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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.
Animations and Abilities
Cold 0ne FTB
Member, Alpha One, Adventurer, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
The animations we have seen so far seem really clunky and long. I know fighting is meant to take a long time and to be methodical but I think combat fails to account for how good the reflexes of an average player is. I think decreasing the length of animations and reducing the input delay inbetween abilities would significantly improve the feel combat. Allowing more movement during abilities would also help.
However I haven't played the alpha. What do you guys think? I know alot of people want to see combat to shift more towards wow and I can see the appeal but I think in general the dynamics and flow of combat looks really awkward and clunky. It's the same issue New World had.
However I haven't played the alpha. What do you guys think? I know alot of people want to see combat to shift more towards wow and I can see the appeal but I think in general the dynamics and flow of combat looks really awkward and clunky. It's the same issue New World had.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
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Comments
But the developers have told us that the animations shown so far (to the public) have not been tuned much at all and they know they are over-the-top. They will be trimmed down immensely, at least in terms of flashiness. I’m not sure if they will be shortened, that is more of a gameplay issue rather than an aesthetic one, and it will depend on player feedback. My guess is that some animations will be longer than others for balance purposes; maybe to balance how impactful they are, they will give someone the time to dodge or interrupt, or maybe being frozen in place is the trade off itself. Others will probably be quick ones you can spam. But overall the flashy and clunky nature of the animations will be toned down.
^This.^
There sure have been a lot of forums threads/comments about this topic since the debut of the Combat Footage video in October.
Steven keeps stressing that animations are definitely not final ... but it somehow still gets missed by a handful of forum-goers.
ohh, I was under the impression that they were pretty locked in, in terms of length and art style. I know they were going to reduce the lighting and special effects. My point is more directed towards the flow but if it is still in development I will hold my comments until we get a later draft.
Exactly, like how much time do I need in order to dodge or counter a skill? Also how does this translate to a fight. If a typical time to kill for a one on one is 30 seconds and each ability can take upwards of 3 seconds that's a ten ability fight. Which to me seems really slow but like I said to Damokles if it's still in development I will hold my comments until a later draft.
But how much time do I need to react to a skill? I come from ESO and I get less than a second to react to most. I know we won't be anywheres near the speed of ESO but if I can take my hands off the keyboard for three seconds everytime I cast a skill am I really playing a game? I think the input delay at the end is the really awkward part. I wouldn't mind the length of the cast if there wasn't a delay at the end. It looks as if there is almost a full second of standing there without being able to do anything.
Been out of the loop for a month but will wait. I also know Stephen has said on multiple occasions that he wants any and all feedback. I just happened to get around to watching the Mage Combat Trailer the other day and wanted to offer some feedback.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
I played ESO also (I was even a beta tester) and one big difference is that everyone can dodge in that game. I believe dodging will only be available to certain classes in AoC. So not everyone can react the same way.
Yea, that is fair and I have already accepted that Ashes will be vastly different. ESO is it's own unique gem. I just want to feel engaged and to feel like I need to react. When I look at what I have seen as far as combat goes in ashes it looks really clunky and punishing. Its really easy to tell what class/role the enemy is. It is really easy to probably figure out what they will try to do. It looks overly defensive.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
Having said that they are just a work in progress and will be refined and iterated on many times. It is up to us the community to provide the feed back needed to get combat over all in a good place.
But we also need to remember that no matter how combat ends up you will never make everyone happy. Some will love it some will hate it there is no pleasing everyone.
The sooner we get to see the combat revamp, the sooner can the community give feedback, and the sooner can the developers work on any necessary changes.
Actually, I'd think they want feedback as early as possible. Are we seeing the final animations? Of course not. Does it help for them to know which direction to take them in? Absolutely!
And here is a comment sort of proving my point. During beta, we brought to light issues, particularly with the party system, and with the speed at which one could get a mount (unless you forked over another 20 bucks)
Alas, they fixed them, but not after the game initially failed miserably. It took them a while to get over that. Most games do not. Now, it's a pretty decent mmo. Still not really my jam. But it's a whole lot better.
Expect further refinement, as others are stating, in this thread; Don't go off of what we're seeing so far as anywhere near final.
I would also like to say I like a lot of what I have seen. The early boss fight looked sick. Alot of the mechanics and the ccs we have seen look really lit. I just think it looked like Stephen had a lot of time where he was waiting for something to finish before he could do something else. Maybe if the numbers were balanced a little more, the fireball did more damage it would feel better but even then combat looks really sluggish and clunky.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
After Ashes Apocalypse testing, they weren't happy with a core part of the system and decided to redesign from the ground up. Which means they're aiming for something better than before!
To be fair. That's quite subjective.
I agree, right now the combat feels very static and not fun at all. I hope they change that and bring in more fluid animations and faster skill attacks but we will have to wait and see what happens.
I think they completely revamped a lot of the core systems since then. I highly doubt the game will look or play anything like that. That was also pretty single player esq looking but who knows each class is supposed to have a utility skill. Perhaps mages will be able to levitate.
Which is a shame because the combat was pretty fun. Obviously lacked a few elements but I really liked the pace and realistic we won't get that pace in the MMO but I can dream right? XD
Agreed. We don't nessicarily need animation canceling. I personally like it but combat is way too slow and way too easy to react to. There needs to be some mechanical skill to the game.
I doubt we will get animation canceling but I will say this the longer the general animation the more effective it will become if it can happen.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
Agreed and I hope I am not sounding too negative. I absolutely loved that boss fight they showed us the other day. I know it's been overstated but combat will make and break this game and I think everybody's opinion on this subject is important. I just hope we aren't giving them too many conflicting opinions.
Ultimately this game is Stephen's and I think he has done an incredible job so far of walking the tight rope of listening to feedback and staying true to his vision. I think I can speak for many of us when I say that I trust his vision. I just hope we can see a version of combat that has a pace somewhere in-between Apocalypse and what we see now.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.
With our upcoming combat iterations, I would definitely expect to see more changes leading up to our future test phases
Sounds good! I am excited to see what you guys had in store. NGL that boss fight blew my mind. I have never seen CC in an MMO work on such a large scale.
That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.