.A. P.A. P.A.! Wiz/Witches ON MY PING!!! P FUCKING A!!!!" - Shot-caller), rinse repeat. If lose skirmishes, "I'm respawning in 20 seconds, respawn in 20, 19, 18..." - Shot-caller, try to spawn at the same time, regroup, try to kill off the zerg (you probably won't), and if you do, rinse and repeat winning skirmish.
BDO is so fxing stupid. Fun. But painfully STUPID. #Facts.
They will probably bring them back once everyone is full ap to milk more money from players.
Also your view for bdo combat is very shallow.
Youre not thinking at all about the mechanics in the combat but how they were carried out by a bad developer.
You should also separate gearing options and combat, as you can have bdo combat without bdo gear.
Like skills with movement, skills that alter depending on previous and next skill.
The cc mechanics are a good point and I think from all the games Ive played so far WoW had the best cc balance.
Ccs had high cd or were difficult to pull out and there were cc breakers/counters with high cds.
The main thing is that controller can't be balanced against a mouse and keyboard user in FPS games. Mouse and Keyboard users are much quicker and have better aim than controller. I feel the same is going to happen to tab target users vs action combat users and it being a very difficult undertaking to balance. That could in the long run adversely affect the game or hold the games combat back because they can't implement certain things or risk making action combat to strong in comparison.
So yes. I feel they should strictly stick to action combat and make it extremely good and appealing, rather than split their focus and potentially cause a balance nightmare they can't dig themselves out of in the long run.
no
I still would like to try a hybrid system before placing judgement to avoid prejudice.