Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
My General Feedback [### 1 - 6 ###] (Thoughts&Feelings)(UI/UX)(Character)(Race)(RP)(Religion)
Scarctic
Member, Alpha Two
### 0 Introduction & Symbols 0 ###
Greetings and salutations!
I want to discuss a “few” of my feedback ideas with you.
I’m sorry if most of the feedback has already been given or is implemented even in the game already or seems not doable or stupid in your eyes. (I also lost track of the actual state of the game it’s just so much…)
I want to give a kind of orderly presented type of essay for the opinions I want to share with you so bear with it or just ignore me then.
I hope I can spark some ideas and constructive critique from you tho, which would make me happy!
The scope of the feedback spans around 40 main headlines and will be cut into smaller, better-digestible blocks.
(this one is included so you can ignore Headline 0 from now on because I will copy it into every thread)
Please bear with my grammar and simple wording from time to time because English is not my native language, and I’m a simple guy at heart
... but I hope it’s fine. 🙂Symbols:
- Feature already there or confirmed by the devs
》 Further explanation, details
》》 Even further beyond
♡ Feature I would like
♡♡♡ Feature I would really, really like
♡》 Further explanation, details
♡》》 Even further beyond
? Don't know the details about this feature
... Multiple possible endings to the first sentence
### 1 Initial Thoughts & Feelings 1 ###
My Own Pillars For Any MMORPG:
1. Meaningful Actions & Choices
》The philosophy behind any RPG should be meaningful choices and actions to create a
footprint in the world and fantasy you are in.
》Risk vs reward, there is no satisfying gameplay without a healthy amount of risk involved, in proportion to the reward of course.
》Actions have consequences, there needs to be causes and a reaction to them to add weight and motivation to a choice and drive players to intentional decisions. If we want to consume streamlined content, we could just watch a movie instead or play single-player only.
2. Character Fantasy
》Your link to the world, where you can use gameplay tools to represent your fantasy as a living part of it to create your own story for you and of course for others to enjoy and be part of.
》Creating a figure out of my fantasy for the same reasons.
》I want to have a wide spectrum of choices in the context of the given world.
》Gameplay options like classes and skills should fit with my character's fantasy to an
immersive degree.
》NPC characters need that kind of individual depth to them, appearance, voice, and
animations fitting to the NPC's persona.
3. Lore & Stories
》The canvas, where your character's fantasy fits in with the incentive to create a deep bond
between you and the world as a playground for stories and immersive interactions with it.
》A myriad of different methods to tell historical tales, and background information about the
world and its inhabitants to feed stories with.
》An interwoven combination of side- & main story narratives that get their context from
the player's decisions, actions, and the ever-changing world that gets shaped into a visceral
form.
4. Worldbuilding
》When the story is the link between you and the game, the world by itself acts as
the glue, fitting everything together to create a living, breathing environment to immerse in.
》The environment has to feel believable in a contextual sense
》Cohesive links between as many links and bits of handcrafted lore, visuals, sound, and voices you can think of to create an illusion of reality.
》To further enhance that effect you need to fill the world with interconnected flora, fauna,
and intelligent individual NPCs.
》To complete the set, each of these raw elements which can only do so much, need complex rulesets, how to interact with the world, each other, the players, and a variety of routines they go through on at least a daily basis.
》To ascend into a simulation of virtual reality in the future you now have to constantly gather data, refine the AI systems controlling how actions cause changes, and feed the world with unlimited updates. Every step, to every iteration, we get slightly different experiences. The world makes more and more sense, as it gets exponentially more complex with each update step taking place on the micro and macro level until you doubt the real world…
It makes less sense now as you are more connected to the virtual one in terms of immersion... you should touch grass at this point... XD》》 That is what we should aim to achieve as closely as possible.
If not fully on a technical level now, at least on a philosophical design approach.
5. Social Elements On A Micro- & Macroscale
》Since we are in an immersive world now, it's still quite lonely without other players having the same possibilities in gameplay, and without the social interactions, it would be just another single-player online RPG which the market is satiated enough with.
》Social connections are the main motivation in MMORPGs to stay through the content, and beyond, to have the meaningful interactions and experiences with each other we still think and talk about today.
》Connecting gameplay with social mechanics like grouping up for combat, providing
economic goods for each other, and or just getting together for RP and events is the way
to put everything together on a longer more motivating journey as if playing just for yourself.
》Every player adds their fantasy and story to the world and brings infinite possibilities.
Random thoughts:
♡ Options to minimize, configure, and personalize the UI
♡》Ppl like me want to immerse themselves as deeply as possible so I need integrated visual indicators to explain how the world works so I don’t have to rely on the UI if I don’t want to on a basic to advanced level.
♡》》As always when I discuss games, my favorite examples: Gothic 1 & 2 and Risen 1
♡》》》No other game I played achieved this level
of a living breathing world, and as Steven said, I don't know why companies never went for that more immersive route of interconnected meaningful content. And those games I mentioned were extremely limited by technology, budget, and the regional market structures there which probably is part of the lovable but embarrassing "eurojank" reputation they have on an internationally viewed level.
♡♡♡ Just imagine for one minute the scale of success in building a franchise if they would have decided to build an MMORPG out of the earlier released games...
♡》The Gothic remake will tell a new story and if it's possible one day, the immersive parts of the concepts are universal for EVERY RPG or MMORPG for sure.
♡》Risk vs reward was apparent in the whole game because you can go where you want in
the world without hard limitations like invisible walls. The environment and the NPCs gated
you softly through the story with multiple choices and ways to interact with them from
the get-go. If a certain area was meant to be dangerous, monsters and enemies would let you know that by brutally hitting you in your arrogant face or killing you for trespassing into their territory early. But if you were skilled enough you could learn the different attack patterns and proceed in some cases, or find spell scrolls with sometimes very useful and
mighty spells. Exploiting the high ground with ranged weapons was also an option.
♡》 PyranhaBytes as a studio set milestones for their players in the RPG genre sadly not for the market in general…
♡》 IMHO worldbuilding was never as good as in the early 2000s especially for those
games, Quests, the most iconic characters, FULL voice acting for every single NPC (the ones without names had no quests but they provided insight into the PoIs the lore and they CHANGED sometimes when the story progressed…), meaningful choices, player identity and how the games didn't fill the screen with UI elements nobody needs because the world itself reflects upon your exploration, explains what to do and where to go organically.
♡》 It's love at this point for me. And if I feel at home in Verra like I did on Khorinis, I will RP
the heck out of all my favorite characters from Gothic. I will delete every
other game for many years if you nail this to some not-completely frustrating degree!
♡ I recommend watching some detailed reviews from someone called Nocturnal Rambler on YT, he did a perfect job of explaining the systems why they are so great for the RPG genre in general, and what potential was missed through the early 2000s limitations in the
games.
Gothic 1+2: Masterpieces of Immersive Design
Gothic 1 vs Gothic 2 - Which is Better?
The Importance of Gothic 1+2's Music - Soundtrack Review
Risen - Review | A 10-Year Retrospective
♡ Ranking and scoreboards for content
♡》For instanced content, world bosses, player progression
♡ Easy, low-gated access to multiple progression loops
♡ No Endgame, just a treasure cove of accessible content
♡ Intuitive combat, easy to learn harder to master
♡♡♡ Every core skill kit needs to be delivered ASAP until lvl 10.
♡》To learn to use them in combination you need them available early not 50 hours later or worse when maxed out.
♡》The core skills for every archetype need to be a combination of...
...combo,
...mobility,
...dmg,
...evasion,
...CC,
...core class identity skillset
♡》Augments start at lvl 10 right after you get used to your core kit and long progression for all your skills. Now and then (5 lvl increments) new class identity skills can be introduced to change the pace of your combat style a bit down the road.
♡》I would NOT grant overpowered skills later because your lvl experience should not suffer from gatekeeping over skill access.
(People may not let you be part of the party in some cases because your level is under the one that grants a powerful spell and this fires against the accessibility goals…)
♡》But progressive finetuning and augments should add enough flavor.
♡ Combat, skill, and class design go hand in hand and need strict rules for identity and
easier design and future edit purposes.
♡》One combat design philosophy does not simply feel good…
it needs to be thought outon a grand scale of all connecting systems. Skills need to link effects with each other, procs affect multiple skills.
♡》Each skill must feel unique to the archetype and suitable to core elements of class identity. I don’t care if you change stuff to fit class identities better but it should be consistent through the archetypes so we don’t confuse abilities with other archetypes…!
♡》》Just keep it simple in regards to that logic, for how it seems to be now, don't do…
...summon stuff without the augment with a summoner,
(Not even skill animations for a whip, chains, hammer, whatever!!! it feels off if you mix them now when there is already an intended way to mix via augments)
...stealth, crit chance/multiplier without a rogue.
...elemental magic or hover, teleport without mage.
...magic shields and heals without a cleric.
...bleed DoT and slowing CC, warcry buffs without a fighter.
...traps, vaulting, poison effects without a ranger.
...AoE buffs/debuffs without a bard.
...dmg mitigation, knockback, a threat without a
"tank".
♡ Combat must feel impactful in all design aspects.
♡》Heavy, visceral impacts
♡》Satisfying sound effects
♡》Appropriate effects, animations
♡》Animation/effect progression hand in hand with skill progression, one strike more, bigger
fireball, more blood, sounds of hits get harder, ground shakes, etc...
♡》Skillful more fluid animations when progressing further down the skills to visualize
the combat practice and experience of the character where…
...melees (fighter, "tank...", cleric) waste less effort on flashy moves and strike foes with
refined effective skills.
...magic users (mage, summoner, bard, cleric) cast faster, with less body movement, and a skillful mage wastes no energy on physical moves.
...agile archetypes (rogue, ranger, bard) move faster and more precise, or in the case of the bard more elaborative on his theatrical, encouraging movements or plays more complicated tunes on his instrument, etc.
♡ Skills are meaningful, no bad, too weak abilities
♡》This will go on for a long time after launch or forever (I hope not).
♡》Play the classes, look at feedback and statistics all the time to really finetune every skill and talent.
♡》It's so important no skill becomes unusable and if a skill does not have its own purpose get rid of it.
♡》Condense it down to a unique core set for each archetype and work from there on the augments and skill progressions, or you feature creep tens of thousands of useless skills, animations, effects, and designs. oO oooof
♡ For PvP every archetype needs balance in cc & survival ability !!!
♡》Yes, yes no solo pvp balancing, but why is it an option then?
♡》Shouldn't every aspect of the game feel as meaningful as possible?
♡》What does it hurt to provide skills & augments for EACH 64 archetype-subclass
combination to prevent other single PvP combatants from destroying me, if I have
the better skill to dodge around, stealth, shield, stun, knockback, etc.
♡》Every class should have a well-thought-out PvP skill kit in a PvP-centered game or am I crazy?! You don't have to balance it out in every possible detail just provide us with
enough utility for each class combination to make skill and strategy matter without class meta…
♡》Even in GRP content where i don't want to be the one class who gets carried by everyone
else dmg and utility...
♡》Ppl won't play certain classes because of this I guarantee it, if there are even whole
archetypes who play badly in PvP combat you have a broken system on your hand and not a
design choice!
- Gear feels real and purposeful
》You already implement good designs like tier progression and visual recognition, each piece fits together, gear breaks, and is useful from common- to legendary rarity
♡ Unnatural animations feel off and alienate from the aimed atmosphere in Verra.
(anime style over-the-top animations...)
♡》I'm not a fan of prolonging melee whirlwind animations... There are better options to do
circle AoE dps!
♡》The Ranger jump shot is kinda cool but way too flashy and will get old very quickly...
This is a move, even Legolas would be too embarrassed to do... well until The Hobbit ofc
and for most fans, this was over-the-top nonsense effect creeping…
### 2 UI / UX 2 ###
- Ingame voice options for group, raid, guild
》No need for 3rd party tools like discord
》Very good for TTS or similar technology for RP
♡ Create an option to save, upload, and download multiple UI templates for different characters.
♡》Extra client like for the character creation also with ingame UI template creation option
♡》Provide us with an instanced room with the bare minimum you need to configure the
character UI (clickable target NPC, skills for your hot bars, etc.) before launch.
♡》》It's always a hassle to do this before you set out exploring and takes you out of immersion immediately after the intro cutscene... this could and should be a problem of the past in Ashes.
### 3 Character Creator 3 ###
- Detailed features and sliders
》No extreme distortions to not break immersion
- Additional customizing packages later
- Parental influence
》Good for family RP
- Second name
》YES
- Extra client for character creation before
launch
》YES
♡ Make names not static like in NewWorld for example.
♡》Blizzard did technically a perfect Job in that regard, where the ingame names were not hard-locked for everyone, you need to link it with your account name and a separate # number in the background, and no one feels restricted.
♡》And less stupid name combinations would be out there like XxSte3ev3NxX. Trust me we all don't want that.
♡Naming rules and restrictions to prevent swear words, combinations like 8g6h, gggffff, xXx, F4gg0t and way more offensive and immersion-breaking stuff.
♡》There is a thin line between creativity and stupidity.
♡》Make a few suggestions for race-specific common syllables, name beginnings, and
endings.
♡》LOTRO did a very good job on that you should check that feature out in their character
creator. I mean Tolkien was a language professor and invented all that stuff only for his
fantasy worldbuilding... the devs paid him a little respect doing that.
♡》You don't have to go as far as Tolkien but at least as far as the first
devs from LOTRO would be a great way to support players against inappropriate name choices.
♡ Make character creations saveable on an accountwide cloud server storage.
♡》So we can create them faster and consistently on multiple servers if we decide to
switch because of reasons like the name already being in use or the server being too full for friends.
♡》So we can create several rough templates for young, beefy warrior tank, or old skinny
summoner cleric, to use them later again without all the details from the finished
characters.
♡》Make the saved characters editable in case players want to edit some features after
loading the character file from the cloud.
### 4 Race 4 ###
- 2 different flavors for each race
》Interesting RP
- Rich lore
》Atmosphere
- Stat differences between races
》OK for identity, don't make it too big a difference
♡ Consider more gameplay flavor instead of meta gates…
♡》like simple stat raises you could give them harmless extra talents fitting their race kit
### 5 Roleplay 5 ###
- Social buildings
》Taverns
- Musical Instruments
- Emotes
### 6 Religion 6 ###
- No multiple religions for one character
》Yes, makes no sense otherwise if augments and talents come with the system.
- Switch is possible with losing progress
》That’s a good thing to not do repetitive things every time you want to experience other flavors of the game, but consider a penalty or mistrust kinda thing when switching to another religion
- Hierarchy
》Good in every organization
- Lore
》Perfect for immersion
- Augments from religion
》? Interesting
- 7 Gods, 3 Renegades (Others)
- Goddess of Creation
- God of Hope (Resna)
- God of Truth (Shol)
- Goddess of Love
- Goddess of Fate (Norlan)
》? Wisdom, Power, Luck, Justice, Freedom, Courage, Honor, Glory, Peace, Joy, Beauty, Discipline, Change, Patience, Mercy
1
Comments
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/
Yup, a very good site and I'm using it for a few things like the class chart and such stuff but every time I read through the topics it repeats itself way too often.
Maybe keep it more strict to the topics, but I get it, it's hard to do when almost every system is interconnected with each other...
so I rather grab the ideas and specifics out of the live streams and podcasts I'm consuming.
also, a lot of the things you mentioned, like lore, fantasy, immersion, etc, these are things from pretty much any game. at least this is the aim. mario 1 has all those elements, for example, they arent limited to rpg's.
also, i can tell you like gothic. looking at other games for inspiration is one thing, but just because something worked in one game, doesnt mean it will work in another one. copy the strategy, not the result.
anyways...
strongly disagree. while dungeons are cool and all that and i like them, ashes is about being out in the open.
some instanced dungeons are ok, but not to the point where you can start at level 1(or 10 or whatever) and go up all the way to max level, and also progressing from instance to instance after that until you get full gear. this would defeat the purpose of everything else that is in the game.
im okay with something like: do an instance at level 50, get some materials, then you have to be out in the open world to keep progressing, get your gear upgrades, etc. and once you get your gear upgrades from the open world, you are ready to take on the next instance. i dont really like crafting, but this approach makes more sense for ashes.
there will always be an end game loop in a mmorpg, and there will always be a point where you cant get any stronger (please no infinite levels or stat gains lol). but as steven said, we will get lots too many activities, one player wont be able to do everything everyday.
strongly disagree. remember each character will have about 30-40 skills. you cant give all that to players in the first 1-2 hours of playing. that is extremely overwhelming. also what are you going to do after level 10? part of introducing them slowly (aside from not overwhelming the player) is to make them feel stronger each time they level up. sure, you also have gear and stats, but skills are part of that. it would feel very bad getting everything at level 10 then not getting anything for the next 40 levels.
learning how to use 1 or 2 skills at a time is wayyy better for the player than learning how to use 30-40. again, dont make the player feel overwhelmed with choices.
these would make all classes play the same with different particle effects. not every class needs to be able to do everything. you didnt include heals but for example, a cleric shouldnt be able to dodge like a rogue or cc like a tank. and a rogue shouldnt be able to heal like a cleric, etc. combos.
no. same explanation as skills. too overwhelming. introduce them little by little.
this is part of progression and feeling stronger as you level up. you dont think about mechanics first, you think about player feelings / experience and then implement systems and mechanics to evoke those feelings. you are trying to do the opposite here.
your level experience isnt suffering because you havent acquired a strong skill, since the current content that you are doing will be appropriate for the skills that you currently have...
also, people might not invite you to their party if you are lacking levels, even if your have the appropriate skills. your strength doesnt come from skills alone. you might be lacking stats too...so following your logic, everyone should get max gear at level 10 and stop the stats growth so that they arent denied a party invite because they might not have enough crit rate, or damage, or defense, etc. this is silly...
you are contradicting yourself here. if each class should feel unique, not every class kit should be composed of the same elements...damage is probably the exception because every class needs to be able to kill stuff to solo progress, for example.
balance doesnt revolve around 1v1. this isnt a solo mmorpg where you group up with others, but everybody is really playing solo. balance is being done around parties. some classes will be better at others in 1v1. rock, paper, scissor. this is a pattern. nothing wrong with that, it just depends what kind of game you are making. in aoc, you are synergizing your skills and action with your party, not just with your other abilities from your kit.
i disagree that every class needs a survival ability. you will have multiple skills and you build however you want. you can build a glass cannon, tanky, or hybrid. people will have options, and yes there will be a meta and no there isnt anything wrong with that. a cleric should be able to keep you alive far easier than you can keep yourself alive if you are a dps, the same way a dps will be able to dispatch enemies faster than a cleric. each class has a role and a purpose.
also, i believe you are confusing the meaning of meaningful. for example, in mario 1, the most meaningful thing you can do is jump. something as simple as that is soo powerful and basically the trademark of the game. there are also different degrees of meaningfulness.
there will be buffs and nerfs. if people dont wanna play a class they consider weak, let them. some people will still play them. some classes will be stronger than others at doing certain activities and thats fine. you wanna solo pvp? maybe the cleric will be the best one at that. you wanna group pvp and kill people? maybe the mage will be better at that. you wanna solo farm? maybe the summoner will be better, etc etc.
not really. most people praised the jump. also, this is an opinion and flavor thing. for example, i dont like the yellow hammer from the warrior, but some people do.
no. your fun and immersion isnt more important than mine (when i say you or me i mean people in general). its not my problem if you dont like my name of choice, or if it breaks your immersion. im not here so you have a good tiem, im ehre to have a good time myself (and with my friends).
i love elves but i dont wanna use an elvish name. if i wanna name my elf xXtaxidriverthe4thXx or whatever, i should be able to do so.
i can understand some restrictions with swear words for rating reasons, and disallowing some characters (letters) for technical reasons, but beyond that, no restrictions. read my other replies in the names thread to learn more.
i find it interesting that you want emotes. ive seen other roleplayers who hate them lmao. anyways i like them too.
you are right about that these elements are not restricted to only RPGs!
Did I say otherwise? It's just not really relevant in the context of only discussing elements of an MMORPG like AoC.
Totally agree with you on the dungeons and I never said I want more instanced content, rather some system to measure how well I do.
Still, it's not essential tbh, because I never really cared for meta and min-maxing to the point of perfection.
It's about the experience, the exploration, the trials and errors we do, and the motivation to keep going.
I don't know if any gamey metrics and success ratings do us a favor when they are not organic to the world.
Same with any addons and third-party tools, but that's its own topic later.
20% instanced dungeons for story purposes, where the player is placed in a more atmospheric scenario, with cinematics and dramatic twists, and the 80% out in the open.
I'm okay with that ratio and the leaderboards are more for a challenge run system like 1-999 tower/dungeon runs with leaderboards for that particular content.
If you can program it out in the open world that's even greater because it would link with the other systems.
For endgame, I disagree with you because there always was an endgame loop in other games, but just because companies wanted it that way. AoC seems to be a game where you can log in, and play, and you are just progressing the game.
Your goals are progressing in all those systems, like leveling, story, class, abilities, talents, artisan, nodes, housing, navel, exploration, economy, and everything that I didn't have on my mind right now.
There isn't and shouldn't be a separate section at the end of those progression paths like in all the other MMORPGs out there. The max level, gear- or story-gated content where "the real game starts"...
I hate this phrase...
Progression, progression, progression.
That's all I need for pve. Who needs character levels, they are just another way of progression an illusion of gaining power we have to balance out constantly. And when we achieve everything we can in a certain time frame, there will be updates, building on all these paths to add to the complexity of the gameplay.
Why not simply build power through ability, skill, and gear progression? Do we still have to define gained experience by dull numbers counting upwards?
We could decide to do a ranking system similar to the artisan system, the combat achievements we define our status and capabilities within the world:
- Rookie->Soldier->Veteran->General->Emperor
- Initiate->Adept->Savant->Sage->Magister
But maybe those ranks are reserved for the guilds players can be associated with, like the mages guild, the bounty hunters guild, etc. You don't take away the fun or power progression but you take away the numbers enslaving your mind.
Skills wouldn't be hooked to the lvl number but to progression trees and by using them we would gain experience to go further down the tree but let's talk about that in the next paragraph.
For the skills, I wrote about the core skill kit, not the advanced defining skills.
And you forgot to quote the last point there: "...core class identity skillset" which are essentially the main skills of your class including healing.
Yes, it can be overwhelming, IF we get them at once, but we don't level to 10 in 1 hour or even faster like in every other game...
I want to get a feeling for the class early not when I'm maxed out and the core abilities were not available until I leveled the class halfway up.
If the skills are rounding up the class it's okay to put them in later, but I want to get the hang of the combat earlier than that, i want to be able to do stuff and not mindlessly violate my poor hand and mouse with only combos and 3 skills to use for hours... and that's if I'm purely leveling up.
I played New World and any action RPG like Diablo for too long to like that kind of combat anymore...
introducing them early doesn't mean you will be flooded with every skill possible at once, I mean there could be an early introduction to them and we go slow from there, but we have to see how it plays out i can't imagine it to be fun spamming the same skills over and over with no customization until way further into the game, that's boring up to that point and we want to have meaningful gameplay & progression in AoC.
The current content that I am doing? You mean that everyone is doing and that's the difference here.
We are sharing an overworld and in the best-case scenario, everyone will be possibly doing everything at the same time.
Lvl 5 meets lvl 30s or does stuff with lvl 50s sometimes and they have better skills ofc and are more suited to do content than others because of that.
There will be discrimination against lower lvl players if not for the dps it's for their current progression locks.
Skills like heal, AoE-heal, and rez are core skills you need in every fight don't you agree?
Specialization can be done later when you know your core kit of I would say up to 10 class skills.
1. Rush/blink/charge/jump/switch/hook...,
2. CC like kick/stun/knockback/sleep/root/slow/...,
3. Single-target hit/spell/shot/song/summon/...,
4. Multi-target hit/spell/shot/song/summon/...,
5. Parry/Block/Dodge/magic shield/Wall/illusion/meatshield summon/...,
6. - 10. core class identity skillset
(healing, more DPS variations, more mitigation, more stuns, buffs/debuffs, summons, elemental spells...)
Is this overwhelming you for the first 10 levels?
I wish I had those kinds of skills in the first 30 or even 50 levels in the games I played before!
And that's what I meant with class identity, core differences are respecting every archetype but also similarities each archetype needs to have to be somewhat balanced in a competitive environment.
There can be asymmetric similarities and that's where the devs have to show their creativity in designing fair, balanced, and meaningful skills, or the combat system will be no different between the classes.
A1 felt extremely rough in that regard but they told us so and redesigned much stuff.
Not balanced around 1v1, that's not what I mean.
Every class has its own way of performing in combat and how it feels doing that.
Just like I said before, that's a matter of creativity and understanding how the archetype's identities will play their own role in battle. Part of that role is skills that do the core things I said before in their own respective way.
Stealth is an evasion skill for Rogues, and magic shield is an evasion skill for Mage.
Blink is a mobility teleportation skill for Mages while rush is the mobility running form for Fighters.
Precise Stab could be the single target hit for Rogue, and Quick Shot is the single target shot for Ranger.
There will be a rock<paper<scissor system between the archetypes but they need their core kit to not fall behind in playability.
Of course, they will feel very different if you think about it and why would I want them to have the same skills with different effects, that's not even silly that's hilarious to even think that for a second!
Why doesn't every class need a survival ability?
Why do you only think in black and white dude?
When it comes down to the augment system and the meat and potatoes of the 64 classes we have so much variety we can choose from.
Of course, there will be different survival skills if you mix and match the different possibilities, but there shouldn't be a class falling extremely short of that. No exact balancing is needed just something you can work with to support your group by not dying helplessly on the battlefield after 2 hits...
These are suggestions for how it could work out in my mind:
Fighter: "Bloodbath" -> X% dealt dps heals yourself up to X%
Tank: "Hardened" -> Each blow deals X% less damage than the one before
Rogue: "Disengage" -> you disappear and block targeting you for everyone around you for X amount of time
Ranger: "Vault" -> dodging the next moves with i frames, jumping forward, sidewards, or backwards
Mage: "Magic Shield" -> blocking incoming damage up to X% of your hp or using a % mana for it
Summoner: "Meatshield" -> summons a variety of creatures to block incoming dmg
Cleric: "Divine Blessing" -> holy light heals your hp and mana for X%
Bard: "Never Ending Story" -> words/song of encouragement HoT, MoT
As you see every archetype has its kind of identity in survival.
If it comes to capabilities in their roles like healing, tanking, and DPSing you are right but again, that's not what I mean.
Depending on the circumstances some classes shine brighter than others that's correct and I like that as well. I don't care about any meta, I just want to be on an equal stage in performance and not be belittled for playing some type of class augmentation because that's my RP fantasy I want to play out as much as possible for me in the game... when that happens anyway then it's not the games fault at least. ^^
The animations are NOT only flavor. Stephen said there should be visual indicators for what kind of player you are dealing with, equipment tiers, the stature of races, and the effects and identity of archetypes.
Why should a fighter summon a hammer... oO That's absurd if he isn't augmenting summoner as a spell blade or something like that. Why should Cleric summon chains, the same issue...
They toned down many effects for the ranger abilities and I'm positive about the direction this goes, but the jump will get old very fast I promise, this is not a superhero or anime game, it fits the fantasy of Ranger but it's too much, they have to tone it down too, and the fighter whirlwind ability is just silly and always was in every game I saw it... xD It's outright lame af, the same with any standard channeling spell or the floating orb...
No flavor issue here it looks amazing but there isn't much utility, nor DPS, and boring to use, even to watch...
You can name yourself like you want if it is a name I can comprehend as one...
You don't have to abide by the suggestions for names it's just for people who don't know better and find the help useful because they want to respect the game's lore more than satisfy their need to be a name-troll because they have no creativity in naming or out of "fun".
Emotes are a way to communicate and I love what kind of funny stuff you can do with them if there is enough variety and things to interact with like NPC's, quest items, pets who react with animations or climb on your shoulder, or simply other players emoting back to you.
Animation locks and no variety might ruin the system tho...