The importance of movement and defensive options for combat
Treefrog
Member
I was noticing that in the little pvp demos we have for combat thus far, that the game seems to be adopting a more action focused pvp system, which will rely on more hitbox/hurbtox detection and ideally, more skill based gameplay. This has the potential to be something truly special, and without stellar combat all of the other systems in the game lose their weight.
To date, my favorite game of all time to play competitively is Super Smash Bros Melee. A 2d platformer more akin to chess at the highest level, Melee gives the player unprecedented options in the player vs player interaction. Ashes of Creation will obviously be 3 dimensional with a tab target element,which makes it quite different, but I think it's worth mentioning that what makes the combat of melee so incredible:
1. Movement
Movement is freedom of expression to an unparalleled degree, and it allows players to outplay hitboxes and bait out potentially big moves. This is only relevant if the hitboxes of important moves are avoidable in some way with basic movement available to the player.
2. Defensive Gameplay
When a character is struck in Melee, you can influence the direction that you are sent with directional influence, which allows you to still retain some control of the outcome of the interaction despite being in hitstun for a duration. This specific mechanic is not applicable to most games, but the idea of giving some gameplay available to the defender is important. Some games have handled this with trinkets to break cc, along with diminishing returns. I think this could be expounded upon, maybe different classes could have different ways of dealing with cc? Or potentially you could 'parry' abilities in some way? Just brainstorming.
3. Combos
Because of the defensive gameplay, the combos in Melee are very dynamic and change often. This creates a new experience everytime a player faces a new opponent. Kill setups are great, but if they boil down to simply 'cc this person to death' then they do not promote meaningful pvp gameplay. Movement with intensive jukes/baits is what makes great pvp gameplay. CC spam stacking with no counterplay is not.
This is obviously all purely brainstorming and obviously i don't have much to go on based on what little I've seen of the game thus far. Just figured I'd share my thoughts. Thanks for all the work you're putting in.
To date, my favorite game of all time to play competitively is Super Smash Bros Melee. A 2d platformer more akin to chess at the highest level, Melee gives the player unprecedented options in the player vs player interaction. Ashes of Creation will obviously be 3 dimensional with a tab target element,which makes it quite different, but I think it's worth mentioning that what makes the combat of melee so incredible:
1. Movement
Movement is freedom of expression to an unparalleled degree, and it allows players to outplay hitboxes and bait out potentially big moves. This is only relevant if the hitboxes of important moves are avoidable in some way with basic movement available to the player.
2. Defensive Gameplay
When a character is struck in Melee, you can influence the direction that you are sent with directional influence, which allows you to still retain some control of the outcome of the interaction despite being in hitstun for a duration. This specific mechanic is not applicable to most games, but the idea of giving some gameplay available to the defender is important. Some games have handled this with trinkets to break cc, along with diminishing returns. I think this could be expounded upon, maybe different classes could have different ways of dealing with cc? Or potentially you could 'parry' abilities in some way? Just brainstorming.
3. Combos
Because of the defensive gameplay, the combos in Melee are very dynamic and change often. This creates a new experience everytime a player faces a new opponent. Kill setups are great, but if they boil down to simply 'cc this person to death' then they do not promote meaningful pvp gameplay. Movement with intensive jukes/baits is what makes great pvp gameplay. CC spam stacking with no counterplay is not.
This is obviously all purely brainstorming and obviously i don't have much to go on based on what little I've seen of the game thus far. Just figured I'd share my thoughts. Thanks for all the work you're putting in.
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