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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.
Mob threat communication
Potato Basket
Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
Building upon Stevens point about no knowing where the threat lies in the environment
In addition, do not tell me the level of any mob
I do not want to know how dangerous an encounter is before trying myself
It spoils the risk vs reward experience of the world by throwing my curiosity out the window
I should gage the risk by the visual appearance and then decide if I should bite and engage
Why take threat assessment away from the players?
In addition, do not tell me the level of any mob
I do not want to know how dangerous an encounter is before trying myself
It spoils the risk vs reward experience of the world by throwing my curiosity out the window
I should gage the risk by the visual appearance and then decide if I should bite and engage
Why take threat assessment away from the players?
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Comments
While "I want to be forced to risk death every time I see a new creature, or the same creature in a new area, even if I have a general idea of the area difficulty" is something that you may be into, I'm not so sure I agree, and it seems like a topic where there will be a reasonably broad spectrum of opinions. I want at least a relative strength indication of some form. The color shift used in Alpha 1 worked for this, as well as perhaps a name size shift for elite enemies. (While Alpha 1 also showed enemy levels outright, that's not the part I'm talking about.)
The other thing that I feel is important to consider is this: Only in a poorly-designed game, or one intended to be relatively easy or flat, is "this target's level vs my own" the only meaningful factor in determining challenge. In any decent game, you will find opponents that are more or less difficult for your specific class and build, based on that specific opponent's own design. In a good game, you should be able to understand, based on seeing an enemy, even if its a new subtype (or even sometimes, type), generally how it is likely to fight, and reason about what that means relative to your own combat style, but still have the possibility to be surprised by an unfamiliar creature type, or that the ones here have a new ability that changes the fight.
I feel that this is the more appropriate way to exercise players personal threat assessment skills. A game where you learn your strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of various enemies, identify your 'favored prey' and 'archnemesis' mob families, and, when walking into a new area, make decisions based on the situations, the positions and spread of enemies, and personal understanding of the world's ecology and your place in it, while having the ability to both learn, and be surprised sometimes, is far more engaging than one where the only thing that matters is "what level, exactly, is on any random enemy's nameplate". And in my opinion, having a general understanding of an enemy's relative (not exact) level, makes that more effective, not less.
repeating mobs?
that just sounds like a lazy game design which should be avoided in an innovative game as ashes
It's funny how prevalent this argument is, it only shows how primitive the genre is but I don't blame you...
valid point but I don't think the gap between mobs would be so high that you couldn't differentiate by appearance
A small cute bug shouldn't be more dangerous than a huge troll with a club
There should be some sense of hierarchy the players could navigate without blatantly revealing too much
exactly, and wouldn't you want to discover which is which for yourself?
why have a number next to it that tells the whole story without even interacting?
Level does not tell the whole story.
You can turn mob levels off if you want to.
Before New World, I was saying mini-maps are a necessity, but, I love the NW compass.
Recognizable indicators - I probably don't care about the specific symbology as long as they work as intended.
Threat assessment is not a problem that needs solving.
If you want more challenge by turning off UI elements, go for it.
But the idea of engaging and learning how strong the creature is? as someone who enjoys adventure games, that's interesting to me. Could be really cool but could also cause some strife over people in their comfort zones who like to assess situations more basic-like.
LOL
I mean there are those who prefer to play that way and situations that rise but there needs to be a fair limitation. I generally adjust my camera based on the situation for some different mechanics, all I'm saying is make it relatively fair within reason. People don't need to zoom out and see over walls, or able to have a 360 view with a vast range so they can avoid immersive mechanics that makes the combat and gameplay engaging.
Eg.
3 or more levels lower than you = Grey
Within 3 levels of you = Plain (white or black)
3 or more levels higher than you = Red
just a basic, immersive, but useful indication
I play many genre's and game types as well. It's not a matter of I should toggle the feature on as well to not be at a disadvantage. Adaption is not the issue I was addressing. As mentioned toggle features don't really solve anything, it ignores issues and will eventually evolve to games abusing mechanics if not addressed accordingly which leads to toxic gameplay with a lack of fair play.
You don't want to jeopardise the games integrity with its intent of how it's supposed to be played by allowing an unnecessary options to be toggled so players can create toxic gameplays through feature abuse.
Well but that's not really how this plays out
First of all by nature you will memorize and learn with time to recognizer the mobs and their threat based on past experience
Secondly, even when you engage with a new mob you get an idea of it's "level" by their hp pool and how much damage you deal to it even from afar before taking any damage and you can always disengage and flee away until next time
imo it keeps things fresh and adds another layer for the players to experience the same way hiding the mobs in the environment and "surprising" you when you explore. obviously after a few times it will no longer surprise anyone but still adds that extra element to that feeling of a living dangerous world
What's the fun in knowing the end of the story right away?
Why should a number next to it's name spoil all the fun of discoverability?
Let me find out during the encounter itself if I'm capable enough or not yet
Although, it's fairly typical to be fighting a mob that is equal to your level, only to encounter a version that looks the same but is a level or two higher. Sometimes elite versions of the mob look the same and you only know it's elite by seeing an asterix next to the nameplate.
But, also, in Ashes, new mobs appear in the same region as Nodes progress, so... it's not like we can just memorize region levels.
And, Ashes, doesn't really have reconizable health pools.
Like I already said, I don't want to have to waste time banging on a mob that is out of my league - disengaiing and fleeing and then returning. I want to know before I engage that it would be a waste of my time to attack.
Sure. And people who don't mind eatiing ghost peppers might not care about seeing a scoville chart.
People who don't want to find out the heat by eating a pepper will want to see a scoville chart first.
You asked tis before and I told you that the level does not tell the whole story.
Level just tells you that at your level, you should b able to find a way to defeat your foe.
It doesn't tell you the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent.
It doesn't tell you the abilities and tactics it will use.
It basically just tells you:
The mob is so far below you, you won't get much xp - waste of time.
The mob is equal to your level, so you should be able to find a way to defeat it.
The mob is so far above your level that you can't defeat it until you can some more levels.
The game lets you turn off UI elements if you don't want to take advantage of threat assessment guides.